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TREATY 1 TERRITORY, WINNIPEG, MB – On April 11, 2019, Indigenous women from northern Manitoba and northeastern BC will be hosting a panel discussion on the harmful social impacts of large-scale resource development on the health and wellbeing of Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people.

The public event is being held on the eve of a special hearing being conducted by the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources. The one-day hearing in Winnipeg has been organized as part of the Committee’s study of Bill C-69, proposed federal impact assessment legislation for resource development projects. Amnesty International will be testifying before the Committee.

Troubling reports of gender-based violence in communities surrounding resource development projects in northern Manitoba and northeastern BC highlight why it is important to consider the experiences of Indigenous women and girls when planning large-scale resource development projects like hydroelectric dams. 

Date: Thursday, April 11, 2019

Location: Ukrainian Labour Temple, 591 Pritchard Ave, Winnipeg, Manitoba

The US is not safe for all refugees. The Canadian government should suspend the US/Canada border pact and allow those in need of refugee protection to access it in Canada.

Amnesty International is deeply concerned that the US government, at the request of the Canadian government, is considering altering an agreement that would make it more likely that refugees seeking asylum in Canada would be returned to the United States. This week, the Canadian government also introduced a bill that includes provisions that would bar individuals from making a refugee claim in Canada if they have made a prior asylum claim in certain countries, particularly the United States.

The request to renegotiate concerns a possible expansion of the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) between the two countries, which currently applies only at official ports of entry along the U.S.-Canada border. It requires individuals who arrive in Canada or the US to request protection in the first country in which they arrive. There are only limited exceptions.

Global executions fell by 31%, reaching lowest figure in at least a decade But several countries saw a rise in executions, including Belarus, Japan, Singapore, South Sudan and USA Thailand resumed executions, Sri Lanka threatened to follow suit China remained world’s top executioner, followed by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Viet Nam and Iraq

Global executions fell by almost one-third last year to the lowest figure in at least a decade, Amnesty International said in its 2018 global review of the death penalty published today. The statistics assess known executions worldwide except in China, where figures thought to be in their thousands remain classified as a state secret.

Following a change to its anti-narcotics laws, executions in Iran – a country where the use of the death penalty is rife – fell by a staggering 50%. Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia also showed a significant reduction in the number they carried out. As a result, execution figures fell globally from at least 993 in 2017, to at least 690 in 2018.

While Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that 16 Saudis would be barred form entering the United States in response to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Amnesty International reiterated its call for an independent investigation into his death. Philippe Nassif, the Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International USA, stated:

“If the United States is serious about seeking accountability for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, then Secretary Pompeo must call for and support an independent investigation, led by the United Nations. Unfortunately, the Trump Administration’s historic willingness to look the other way in the face of human rights violations by the Saudi government means that an impartial U.N. investigation is the only hope to get the full truth about what happened to Khashoggi and to convey to Saudi officials that they will not evade accountability for this crime.”

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In response to the “follow-up” meeting between the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu and the Minister of Police Bheki Cele with Heads of the Diplomatic Missions represented in South Africa “to find a lasting solution” to xenophobic attacks in the country, Shenilla Mohamed, Executive Director of Amnesty International South Africa, said:

criminal justice failures and populist rhetoric are some of the reasons behind the latest round of xenophobic violence against refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in South Africa.

“For many years, South African authorities have largely failed to address past outbreaks of xenophobic crimes that have been seen in the country since at least 2008, including bringing those suspected to be responsible to justice.

“Political leaders must stop making discriminatory and inflammatory remarks about migrants and foreign nationals especially during their election campaigns ahead of the polls.

Responding to the case of Laleh Shahravesh, a British woman who has reportedly been detained in Dubai on defamation charges in relation to a Facebook post in her name which called her ex-husband’s new partner a “horse face”, Devin Kenney, Amnesty International’s Gulf Researcher, said:

“All charges in this absurd case against Laleh Shahravesh should be dropped.

“Ms Shahravesh is reportedly being tried under the UAE’s notorious cybercrimes law - one of several laws which unjustifiably smother free speech in the country.

“The cybercrimes law has been used to silence numerous people in the UAE, including Ahmed Mansoor, the respected Emirati human rights defender jailed for ten years last year for remarks he made online.

“The Emirati authorities have turned the cybercrimes law into a leading instrument of repression, notably using it against multiple prisoners of conscience during the country’s post-2011 crackdown.”

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Rights Watch UK will this week join the appeal against the UK’s continuing arms exports to Saudi Arabia in a fresh legal challenge.

The organizations will intervene in the case, brought by Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT), at the Court of Appeal in London seeking to challenge the legality of the UK Government’s decision to issue licences for arms exports to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen, despite the risk of the weapons being used for serious violations of international humanitarian law in the conflict.

“The people of Yemen are being killed and are at serious risk of famine because of the Saudi Arabia-led Coalition’s relentless bombing campaign that has been made possible by British arms and equipment,” said Lucy Claridge, Amnesty International’s Director of Strategic Litigation.

“How many more people must die before the UK Government admits it is in the wrong? By selling billions of pounds worth of arms to Saudi Arabia, ministers are signing a death warrant for the people of Yemen.