Media advisories

Civil society groups are outraged and deeply disappointed that the governments of Quebec and Alberta are not participating in the Federal-Provincial-Territorial ministerial human rights meeting November 9-10.

The organizations, including Amnesty International Canada’s English- and French-speaking sections, learned late last week that the Alberta and Quebec governments will send observers to the meeting, instead of their ministers responsible for human rights. The Quebec government has made it clear that it opposes plans to reference “systemic racism” in a joint media release that will be issued following the meeting, while the Alberta government refuses to recognize that Canada’s international human rights obligations are binding on the province.

The Federal, Provincial and Territorial ministers responsible for human rights will be meeting, virtually, to discuss their collective responsibility to ensure that the human rights of all people are protected across the country. This is only the third meeting of its kind in the past 32 years, with the other meetings having taken place in 1988 and 2017.

Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the massacre in Srebrenica when more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed by the Bosnian Serb Army in what was a designated UN “safe area”, Amnesty International’s Balkans Researcher Jelena Sesar said:

“As the world remembers those who lost their lives in Srebrenica and shows solidarity with survivors, it is wholly unacceptable that families of more than 1,000 victims are still searching for their remains. The truth about the fate of their loved ones has been buried for a quarter of a century making it hard for them to find peace or some measure of closure.

“This sombre anniversary also marks 25 years of struggle to secure justice, truth and reparation for survivors, including victims of wartime rape and sexual violence. While many perpetrators, including Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, have been brought to justice, survivors are still facing insurmountable obstacles to obtaining truth, justice and remedy for their suffering.

Ahead of an extraordinary virtual meeting of the G20 group which is scheduled to take place on Thursday, Amnesty International called on leaders to coordinate responses to help the most at-risk groups and people cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The response to this pandemic must be based on cooperation and sharing of resources, because national strategies will not be enough on their own. Not only is helping the most marginalized the right thing to do, inadequate healthcare in any part of the world is a risk to us all. The rapid spread of COVID-19 has shown how connected we all are,” said Netsanet Belay, Research and Advocacy Director at Amnesty International.

“On Thursday G20 leaders need to produce a concrete and coordinated plan for mobilizing resources to help people in the global south. They have a lot of financial measures at their disposal and they must consider them all. We will beat this virus together, for everyone, or not at all.”

Background

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s State Counsellor and de facto head of state, is leading Myanmar’s delegation to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, to respond to a case alleging that Myanmar has breached its obligations under the UN Genocide Convention. The case was filed by The Gambia on 11 November 2019.

On Wednesday, 11 December 2019, Myanmar will respond to The Gambia's allegations in court for the first time.

The first public hearings will take place between 10-12 December. The Gambia has asked the ICJ to order Myanmar to take ‘provisional measures’ ‘to protect the rights of the Rohingya group’ and prevent all acts that amount to or contribute to the crime of genocide against the community, pending formal hearings on the case.

Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s Regional Director, said:

Attackers who use phishing scams to target human rights defenders in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are developing increasingly sophisticated techniques to infiltrate their accounts and evade digital security tools, according to new research published by Amnesty Tech. 

The organization highlighted three key tactics attackers are employing to ensnare people who take extra steps to secure their accounts online. These include asking users to reset the password on their Google accounts; tricking them into authorizing apps which purport to “secure” their Outlook accounts; and abusing legitimate authentication process apps to infiltrate accounts.

“Human rights defenders across MENA need to be on high alert. Even as they get better at using digital tools to secure their accounts, attackers are developing sophisticated new ways to get past these tools,” said Claudio Guarnieri, Senior Technologist, Amnesty Tech.

Spokespeople available to take media interviews

Ahead of Tanzanian journalist Erick Kabendera’s next appearance in court on 19 August, when he will be required to enter a plea on charges that include leading organized crime and money laundering, Amnesty International’s Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, Joan Nyanyuki, said:

“The trial of Erick Kabendera is a travesty as the charges brought against him are politically motivated. The charges must be dropped and Kabendera immediately and unconditionally released. He must not be put through one more day of this judicial charade brought against him solely for doing his job.

“Kabendera is a well-respected journalist whose investigations have shed light on the workings of Tanzania’s government both at home and abroad. The outrageous fabricated charges against him show the intolerance of the Tanzanian authorities’ to any criticism.”

Background

Amnesty International, PEN Canada and Toronto Association for Democracy in China are pleased to announce the unveiling of the Liu Xiaobo Empty Chair Memorial on:

Date:               Tuesday, August 13, 2019 at 2 p.m.

Location:        Amnesty International, 312 Laurier Avenue East, Ottawa

Speakers:

Setsuko Thurlow, recipient of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons;

Wang Juntao, political activist and friend of Liu during the 1989 pro-democracy movement;

Ti‑Anna Wang, daughter of Wang Binzhang, political prisoner and founder of Chinese pro-democracy movement overseas;

Senator Con Di Nino

Alex Neve, Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada

Richard Stursberg, Chair, PEN Canada

Winnie Ng, Chair, Toronto Association for Democracy in China