On 2 August, three young men were arrested in Yaoundé and taken to a gendarmerie station where they were beaten, insulted and had their hair partially shaved off. The gendarmes poured cold water on the men, forced them to clean the gendarmerie building, and demanded they “confess” their sexuality. They were released 24 hours later on payment of a bribe. RIGHT TO AN ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING The Boko Haram violence exacerbated the hardships of communities in the Far North region, limiting their access to basic social services, and disrupting trade, farming and pastoralism. Some 1.4 million people in the region, most of them children, faced crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity, and 144 schools and 21 health centres were forced to shut down due to insecurity. An amended version of the Penal Code, passed in July, provided that tenants owing more than two months’ rent could be sentenced to up to three years in prison. About a third of households lived in rented accommodation and almost half of the country’s population lived below the poverty line. DEATH PENALTY People accused of supporting Boko Haram continued to be sentenced to death following unfair trials in military courts; none were executed during the year. The vast majority of cases were prosecuted under a deeply flawed anti-terrorism law passed in December 2014. 1. Right cause, wrong means: Human rights violated and justice denied in Cameroon’s fight against Boko Haram (AFR 17/4260/2016) CANADA Canada Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Governor General David Johnston Head of government: Justin Trudeau Amnesty International Report 2016/17 Some 38,000 Syrian refugees were resettled. A national inquiry into violence against Indigenous women and girls was launched. Concerns persisted about the failure to uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the face of economic development projects. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS In January, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled that systemic underfunding of First Nation child protection services constituted discrimination. The government accepted the ruling but failed to bring an end to the discrimination. In May, the government announced unconditional support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; by the end of the year it remained unclear how it would collaborate with Indigenous Peoples to implement that commitment. In May, a provincially funded report confirmed that mercury contamination continued for the Grassy Narrows First Nation in the Province of Ontario. In July, the government issued permits allowing construction of the Site C dam in the Province of British Columbia to proceed, despite unresolved court cases concerning obligations under a historic treaty with affected First Nations. In October, the government of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador agreed to measures to reduce risks to Inuit health and culture from the Muskrat Falls dam, following hunger strikes and other protests. In November, the British Columbia government acknowledged the need to address the impact of the resource sector on the safety of Indigenous women and girls. WOMEN’S RIGHTS In March, the government committed to promoting the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls through its international development programme. In September, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was launched. Its mandate did not explicitly include police actions or measures 109