Category Archives: Canada

Making the Invisible Visible: The Case for Truth Commission on Poverty in Canada

Posted on March 3, 2023 by Mark Kersten

Poverty remains as a human rights violation remains an under-explored subject, particularly in Western states like Canada. Within the field of transitional justice, the issue has likewise received less attention than violations of civil and political rights. In a new … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Social and Economic Rights, Transitional Justice, Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, Truth Commission | Leave a comment

Universal Jurisdiction in Ukraine: States should commit to using their own courts to address Russian atrocities

Posted on October 17, 2022 by Mark Kersten

A version of the following article was originally written for the The Global Parliamentary Alliance Against Atrocity Crimes (GPAAAC), an international network of parliamentarians and experts working to ensure democracies act more forcefully in preventing and responding to mass atrocity … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, International Criminal Justice, Russia, Ukraine, Universal Jurisdiction, War crimes | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Rebraiding Frayed Sweetgrass: The Spectacle of Residential School Exhumations and Invisible Anti-Indigenous Atrocity Violence in Canada 

Posted on August 29, 2022 by Mark Kersten

Alyssa Couchie and Randle DeFalco join JiC for this guest post on atrocity violence against Indigenous people and communities in Canada. Alyssa is a JD Candidate at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law and … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, International Criminal Justice, Residential Schools, Transitional Justice | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Money Laundering is predicated on Human Rights Violations. It should be treated as such.

Posted on June 25, 2022 by Mark Kersten

A version of the following was article was originally published at the Globe and Mail.  The long-awaited Cullen Commission’s final report into money laundering in British Columbia, released this month by B.C. Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Austin F. Cullen, was as devastating … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Human Rights, Money Laundering | Leave a comment

States and the ICC must avoid creating a two-tier justice system

Posted on April 7, 2022 by Mark Kersten

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has been asked – by forty-one states – to investigate allegations of mass atrocities committed in Ukraine. That’s no easy task. Nor is it cheap. In a show of unprecedented support for the ICC, a number of … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, International Criminal Court (ICC), International Criminal Justice, Israel, Russia, Syria, Ukraine | 3 Comments

Canada sends Investigators to Help the ICC out in Ukraine. Will it do any good?

Posted on April 5, 2022 by Mark Kersten

Canada has announced that it is sending a team of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers to support the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its investigation into war crimes in Ukraine. The move is unprecedented. No Canadian government has ever … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Funding, International Criminal Court (ICC), International Criminal Justice, Russia, Ukraine, Universal Jurisdiction | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

States that Neutered the Crime of Aggression have a Special Responsibility to Address War Crimes in Ukraine

Posted on March 8, 2022 by Mark Kersten

In an unprecedented move, thirty-nine states have requested that the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigate atrocities committed in Ukraine. It is a welcome and important development. But one crime that the ICC will not be investigating is the crime of … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Crime of Aggression, France, International Criminal Court (ICC), Rome Statute, Russia, Ukraine, United Kingdom | Tagged | Leave a comment

Calling COVID-19 vaccine mandates a ‘crime against humanity’ isn’t just wrong, it’s dangerous

Posted on February 5, 2022 by Mark Kersten

Among the many claims made by demonstrators converging on Ottawa for the “Freedom Convoy” is that the Canadian government’s vaccine mandate constitutes a “crime against humanity”. For over a decade, I have studied mass atrocities and worked with people in … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Crimes against humanity, Indigenous Peoples | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Justice for Indigenous Peoples in Canada: All Options on the Table, including Universal Jurisdiction

Posted on July 14, 2021 by Mark Kersten

Melissa McKay joins JiC for this guest post on responses to the Residential School atrocities committed in Canada. Melissa is an international criminal lawyer, with experience at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and Extraordinary Chamber in the Courts … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Guest Posts, Indigenous Peoples, International Criminal Court (ICC), International Criminal Justice, Universal Jurisdiction | Tagged | 2 Comments

Canada’s Pursuit of Syria over Torture May be Symbolic. But Here’s Why It Matters

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Mark Kersten

Last month marked the tenth anniversary of the brutal civil war in Syria. The number of atrocities committed over that span is bewildering. In all probability, every single human rights violation and international crime enshrined in international law has been … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, International Court of Justice (ICJ), Syria, The Netherlands, Torture | 1 Comment