Anti-Terrorism and Torture
UN documents widespread torture in Afghan prisons: Canada must convene public inquiry into Afghan detainee controversy
The BCCLA and Amnesty International Canada are calling on Canada to convene a public inquiry into the Afghan detainee scandal following yesterday’s report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), documenting widespread and systematic torture in Afghan detention facilities. The BCCLA and Amnesty also wrote to the Minister of Public Defence, requesting that Canada confirm the actions it plans to take in response to the serious issues raised by the UNAMA.
Statement by BCCLA and Amnesty International >>
Letter to the Honourable Peter MacKay >>
October 11, 2011
BCCLA expresses serious concerns over selective leaking of intelligence information
The BCCLA wrote to the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Public Safety today about a recent government leak of purported intelligence information implicating two Canadians in a terrorist plot. The contents of the leak, the timing of it, and the government’s public statements in response to it all raise serious concerns, including whether the Canadian public can truly be informed via selective leaking of cherry-picked information.
Letter
>>
October 4, 2011
Rights groups criticize government “most wanted” lists
In a statement issued today, the BCCLA and other rights groups express their deep concerns about the government’s use of “most wanted” lists to enlist the public in tracking down individuals for deportation.
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September 20, 2011
Torture evidence should not be used against Canadians
In a letter sent today to Minister of Justice Robert Nicholson, the BCCLA calls on him to ensure that Canadian citizens are protected against foreign prosecutions relying on evidence derived from torture. The issue arises in extradition proceedings in Canada undertaken at the request of the French government in relation to Hassan Diab, a Canadian citizen. Mr. Diab has no criminal record in Canada. He has taught at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa. His extradition is being sought in connection with a bombing in Paris in October, 1980.
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September 12, 2011
BCCLA and Amnesty International Canada make final submissions in the Afghan Public Interest Hearing
The BCCLA and Amnesty International Canada filed its final written submissions to the Military Police Complaints Commission, which has been investigating conduct related to the transfer of prisoners by the Canadian Forces to risk of torture by Afghan security forces. BCCLA lawyers will be in Ottawa next week for oral arguments.
Submission >>
Jan 28, 2011
Rights groups condemn handling of child soldier detainees
In a letter sent to Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay, the BCCLA and Amnesty International Canada call on the Department of National Defence to take immediate action to bring its policies and practices regarding children apprehended in course of military operations in Afghanistan into compliance with international law.
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Dec 2, 2010
Military police commission to hear key witnesses in torture hearings
The inquiry by the Military Police Complaints Commission into whether military police failed to investigate if commanders illegally ordered the transfer of detainees to a known risk of torture in Afghanistan will hear the final witnesses next week.“The evidence we’ve heard has been overwhelming. It shows that the argument that senior members of the Canadian Forces did not have enough information to launch an investigation into the issue is simply not credible,” says Grace Pastine, Litigation Director.
Read more >>
Nov 26, 2010
BCCLA tells Canada to defend citizens’ rights against secret US travel watchlists
The BCCLA was in Ottawa to make a presentation to the Standing Committee on Transport opposing a bill that will allow Canadian air carriers to provide passenger information to foreign countries.
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Nov 24, 2010
BCCLA report criticizes Canada’s adoption of U.N. Security Council’s terrorist blacklist
The BCCLA is launching a report today at UBC’s law school on the UN’s 1267 Regime – an international blacklist Canada has adopted that is held out to be targeting alleged terrorist affiliates of the Taliban and al Qaeda. The report concludes that the system violates Canadian constitutional and international law.
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October 28, 2010
Keep evidence derived from torture out of Canadian courts
In a letter issued today to Attorney General Robert Nicholson, the BCCLA calls on the Department of Justice to ensure that a strong rule is maintained against evidence derived from torture being used in proceedings here in Canada or in proceedings abroad to which persons in Canada may be extradited.
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October 6, 2010
Commission to resume inquiry into transfer to torture
The Military Police Complaints Commission is set to resume its inquiry into the conduct of the military police in transferring detainees captured by Canadian forces into Afghan custody in the face of reported risks of torture in Afghan prisons. The Commission was adjourned earlier this year while it awaited further production of documents from the Canadian government.
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September 7, 2010
Canada must ensure that rights of migrants are protected
With a boatload of up to 500 Tamil migrants expected to land in British Columbia, the BCCLA is calling on the Canadian government to ensure that their fundamental human rights are respected.
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August 13, 2010
Rights groups challenge United Nations blacklist in court Canada’s participation in the U.N.’s anti-terrorism sanctions regime, also known as the “1267 Regime”, is being challenged in Federal Court by the BCCLA and the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group.
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June 7, 2010
No 72-hour detention without charge, says BCCLA,
The BCCLA is opposing a federal law that would move Canada from first in the world in guaranteeing a criminal charge within 24 hours of detention, to a position behind the United States, South Africa, New Zealand and Germany, by holding people for up to three days without charge simply by labeling an investigation a “terrorism” investigation.
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April 29, 2010
BCCLA intern Shaker Jamal has produced a short film about the Omar Khadr case and its implications for Canadian democracy and Canada’s involvement in torture. The film features BCCLA counsel Carmen Cheung. "The military commissions process in its previous incarnations has been twice found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States. As a system of adjudication, it remains fundamentally flawed. Canada’s claims that Mr. Khadr should be permitted to stand 'trial' in the United States is predicated on the faulty assumption that military commissions can be considered 'trials', as we normally conceive of them."
View video >>
April 26, 2010
Afghan detainee hearings
Commission set to begin probe of Afghan detainees, BCCLA heads to hearings.
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April 5, 2010
Omar Khadr
BCCLA Renews Its Call For the Repatriation of Omar Khadr.
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February 17, 2010
Canada Violated Omar Khadr’s Charter Rights: Supreme Court
The BCCLA is pleased by a Supreme Court of Canada decision that the Government of Canada violated the Charter rights of Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr.
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January 29, 2010
Omar Khadr
The Supreme Court of Canada will issue its decision on Friday, January 29, 2010 in the case of Omar Khadr. The court will decide whether the Government of Canada must obey a Federal Court order that would force the government to ask the United States for the return of Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr.
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January 28, 2010
Omar Khadr
On November 13, the BCCLA will argue in the Supreme Court of Canada that the government must obey a Federal Court order to bring Canadian Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr back to Canada.
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November 11, 2009
Benamar Benatta
BCCLA board member, Tom Sandborn's Op Ed article was originally published in the Vancouver Sun.
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October 9, 2009
Omar Khadr
BCCLA seeks compliance with order of the Federal Court directing the federal government to seek the repatriation of Omar Khadr to Canada.
Letter to Prime Minister Harper >>
August 17, 2009
BCCLA Demands Immediate Inquiry Into the Removal of Benamar Benatta And His Detention in the United States
To mark today’s three-year anniversary of Benamar Benatta’s return to Canada after almost five years of detention in the United States, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association is issuing a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper calling for a public investigation into the Canadian government’s conduct in delivering Mr. Benatta to American officials on the evening of September 12, 2001, a week after he had come to the Canadian border seeking asylum.
Read more >>
Letter to the Canadian government >>
July 20, 2009
BCCLA Demands Immediate Repatriation of Abousfian Abdelrazik
In light of today’s Federal Court judgment, the BCCLA demanded the immediate repatriation of a Canadian citizen who has been living in the Canadian embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, for more than a year after being detained there without charge since 2005.
News release >>
June 4, 2009
Decision by the Supreme Court to Dismiss Leave to Appeal Afghanistan Prisoners’ Case Puts Protection in Limbo
The decision by the Supreme Court today to dismiss leave to appeal of the case of how the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Canada’s international human rights obligations apply to the transfer of prisoners in Afghanistan is a setback for protection of prisoners everywhere.
News release >>
Amnesty Canada and BCCLA 2008 statement >>
May 21, 2009
Abousfian Abdelrazik
BCCLA expresses concerns about the conduct of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade with respect to Abousfian Abdelrazik, a Canadian citizen who has been in de facto exile in Sudan since 2003.
Letter to Prime Minister Harper >>
May 5, 2009
BCCLA Demands Repatriation of Khadr in Wake of Federal Court Decision
The BCCLA demanded immediate action from the Prime Minister’s office for the immediate repatriation of child-soldier Omar Khadr in wake of a Federal Court decision released today. "The Federal Court has made the only decision that could be made under the Charter,” says Robert Holmes, President of the BCCLA. “This matter is an ongoing embarrassment to the Canadian public and the Canadian government. We demand immediate action from the Prime Minister’s office to bring Mr. Khadr home.”
News release >>
April 23, 2009
BCCLA Says Federal Government Must Bring Khadr Home
In the wake of this week’s firing and rehiring, of Omar Khadr’s American military lawyer, the BCCLA again demanded the child soldier’s repatriation. “The American military trial processes relating to Mr. Khadr have been irregular and troubled from the outset,” said Robert Holmes, President of the BCCLA. “That has been determined already by the highest courts in both the US and Canada.”
News release >>
April 8, 2009
BCCLA Files Complaint Against CSIS For Using Torture-Derived Information
The BCCLA has filed a complaint against the Canadian Security Intelligence Service for using information it knows is derived from torture.
News release >>
Complaint >>
April 2, 2009
