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Federal Court Dismisses Imprisoned Buddhist's Human Rights Complaint

The Canadian Press, 14 Aug, 2015 01:47 PM

VANCOUVER — Federal court has dismissed an application for judicial review by a Buddhist man serving life in prison for murder who alleges discrimination because he's not being provided a special chaplain.

The man, Kien Tan, was convicted of second-degree murder in February 2011 and incarcerated at Kent Institution in British Columbia.

He complained in December 2012 that Corrections Services Canada was discriminating against him on the basis of religion, because the government has failed to renew contracts with minority-faith chaplains.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission refused to deal with Tan's complaint, saying in August 2013 it didn't have jurisdiction in the matter.

The Commission stated that Tan, who is a Malaysian citizen, is considered not "lawfully present" in Canada because he's not a citizen, visitor, permanent resident and doesn't possess a minister's permit.

The federal court agreed on July 24, after finding a higher court had previously rejected the argument that a non-citizen who's legally imprisoned in Canada has any status under the Human Rights Act.

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