Sen. Harder won't testify in Abdelrazik case, but several other parliamentarians will
CTV 24/08/2018 - The Sudanese-born Abdelrazik, 56, arrived in Canada from Africa as a refugee in 1990. He became a Canadian citizen five years later. He was arrested during a 2003 visit to Sudan to see family. While in custody, Abdelrazik was interrogated by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service about suspected extremist links. He claims he was tortured by Sudanese intelligence officials during two periods of detention, but Canada says it knew nothing of the alleged abuse. Abdelrazik denies any involvement in terrorism and is suing the Canadian government in Federal Court for an apology and compensation. Champ contends the testimony from parliamentarians will show how elected officials were kept in the dark. "Mr Abdelrazik's trial will expose the enormous gaps in the oversight of CSIS and the extent to which the Service believes it can destroy the lives of citizens with impunity." It is "particularly disappointing" that Harder is unwilling to tell the court what he knew about Abdelrazik's detention, Champ said. "I hope he changes his mind and follows the moral leadership of his fellow parliamentarians and shows up in court." [...] In 2009, a Federal Court judge concluded CSIS was "complicit" in his 2003 detention. Read more - Lire plus
China Declared Islam a Contagious Disease – and Quarantined 1 Million Muslims
NYmag 28/08/2018 - T o combat the impression that Uighurs have any cause for wanting their own separate state — let alone for deploying violence to achieve it — Xi Jinping’s government has decided to declare Islam a contagious “ideological illness,” and quarantine 1 million Uighurs in reeducation camps, according to  an estimate  from the United Nations. In interviews, former inmates from these camps say that they were made to renounce their faith, sing Communist Party songs, consume pork, and drink alcohol; other reports suggest some of the truly “ideologically sick” have been tortured and killed. At first, Beijing was content to reserve its concentration camps for suspected radicals. But, as the  Atlantic ’s Sigal Samuel explains, they eventually decided that the Uighurs’ ideological malady was so destructive and contagious, it was best to quarantine them prophylactically, upon the slightest apparent symptom (like, say, the appearance of a long beard on an Uighur male’s face). To the West, China insists that its reeducation camps are mere vocational schools. But, as Samuel notes, Beijing offers a more forthright account of its intentions to its Chinese constituents. Read more - Lire plus
UN: In Battles Over Land Rights, Activists Branded as Criminals
Reuters 27/08/2018 - Governments and corporations are increasingly using legal persecution to portray indigenous activists as criminals and terrorists, putting them at heightened risk of violence, the United Nations said Monday. Indigenous leaders and campaigners fighting to protect land from development are being stymied and silenced by rising militarization, national security acts and anti-terrorism laws, according to a report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council. The U.N. report cited a "drastic increase" in violence against indigenous people actively opposing large-scale projects such as mining, infrastructure, hydroelectric dams and logging. [...] Last year, more than 200 activists were killed, the highest since 2002, according to British campaign group Global Witness. "In the worst instances, escalating militarization, compounded by historical marginalization, results in indigenous peoples being targeted under national security acts and antiterrorism legislation, putting them in the line of fire, at times literally, by the army and the police," it said. Read more - Lire plus
Canada’s surveillance regime targets Indigenous peoples
Ricochet 09/08/2018 - A “war on terror,” an expanding security state, and a lack of definition of what constitutes terrorist groups or activities has allowed Canadian security agencies to set their sights on a domestic target: Indigenous peoples. So argue Andrew Crosby and Jeffrey Monaghan in their new book,  Policing Indigenous Movements , using Access to Information requests to reveal the lengths to which national security and policing agencies — along with their industry, corporate, and public bureaucracy collaborators — are going to surveil Indigenous groups. The authors also expose the low threshold set by these agencies when evaluating Indigenous persons as national security threats: individuals need not engage in any criminal activity, as mere participation in a speaking tour, protest, and even the inquiry into missing and murdered women can be enough for them to be swept up in Canada’s surveillance regime. Crosby and Monaghan call this a “staggering affront to activities protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” Read a book excerpt - Lire un extrait du livre
Nicaragua's New Anti-Terrorism Law Thwarts Protesters, Activists Say
NPR 29/08/2018 - To Nicaragua now, where the government there has used brutal methods to try to end a political crisis that has engulfed the Central American country since April - hundreds have been killed, thousands detained, many of whom claim they were tortured in prison. President Daniel Ortega isn't showing any signs of easing the crackdown. In fact, he recently signed a new law that will let him double down on his efforts. Read more - Lire plus



US denying passports to Hispanic Americans in South Texas
CNN 30/08/2018 - A growing number of Hispanics along the Texas-Mexico border with birth records showing they were born in the United States are being denied US passports, held in immigration detention centers, and entered into deportation proceedings, immigration attorneys and individuals affected   told the Washington Post . [...] I mmigration attorneys and cases identified by the Post suggest a significant change in passports issued and how immigration laws are enforced. Though scrutiny of these individuals' citizenship began in the George W. Bush administration and continued into the Obama administration, the passport denials came mostly to an end around 2009 following a  settlement  with the American Civil Liberties Union. But denials have been picking up since the start of the Trump administration, three immigration attorneys told CNN. And the bar for proving citizenship appears to be getting higher. Read more - Lire plus
Opinion - Due process: Guantanamo detainees should be released
Cincinnati.com 26/08/2018 - One bedrock principle of due process is that extended detention without affording a trial for the individual is illegal. Sixteen years is beyond any shred of due process. Even a year cannot be justified. For this reason, all 41 detainees should be released. Yet there are other reasons for the releasing of the detainees. Two of them, Toffiq Al-Bihani and Abdul Latif Nasser have been approved for transfer to other countries who are willing to receive them. Their continued detention is senseless and punitive. Twenty-eight of the detainees have not even been charged. How can someone be imprisoned with no trial, no judgment of guilt and no charges? Such conduct by our government and military courts utterly betrays the constitutional promise of due process. Honoring this fundamental principle would demand immediate release of these unconstitutionally detained individuals. Read more - Lire plus
Pearl Eliadis: Charities, 'political activity' and free speech
Montreal Gazette 29/08/2018 - On July 16, Justice Edward Morgan of Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice ruled that limits imposed by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that muzzle charities are arbitrary and violate freedom of expression under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But now, the federal government has announced it will appeal the ruling. According to Imagine Canada, there are about 85,000 charities in Canada. Two million people work in the charitable and non-profit sector and 12.5 million Canadians volunteer. That is a lot of people who have a lot to say, but if they are doing so through a charity — the vehicle of choice for millions — their expression is severely restricted if it is deemed public advocacy, or what the CRA calls “political activities.” It’s not exactly clear what non-partisan “political activities” actually means. Partisan political activities are, of course, off-limits. No charity should be allowed to support or oppose political parties or candidates. But non-partisan “political activities” restrictions (the kind at issue in this case) may place limits on activities like open letters, social media campaigns, research, consultations and public engagement, if the goal is to change government decisions, policies or legislation. The CRA rule was that only 10 per cent of a charity’s resources could be devoted these activities. Under the Harper government, the 10 per cent rule was put on steroids and unleashed against several charities. The CRA also used other tactics, like deciding that well-established charitable purposes were no longer charitable at all, or using lengthy, punitive audits. The targeted groups? Canadian Mennonite, PEN Canada, Oxfam, Alternatives, Amnesty International, and a slew of environmental organizations. What they appeared to have in common was that their views ran afoul of the government of the day. Read more - Lire plus
NEWS FROM THE ICLMG
ACTIONS & EVENTS
Call on Justin Trudeau to ensure justice for Abousfian Abdelrazik
In September 2003, Canadian citizen Abousfian Abdelrazik was arrested in Sudan, while he was back in the country visiting his ailing mother. Over the next three years he was imprisoned for nearly 20 months and was held under house arrest for 12 months. He was denied a lawyer, and was never charged or brought before a judge. There were lengthy periods when he had no family or consular visits. During that time he was badly tortured in three different prisons. Not only did Canada fail to take steps to protect him, CSIS officials frequently obstructed efforts to secure his release. Those actions prolonged his detention, with no concern for the obvious risk of mistreatment he was facing.
Event: The Long Way Home screening + discussion
Co-presented with ICLMG, Amnesty International Canada & the National Council of Canadian Muslims

Monday, September 17, 2018
7pm to 8.30pm
Arts Court Theatre
2 Daly Ave., Ottawa, room 240

Canadian citizen Abousfian Abdelrazik was abducted and detained in Sudan due to false allegations of terrorism. Following a free screening of the short documentary "The Long Way Home" (dir. Aisha Jamal, Ariel Nasr) about his ordeal, Abdelrazik will be joined by a panel to discuss what his story teaches us about Canada, human rights and the war on terror.
Join us in calling for a Public Inquiry & the Reform of Canada's Extradition Law
We urge you to join us in calling for an independent public inquiry into Hassan's case and reforming Canada's extradition law so that no other Canadian is subjected to such a flawed and unfair process.
Trudeau: Stop Deportation to Torture of Ottawa's Mohamed Harkat
Justin Trudeau's government is trying to deport Mohamed Harkat, a refugee who has lived in this country for 22 years, to face torture and death in Algeria. Join us in calling to stop the deportation of Moe Harkat now!
MORE NEWS - AUTRES NOUVELLES
Les opinions exprimées ne reflètent pas nécessairement les positions de la CSILC - The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the positions of ICLMG.
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