NCCM’s Written Submission to Canada’s Third Universal Periodic Review
The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) warmly welcomed the opportunity to provide written recommendations to the Government of Canada as it prepared its response to United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council’s draft Working Group report and recommendations on Canada’s third Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This written submission was submitted to the government in July 2018 following a number of in person consultations with other civil society groups. The submission details which recommendations made by UN Member States the NCCM believes Canada should prioritize in its response.
The NCCM submission focuses on recommendations that align with our mandate – i.e. those focused on racial and religious discrimination and equality. Within this broad theme, we urge the Government of Canada to take action to eradicate racism and religious bias from correctional services, end the over-policing and ‘securitization’ of Muslim and Black communities (including ending the practice of ‘carding’ or random street checks which unfairly target racialized groups), and improve data collection and reporting on hate crimes and hate incidents nation-wide.
Ultimately, we got the result we were looking for. NCCM made 12 recommendations on the above issues in total, and the Federal Government accepted all 12. This is a significant win for the NCCM and for Canadian Muslim advocacy!
Read NCCM’s full UPR submission here.