Communities seeking justice and accountability for mass atrocities and gross human rights violations often have much in common, and this extends to shared end goals of seeking justice for and protecting the victims, minimizing impunity for the perpetrators, and building community resilience.

Different coalitions are suitable for different purposes and different initiatives, and as a result, Human Rights Action Group is working with a variety of coalitions on a myriad of topics and projects.

Human Rights Action Group is working with the Alliance of Genocide Victim Communities (AGVC), each member of which is from a community that has experienced genocide. Currently, their membership includes representatives from Hazara, Rwandan, Tamil, Tigrayan, Tibetan and Uyghur communities. Human Rights Action Group lawyers work directly with this coalition to craft and pursue strategic legal initiatives. Most recently, we drafted a parliamentary petition for AGVC highlighting some of their shared issues and identifying some of the critical shared asks, which include the initiation of criminal prosecutions against international criminals in Canada, the implementation of targeted sanctions on perpetrators, and the resettlement of refugees. The text of the petition, which was sponsored by MP Ali Ehsassi, can be found here.

Separately, Human Rights Action Group convened the Human Rights Coalition, which is comprised of eight different organizations formed for the purpose of participating in the Federal Foreign Interference Inquiry. The coalition – which consists of Human Rights Action Group, Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, AGVC, Security and Justice for Tigrayans Canada, Tamil Rights Group, Falun Gong Human Rights Group, Canada-Hong Kong Link, Democratic Spaces, and Hidmonna – Eritrean-Canadian Human Rights Group – applied for and was granted standing before the Federal Foreign Interference Inquiry. Lawyers Sarah Teich and David Matas are representing this coalition at the ongoing hearings.

Human Rights Action Group convened yet another coalition – comprised of Human Rights Action Group, Secure Canada, Hidmonna – Eritrean-Canadian Human Rights Group, Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, Northern Justice Watch, AGVC, Tamil Rights Group, Democratic Spaces, Falun Gong Human Rights Group, Security and Justice for Tigrayans Canada, the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims, and Canada-Hong Kong Link – for the limited purpose of participating in the online public consultation on reforming the law on foreign interference. This was the consultation that preceded the introduction and enactment of Bill C-70, An Act respecting countering foreign interference.

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