The following oral statement was submitted for Item 6 Consideration of UPR Reports: Canada at the 55th Session of the Human Rights Council on March 25, 2024.
Mr. President,
Amnesty International welcomes the government of Canada’s commitment to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women.
We also welcome the government of Canada’s intention to advance the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. However, the plan will remain fundamentally flawed until Canada stops criminalizing Indigenous land defenders and respects Indigenous Peoples’ right to free, prior, and informed consent to infrastructure and resource extraction projects affecting their territories.
Amnesty International encourages all levels of government to undertake urgent systemic action to eliminate racism and discrimination against Black, Indigenous and racialized communities by the law enforcement and legal systems, including by fully operationalizing existing strategies.
Mr President, Amnesty remains concerned that most recommendations from the third cycle remained unimplemented. We urge Canada to create and empower a transparent national mechanism for monitoring the implementation of all international human rights conventions to which Canada is party. While we welcome Canada’s commitment to improve engagement with civil society, we urge that collaborative work begins without delay.
Finally, we encourage Canada to implement supported recommendations as soon as possible and to submit a mid-term report on progress towards implementation of these recommendations.
Thank you.
