Amnesty International Report 1995 - Canada

Several members of the Canadian peace-keeping forces stationed in Somalia in 1993 were court-martialled in connection with the death under torture of a Somali teenager. Canada was found to be in breach of its obligations under international human rights law for its extradition in 1991 of a capital murder defendant to the USA where he faced the death penalty. Eight soldiers from the Canadian Airborne Regiment were charged in connection with the death in March 1993 of Shidane Abukar Arone in Belet Huem, Somalia, where they were stationed as part of the UN peace-keeping forces. Shidane Abukar Arone, aged 16, was blindfolded, beaten and tortured to death after he had been caught trying to enter the regiment's compound. One of the soldiers was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for manslaughter at a court martial in March; another was sentenced to 90 days' imprisonment and demotion for negligence; and a third received a reprimand. Others were acquitted or had the charges against them dropped and one case was pending at the end of the year. Appeals by the authorities against the acquittals or seeking stiffer penalties were pending at the end of the year, as were appeals by some of those convicted. In November the government ordered a public, civilian inquiry into the conduct of the Canadian peace-keeping forces during their 1993 mission in Somalia. It said the inquiry – expected to take place after completion of criminal proceedings – would also investigate allegations that officers had ordered the destruction of evidence of human rights abuses against Somalis. Amnesty International had called on the Canadian authorities in May 1993 to hold an independent public inquiry into the case of Shidane Abukar Arone and two shootings of Somalis and to bring those responsible to justice (see Amnesty International Report 1994, Somalia entry). On 26 January the UN Human Rights Committee found that Canada had violated its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) when in 1991 it extradited Charles Ng to California, USA, where he faced a capital murder charge, without seeking assurances that he would not be executed if convicted. At the time of his extradition, California's sole method of execution was the gas chamber, which the Committee said constituted cruel and unusual punishment prohibited under the ICCPR. The Committee expressed concern that Charles Ng was extradited while it was reviewing his case, and asked Canada to do whatever it could to prevent his execution if he was convicted. Amnesty International had appealed to the Canadian Government not to extradite Charles Ng without seeking assurances that he would not be executed (see Amnesty International Report 1992). In January 1994 Amnesty International learned from the Quebec Ministry of Justice that four of the six complaints investigated by the Commissaire à la déontologie policière, a police ethics commissioner, in relation to ill-treatment of Mohawk Indians by members of the Quebec police during a land dispute at Oka in 1990, had been dismissed because of lack of evidence (see Amnesty International Reports 1991 and 1992). The Ministry stated that the complainants had been informed of the findings, but had not pursued their complaints further.