Publications and Research

CCVT Declaration on Terrorism and the Protection Needs of Survivors of Torture

Preamble

We are still in a state of shock as a result of the terrorist crimes of September 11th, 2001 in USA and the subsequent war in Afghanistan. We are also extremely concerned that this atmosphere of war and terror may erode the foundations of our democracy and compromise our civil liberties and the humanitarian and compassionate traditions that we are so justly proud of.

CCVT

Throughout its 25 years of history, the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture (CCVT) has worked for the rehabilitation and protection of victims of torture and war, many of whom come to Canada from across the globe. CCVT gives hope after the horror.

Terrorism and Torture

Based on our 25 years of experience, we know that torture and terrorism are deeply interconnected. Both practices act as sinister short cuts to overpower, to intimidate and to leave victims with everlasting trauma. Since its inception, CCVT has worked to bring torturers, terrorists, war criminals and perpetrators of crimes against humanity to justice through the use of national and international legal instruments. We reiterate our total commitment to the international instruments Canada has ratified - instruments such as International Humanitarian Law (4 Geneva Conventions of 1949), Principles of Medical Ethics (1982), Convention Against Torture (1994), and the Rome Statute of the International Court (November 1998 and July 1999).

Resolution

We therefore call upon the Canadian government, NGOs, intergovernmental agencies and the public at large to:

1. Condemn torture and terrorism as crimes against the whole of humanity.

2. Bring to justice the perpetrators of such acts through the application of national and international law.

3. Ensure that the campaign against terrorism go side by side with a tireless struggle for global peace. We must move from a culture of fear to a culture of peace and non-violence at all levels of our society.

4. Prevent the present atmosphere of fear and outrage from eroding the foundations of our democracy, civil liberties as well as our humanitarian and compassionate traditions.

5. Pay due attention to the economic, social, political and cultural roots of violence at the national and global levels.

6. Put proactive policies and measures in place to protect refugees and immigrants as well as Canadian ethnic and religious minorities from harassment and from being used as scapegoats. Ethnic profiling should not be tolerated.

7. Revise Bill C-36 (Canada's anti-terrorist legislation) in the spirit of the protection of human and individual rights, civil liberties and non-discrimination:
   • request that an independent parliamentary officer or agency review the secrecy provisions.
   • propose that the courts play a role in overseeing the ministerial discretion to secretly suspend the Access to Information and Privacy Act.
   • incorporate a sunset clause on the provisions of preventative arrest and on investigative hearings.
   • incorporate a narrower definition of terrorist activity to ease fears that the law could be misused against illegal strikes or protests, and a non-discrimination clause to signal it is not intended to target ethnic or racial groups.

8. Reiterate torture and terrorism as crimes against humanity that must not be allowed in any guise, for any reason and under any exceptions or circumstances whatsoever.

9. Publicly confirm the absolute and non-derogable right of every human person not to be returned to torture.