Amir Attaran

Amir Attaran
Nationality Iranian
Occupation Professor, University of Ottawa
Known for Canadian Afghan detainee issue

Amir Attaran (Persian: امیر عطاران‎‎) is an Iranian lawyer and law professor. Currently, Attaran is a Full Professor in both the Faculty of Law and the School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa.

Early life and education

Attaran was born in California[1] to immigrants from Iran and has earned a B.A. (UC Berkeley), M.S. (Caltech), LL.B. (UBC) and a D.Phil in cell biology and immunology from the University of Oxford.[2]

Attaran is a naturalized Canadian.

Career

Attaran is an Full Professor of Law.[2]

Attaran is by training both a lawyer (LL.B., Vancouver) and a biologist (D. Phil, Oxford; M.S., Caltech), whose research explores different drivers of human well-being, particularly in the fields of human rights, health, and/or international development. Attaran's current primary research interests include studies on the social and policy determinants of health in areas policy ranging from malaria to AIDS to hypertension; the fight against criminally counterfeit, falsified and substandard medicines; the role of intellectual property and trade law on access to medicines in less developed countries; and the application of human rights law in armed conflict and anti-terrorism.[3]

Attaran is an editorial consultant to The Lancet[4] and chairs the international advisory board of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health[5] as well as the board of directors at CASRAI.[6] Attaran has published in the Globe and Mail, New York Times, The Guardian, and the Literary Review of Canada.[7]

Advocacy

Attaran is extensively involved with malaria advocacy. Cooperating with the organization Africa Fighting Malaria, he has argued publicly for the renewed use of DDT in sub-Saharan Africa to combat malaria. A famous 2004 article authored by Attaran in The Lancet was sharply critical of the WHO for approving ineffective malaria medicines such as chloroquine in a manner tantamount to "medical malpractice".[8] Shortly after that article and a pressure campaign led by Attaran, global policy changed very quickly to make use of artemisinin class medicines.

In 2004, Attaran wrote an opinion piece with Shirin Ebadi, published in the New York Times, arguing that the World Bank should incorporate democratic principles in its funding criteria, and avoid funding dictatorships.

On September 9, 2005, he wrote another opinion piece in the Times criticizing the United Nations for not adopting quantifiable metrics for its Millennium Development Goals.

In February 2007, he received significant media coverage in Canada when he brought forward testimony by Afghan prisoners captured by Canadians and handed to the custody of the Afghan National Army, who said they had later been abused by the ANA.[1][9][10]

Criticism

In 2009, Attaran authored a cover story in the Literary Review of Canada, entitled "The Ugly Canadian", which criticized Canada's human rights record in antiterrorism cases such as that of Omar Khadr, or the handling of military detainees in Afghanistan, both of which were widely considered incidents where serious abuses or torture took place with Canada's knowledge. [11]

In 2013, Attaran filed a complaint with the Nova Scotia Bar Association for comments by Canada's Minister of Justice Peter MacKay that Justin Trudeau had broken the law by using marijuana, as that amounted to a colourable use of the Attorney General's office to insinuate that a private citizen committed a crime, without due process, trial, or finding of guilt (using marijuana, as opposed to trafficking it, is not a criminal offence in Canada). Attaran's complaint was dismissed, as the Bar Association decided that it did not have jurisdiction over lawyers in public office.[12]

On November 27, 2013, Attaran filed a complaint alleging professional misconduct against the lawyers who negotiated a $90,000 cheque between Senator Mike Duffy and the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, Nigel Wright, in exchange for which Senator Duffy agreed to follow talking points from the Prime Minister's Office. Attaran alleged that even if this conduct fell short of bribery at a criminal standard (Senator Duffy was later charged, but acquitted) it "violated legal ethics" for lawyers knowingly to transact funds intended to influence an office holder in the exercise of official duties [13] On October 29, 2014, the Toronto Star reported that Attaran's allegations against the lawyers “were fully investigated and closed.”[14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Amir Attaran on the treatment of Afghan detainees". Globe and Mail. 2007-03-09. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
  2. 1 2 "Common Law Section: Contact: Amir Attaran".
  3. ↑ "Attaran, Amir | Faculty of Law - Common Law Section | University of Ottawa". commonlaw.uottawa.ca. University of Ottawa. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  4. ↑ "http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(07)61795-4/fulltext". The Lancet. thelancet.com. Retrieved 29 August 2016. External link in |title= (help)
  5. ↑ "http://jech.bmj.com/site/about/edboard.xhtml". jech. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Retrieved 29 August 2016. External link in |title= (help)
  6. ↑ "Board of Directors - CASRAI". ref.casrai.org. Casrai. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  7. ↑ "Torture and National Security: The Making of a Social Institution". University of Windsor. University of Windsor. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  8. ↑ http://www.malaria.org/Advocacy%20The%20Beginning/WHO,%20the%20Global%20Fund,%20and%20medical%20malpractice%20in%20malaria%20treatment.pdf
  9. ↑ Oziewicz, Estanislao (2007-02-09). "Activist swamped by abusive messages". Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2007-03-19. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
  10. ↑ "Latest Afghan abuse claims spark cries for O'Connor to resign". CBC News. 2007-04-23. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
  11. ↑ "The Ugly Canadian | Literary Review of Canada". Reviewcanada.ca. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  12. ↑ "MacKay's pot comment OK, regulator says". Theprovince.com. 2013-10-08. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  13. ↑ "Mike Duffy-Nigel Wright payment lawyers have professional misconduct complaints launched against them | National Post". News.nationalpost.com. 2013-11-27. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  14. ↑ "Case closed on lawyers in Mike Duffy-Nigel Wright affair | Toronto Star". 2014-10-29. Retrieved 2014-10-29.

External links

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