We are a small group of dedicated advocates, criminalized people, and community members working to end carceral violence and ensure the rights of incarcerated persons throughout Canada. We believe in the inherent dignity of all persons and want a society that upholds human rights, transformative justice, and collective community responsibility. To begin, the commission started by focusing on ending solitary confinement and segregation by holding the government accountable to abolish it entirely, ensuring transparency and independent community-led oversight of jails and prisons, supported criminalized persons, and speaking out publicly in the media to reinforce recommendations made by people with lived experience, the SIU Implementation Advisory Panel, human rights organizations, prison justice groups. and international bodies. The commission meets once a month and is currently in the exploration phase, and plans to host community discussions soon to engage actively with all people impacted by prison abuse and violence.
Current priorities:
- Developing a statement of purpose (taking into account possible limitations, F/P/T scope, nuanced views, etc.), goals and activities, generating a list of collaborators and supporters, and
- Reviewing government reports, research, and community reports on solitary confinement to find avenues to abolish it across Canada.
- Value for money audit for costs spent on federal penitentiaries
- Writing submission for the United Nations Human Rights Committee
- Networking and sharing key information to identify opportunities across non-profits and community groups
- Exploring corrupt practices and deaths in custody within provincial and federal prisons
Please reach out to us if you want to get involved at naacj@naacj.org.
Relevant articles:
charlatan.ca/open-letter-solitary-confinement/
https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/resources/newsroom/statement-canadian-prisoners-continue-experience-conditions-solitary-confinement
https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2024-siu-iap-sltry-cnfnmnt/index-en.aspx