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(Will be updated in early 2025)
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L'ETPS -- |
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2017 - 2020: Federal Court ruling and appeal by the government
In July 2017, the Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International, and the Canadian Council of Churches brought a second legal challenge of the designation of the USA as a safe third country, along with individual plaintiffs who had sought asylum in Canada. The first legal challenge to the STCA, brought by the same organizations in 2007, was successful at the Federal Court level, but was dismissed on appeal on technical grounds. However the finding that the US was not a safe third country was not overturned (see 2017 STCA legal challenge document below). On July 22, 2020, Federal Court justice Ann Marie McDonald ruled that the STCA was invalid (unconstitutional) because it violates the right to liberty, and security of the person as guaranteed under article 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. See Justice McDonald's full decision HERE. The Canadian government appealed the ruling in August 2020. |
One of the applicants of the legal challenge, Nedira Jemal Mustefa, had been “immediately imprisoned” after being returned to the United States. She was detained for one month, including one week in solitary confinement which she described as a “a terrifying, isolating and psychologically traumatic experience.” Ms. Mustefa lost 15 pounds because her dietary requirements as a Muslim were not respected. She was “detained alongside people who had criminal convictions” and held in “freezing cold” conditions in which prisoners were “not allowed to use blankets during the day.” She “felt scared, alone, and confused at all times” and “did not know when [she] would be released, if at all.” (from the Briefing Note on the court decision from the Canadian Council for Refugees and other parties to the case - see below) |
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BnB Briefing on the STCA (2018):
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2017 Legal challenge to the STCA - Submission to the Federal Court:
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Letter to Ministers & Briefing Note on Federal Court STCA Ruling from Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International and Canadian Council of Churches (29-07-2020):
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2018 BnB Letter to the Prime Minister:
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2020 BnB Letter to the Prime Minister:
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