Open letters

The upcoming ministerial meeting on human rights demonstrates that federal, provincial and territorial governments in Canada recognize that more must be done to fulfill Canada’s domestic and international commitments to recognize, respect and fulfill human rights. As a concrete and meaningful way to better address this need, our organizations are calling on the federal, provincial and territorial governments to work collaboratively with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples as well as with African Canadians and other communities of colour, and engage with civil society to undertake a formal and systematic review of the most recent United Nations treaty body report on Canada.

Dear Ministers Freeland and Wilson-Raybould, and Mr. Alghabra,

Amnesty International is alarmed at the continued detention of Lebanese-Canadian dual national Hassan Diab in Fleury-Mérogis Prison in France in the face of six orders from investigating judges that he be released on bail. We urge you to call on your French counterparts to take immediate steps to secure his release on bail.

On the occasion of President Barack Obama´s upcoming historic visit to Cuba, followed by a two-day visit to Argentina, Amnesty International would like to take this opportunity to highlight to the three Presidents a number of major human rights concerns which we hope will be prioritized as part of your discussions.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Detentions at Guantánamo Bay

While we recognize the current administration’s commitment to end the detentions in the US naval base at Guantánamo Bay, the fact that dozens of detainees remain there more than six years after President Obama’s original deadline for closure of the detention facility is a cause for huge international concern. We reiterate that any Guantánamo detainee the USA does not intend to charge for prosecution in proceedings that fully comply with international fair trial standards should be immediately released.

The Honourable Ralph Goodale 
Minister of Public Safety

March 10, 2016

Dear Minister,

We are writing this Open Letter to offer a set of recommended principles to guide the anticipated consultations you will soon be launching further to the government’s commitment to review and revise Bill C-51, the Anti-Terrorism Act 2015. We urge you to take an approach that demonstrates a commitment to protect national security by upholding human rights and rejecting the false dichotomy of rights or security.

Our organizations all have serious concerns about the numerous human rights problems associated with this new law.  As a result, over the past year we have appeared before parliamentary committees, raised concerns with UN bodies, turned to the courts, spoken to audiences across the country, launched campaigns and carried out media interviews, pressing for the concerns to be addressed.  We therefore welcome the prospect of reform.

Open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
Canadian organizations condemn Peace River hydroelectric mega-project for human rights violations

Dear Prime Minister,

Our organizations are profoundly concerned that construction of the Site C dam is being pushed ahead despite the conclusion of a joint federal-provincial environmental assessment that it would severely and permanently undermine Indigenous peoples’ use of the land; harm rare plants and other biodiversity; make fishing unsafe for at least a generation; and submerge burial grounds and other crucial cultural and historical sites.

The construction of the Site C dam would severely affect Indigenous families.

Tell the Trudeau government to honour its promises and respect the Treaties.

Released 00.01 GMT, 20 November 2015

Doctors and health professionals from every region of the world today added their voices to the growing pressure for the decriminalization of abortion, with 838 from 44 countries signing an open letter to governments published today by Amnesty International.

The letter calls on governments to stop interfering with health professionals’ ability to provide care, warning that criminalizing abortion puts women and girls’ health and lives at risk.

“The criminalization of abortion prevents healthcare providers from delivering timely, medically indicated care in accordance with their patients' wishes,” said the letter.

“It impedes and disregards sound medical judgment and can undermine the professional duty of care and confidentiality that doctors bear towards their patients.”

The letter was signed by health professionals from institutions around the world including Ghent University Hospital in Belgium, Universidad Nacional del Comahue in Argentina, Harvard Medical School in the USA and the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper;
Leader of the Opposition, Thomas Mulcair;
Justin Trudeau;
Elizabeth May; and
Gilles Duceppe

Dear Prime Minister Harper, Mr. Mulclair, Mr. Trudeau, Ms. May, and Mr. Duceppe:

We are writing to you regarding Canada’s human rights record in light of the July 2015 release of the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s Concluding Observations on the country’s implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This was the first time the Committee has examined Canada’s record in a decade. As in other reviews of Canada by UN bodies, including the Human Rights Council, these Concluding Observations raise numerous serious concerns about critical violations of human rights in this country.