Media advisories

OTTAWA – The Safe Third Country Agreement will be back in court on Feb. 23 and 24, as the Canadian government seeks to overturn a decision that the US-Canada refugee pact is unconstitutional.

Amnesty International, the Canadian Council for Refugees, and the Canadian Council of Churches, will once again join individual litigants in arguing the agreement is harmful to those seeking protection north of the US-Canada border.

In July 2020, the Federal Court ruled that the Safe Third Country Agreement is unconstitutional, as it violates the s. 7 Charter right to life, liberty and security of the person. Civil society groups and refugees have long maintained that the agreement violates human rights, because many refugee claimants returned to the US are arbitrarily held in appalling conditions in immigration detention centres or county jails, and are not eligible for the same legal protections that are available in Canada.

OTTAWA – Amnesty International is pleased to announce that its first-ever online human rights conference in Canada will feature an array of high-profile activists, Indigenous rights advocates, and award-winning authors. 

Sparking Connections is an online, nation-wide gathering of Amnesty International Canada’s English-speaking membership and wider community. Organized by Amnesty International’s members, the conference will take place over two weeks from Nov. 7-21. 

Everyone is invited to participate in skill-building workshops, attend community events and tune into the incredible keynote speeches. 

Dr. Pam Palmater, a Mi’kmaw lawyer, scholar and social justice advocate, will launch the conference on Nov. 7 on 1 p.m. EST with a keynote address on what it means to do human rights work on stolen, Indigenous lands. The general public can live stream the keynote here.  

June 11, 2020 

CANADA MUST PUT AN END TO SAUDI ARMS EXPORTS  

A broad coalition of civil society organizations, human rights organizations, labour organizations and concerned individuals are calling for the Canadian government to end arms transfers to Saudi Arabia. A vigil will be held on 11 June 2020 in London, Ontario, outside of General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada beginning at 1 pm, alongside demonstrations that will take place in cities across Canada and virtually. 

• Amnesty International expert attending hearing and available for interviews

The two psychologists responsible for designing and implementing the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation techniques” will testify in pre-trial hearings in the September 11 case at Guantánamo Bay next week. Amnesty International experts will be there to observe their testimony.

The contract psychologists, James E. Mitchell and John “Bruce” Jessen, are responsible for developing interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, confinement in small boxes, beatings, and sleep deprivation, which amounted to torture. Many detainees suffered such abuse in secret sites around the globe, including in Europe, with the complicity of a number of European governments. Julia Hall, Amnesty International’s leading expert on counter-terrorism, who will be attending the hearings, said:

“The perverse ‘work’ of these psychologists has dramatically set back the global fight against torture. The interrogation methods they championed have had a rippling effect around the world.

OTTAWA – With less than a week until the federal election, and without a firm commitment from all federal political party leaders, a coalition of women’s rights and equality-seeking organizations in Canada is calling off plans to hold a leaders’ debate on women’s rights and gender equality.

The Up for Debate campaign called on all federal party leaders to participate in a national debate focused on women’s rights and gender equality – a topic that has been largely absent from the party platforms and televised debates. Days before voters head to the polls, Up for Debate is calling on all federal party leaders to clearly articulate their commitments to address the rights of women, transgender, non-binary, and two-spirit people in Canada, including how they will tackle poverty, income inequality, violence, and support for women’s rights and equality-seeking organizations.

What: Press conference with Up for Debate coalition members

Date: October 17, 2019

Time: 10 a.m.

Location: 135-B Press Conference Room in West Block

Ahead of tomorrow’s appeal against the conviction of Anni Lanz, a 73-year-old woman convicted and fined with 800 Swiss francs ($820 US) for giving a rough-sleeping frost-bitten Afghan asylum seeker a lift over the Italian border into Switzerland, Amnesty International’s Senior Campaigner on Migration, Maria Serrano, said:

“Anni Lanz has done nothing wrong and committed no crime. By driving across the border to help a young and traumatized man who had been forced to sleep rough in sub-zero temperatures, she showed compassion, not criminality.

“The conviction against Anni should be overturned and legislation in Switzerland amended so it no longer punishes good Samaritans for acts of solidarity.

“Dragging her before the court on absurd charges makes a mockery of justice. Efforts by individuals and NGOs to help people seeking safety should be lauded and defended, not criminalised.”

Spokespeople available for comment

Former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir must face justice for crimes under international law, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, that he allegedly committed in Darfur while in power, Amnesty International said ahead of the start of his trial on corruption charges on 18 August in Khartoum.

Al-Bashir, who was deposed from power four months ago following sustained protests against his 30-year rule, will be charged with possessing foreign currency, corruption and receiving gifts illegally. On May 13, Al-Bashir was also charged with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters.

“While this trial is a positive step towards accountability for some of his alleged crimes, he remains wanted for heinous crimes committed against the Sudanese people,” said Amnesty International’s Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, Joan Nyanyuki.