Canada bill clears way to sue foreign torturers
OPS_admin | Nov 29, 2009 | Comments 0
An opposition lawmaker unveiled Thursday proposed legislation that would allow victims of torture to sue the perpetrators, including foreign states and officials, in Canadian courts.
“Our present legislation criminalizes torture, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide — the most heinous acts known to humankind,” said opposition Liberal MP and former justice minister Irwin Cotler.
“But Canadian law does not allow a civil remedy for the victims of such horrific acts.
“This legislation will: address the evil of such international crimes; target the impunity of those states and officials that perpetrate these crimes; remove the state immunity that operates to shield the perpetrators of such crimes; and finally allow Canadian victims to secure justice.”
Canada's right-wing government and three opposition parties have yet to state positions on the proposed law, but individual members of all four parties have vowed to support it.
Maher Arar, a dual Canadian-Syrian citizen, claimed he was tortured in Syria after US authorities arrested him in New York in 2002.
Full Story AFP: Canada bill clears way to sue foreign torturers.
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If we don't change our ways soon...
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The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. 
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