|
Human Rights Sites |
 |
| United
Nations |
This
is the U.N’s. official website. To start looking for particular
documents dealing with human rights and the mandates of the
various U.N. bodies that deal with Human Rights go to www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/spechr.htm |
| Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |
This
is the site of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights. On this page you can find the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, The International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, the Standard Minimal Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners
and the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. |
| Human
Rights Watch |
This
is the website of Human Rights Watch and focuses on the state
of prisons worldwide. It is an excellent site for reviewing
international developments. Though historically the organization
has focused on conditions outside of North America, in recent
years it has issued a number of reports dealing with human rights
abuses in U.S. prisons. So far, conditions in Canadian prisons
have not been subject to scrutiny by Human Rights Watch. The
site is, nevertheless, a useful resource for information on
prison conditions in other countries. |
| Amnesty
International |
This
is the site of Amnesty International. Amnesty has issued many
reports dealing with prison conditions around the world, although
they have not conducted any investigations in Canadian prisons.
Recent reports which deal with conditions in the United Kingdoms
Special Security units are, however, of relevance to conditions
in Canada’s SHU and segregation units (see United Kingdom,
Special Security Units; Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
01/03/1997). This report sets out the various UN standards that
are relevant to the conditions in these units. Amnesty’s
2001 Annual Report in its section on the Americas contains a
chapter on conditions in U.S. prisons (www.aiusa.org/annualreport/).
|
| B.C.
Civil Liberties Association |
This
is the site of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, the oldest
and most active civil liberties organization in Canada. In the
area of prisoners rights, the Associated funded an intervention
in support of prisoner’s voting rights in the case of Sauve
v. The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada:
http://www.bccla.org/factums.html
The site also contains links to other civil liberties organizations,
including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Liberty
(National Council for Civil Liberities, U.K.). |
| American
Civil Liberties Union |
This
is the prisoners rights section of the American Civil Liberties
Union website. One of the links on this page is to the ACLU
National Prison Project. This was founded in 1972 and “seeks
to create constitutional conditions of confinement and strengthen
prisoners rights through class action litigation and public
education”. For many years its Executive Director was Al
Bronstein, one of the most influential legal advocates for prisoners
rights in the U.S. The project publishes a quarterly journal
which is available by subscription. The website also contains
the text of the ACLU Prisoner’s Rights Position Paper. |
