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Action: North America

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15/1/2010
UPDATE: Canada: Polygamist leader suing B.C. government

Winston Blackmore, the leader of a polygamous community in southeastern British Columbia who has admitted to having multiple wives, is suing the provincial government for violating his rights when he was charged last year.

4/12/2009
UPDATE: Canada: Charges against Polygamist leader dropped

On 23 September 2009 the charges against Winston Blackmore and James Oler were dropped and the British Columbia (B.C.) Supreme Court ruled that the second appointed prosecutor's decision not to proceed with a prosecution was final and binding. Therefore, for the past 17 years, polygamy has effectively been legal in British Columbia because the B.C. government has consistently refused to prosecute polygamists fearing that the law (Sec. 293 of the Criminal Code) may be unconstitutional.

13/1/2009
UPDATE: Canada: Canadian polygamist leader arrested
The leader of a polygamous community in western Canada who has admitted having numerous wives and dozens of children was arrested Wednesday [7 Jan. 2009] and charged with practicing polygamy, according to court documents and local officials.
16/7/2008
Canada: Polygamous communities persist on grounds of 'religious freedom'
The polygamous communities of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) - a branch of Mormonism - have openly practiced forced and underage marriages, incest, and abuse for decades. Under the clause of 'religious freedoms', however, this practice has been permitted to continue in the Canadian province of British Columbia and lengthy court cases have been further delayed by repeated appointments of special investigators.
17/1/2006
Canada: Protest against the proposed decriminalization of polygamy
We have received the following call for action from friends in Canada who ask that we write letters to Dr. Martha Bailey protesting her recommendation that the Federal Government of Canada remove Section 293 from the Criminal Code of Canada, thus, decriminalizing polygamy in Canada.
11/9/2005
UPDATE: Canada: McGuinty rejects Ontario's use of Shariah law
Many thanks to all of you who responded to this call for action and made your voices heard.
30/5/2005
UPDATE: Canada: Support Canadian women's struggle against Shari'a Courts
The undersigned Canadian associations call for support in their struggle against the introduction of religious arbitration courts for family matters in Canada.
6/4/2005
Canada: Support Canadian women's struggle against Shari'a Courts
WLUML asks you URGENTLY to send letters of support to Canadian women’s organisations, in particular organisations of women whose families come from Muslim societies, in their struggle to resist the introduction of so-called ‘Shari’a Courts’ in the resolution of family matters in Canada.
15/2/2002
USA: Polygamy related abuses in Utah
A Call for Action from the Child Protection Project in Colorado and the International Human Rights Clinic at the New York University School of Law asking us to urge the U.S authorities to take action against polygamous marriages. Polygamous marriages are practiced on a large scale especially in the State of Utah, but in neighbouring U.S. states as well.
10/10/2001
USA: Alert as USA hints at attacks on other countries
After three days of the U.S. bombing campaign in Afghanistan, the United States has informed the Security Council that attacks against other organisations and other countries may be necessary, a move that would be a drastic stretch of the international law concept of self-defence and would serve to further intensify and escalate the ongoing violence.