Amnesty International
Community Events
Group 27, Victoria

  Group 27
  P.O. BOX 5217 Stn. B
  Victoria BC V8R 6N4
  Tel./Fax: 361 4874

Q: What do we celebrate?
A: On 10 December 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Group 27 invited all to light a candle for human rights and take home material for writing appeals, and to sign the "Sisters in Spirit" petition.

Look up the Write-a-thon site with testimonies of participants in the 2004 campaign.

Public Meeting

Child Soldiers

Tuesday, 12 April 2005
at 7.30 p.m.
on 1831 Fern Street

Survey shows child soldiers used in almost every armed conflict

"They give you a gun and you have to kill the best friend you have. They do it to see if they can trust you. If you don't kill him, your friend will be ordered to kill you. I had to do it because otherwise I would have been killed. That's why I got out. I couldn't stand it any longer." Bernardo, aged 17, speaking to Human Rights Watch. He joined a paramilitary group in Colombia as a street child, aged seven.

Boys and girls under the age of 18 have fought in more than 20 of the world's major conflicts since 2001. Some fight with armed groups, some with government forces. Child fighters have been on the front line in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Myanmar. In other countries, governments have made informal use of children as informants, spies or collaborators, including Israel, Indonesia and Nepal. ...

read on in The Wire, November 2004, AI Index: NWS 21/010/2004

...more details to be announced

Previous Event about International Law Achievements, conflicts, tasks Where does Canada stand? How am I concerned?

More states sign up to ICC

In September, Burundi, Liberia and Guyana ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC can prosecute crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. However, AI is concerned that Liberia has signed an unlawful agreement with the USA, agreeing not to surrender US nationals accused of such crimes to the ICC.

Sources

International Convention on Intervention and State Sovereignty

Address by Prime Minister Paul Martin at the United Nations

Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

UNHCHR