Amnesty International opposes Religious Laws to settle Family Disputes in Canada

Friends,

Amnesty International has joined Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi and Islamic Scholar Tariq Ramadan in opposing the introduction of private sector, for-profit, religious arbitration as a substitute to the Family Law Court system in Ontario.

Amnesty International in a letter to the Ontario Attorney General says "the use of religious and customary laws in resolving criminal and civil disputes is an issue of concern to Amnesty International globally. We have documented alarming levels of discrimination and violence, particularly for women, in the use of these laws." The letter urges the Ontario Government to "carefully consider this global reality and to the message that will be conveyed globally," if it introduces religious laws.

In the letter AI Secretary General Alex Neve writes, "we are concerned that the use of religious laws in this manner raises a very real risk that fundamental human rights, particularly the rights of women, will be violated."

Alex Neve writes, "the use of religious laws to resolve family and inheritance disputes, effectively establishes a parallel legal system for the parties involved, which operates within, but is separate from the provincial and federal legal systems."

Here are extracts from Alex Neve's letter to the Ontario Attorney General opposing the implementation of the Marion Boyd report. Boyd has recommended the use of part-time, for-profit, self-styled arbitrators, using Sharia law as a substitute for Judges and the Family Law Courts.

Boyd's report has the support of strange bedfellows; the Zionist B'nai Brith, CAIR-Canada and the Canadian Islamic Congress.

Read and reflect

Tarek Fatah
-----------------------------
The Honourable Michael Bryant
Attorney General of Ontario
720 Bay Street, 11th Floor
Toronto, ON
M5G 2K1

June 17, 2005

Dear Attorney General Bryant,

Amnesty International is aware that you are presently considering your government's position regarding the use of religious laws, pursuant to Ontario's Arbitration Act, 1991, to resolve family and inheritance disputes. We are concerned that the use of religious laws in this manner raises a very real risk that fundamental human rights, particularly the rights of women, will be violated. We urge you to ensure that any policies you adopt, or law reform you pursue, makes the protection of basic human rights a priority. Ontario's approach to this issue must not only ensure the protection of rights of women in Ontario; it must serve as a model that other governments should be pressed to follow.

Around the world, women are frequently subjected to serious discrimination with respect to family matters such as marriage, divorce, remarriage, custody of and access to children, division of marital property, and spousal support...In our work to ensure that the protection of women's human rights, we have encountered far too many situations where exercise of cultural, traditional and religious beliefs contribute to discrimination and violence against women.

Governments are obliged to take steps to protect women from such violence and discrimination and ensure that their right to equality is fully protected in the resolution of any family law or inheritance. The fundamental right of women to equality is most comprehensively enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women. This critical international human rights treaty was ratified by Canada in 1981.

Amnesty International is concerned that when the Arbitration Act is used to resolve disputes that involve the internationally recognised human rights of vulnerable or disenfranchised groups, such as the equality of women and the best interests of children, it is imperative that the arbitration process and the system of law that is applied scrupulously uphold those rights.

Amnesty International is concerned that allowing the use of religious laws to resolve family and inheritance disputes, effectively establishes a parallel legal system for the parties involved, which operates within, but is separate from the provincial and federal legal systems. Those individuals and institutions that develop or interpret religious based laws are not formally accountable in the same way as the Ontario government, which is responsible for ensuring compliance with international human rights standards.

When governments allow what is effectively the privatization of the legal processes that will be applied to resolve family and inheritance disputes they may directly or indirectly abdicate their responsibility to live up to this obligation.

At this point in time, Amnesty International is concerned that it has not been adequately demonstrated that religious laws, including Muslim, Jewish and Christian legal codes, can be applied under Ontario's Arbitration Act in a manner that will scrupulously ensure the non-discriminatory treatment of women.

As highlighted above, the use of religious and customary laws in resolving criminal and civil disputes is an issue of concern to Amnesty International globally. We have documented alarming levels of discrimination and violence, particularly for women, in the use of these laws. Canada has played a leadership role internationally in developing international human rights standards to protect the fundamental rights of women; the very rights undermined by some religious and customary law systems.

Effective measures have not yet been put at national or international levels to address this very serious human rights concern. We urge the government of Ontario to carefully consider this global reality and to the message that will be conveyed globally as it considers the question of the scope and nature of the laws that can be used under the Arbitration Act.

Sincerely,


Alex Neve
Secretary General