Mohandas Gandhi You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind
Benjamin Franklin They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security
A week of the military commission trial in the case of the United States vs Omar Khadr has just wrapped up. And no one would have ever predicted where we’ve ended up.
When the week began, there were a multitude of doubts as to whether things were going to go ahead. It was not certain whether [...]
It is not my role to “second-guess” military authorities here as to the security measures they feel need to be put in place.
With these words, Judge Patrick Parrish, who is presiding over the military commission hearings and trial in the case of Omar Khadr, starkly illustrated the fundamental concern that the proceedings at Guantánamo [...]
Nuclear disarmament is back on the international agenda where it belongs, thanks to the efforts of U.S. President Barack Obama who is determined to earn the Nobel Peace Prize he’s already received. Obama understands that nuclear warheads are a threat to that most fundamental of human rights, the right to live. Nuclear weapons are indiscriminate [...]
Ottawa has many questions to answer about Canada’s policies concerning the transfer of detainees in Afghanistan. The answer to the most important of those questions — what a rights-respecting transfer policy should look like — could guide other governments struggling with the same issues. Canada is not alone in facing controversy over its transfer policy. [...]
Since 9/11, the question of Canadian complicity in torture has bedeviled the Ottawa security intelligence community. Unlike Canada’s closest ally, the United States, Canadian officials have never been implicated directly in the use of torture, but even hints of complicity and cooperation with those who do torture – including, unfortunately, our American allies under the [...]
Torture is not a country specific phenomenon. It is far too comfortable to say that Syria, or China or Saudi Arabia or Cuba or Bulgaria can be labeled as states that use torture routinely as part of their national policies. As recent history has demonstrated, the fellow travelers on the torture road are numerous and [...]
When Canada’s Parliament resumes in just over two weeks time, there is expected to be considerable debate about two issues that have become emblematic of the worrying ways that human rights have been undermined and sold short in the name of security: the fate of Omar Khadr and the handling of prisoners apprehended by Canadian [...]
How wars end is as varied as war itself. Victory, defeat, cease fire, stalemate, exhaustion and stand-down have all been associated with the ending of past wars, and these mechanisms are as current today as they have been throughout history.
In the last century, the two “great wars” ended with a negotiated settlement [...]
“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.” (s. 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms)
“Anyone whose rights or freedoms, as guaranteed by this Charter, have been infringed or denied may apply to [...]
The years are certainly passing for some of the key milestones in the debate about security and human rights that has raged over the past decade. As such, as we begin a new decade it is certainly worth taking stock of where we stand. Human rights have, without a doubt, taken a debilitating hit in [...]
