Convocation - Equity and Aboriginal Issues Committee/Comité Sur L’Équité Et Les Affaires Autochtones Report
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Convocation - Equity and Aboriginal Issues Committee/Comité sur l’équité et les affaires autochtones Report TAB 4 Report to Convocation January 29, 2015 Equity and Aboriginal Issues Committee/ Comité sur l’équité et les affaires autochtones Committee Members Julian Falconer, Chair Janet Leiper, Chair Susan Hare, Vice-Chair and Special Liaison with the Access to Justice Committee Beth Symes, Vice-Chair Constance Backhouse Peter Festeryga Avvy Go Howard Goldblatt Jeffrey Lem Marian Lippa Barbara Murchie Judith Potter Susan Richer Purposes of Report: Decision and Information Prepared by the Equity Initiatives Department (Josée Bouchard – 416-947-3984) 68 Convocation - Equity and Aboriginal Issues Committee/Comité sur l’équité et les affaires autochtones Report TABLE OF CONTENTS For Decision Human Rights Monitoring Group Request for Interventions............................................. TAB 4.1 For Information ............................................................................................................. TAB 4.2 Professor Fiona Kay, The Diversification of Career Paths in Law report Reports on the 2014 Survey of Justicia Firms Public Education Equality and Rule of Law Series Calendar 2014 - 2015 69 Convocation - Equity and Aboriginal Issues Committee/Comité sur l’équité et les affaires autochtones Report COMMITTEE PROCESS 1. The Equity and Aboriginal Issues Committee/Comité sur l’équité et les affaires autochtones (the “Committee”) met on January 15, 2015. Committee members Julian Falconer, Chair, Janet Leiper, Chair, Susan Hare, Vice-Chair and Special Liaison with the Access to Justice Committee, Beth Symes, Vice-Chair, Constance Backhouse, Howard Goldblatt, Jeffrey Lem, Marian Lippa, Barbara Murchie, Judith Potter and Susan Richer participated. Sandra Yuko Nishikawa, Chair of the Equity Advisory Group, and Julie Lassonde, representative of the Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario, also participated. Staff members Josée Bouchard, Denise McCourtie, Diana Miles, Zeynep Onen, Ekua Quansah, Marisha Roman, Grant Wedge and Sheena Weir also attended. Profession Fiona Kay, Queen’s University, attended to make a presentation. 70 Convocation - Equity and Aboriginal Issues Committee/Comité sur l’équité et les affaires autochtones Report TAB 4.1 FOR DECISION HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING GROUP REQUEST FOR INTERVENTIONS Motion 2. That Convocation approve the letters and public statements in the following cases: a. Lawyer Narges Mohammadi – Iran – letters of intervention and public statement presented at TAB 4.1.1. b. Lawyers Vitaliy Moiseyev and Tatiana Akimtseva – Russian Federation – letters of intervention and public statement presented at TAB 4.1.2 c. Lawyer Dr. Amin Mekki Medani – Sudan – letters of intervention and public statement presented at TAB 4.1.3 Rationale 3. The request for interventions falls within the mandate of the Human Rights Monitoring Group (the “Monitoring Group”) to, a. review information that comes to its attention about human rights violations that target members of the profession and the judiciary, here and abroad, as a result of the discharge of their legitimate professional duties; b. determine if the matter is one that requires a response from the Law Society; and, c. prepare a response for review and approval by Convocation. Key Issues and Considerations 4. The Monitoring Group considered the following factors when making a decision about the ongoing harassment of human rights lawyer Narges Mohammadi: a. there are no concerns about the quality of sources used for this report; b. the Law Society of Upper Canada has intervened fourteen times in respect of human rights issues in Iran, most recently in December 2014, concerning the arrest and harassment of lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh; c. the continued harassment of human rights lawyer Narges Mohammadi by Iranian authorities falls within the mandate of the Monitoring Group. 1 71 Convocation - Equity and Aboriginal Issues Committee/Comité sur l’équité et les affaires autochtones Report 5. The Monitoring Group considered the following factors when making a decision about the assassinations of lawyers Vitaliy Moiseyev and Tatiana Akimtseva: a. there are no concerns about the quality of sources used for this report; b. in the past, the Law Society of Upper Canada has expressed concern to the Russian government on numerous occasions over threats and violence against lawyers in Russia, as well as the imprisonment of lawyers Sapiyat Magomedova and Musa Suslanov; c. the assassinations of lawyers Vitaliy Moiseyev and Tatiana Akimtseva fall within the mandate of the Monitoring Group. 6. The Monitoring Group considered the following factors when making a decision about the arrest and detention of human rights lawyer Dr. Amin Mekki Medani: a. there are no concerns about the quality of sources used for this report; b. the Law Society of Upper Canada has intervened three times in respect of human rights issues in Sudan, most recently in November 2013, concerning the arrest and harassment of lawyer Adam Sharief; c. the arrest and continued detention of human rights lawyer and activist Dr. Amin Mekki Medani falls within the mandate of the Monitoring Group. Key Background ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN – THE ONGOING HARASSMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER AND ACTIVIST NARGES MOHAMMADI Sources of Information 7. The background information for this report was taken from the following sources: a. Gulf Center for Human Rights (“GCHR”);1 b. High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy: Press;2 1 The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) is an independent, non-profit and non-governmental organization that provides support and protection to human rights defenders, such as independent journalists and lawyers, in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as in Iran, Iraq, Yemen and Syria. The GCHR promotes freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. It was founded in April 2011 and has offices in Beirut and Copenhagen. It receives guidance from an Advisory Board composed of regional and international human rights defenders, including academics and lawyers. 2 The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy was created under the Treaty of Lisbon and the holder of the office is charged with coordinating the EU's Common foreign and security policy. 2 72 Convocation - Equity and Aboriginal Issues Committee/Comité sur l’équité et les affaires autochtones Report c. International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran;3 and d. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (“OPHRD”).4 Background 8. The following information has been reported about Narges Mohammadi. 9. Narges Mohammadi is a prominent human rights lawyer and activist,5 as well as spokesperson and Vice-President of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (“DHRC”) in Iran. The history of her harassment by Iranian authorities has been well documented. 10. Reports indicate that, on 14 February 2012, Narges Mohammadi was sentenced to six years in prison for the offences of “propaganda against the Islamic Republic”, “assembly and collusion against national security” and “membership in an illegal group” (the DHRC).6 This was a reduction of her initial sentence of eleven years on the same charges, which was handed down in October 2011.7 The international community believed this to be an unjust persecution of a human rights defender.8 11. It is reported that Narges Mohammadi was unsuccessful in appealing her six-year sentence and was taken into custody on 12 April 2012. According to sources, she “was released on bail on July 31, 2012 for medical reasons, and has since continued to advocate and work for the defence of human rights in Iran.”9 3 The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran is based in New York and is a non-partisan, independent human rights non-profit organization that works in Latin America, the United States, and Europe. The organization, which was founded in 2008, is comprised of lawyers, researchers, and journalists with extensive research and advocacy experience in international organizations and publications. The organization has earned a reputation among journalists and diplomats as one of the major organizations providing relevant, verified, and up-to-date information about the human rights situation in Iran. It routinely cooperates with Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Committee to Protect Journalists. 4 The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders is a joint program of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The OMCT, which is based in Geneva, was created in 1985 and is the main coalition of international non-governmental organizations fighting against torture, summary executions, enforced disappearances and all other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. OMCT has consultative status with ECOSOC (United Nations), the International Labour Organization, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, and the Council of Europe. 5 “Statement by the spokesperson of the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton on the sentencing of Ms. Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian Human Rights Defender”, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy: Press (8 October 2011), online: <http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/124989.pdf> [EU]. 6 “Press Release - Iran: