Read our Statement of Claim against the Canadian Government

Ottawa, November 6: Representing two Palestinian-Canadian plaintiffs, the Legal Centre for Palestine, alongside a coalition of Canadian legal advocates, has today commenced proceedings in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against the Attorney General of Canada, alleging Canada‘s failure to act to prevent genocide is a violation of its legal obligations under the Genocide Convention (1948) and of the plaintiffs’ rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

The plaintiffs, Hany el Batnigi and Tamer Jarada, have experienced unimaginable loss due to Israel’s year-long assault on the civilian population of Gaza. As relief, the plaintiffs seek a declaration that Canada has a duty to take all measures within its power to prevent genocide, and that Canada has violated that duty. They also seek a declaration that Canada’s acts and omissions have violated the plaintiffs’ Charter rights to security of the person (section 7) and to equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination (section 15).

They are represented by the ‘Coalition for Canadian Accountability in Gaza’, which consists of lawyers from the Legal Centre for Palestine (LCP), the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) – Canada, Hameed Law and Dimitri Lascaris. The Coalition is supported by Justice 48, and ICJP’s central office in London, UK.