IHRP News

The IHRP, along with the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights, the Native Women's Association of Canada, the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, and the DisAbled Women's Network Canada, has filed a submission with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigneous Peoples in advance of his official visit to Canada from October 7 to 15. This submission builds on the earlier work of the IHRP and its partners on human rights violations in Canada's federal prison system.

Today the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) launched on its website the Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Legislative Database, a collaboration between the ICJ and the IHRP. The Legislative Database is the result of a year-long pilot project. Students in the 2012-2013 SOGI Working Group, led by Azeezah Kanji (3L) and Hayley Ha (2L), gathered and analyzed laws from 24 countries from all regions of the world. Each country is introduced with a legislative overview prepared by the student researchers.

The UN Human Rights Council undertakes its Universal Periodic Review of Canada's human rights record this Friday, and it will have before it the IHRP's "shadow report" highlighting ongoing rights violations in Canada's federal prison system. The Universal Periodic Review allows for an assessment of the human rights record of every UN member state, once every four years. As part of its 2009 review of Canada, the Human Rights Council recommended that Canada "closely monitor the situation of . . .

The Spring 2013 edition of the IHRP's Rights Review was released today, featuring articles on issues ranging from human trafficking and honor killings, to human rights in conflict zones. Congratulations to our student contributors and student editorial board. 

Read the Spring 2013 edition here.