UN experts warn Canada lacks proper oversight, safeguards for people behind bars

 The Canadian Press   A panel of United Nations experts say Canada is failing to ensure equitable justice, citing trial delays and problems with initiatives meant to lower the rate of Indigenous people behind bars. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention also says there needs to be a cap on how long Ottawa can detain foreigners without charge. And it notes the Canada Border Services Agency lacks any official oversight body, despite border guards interacting with some of the most vulnerable people in Canada. Ottawa can detain foreigners without charge when it can’t identify them, or when immigration officers suspect they won’t show up to hearings that determine whether they can stay in Canada. The panel visited four provinces just as Ottawa announced plans to use federal prisons for…

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