As the one-year anniversary of a lethal heatwave in Western Canada approaches, the British Columbia and Canadian governments need to ensure that support is in place for those most at risk from climate change-exacerbated extreme heat. Last year,…

Human rights organizations and advocates across the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) are launching a 14-Days-of-Action campaign to urge the provincial government to cancel its immigration detention contract with the Canada Border Services…

April marks the beginning of Ramadan for Muslims worldwide, a month of fasting, patience, and compassion that many here in Canada will mark surrounded by friends and family. But for some Canadian-Muslims, there is little to celebrate given the…

An abusive legal complaint has been filed against a member of Iraq’s High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) who sought to investigate allegations of torture of detainees. The complaint was filed on February 3 against Dr. Ali al-Bayati, a member…

Criminal proceedings were launched this week against Lt. Col. Omar Nazar, a senior Iraqi officer accused of abuses connected to a crackdown on protesters in 2019. The case, launched February 22 in the Nasiriyah Investigation Court, is significant…

Religious organizations across Canada urged the federal and provincial governments to get on a path toward abolishing immigration detention following a key interfaith gathering to discuss the issue yesterday. Religious communities have been at the…

Iraqi authorities detained over 1,000 children, some as young as nine years old, last year on national security charges, primarily for suspected links with the Islamic State (ISIS), according to a new United Nations report. Although ISIS attacks have…

On January 28, a person held in immigration detention in the Canadian province of Quebec died after they were found in “medical distress.” The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), which operates the Laval Immigration Holding Center, disclosed the…

Since Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International launched the joint #WelcomeToCanada campaign in October 2021 calling on Canada to stop incarcerating immigration detainees in provincial jails, more than 5,000 people have written to the Government of…

On December 31, Iraqi security forces killed 20 people from a single family in a raid on a home in Jableh district in Babil governorate, south of Baghdad. Security forces carried out the raid after reportedly receiving false information about a…

Canada’s western province of British Columbia is once again reeling from devastation linked to climate change. Following this summer’s deadly heat and rampant wildfires, record rainfall this month has triggered massive flooding, displacing more than…

In the weeks leading up to the October 10 parliamentary elections, Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) promised to take steps to ensure people with disabilities could vote. But on election day, videos circulated suggested IHEC’s…

Controversy swirled last week around the award-winning film Sabaya, which covers the dramatic rescue of abused Yezidi women abducted and enslaved by the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq. At the heart of the issue is how to obtain informed…

Next week, Iraq will hold parliamentary elections, but many people with disabilities are effectively denied their right to vote due to discriminatory legislation and inaccessible polling places. Iraq, plagued by decades of violence and war, has one…

Recent climate change-exacerbated heatwaves in the western Canadian province of British Columbia have left hundreds dead. According to British Columbia’s chief coroner, of the 719 sudden deaths between June 25 and July 1, many were “older individuals…

Today is Canada Day and for many Canadians this national holiday represents an opportunity to finally come together with friends and family as Covid-19 restrictions are eased on social gatherings. But for some, this Canada Day looms heavier than most…

Last week, the Canadian government quietly released a three-year plan to phase out use of the toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos. As Human Rights Watch has reported, the health risks associated with exposure to chlorpyrifos are well-documented. These…

Last summer, a hiring committee unanimously selected Dr. Valentina Azarova to direct the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto’s law school. When the school’s dean stopped Azarova’s hire under disputed circumstances, the…

At the US Climate Summit today, top ten greenhouse gas emitter Canada announced its long-awaited new emissions reduction target for 2030. While Canada has been at pains to present itself as a climate leader and ally alongside the US, with the new…

Where would we be without water to drink, to wash and cook with, and to keep us healthy and alive? Water is essential. But as we mark another World Water Day, many First Nations communities in Canada still don’t have access to safe water. Five…