[Viva] Fw: More than 300 organizations and individuals around the world sign statement opposing criminalization

[James and Ally Keating]

Hello All,
    This e-mail is regarding the same topic as the last posting by Denise, that of the Criminalization of HIV+ People. I thought I would share the letter with all of you. Hope you have a chance to read it, it impacts all of us. Be well all, Ally
                
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Terry Gould 
To: Info 
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2012 7:00 AM
Subject: More than 300 organizations and individuals around the world sign statement opposing criminalization


Dear Supporter: 

 

More than 100 organizations from Canada and around the world have signed on to a statement opposing the criminalization of people living with HIV in Canada. More than 225 individuals from the fields of medicine, public health, law and academia also expressed their support of the statement. Thank you! To view the statement and a complete list of organizational and individual signatories, please see below.

 

The statement was circulated in advance of two landmark cases on HIV non-disclosure that will appear before the Supreme Court of Canada on Wednesday, February 8. The Court will hear the appeals in R. v. Mabior and R. v. D.C. The Supreme Court’s decisions in these two appeal cases will have profound implications not only for people living with HIV, but also for Canadian public health, police practice and the criminal justice system. Please note: A live webcast of the Supreme Court hearing will not be available due to the publication ban in relation to one of the cases. However, the recording of the hearing should be available within a few weeks on the Supreme Court of Canada website at http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/case-dossier/cms-sgd/webcasts-webdiffusions-eng.aspx. We will circulate a link once it is posted.

 

Thank you for your continuing support!

 

For more information and for background information on the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure, visit www.aidslaw.ca/stopcriminalization. 

 

 

 


     Statement

      Énoncé
     

 

      For immediate release
     Également disponible en français
     

 

IN ADVANCE OF LANDMARK SUPREME COURT CASE, SUPPORTERS WORLDWIDE CALL ON CANADA TO STOP CRIMINALIZING PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV

 

Monday, February 6, 2012 – Canadian criminal law requires people living with HIV to disclose their status before engaging in behaviour that involves a "significant risk" of transmitting the virus. Yet people have been charged, and convicted for not disclosing their status, even though their activity did not pose a significant risk of HIV transmission. This is a miscarriage of justice. Further, it has contributed to a climate marked by anxiety, fear, stigma and misinformation that undermines HIV counselling, education and prevention efforts. This puts all Canadians at greater risk.
  

On February 8, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear two landmark cases on this important issue. We, the undersigned, respectfully ask that the Court  use this opportunity to explicitly reconfirm that people living with HIV are not criminals in cases where the threshold of significant risk is not met – including cases where condoms are used or the HIV positive person was being successfully treated with antiretroviral drugs. We ask that the Court instruct lower courts that significant risk must be determined on the basis of the best available scientific evidence, not on assumptions, prejudice or fear.

 

Finally, we call on the provincial and territorial Attorneys General to follow suit and adopt guidelines to limit prosecutions in cases of HIV non-disclosure. These prosecutions are not helpful in putting an end to this epidemic, and the radical over-extension of the criminal law is counter-productive and damaging.

 

- 30 -

Contact:

 

Janet Butler-McPhee

Director of Communications, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network

Telephone: +1 416 595-1666 ext. 228, jbutler at aidslaw.ca 

 

Organizations:

 

Acción Ciudadana Contra el Sida Venezuela (ACCSI)

Action Canada for Population and Development / Action Canada pour la population et le développement

Action positive VIH/sida

African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario (ACCHO) / Conseil des Africains et Caraïbéens sur le VIH/sida en Ontario (CACVO)  

Africans in Partnership Against AIDS (APAA)

Afrihealth Information Projects / Afrihealth Optonet Association

AIDES

AIDS Action Now!

AIDS Committee of Durham Region

AIDS Committee of Guelph and Wellington County

AIDS Committee of Ottawa / Comité du sida d’Ottawa

AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT)

AIDS Community Care Montréal / Sida bénévoles Montréal

AIDS and Human Rights Research Unit, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria

AIDS Network

AIDS New Brunswick / Sida Nouveau-Brunswick

AIDS Programs South Saskatchewan, Inc.

AIDS & Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA)

All Nations Hope AIDS Network

Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP)

L'A.R.C.H.E. de l'Estrie

Asia pacific network of people living with HIV/AIDS (APN+)

Assaulted Women's and Children's Counsellor/Advocate Program

Associação Mulher, Lei e Desenvolvimento (MULEIDE)

Association of Substitution Treatment Advocates of Ukraine (ASTAU)

Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations / Fédération australienne des organisations du SIDA

B.C. Civil Liberties Association

Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP)

Blood Ties Four Directions Centre

Bruce House

Bureau local d'intervention traitant du sida (BLITS)

Bureau régional d'action sida (BRAS Outaouais)

CACTUS-Montréal

Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network / Réseau canadien Autochtone du SIDA 

Canadian AIDS Society / Société canadienne du sida

Canadian Associaiton of Nurses in AIDS Care (CANAC) / Association canadienne des infirmières et infirmiers en sidologie (ACIIS)

Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University

Canadian Harm Reduction Network

Canadian Hemophilia Society / Société canadienne de l'hémophilie

Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation (CWGHR)

Central Alberta AIDS Network Society

Centre des R.O.S.É.S. de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue

Centre for Health Policy and Innovation with the World Health Organization

Centre for the Study of AIDS

Centre Sida Amitié

CF "VIRTUS", Ukraine

Coalition des organismes communautaires québécois de lutte contre le sida (COCQ-Sida)

Coalition Internationale Sida (Coalition PLUS)

Coalition Sida des Sourds du Québec

Corporation Félix Hubert d'Hérelle

Danish AIDS Foundation (AIDS Fondet)

Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe e.V

Development for Peace Education Lesotho

Dopamine

ÉMISS-ère

European Aids Treatment Group (EATG)

Faculté des Sciences de la Santé, Université d'Ottawa / Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa

Fondation d'aide directe — sida Montréal

Fonds de recherche du Québec — Santé (FRSQ)

Fundación Huésped

Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) / Forum mondial sur les HSH et le VIH

Global Network of People living with HIV – North America / Réseau mondial des personnes vivant avec le VIH – Section nord-américaine

Global Network of Sex Work Projects

Groupe d'entraide à l'intention des personnes séropositives itinérantes et toxicomanes (Organisme GEIPSI)

Groupe sida Genève

Hassle Free Clinc

HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO)

HIV Justice Network / Réseau Justice VIH

Intervention Régionale et Information sur le Sida, Estrie (IRIS Estrie)

Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD) / Coalition interagence sida et développement (CISD)

International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW Global) / Communauté internationale des femmes vivant avec le VIH

John Mordaunt Trust

M.A.I.N.S - Bas St. Laurent

M.I.E.L.S-Quebec

Maggie's Toronto Sex Workers Action Project

Maison Plein Cœur 

Maison Re-Né

Médecins du Monde Canada

Most at Risk Populations' Society in Uganda

National AIDS Trust (NAT)

National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS

Observatoire du sida et des sexualités

Ontario AIDS Network

Peel HIV/AIDS Network 

People's Health Movement (South Africa)

Pharmacies Martin Duquette

Pivot Legal Society

Le Planning Familial (MFPF)

Point de Repères

PolitiQ – Queers solidaires

Portail VIH/sida du Québec

Positive Living BC

Positive Women's Network

Positive Vibes Trust

POZCO

Public Personalities Against AIDS Trust

Queensland Positive People

Registered Nurses' Association of Ontartio

Santamaria Fundación

Scarlet Alliance, the Australian Sex Workers Association

School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town

Sero-stigma & Empowerment Resource Organization (SERO)

Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD)

St. Stephen's Community House

Stella, l'amie de Maimie

Tanzania Network of Women living with HIV and AIDS (TNW+) 

Toronto HIV/AIDS Network (THN)

Toronto People With AIDS Foundation

University Research Chair in Forensic Nursing, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa

Victoria AIDS Resource & Community Service Society

Warning

Wezesha

Women and Law In Southern Africa Research and Education Trust

YouthCo

 

Individuals:

 

Yogi Acharya 

Michel Alary

Daniel Alvarez

Joan Anderson

Christian Andreo

Charles Anyali

Jaime Argueta

Gordon B. Asmus

Judith D. Auerbach

Yusef Azad

Patricia Bacon

Charles Barone

Larry Baxter

Stephanie Bell

Marie-Michelle Bellon

Michaela Bender

Jonathan Glenn Betteridge

Louise Binder

Laura Bisaillon

Paul Board

Penny Bradford

Wayne Bristow

Deborah Brock

Marie-Josee Brouillette

Avery Brow

David Buchanan

Scott Buris

James R. Burns

John Caffery

David Cairns

Allison Carter

Lynn Cashubec

Walter Cavalieri

Christa Cepuch

Andre Ceranto

Angela Cescon

Patrick Charrette-Dionne

Michel Charron

Vijaya Chikermane 

Dana Christiaen

Jenn Clamen

Evan Collins

Pierre Côté

François Coutlée

Cathy Crawford

Eszter Csernus 

Joanne Csete

Anne Dagenais Guertin

Richard Dalton

Shabana Dastgeer Goundi

Bomi Daver 

Barry Deeprose

Tashauna Devonshire

Adam Di Fulvio

Giselle Dias

Catherine Dodds

Jeremy Dolgin 

Jolene Donatelli

Greg Downer

Anna Downie

Gary Dowsett

Marie-Claude Drouin

Serge Dufresne

David  Eby

Gilbert Émond

Jackie Esmonde

Juan Jose Estrada Alvarez

Simão Cacumba M Faria

Rosemary Fayant

James            Ferry

Dionne A. Flaconer

Ashley Fleming

Carrie E. Foote

Anna Forbes

Martin French

Samuel R. Friedman

Richard Fung

Marilou Gagnon

Romona Gananathan

Mark Gaspar

Selena Gaus

Sylvain Gauthier

Mercy Gichuki 

Caroline Gilbert

Marie-Eve Giroux

Avvy Go

Ritika Goel

Holly Gomes

Luis Fernando Uribe Gómez

Jennifer Goodfellow

Daniel Grace

Linda Grobovsky

Sofia Gruskin

Ginette Guay

Andy Guise

Paul Gurrieri

Gabriel Gutierrez Garcia

Shazad Hai

Harvey L. Hamburg

Tom Hammond

Samantha Hardeman

Ross Harvey

Marion Heap

Alan Heinrich

Herbert Hernandez

Victoria J. Hoverman

Shazia Islam

Jean Daniel Jacob

Jaselyn Jarvis

David N. Jones

Murray Jose

Ralf Jürgens

Cécile Kazatchkine

Alexandria Keating

Shannon Kelley

Claire Kendall

Rick Kennedy

Paul Kidd

Roy Kilpatrick

Jennifer Kilty 

Gary Kinsman

Stépahanie Lalande

Richard Lalonde

Susan Lauer

Jasmine Lauzon

Danielle Layman-pleet

Bob Leahy

Marc-André LeBlanc

Robert Leckey

Carole            Leclerc

Marc Leclerc

Louis Letellier de St-Just

Nebula Li

Lisa Loader

Dora Londono

Danièlle Longpré

Mona Loutfy

Ian Lumsden

Nima Machouf

Donald Macpherson

Rhonda Major 

Colby Marcellus

Francois Marchand

Shari Margolese

Agustín Martínez

Renée Masching

June Mayo  

Tim McCaskell

John McCullagh

Bradford McIntyre

James            McKye

William McLean

Melissa Medjuck

Dana Milne

Teboho Charles Mohlabi

Luc Morin

Paul Moses

Marie Munoz

Eric Mykhalovskiy

Jamie Myrah

Léo-Paul Myre 

Viviane Namaste

Darren Nickerson

Patrick O'Byrne

David B. Olson

Marvin Olson  

George Onyango

Phyllis Orner

Jacques Ouellette

Marion E. Overholt

Katrina Pacey

Corrine Parmentier

Andrew James Paterson

Shane Patey

Ryan Peck

Katrina Peddle

Amelie Perron

Réjean Piché

Claude Pierre-Longpre

Jennifer Pothier

Elaine Power

Diana Pugliese

Angela Reid 

Enrique Restoy

Louis Reynolds

Stéphane Richard

Thèrése Richer

Germán H. Rincón-Perfetti

Angela Robertson

Kay Roesslein

Ron Rosenes

Ashraf Ryklief

Chris Sanders

Eric Schneider

Erin Seatter

Meena Seshu

Michele Sharp

Ramraajh Sharvendiran 

Ann Silversides

Spencer Small

Lisa Smith

James Sognor

Lucy Stackpool-Moore

Nicci Stein

Leah Stephenson

Vicky St-Laurent

Sean Strub

Romyen Tangsubutra

Jordan Tarini

Kathryn Tittley

Mark W. Tyndall 

Les Umperville

Val Van Clieaf

Christine Vézina

Joshua Wales

Rachel Walker

Isabelle Wallach

Sherri  Walsh

Matthew Weait

Deborah Wells-Moore

Russell Westhaver

Chris White

Jorge Eduardo Wierna

Meghan Wilson

Heather Wojcik

            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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