[Org4j-announce] Justice for Deepan - Human Rights Day

[Organizing 4Justice]

Commemorate Human Rights Day with Justice for Deepan!



Dear friends & allies,



Today is International Human Rights Day.  This year’s Human Rights Day
specifically commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the Vienna
Declaration with a “commitment to intensify our efforts to fulfill our
collective responsibility to promote and protect the rights and dignity of
all people everywhere”. As stated by Amnesty international in their letter
of support to us, the heavy handed action that this government has taken to
render Deepan stateless is in direct violation of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights to which Canada is a signatory.



Keeping this in mind, we reflect on the very human rights abuses that
Deepan and many brothers and sisters have been subject to by the Canadian
state.



Deepan's life has been drastically altered by the acts of the Canadian
government in their attempt to deport Deepan to India and declare him a
non-Canadian.  This callous action has made life precarious and nightmarish
for Deepan. He lives without access to basic health care and social
services, lives under restrictive conditions, and, until recently, had no
ability to work without a permit. Further, Deepan lives in the frightening
and precarious nature of anticipating his removal from Canada on a daily
basis.



Prior to April 2013, Deepan spent 36 months in detention, fully serving his
time for a conviction that stemmed from his youth. During his time, like
many of our allies in incarceration, his human rights were violated on
multiple occasions.  He was subject to solitary confinement, forced to live
in severely over-crowded cells with other inmates, denied food on numerous
occasions and transferred from provincial, federal and immigration holding.
We highlight this to express deep solidarity with all those incarcerated,
and shed light on the countless human rights abuses and violations faced by
all those caged within the prison industrial complex.



We also urge you to take time to reflect on and condemn the racist policy
of double punishment which, as in the situation of Deepan, impacts
thousands of incarcerated individuals.  We know that double punishment is
often the direct result of racial profiling. This targeting of racialized
and immigrant communities puts a disproportionate number of people of
colour in the criminal justice system. This can lead to deportation when
people don’t have citizenship. Double punishment, like the rest of
immigration law, treats certain people as ‘undesirable’ or ‘disposable’,
throwing them out of the country when it no longer has use for them. They
are often sent, with few resources, to places where they have little or no
connections. We say no to double punishment and, in contrast, uphold the
inviolable dignity of all immigrants.


*In reflecting on these realities, we urge you to mark today’s Human Rights
Day, by taking the following steps...*



1. Please ask everyone you know to visit www.justicefordeepan.org and sign
our Statement to Support Deepan.   Nearly 600 people have already signed
it, including Amnesty International, Canada’s largest union, major civic
and human rights groups and multiple other organizations across the
country.   Please ask your family, friends, co-workers, your union & local,
group to endorse the Statement to Support Deepan! Sign the statement here: [
http://www.justicefordeepan.org/?page_id=108]



2. Follow us by following us on:

   Twitter at
[https://twitter.com/Justice4Deepan]<https://twitter.com/Justice4Deepan%E2%80%8E>

   Facebook at    [https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForDeepanBudlakoti]

   YouTube at     [http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqFnvWR8dNmVFTkNrU0T3Dg]

   Email list - sign up for updates by emailing
justicefordeepan at gmail.com


3. Make our latest memes go viral!  Memes are an easy way to transfer
simple information through photos.  We will be releasing more in the coming
months! Stay in the loop!



4. We need your financial support! If you donated in the past through
pay-pal, a cheque or our Indiegogo campaign, we thank you for your
generosity and solidarity. You may want to consider signing up as a monthly
sustaining donor. Any amount helps to support our work, covering campaign
expenses, supporting legal developments and other related expenses.

[http://www.justicefordeepan.org/?page_id=116]


5. If you are in the news media field, or have contacts who are, please
help push to get coverage of this story out there.

[http://www.justicefordeepan.org/?page_id=149]


[image: cleardot.gif]



Thank you for your support and solidarity!



Justice for Deepan



www.justicefordeepan.org

Phone: 613.216.1295 *Toll-free: 866.853.9707 <866.853.9707>* Fax:
613.421.2208

Email: justicefordeepan at gmail.com
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