Punishing flight and disobedience

Sought by the authorities, likely to be denounced by all, fugitive slaves were often returned to their owners and punished for their disobedience. The documents that chronicle these practices in Lower Canada indicate jail sentences and corporal punishment such as whipping.

At the time, the use of corporal punishment and the death penalty were common in the administration of colonial justice, and not exclusively with slaves. Corporal punishment such as flogging can no longer occur in modern Québec. Human rights protect all people from torture and cruel and unusual treatment, including the death penalty.

Every person also has the right to a fair trial, to detention conditions that respect his or her personal condition and to the least severe sentence for the acts committed. These measures guarantee the right to human dignity.