Lighting the candle for human rights

By NADINE BARNES
Published Wed. Dec 5 - 6:38 AM in the Chronicle Herald

Picture a frightened woman with two small children entering the squat, brown building of Canada Customs at a border crossing between Canada and the U.S. Her shoulders slump with fatigue. Her eyes dart about with fear. She jumps as the door slams shut behind her. She shushes the whimpering toddler perched on her hip and reaffirms her grip on her older child’s hand. She approaches the counter, her heart hammering, praying for things to go well. She is about to be disappointed.

Under the 2004 Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the U.S., the Customs agent will have to turn her back to the U.S., where she has less hope of receiving protection. The agreement stopped refugees from claiming asylum in Canada – where refugee laws are more favourable than in the U.S. – if they enter Canada from a country considered to be a safe haven for refugees. Since the U.S. has more international flights than does Canada, many refugees land there before entering here.

But with International Human Rights Day just around the corner, a 124-page ruling by Justice Michael Phelan of the Federal Court of Canada, that has struck down the Safe Third Country Agreement, couldn’t have come at a better time. According to the ruling, the U.S. does not meet international refugee protection requirements, nor does it respect international conventions against torture.

Justice Phelan also faulted the Canadian government for neglecting to review U.S. status. Given American policy to deport individuals to countries where they are at risk of torture, to deny protection to women who are afraid of domestic violence, and to exclude many persons from having refugee status for a wide range of reasons, Justice Phelan found "that the Governor-in-Council acted unreasonably in concluding that the United States complied with Article 33 of the Refugee Convention and Article 3 of the Convention Against Torture."

The case against the government of Canada was brought by the Canadian Council for Refugees, the Canadian Council of Churches, Amnesty International and John Doe.

Refugees are among the most vulnerable people in the world. They are defined as those who fear for their lives or safety in their home country, where authorities are unable to provide them with effective protection, or indeed are the source of their fears. I echo the words of Karen Hamilton of the Canadian Council of Churches, who asks Ottawa not to rush to appeal the decision, but to take this opportunity to allow Canada to reassert its position as a staunch defender of human rights.

I also invite everyone to support human rights by joining Amnesty’s annual International Human Rights Day celebration, Write for Rights, to be held Dec. 9, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., at Just Us! Café at 5896 Spring Garden Rd., Halifax. The goal for the day is to write 500 letters to Light a Candle for Human Rights by requesting the release of people who have been wrongfully detained, and to influence world leaders to protect individuals or people whose human rights have been denied.

Amnesty will provide all the information you need to write a letter. Just Us! will provide a free coffee or tea for each donation to Amnesty International. (We hope to raise enough to pay for the postage for the letters.)

I hope that by this time next year, Justice Phelan’s ruling has been put in place and refugees have a better chance at a safe future in Canada.

Nadine Barnes is an Amnesty International volunteer and co-ordinator of Halifax Action Circle’s Write for Rights event.