Bill C-551

SUMMARY

This enactment strengthens Canada's protection against torture by making it a criminal offence to use information known to be derived from torture; prohibiting Canadian officials from handing over prisoners to be tortured at home or abroad; creating a government watch list of countries known to engage in torture and providing for those countries to be treated accordingly in matters relating to information-sharing and deportation and extradition from Canada; placing a duty on officials to report knowledge of torture to the proper authorities; and establishing diplomatic protocols for the immediate repatriation of any Canadian citizen at risk of torture abroad, without undermining our ability to investigate and prosecute those citizens in Canada.