Human Rights Watch is writing to raise concerns about certain provisions of proposed Bill C-31, Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act, that we believe are harmful to refugees and asylum seekers and incompatible with international refugee and human rights law. Although the detention provisions of Bill C-31 are ostensibly proposed to deter human smugglers, Human Rights Watch believes that these provisions, in fact, target refugee claimants fleeing persecution, who will suffer their consequences.

We are writing to express our serious concern about the Defense Department's decision to ban four journalists - from The Miami Herald, the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail and CanWest Newspapers of Canada - from covering future military commission proceedings at Guantanamo Bay on the grounds that they had revealed the name of a witness in violation of rules governing media reporting of the commissions.

We write in advance of US President Barack Obama's first official visit to Canada on February 19, 2009, to request that you address the important question of detainees held at Guantanamo. 

Human Rights Watch and partner organizations write to Prime Minister Harper ahead of the February 4 appearance before a military commission of Omar Khadr, detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since he was 15 years old. Consistent with its commitment to the rule of law, international juvenile justice standards, and the rehabilitation of former child soldiers, Canada should formally request that unless the US government will prosecute Khadr in accordance with international juvenile justice and fair trial standards, the United States should promptly release Khadr and repatriate him to Canada for rehabilitation.