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Canada Still at Risk Diplomatic Assurances No Safeguard Against Torture This 91-page report documents the growing practice among Western governments—including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands—of seeking assurances of humane treatment in order to transfer terrorism suspects to states with well-established records of torture. The report details a dozen cases involving actual or attempted transfers to countries where torture is commonplace. HRW Index No.: D1703 April 15, 2005 Download PDF, 563 KB, 94 pgs Purchase online Empty Promises Diplomatic Assurances No Safeguard Against Torture Individuals suspected of terrorism should never be returned to a country where they risk torture and ill-treatment. Promises of fair treatment by states with well-known records of torture are inherently unreliable, and governments that justify returns through such promises, known as “diplomatic assurances,” are violating the absolute prohibition against torture and eroding a fundamental principle of international law. The death penalty, however reprehensible, is legal and usually carried out publicly. But torture is illegal and practiced in secret. Governments routinely lie about whether they’re torturing people or not, and in some situations they may not even have adequate control to guarantee security. This 39-page report documents cases where governments returned or considered returning suspects on the basis of such formal guarantees, and raises concern that in some cases, those returned were, in fact, tortured or ill-treated. HRW Index No.: D1604 April 15, 2004 Download PDF, 360 KB, 39 pgs Purchase online Abusing the User: Police Misconduct, Harm Reduction and HIV/AIDS in Vancouver An anti-drug crackdown by the Vancouver Police Department has driven injection drug users away from life-saving HIV prevention services, raising fears of a new wave of HIV transmission in the city that is already home to the worst AIDS crisis in the developed world, said Human Rights Watch. In a 25-page report released today, “Abusing the User: Police Misconduct, Harm Reduction and HIV/AIDS in Vancouver,” Human Rights Watch documents instances of unnecessary force and mistreatment, arbitrary arrest, and other intimidation and harassment of drug users as part of a campaign commonly referred to as Operation Torpedo. The crackdown began on April 7 in the city’s impoverished Downtown Eastside neighborhood. Though drug traffickers are the ostensible target, drug users not charged with selling drugs have been driven to places where health workers cannot reach them to ensure access to sterile syringes and other HIV prevention services. HRW Index No.: 1502B May 7, 2003 Download PDF Purchase online Canada: Child Soldier Global Report 2001 From the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers With parental consent and reliable proof of age, 16 and 17 year olds can be recruited into the Canadian Armed Forces. Legislative changes reflecting Canada’s commitment to the CRC-OP-CAC include, most recently, Bill S-18 which stipulates that under-18s in the Canadian forces, primarily at military college and in the militia, must not be deployed in hostilities. During the first year of training, recruits may submit a request to the commanding officer for release from service. Except for persons selected for deployment, release is usually authorised but candidates may incur costs if they leave. Most under-18s enter through the Regular Officer Training programme and will not incur costs provided they leave before year two of the advanced programme or before a year and a half in the preparatory programme. June 12, 2001 Canada/Mexico/United States -- Trading Away Rights: The Unfulfilled Promise On the eve of the Quebec summit of Western hemisphere leaders, Human Rights Watch called for the creation of an independent oversight agency to spur remedial action for workers' rights violations."Trading Away Rights: The Unfulfilled Promise of NAFTA's Labor Side Agreement," analyzes the twenty-three complaints filed under the accord since it came into force in 1994. The complaints allege systematic workers' rights violations in all three countries - fourteen in Mexico, seven in the United States, and two in Canada. HRW Index No.: B1302 April 1, 2001 Download PDF Purchase online Canada: Landmine Monitor Report 2000 Key developments since March 1999: Canada continued to exercise a lead role internationally in promoting universalization and effective implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. It played a crucial role in the success of the First Meeting of States Parties and the intersessional work program. Canada contributed .7 million to mine action programs in its FY 1999/2000. The private Canadian Landmine Foundation was established. August 1, 2000 A Ruling Inspired by U.S.Anti-Pornography Activists is Used to Restrict Lesbian and Gay Publications in Canada A campaign to curb pornography has backfired dangerously in Canada, leading not toward its ostensible goal of gender equality, but to a weakening of fundamental liberties for women and gay men. The cornerstone of this campaign is R. v. Butler, an anti-pornography decision issued by the Canadian Supreme Court in 1992 that sets forth a litmus test for determining obscenity and has been used to prosecute a lesbian magazine, to destroy books intended for gay consumers, and to confiscate an array of political and erotic works. HRW Index No.: F601 February 1, 1994
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