Tim McSorley: Challenges, but no crisis at the border
CCPA The Monitor 01/09/2018 - By merging border security and organized crime in one ministry the Liberals have moved in the dangerous direction of conflating refugee claimants looking for safety in Canada with actually illicit cross-border activity. In doing so, the government has given credence to a highly politicized—and wrong—version of events created on the fly by the opposition. [...] For more than 15 years, the ICLMG and our members have been battling the idea that people coming to Canada to seek safety from persecution, or to seek out new opportunities, are a “national security” threat. The worst instances of violence in Canada over the past decade have almost always come from born-and-raised Canadians who espoused misogynistic, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic or otherwise racist views. [...] What could the Liberals have done instead? A clear policy option has been on the table for months now: end the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement. [...] If the Trudeau government cancelled the STCA, and increased funds for greater refugee services, the challenge at our borders would be fairly easily addressed. Read more - Lire plus






U.N. Peace Operations Should Get Off the Counter-Terror Bandwagon
Just Security 04/08/2018 - The hashtag of the recent – and first — United Nations High-Level Conference on Counter-Terrorism (#UNitetoCounterTerrorism) is emblematic of a discernible trend in Turtle Bay. Most member states, and many U.N. officials, want the U.N. to provide more support to international efforts to counter terrorism (CT), counter/prevent violent extremism (C/PVE), and stabilize conflict-affected countries. U.N. peace operations, including both peacekeeping and special political missions in a range of war-on-terror battlegrounds, have been roped in, too, with mandates from the Security Council to take a more proactive military posture, to assist conflict parties and/or to support C/PVE initiatives. By the end of the 2018 fiscal year, the U.S. alone will have spent roughly  $5.6 trillion combating terrorism since 9/11. Despite this, CT wars in  Afghanistan ,  Mali and the Sahel ,  Somalia ,  Syria , and  Yemen  rumble on, and have already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Iraq and Libya remain profoundly unstable, and the underlying drivers of these conflicts continue to be neglected. Even the main architects of C/PVE – the affable cousin of the war on terror – struggle to explain away its  many flaws . As U.N. peace operations increasingly take on CT and C/PVE roles, the risks of replicating these costly failures are very real. [...] How Could the U.N. Keep the Focus on Peace Rather Than CT and C/PVE? First, the U.N. could safeguard its impartiality more carefully. [...] Second, the U.N. should recognize the conceptual and practical drawbacks of designating conflict parties as “aggressors,” “terrorists,” or “violent extremists,” and reject C/PVE approaches to strategy and programming. [...] Third, rather than enabling abusive states to maintain problematic behavior, U.N. peace operations should press them to make peace and address public grievances. [...] Finally, to help promote peace in complex environments, the strategic role for U.N. peace operations lies in four areas: protection, human rights monitoring, mediation, and creation of an enabling environment for relief, development, peacebuilding, and governance programs. Read more - Lire plus
Trump suggests that protesting should be illegal
The Washington Post 05/09/2018 - President Trump has long derided the mainstream media as the “enemy of the people” and lashed out at NFL players for kneeling during the national anthem. On Tuesday, he took his attacks on free speech one step further, suggesting in an interview with a conservative news site that the act of protesting should be illegal. President Trump has long derided the mainstream media as the “enemy of the people” and lashed out at NFL players for kneeling during the national anthem. On Tuesday, he took his attacks on free speech one step further, suggesting in an interview with a conservative news site that the act of protesting should be illegal. Trump made the remarks in an Oval Office interview with the Daily Caller hours after his Supreme Court nominee, Brett M. Kavanaugh, was greeted by protests on the first day of his confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill. “I don’t know why they don’t take care of a situation like that,” Trump said. “I think it’s embarrassing for the country to allow protesters. You don’t even know what side the protesters are on.” He added: “In the old days, we used to throw them out. Today, I guess they just keep screaming.” Trump has bristled at dissent in the past, including several instances in which he has suggested demonstrators should lose their jobs or be met with violence for speaking out. Read more - Lire plus



Exclusive: U.N. Human Rights Experts Meet With Facebook on “Overly Broad” Definitions of Terrorist Content
Just Security 03/09/2018 - United Nations Special Rapporteur Fionnuala Ní Aoláin has asked Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg to add precision and rigor to the social network’s guidelines on terrorism-related content. In a letter to Zuckerberg and a significant meeting last week with Facebook executives, Ní Aoláin said the existing definitions risk catching others, such as legitimate opponents of oppressive authorities, in a dangerous net. The rapporteur told Just Security her office will take a similar approach to “other platforms whose practices mirror Facebook.” Read more - Lire plus
UN calls on China to free Uyghurs from ‘re-education camps’
Reuters 30/08/2018 - United Nations’ human rights experts voiced alarm on Thursday over alleged Chinese political re-education camps for Muslim Uyghurs and they called for the immediate release of those detained on the “pretext of countering terrorism.” The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination cited estimates that up to one million Uyghurs may be held involuntarily in extralegal detention in China’s far western Xinjiang province. Its findings were issued after a two-day review of China’s record, the first since 2009, earlier this month. Read more - Lire plus 
Trump’s Guantanamo Plan Could Force Court Battle Over Legality Of ISIS War
Huffington Post 31/08/2018 - The Trump administration’s proposal to send two Islamic State fighters to the offshore prison at Guantanamo Bay could end up destroying the shaky legal basis for the years long U.S. bombing campaign against the terrorist group. If President Donald Trump follows through on this plan, one or both men would probably oppose it. In the resulting court battle, the government would likely be forced to defend using a law that was passed in 2001 to authorize war against the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks to fight a group that was formed more than a decade later. [...] Legal scholars are divided over whether ISIS, which  al-Qaeda formally split from in 2014 , falls under the 2001 war authorization. Both the Trump and Obama administrations have worked to avoid this kind of court battle. President Barack Obama seemed aware that the 2001  AUMF was a weak legal basis  for a war against ISIS. He sent Congress a  draft version of a new ISIS-specific AUMF  in 2015, months after he started bombing the group. But lawmakers, split along partisan lines about how restrictive a new war authorization should be,  repeatedly punted  on the issue. Trump’s Justice Department has made it clear that it does not want a court battle over the 2001 AUMF’s application to the Islamic State. The government is currently facing a  habeas challenge  from an unnamed American accused of fighting with ISIS who is being held by the U.S. military in Iraq. Once it became clear that the case would eventually delve into AUMF issues, the government  tried to release the alleged terrorist  into Syria. A good way for the government to avoid this kind of legal fight would be to send ISIS fighters to the U.S. for prosecution in federal courts, which have proven to be an effective venue for  securing terrorism convictions . Read more - Lire plus
Saudi Arabia admits ‘mistakes’ in airstrike that killed 40 Yemeni children
Global News 01/09/2018 - The  Saudi -led military coalition fighting  Houthi  rebels in  Yemen  has expressed regret over an airstrike that killed dozens of children in the northern Saada province in August.
Over 50 people, including 40 children, were killed in the airstrike, which targeted a bus that Saudi intelligence officials said they believed was carrying senior Houthi rebels. Seventy-nine people were injured, including 56 children, while it remains unclear if any Houthi fighters were killed. On Saturday, the coalition said it had reviewed the findings of its internal investigative body, the Joint Incidents Assessments Team (JIAT), and accepted that mistakes were made. In a  statement  published by the Saudi Press Agency, the coalition expressed regret for the incident and extended sympathies to the families of the victims. The coalition said it will “undertake legal proceedings to hold the ones who committed mistakes accountable,” and said it would work with the Yemeni government to identify the injured and the families of the dead in order to arrange for compensation. Read more - Lire plus

ACTIONS & EVENTS
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.
NEW Stop Mohamed Harkat's Deportation to Torture
No one should be deported to torture. Ever. If sent back to Algeria, Mohamed Harkat faces detention, torture and even death. Send a message to PM Trudeau and the Ministers of Public Safety, Justice and Immigration to urge them to stop the deportation of Moe Harkat and to not make themselves, and Canada, complicit in torture once more.
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.
NEWS FROM THE ICLMG
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.
THANK YOU
to our amazing supporters!
We would like to thank all our member organizations, and our patrons who are supporting ICLMG on Patreon ! As a reward, we are listing our patrons who give $10 or more per month (and wanted to be listed) directly in the News Digest. Without you, our work wouldn't be possible!

Kathryn Dingle
Kevin Malseed
Brian Murphy
Bob Stevenson
Chantal Vallerand

Nous tenons à remercier nos organisations membres et toutes les personnes qui soutiennent la CSILC sur Patreon ! En récompense, nous nommons ci-dessus nos mécènes qui donnent 10$ ou plus par mois directement dans le News Digest. Sans vous, notre travail ne serait pas possible!
 
Merci!