Canadian-Muslim Civil Liberties Association

Canadian Rights and Liberties Federation [ Canadian Federation of Civil Liberties and Human Rights Associations ]

Canadian Civil Liberties Association

So we think that the government should submit itself to that review and not invoke confidentiality or national security to elude that responsibility so that the respect for Canadian values and civil liberties will be maintained.

The U.S. had what is called the Patriot Act, which infringed civil liberties there, and it was fought diligently by the civil liberties associations and others in the U.S. We eventually had the original security certificate before Bill S-7, which is now amending it more strongly, despite the fact that we know it was not needed to solve some of the issues we have had to deal with because it con ...[+++]tained a sunset clause.

K. whereas the rule of law, as one of the fundamental principles of the EU, implies not only respect for democracy and human rights, but also compliance with international law, the assurance that the law is fairly enforced and applied, as well as the independence and impartiality of the judiciary; whereas these conditions are not met in Russia, where the authorities fail to uphold the rule of law and to respect fundamental rights, and where political rights, civil liberties and media freedom have deteriorated in recent years; whereas legislation has recently been passed with ambiguous provisions that are used to p ...[+++]lace further restrictions on opposition and civil-society actors; whereas the recent adoption of the law criminalising so-called ‘homosexual propaganda’ has led to an increase in homophobic and anti-LGBTI violence and hate speech, which the authorities have failed to address; whereas, following the illegal annexation of Crimea, respect for human rights, including freedom of expression, assembly and association, has suffered a serious deterioration in the peninsula, the Crimean Tartar community being particularly affected;

Commends Indonesia for the role played by it in steering the process of the Bali Forum for Human Rights at regional level; is concerned, however, by the inconsistency of Law 8/1985 and the new Law on Mass Organisations 17/2013 (repealing the former Law on Associations 8/1985) on civil organisations (the ‘Ormas Bill’), which, despite the stated purpose of ensuring tolerance and preventing violence against society groups, if not revised to conform with international human rights standards, risks imposing unnecessary and sometimes onerous administrative, legal and financial res ...[+++]trictions on the activities of non-governmental organisations, thereby significantly undermining the capacities of civil society to work in Indonesia and restricting freedom of association, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of thought, conscience and religion; believes in this regard that the annual EU-Indonesia Human Rights dialogue is the appropriate platform to address such concerns;