International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
January 15, 2021
Harsha Walia on why approaching white supremacist organizations through anti-terrorist state designations is a terrible idea
Facebook 10/01/2021 - there's been a frenzy of activity, especially by state officials in the US and Canada, to call for white supremacist organizations to be categorized by the state as terrorist organizations and to strengthen 'domestic terrorism' and 'counter-terrorism' measures. It is totally understandable and legitimate that folks right now are worried about the escalating threat of violence and may support these calls. This is an unpopular opinion, but i think approaching white supremacist orgs through anti-terrorist state designations is an absolutely TERRIBLE idea that will backfire and not lead to increase safety.

1. Why do we need to label white supremacists as 'terrorists'? Why do we need language stronger than white supremacy and neo-Nazi and fascist? Like, really, people being organized and dangerous white supremacists, neo-Nazis, fascists isn't enough that we feel the need to finder 'stronger' language like terrorism or sedition or insurrection? Shouldn't NAZIS shock us and mobilize us into action? In that sense, white supremacy and fascism *are* already a terrorizing force and are actually the underlying forces that must be named and confronted. What is whiteness, as a construct of power, if not the historical and contemporary terrorizing violence of colonialism, imperialism, enslavement, and racial (and relatedly, caste) apartheid?

2. Importantly, "terrorism", as well as sedition and insurrection, are all state-defined terms. Their very invocation is to signal a threat to the state and the status-quo of state legitimacy. These are words most commonly deployed against those considered *outside* the state, and hence as threats to the state - e.g Indigenous, Black, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, anarchist, left communities in the US and Canada. It is oxymoronic to think that anti-terrorism can be deployed against white supremacists by the state's legal/judicial/political apparatus when, in fact, whiteness *is* the state. White supremacists are, in fact, deeply invested in white supremacy as nation-building. Naming white supremacist organizations as 'terrorist' places them as anomalies or marginal (along the lines of being 'un-Canadian' or 'un-American'), rather than as a central organizing and ideological force of violence in the US and Canada. This is a political and ethical hypocrisy, as evident in the numbers of state & police & military officials who are active members of white supremacist organizations, and is essentially a form of white innocence. We also need to recognize that the issue is not that the state doesn't have enough tools at its disposal - i.e it's not that the state somehow has been *ineffective* in countering white supremacist organizations through other means - it's that the state has chosen not to and will not disrupt white supremacist organizations willingly; the calls for more strict 'counter terrorism' is a total smoke and mirrors; there are technically lots of existing tools at their disposal. [...]

4. I also think many people have the luxury of not actually knowing how anti-terror, counter-terrorism, or national security laws and policies actually work, or are not familiar with the details of the Toronto 18 or Secret Trial 5 or Momin Khawaja's trial or Maher Arar or Hassan Diab. Like, when signing a petition to list an organization as a terrorist organization, what does that actually mean and how and what happens? For the past two decades, I have organized with security certificate detainees; west coast warriors who were raided shortly after 9/11 (few people know that the first uses of Canada's anti-terror legislation was actually against the West Coast Warrior Society on September 21, 2002); Indigenous land defenders and allies targeted by Project Sitka (I was included by the state); and countless refugees and permanent residents facing deportation and admissibility hearings on security grounds. Through these experiences, I know anti-terror legal infrastructure is rotten by design and is made up of a set of fundamentally regressive laws that target Black, Indigenous, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, racialized, left communities by *design.* The most glaring example is deportation and the increasing use of non-existent and so-called secret "evidence" against people, especially Muslim, Arab, Kurdish, and Sikh organizations as well as left organizations such as PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) or FMLN (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front), being labelled as 'terrorists' or 'security threats' or accused of being affiliated with 'designated listed entities' to escalate the state violence of detention and deportation of non-citizens. We need to actually dismantle this violent security state, especially the post 9/11 security state, that has and continues to wreak so much violence in people's lives and we must not allow for its expansion under any guise.

5. Most importantly, to think that some kind of racial equality can be achieved in anti-terror legislation - those that argue that as long as white supremacists are included within these laws and policies, then it's 'okay' - is essentially to give long-time cover to anti-terror and security legislation and funding and infrastructure, which will only then continue to expand and target oppressed communities and movements. [...] Justifying anything under the cover of anti-terror or national security legislation only expands police powers, state surveillance, criminalization and racial violence through secret trials, vague security designations, pretrial and preemptive detention, disappearances and torture in blacksites, CVE programs, imperialist military interventions, and extradition and deportation. The War on Terror has been one of linguistic and legal contortions that, by design, allows the state to fortify itself with increasing policing and surveillance powers. More of the War on Crime or more of the War on Terror will not end fascism or white nationalism; it will only fuel it and target more oppressed people in its wake.

There is no short cut, folks, we fight the reactionary and right wing and violent forces of white supremacy and fascism (and more), by confronting them, organizing against them, mobilizing against them, educating in communities etc; we simply cannot expect a state invested in the very same violence we want to end to do this work for us. Read more - Lire plus






Alex Neve: Canada’s new measures around China’s violations against Uyghurs aren’t really all that new
The Globe and Mail 14/01/2021 - Earlier this week, before a cabinet shuffle that ended his time as Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, François-Philippe Champagne joined International Trade Minister Mary Ng in announcing “measures related to the human-rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region” in China. He noted that the Trudeau government was “gravely concerned with evidence and reports of human-rights violations… involving members of the Uyghur ethnic minority and other minorities.”

Is this significant? It is. Is it enough? It is not. How could it be, in the face of staggering human-rights atrocities?

Given the scale of the massive crisis faced by Uyghurs and other largely Muslim minorities in China, it is vital to see Canadian government action. It’s certainly a courageous step given the Chinese government’s propensity for retaliation. The challenge now will be to build on this momentum. After all, the House of Commons subcommittee on international human rights – chaired by a government MP, with other government MPs as members – considers what is happening to the Uyghurs to be a genocide. Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, also notes that aspects of the situation meet the terms of the Genocide Convention.

Canada has joined other governments at the United Nations in issuing unprecedented joint statements calling out China and insisting that outside investigators be granted access to Xinjiang, a request that continues to be denied. Reports from UN experts, investigative journalists and human-rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, paint a harrowing picture of an unrelenting crackdown against Uyghurs over many decades that has intensified dramatically over the past four years.

Particularly heart-wrenching are accounts from the Uyghur community, in China and abroad, including across Canada, of people’s own terrifying experiences and fear for loved ones who have disappeared into mass detention facilities. Uyghur-Canadian Huseyin Celil has been unjustly imprisoned in China since 2006, for instance; reports from his family in Xinjiang – the only means for his wife and four sons in Ontario to hear about his fate – ceased several years ago. The worry, of course, is that they were swept up in the crackdown. Among the extensive litany of human-rights violations, concerns about forced labour programs for Uyghurs are prominent. Numerous investigative reports point to cotton production as a notable example. And so it makes sense that Canada’s measures concentrate on forced labour. But what is not immediately obvious is that the actions announced this week aren’t all new. [...]

Canada should move quickly to keep up with more forceful measures of some of our closest allies. A hard-hitting Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act has been overwhelmingly adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives and is expected to be passed as well by the Senate. Already, the U.S. government has banned cotton imports originating from Xinjiang. There are other options open to Canada, too. The government continues to be reticent about imposing sanctions against culpable Chinese government officials through what is commonly known as the Magnitsky Act. That has been called for repeatedly, including by a large number of MPs and senators last year. Read more - Lire plus



Saudi women's rights activist Loujain Alhathloul sentenced to nearly 6 years in prison
Associated Press 28/12/2020 - One of Saudi Arabia's most prominent women's rights activists was sentenced on Monday to nearly six years in prison under a vague and broadly worded law aimed at combating terrorism, according to state-linked media and her family. Loujain Alhathloul's case, and her imprisonment for the past two and a half years, have drawn international criticism from rights groups, members of the U.S. Congress and European Union lawmakers.

Alhathloul, whose family members in Canada have been advocating for her release, is a graduate of the University of British Columbia who lived in Canada for five years. State-linked Saudi news outlet Sabq reported that Alhathloul, 31, was found guilty by the kingdom's anti-terrorism court on charges of agitating for change, pursuing a foreign agenda, using the internet to harm public order and co-operating with individuals and entities that have committed crimes under anti-terror laws. She has 30 days to appeal the verdict.

"She was charged, tried and convicted using counter-terrorism laws," her sister, Lina Alhathloul, said in a statement. "My sister is not a terrorist, she is an activist. To be sentenced for her activism for the very reforms that MBS and the Saudi kingdom so proudly tout is the ultimate hypocrisy," she said, referring to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman by his initials.

A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada called Alhathloul's conviction and sentencing "deeply troubling." "We understand that early release is possible and advocate for it. True to our democratic values and principles, Canada will always stand with human rights activists and defenders, around the world," Angela Savard told CBC News in an email. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jake Sullivan, president-elect Joe Biden's incoming national security adviser, appeared to reaffirm on Twitter that the Biden administration plans to elevate human rights issues in relations with Riyadh.

Another Saudi women's rights activist, Maya'a al-Zahrani, was issued the same sentence for a similar list of charges by the Specialized Criminal Court, which tries terrorism cases, according to local media reports issued on Monday. Read more - Lire plus
Privacy Commissioner Launches Investigation of RCMP Internet Unit
The Tyee 14/12/2020 - The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has launched an investigation into the RCMP’s Tactical Internet Operational Support unit and Project Wide Awake, the unit’s advanced web monitoring program using digital tools it kept secret. The office is probing “the RCMP’s collection of the personal information of Canadians under Project Wide Awake,” deputy commissioner Brent Homan of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner confirmed in writing to NDP MP Charlie Angus. Angus, a member of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, called for an investigation in a letter sent Nov. 23, following Tyee reports exposing Project Wide Awake and related programs at the RCMP. “I have grave concerns about the level of secrecy and duplicity the RCMP has gone through to hide their activities into procuring and using these tools to gather information on Canadians,” said Angus in the letter.

He added, “I am very concerned that these internal documents appear to contradict how the force characterized Project Wide Awake to your office.” The files obtained by The Tyee revealed that the RCMP’s Tactical Internet Operational Support unit requested “national security exceptions” which enable it to hide contracts for software it acquired. The force argued if the software was publicly procured, its capabilities might be defeated by people targeted for spying. The files obtained by The Tyee revealed that the RCMP’s Tactical Internet Operational Support unit requested “national security exceptions” which enable it to hide contracts for software it acquired. The force argued if the software was publicly procured, its capabilities might be defeated by people targeted for spying.

At the same time, the RCMP emphasized that its software only seeks “open source” information online, implying that its sources were only those in the public domain.
However, The Tyee investigation reveals that the force may consider any information it can acquire online, by any means, to be “open source.” Documents show that the RCMP purchased a license for a program that “unlocks” hidden friends for Facebook users who have set their friends to be private. The provider of Web Investigation Search Tool, used by police around the world, discontinued its operation after a Tyee report. The RCMP also listed “private communications” and those from “political protests” in a diagram of “darknet” sources, which it aimed to target with a “dark web crawler” and monitoring software. The internal documents obtained by The Tyee also contained references to programs that appear related to digital surveillance but outside of Project Wide Awake, including ones named Cerebro, Sentinel and Search, and a reference to “expansion of biometrics”. Read more - Lire plus
Civil Liberties Group and Advocates Condemn RCMP Spying; Cite Unconstitutional Chilling Effect across Canada
BCCLA 15/12/2020 - The BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) condemns the actions of the RCMP spying on Indigenous and climate advocates, as confirmed by the final report of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) released today into a complaint we filed six years ago.

In February 2014, the BCCLA made a complaint against the RCMP contending it illegally spied on the democratic activities of climate organizations and Indigenous nations opposed to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project. On November 10, 2020 the BCCLA filed a lawsuit at the Federal Court of Canada against RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki for inexcusable delays preventing the release of the CRCC report. The final report of the CRCC was released today.

The CRCC report details countless examples of RCMP “monitoring” individuals who were opposed to pipeline projects. The RCMP collected and retained comments and opinions expressed by individuals online, and also created secret “profiles” on organizers. The CRCC confirmed that the RCMP tracked and kept records on people who attended demonstrations, and even infiltrated an organizing workshop at the Kelowna United Church. In one instance, a profile was created of a person in Kelowna as a “person of interest” simply because she was “actively involved in signing petitions and community issues to which she supports.” In another instance, a profile of a person included their personal information as well as information collected on those believed to be the persons’ relatives based on shared surnames.

The BCCLA is deeply disappointed that the CRCC found most of these RCMP activities were reasonable, even though the Commission repeatedly expressed reservations, especially “where there is no independent and reasonable suspicion that these individuals might be involved in criminal activity.” The CRCC found that it was reasonable for the RCMP to increase their presence at demonstrations; that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy from being video-recorded by police while attending a protest; and that is appropriate for the RCMP to mass gather and retain extensive information via social media and through collecting license plates.

Earlier this year, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada launched an investigation into the RCMP’s use of controversial AI facial recognition technology, and this week the Office announced an investigation into the RCMP’s collection of personal information under Project Wide Awake. Although the CRCC Commissioner did not uphold the BCCLA complaint, it made numerous recommendations to the RCMP concerning the collection and retention of information of protestors, including urging the RCMP “to exercise restraint in its surveillance and intelligence-gathering activities when the threat level is otherwise determined to be low.”

Paul Champ, Legal Counsel for the BCCLA: “The CRCC wagged its finger, but ultimately gave the RCMP a free pass with activities that are likely offside with the Charter. It is unconscionable that the CRCC is telling Canadians that they have to accept being spied on if they are going to exercise their democratic right to protest. RCMP spying on people who are exercising their right to dissent is an attack on freedom of expression. It creates a climate of fear that chills free expression and stifles public participation. This report is telling us to accept a police state.” Read more - Lire plus

Haldimand police board walks back ‘terrorist’ talk in Caledonia standoff
The Spec 08/12/2020 - More than two months after calling the occupiers of a Caledonia construction site “terrorists,” Haldimand County’s police services board has changed its tune — somewhat.

In September, board members complained that the OPP was not addressing “acts of aggression, violence and intimidation” carried out by the Six Nations-led group that has claimed the McKenzie Road site as unceded Haudenosaunee land. The land defenders set up street barricades and dug up roads and rail lines to entrench their position — tactics the board called “acts of terrorism.”

“The board acknowledges that these words should not have been used,” reads an apology issued Dec. 2. “The board also acknowledges that terrorism and terrorists can only be legally determined by the courts.” Board chair Brian Haggith told The Spectator that by issuing the clarification, the board wanted to refocus attention on the OPP’s handling of the ongoing dispute. [...] The Land Back group was unmoved by the apology, saying that the board “fundamentally fails to understand” that Indigenous nations have “our own laws, customs and cultures.”

“By labelling Haudenosaunee land defence as lawlessness and ‘terrorism,’ the board is perpetuating the systemic discrimination that keeps Indigenous peoples from fair representation within the Canadian legal system,” read a statement sent to The Spectator.
The land defenders repeated their call for the entire police services board to resign and for political leaders “to engage in a resolution to our dispute that is not led by police.” Read more - Lire plus
9 Indigenous Leaders Killed by Philippine Police in ‘Massacre’
The Diplomat 01/01/2021 - Nine Tumandok Indigenous people were killed and 10 others were arrested in police operations on Panay Island on December 31 in what rights groups labeled a “massacre.” The killings came a week after an off-duty police officer was charged with murder after being caught on video killing a mother and son during an argument. Philippine police said the Indigenous leaders had fought back after being served search warrants, although the human rights group Panay Alliance Karapatan denied this allegation.

The Tumandok leaders had campaigned against the construction of the nearby Jalaur Dam, which would impact the community’s ancestral lands. “Those killed were recognized Indigenous community leaders in their respective [communities]. They were civilians and not armed combatants,” Karapatan said. “They have consistently opposed militarization and human rights violations in their communities as they upheld their rights as Indigenous people.” The Indigenous leaders had previously been “red-tagged,” or labeled as communists without evidence, by the Philippine military. The military often brands dissenters as members of the communist New People’s Army, a charge it equates to terrorism and which can amount to a death sentence.

Philippine police said it had responded to information from local civilians about people with high-powered firearms. Authorities often falsely charge dissenters with possession of firearms and have repeatedly been accused of planting firearms at crime scenes.
The killings will draw more attention to the abysmal human rights record of the Philippine military and police, who have killed suspected drug personalities and dissenting activists alike with impunity – and with the blessing of President Rodrigo Duterte. Read more - Lire plus

Europe Now Has Its Own 'Guantanamo Bay'
Vice 12/01/2021 - At the Roj camp in northeast Syria, winter is on its way. Each night is colder than the last, and soon, the mercury will plunge below zero in this open-air prison. Meanwhile, its inmates – many of whom are European women and children captured in former ISIS territories – are left to languish. The women are accused of supporting the group, while their children are collateral damage.

Detainees are busy, rushing to prepare for the winter as best they can. The guards – working for the Kurdish authorities in charge of the region – have distributed thin blankets, which the women have sewn to their tents. They have also distributed a few camping stoves, but the detainees can’t leave them lit overnight, at least not without risking setting the shelter on fire. Detainees search high and low for shoes that will keep them warm; any without holes will do. They’re desperate to avoid the winter illnesses — bronchitis, hypothermia and so on — that return each year to plague the camp, replacing the severe dehydration of the sweltering summer.

Marc*, a young retiree from the Paris area, has a daughter-in-law and four grandchildren about to spend their third winter behind Roj’s high walls and barbed wire. “Ever since they got stuck over there, my grandkids have been getting sick, one after the other. It’s a never-ending cycle – and sometimes it can be really brutal,” he says. Marc is a member of the Families United Collective (Collectif des Familles Unies), an organisation that brings together the families of French detainees who are stuck in the Iraqi-Syrian zone. “My six-year-old grandson is the most fragile of the bunch. From time to time he’s passed out, or suffered dehydration. And if that happens at night, when the little camp clinic is closed, well, they just tell you to come back the next morning.”

The next morning may be too late for some. Marc’s grandson is still hanging on, but a number of women and children have died at Roj, as well as at Al Hol, another camp located a bit to the south. Among them were at least nine European children under the age of three who died from dehydration, malnutrition or war injuries. In one case, a one-year-old French child was run over by a military vehicle. This is one of the harrowing revelations in a recent report by the London-based advocacy group, Rights and Security International (RSI). Titled Europe’s Guantanamo, the report describes the inhumane conditions that tens of thousands of detainees are living in, including about 230 European women and 640 European children. The report calls upon European states to repatriate them. Read more - Lire plus

Close ‘disgraceful’ Guantánamo camp – UN experts urge incoming US administration
UN News 11/01/2021 - Exactly 19 years after the Guantánamo Bay detention centre first opened, UN independent human rights experts on Monday urged the incoming United States administration of Joe Biden, to close the notorious military prison as soon as possible. Moreover, they pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic is further exacerbating health vulnerabilities for the increasingly elderly prison population. “The very existence of this facility is a disgrace for the United States and the international community as a whole”, the UN experts said. “Guantánamo should have been closed a long time ago”. 

In 2003, the facility held 700 prisoners. Nineteen years later, 40 detainees remain with only nine having been charged with, or convicted, of crimes. UN experts have consistently demanded the dismissal of the Military Commissions and the closing of the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, saying they are incompatible with the US’ obligations under international law. “We must not forget these detainees, who have been subjected to torture or victims of comparable trauma, and still languish in Guantánamo, in a virtual legal limbo, outside the reach of the constitutional judicial system of the United States”, they said. “The prolonged and indefinite detention of individuals, who have not been convicted of any crime by a competent and independent judicial authority operating under due process of law, is arbitrary and constitutes a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or even torture”. 

Military Commissions are still undergoing pre-trial proceedings on motions to suppress evidence resulting from torture, according to the experts. And as fresh trials are not expected to commence anytime soon, proceedings are likely to last several years, leaving the defendants incarcerated indefinitely. While six of the inmates had long been cleared for transfer and one more recently for release, all remain behind bars. “The Military Commissions violate the requirements of impartiality, independence and non-discrimination and should never have been used in the manner in which they were deployed at Guantánamo”, said the independent experts. “These individuals should receive a fair and public hearing by competent, independent and impartial civilian court previously established by law”, they added. 

The experts said the US must uphold its international legal obligations, conduct prompt and impartial investigations of alleged human rights violations and provide redress and rehabilitation to those who have endured prolonged arbitrary detention or any form of torture or ill-treatment. “With a new administration coming into office in the United States and as we approach the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Guantánamo must finally be closed forever”, they spelled out. The Special Rapporteurs appealed to the US authorities to “prosecute, in full compliance with human rights law, the individuals held at Guantánamo Bay or, alternatively, immediately release or repatriate them while respecting the principle of non-refoulement”. Read more - Lire plus
From July to December 2020
ICLMG - 2020 has been BUSY! Click below to see what we’ve accomplished in the second half of 2020, but first here is our plan for the next year.

In 2021, we will continue fighting:
  • against facial recognition technology, governments' attacks on encryption, and online mass surveillance
  • for a review mechanism for the Canada Border Services Agency
  • to abolish security certificates and end deportation to torture
  • to repeal of the Canadian No Fly List
  • for justice for Hassan Diab & the reform of the Extradition Act

and much more! Find out how you can help here and see what we did in 2020 below:


ACTIONS & EVENTS
Two recent court decisions revealed the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) engaged in potentially illegal activities and lied to the courts. This is utterly unacceptable, especially given that this is not the first time these serious problems have been raised. CSIS cannot be allowed to act as though they are above the law.

Send a message to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair demanding that he take immediate action to put an end to this abuse of power and hold those CSIS officers involved accountable. Your message will also be sent to your MP and to Minister of Justice David Lametti.
Read our full statement on the issue here for more information. Please share it on:

NEW 2021 Green Square Campaign
NCCM - Wear the green square in solidarity with the six widows, the seventeen children left fatherless, Aymen Derbali who is left paralyzed for life, and every single person suffering the consequences of the hateful and despicable act of violence perpetrated on January 29, 2017 against the Quebec City Mosque.

Click below for more details and for other ways you can show solidarity. Thank you.
NOUVEAU La guerre au Yémen doit cesser
Webinaire organisé par le Collectif Échec à la guerre

25 janvier 2021 de 18h30 à 20h

Diffusé sur la page Facebook du Collectif (en direct et en différé)

Déroulement et noms des personnes ressources à venir.

Prenez connaissance de la déclaration commune “Le monde dit non à la guerre au Yémen” et faites circuler largement dans vos réseau.
Protect Encryption in Canada
Our ability to use the Internet safely, securely and privately is under threat. Canada wants to create 'back doors' into encryption like some of our partner countries in the Five Eyes Alliance have already done. This weakens Internet safety for all of us. If we don’t act, Canada could be next. We need a policy that explicitly protects our right to encryption.
Repatriate Canadian Children from Syria
Official Parliamentary petition to the Canadian government:

We, the undersigned citizens of Canada , call upon the Government of Canada to immediately repatriate the 25 innocent Canadian children living in inhumane conditions in the camps of northeast Syria.
Reject Dr. Carvin's Offensive Actions and Promote Anti-Racism
On September 3, 2020, Dr. Stephanie Carvin, Assistant Professor at Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) at Carleton University, proudly shared on her Twitter account gruesome depictions of killings of Muslim and Brown bodies as terrorists on cakes. As members and allies of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) community, we are denouncing her actions and we are calling on Carleton University and NPSIA to publicly denounce Dr. Carvin's actions and to commit to an anti-racist environment by offering the necessary training and resources to its faculty members.
#FreeCihanErdal #LiberezCihanErdal
Cihan Erdal, a queer youth activist and a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University, was detained in Istanbul, Turkey on September 25, 2020 along with 81 other politicians, academics and activists.

We call on Canadian and Turkish authorities to take urgent action and demand Cihan’s immediate release and Cihan’s safe return to Canada!
Pardon Edward Snowden for exposing the government's illegal surveillance
Edward Snowden exposed the U.S. government’s illegal mass surveillance programs, along with shocking collusion between large technology companies and spy agencies. He risked everything to blow the whistle and help protect all of our basic human rights. He’s been in exile for long enough. It’s time to bring him home. Everyone from the ACLU to Senator Rand Paul has spoken out in support of the embattled whistleblower, and now even President Trump has indicated his potential support for a pardon. The administration is testing the waters. If we show overwhelming support to #PardonSnowden right now, we could finally get justice for him, and set a precedent that protects whistleblowers, journalists, and defenders of human rights in the future.
Reunite Ayub, Khalil, and Salahidin with their families
Ayub Mohammed, Salahidin Abdulahad, and Khalil Mamut are three Uyghur men who left China after childhoods of discrimination, persecution, and hopelessness.

They were sold by Pakistani bounty hunters to the US military in 2001 and taken with 19 other Uyghurs to Guantanamo Bay. Despite being exonerated as early as 2003, they were kept in Guantanamo for years.

Now in forced exile - Ayub in Albania, and Salahidin and Khalil in Bermuda - their families are here in Canada; and their kids growing up without their fathers.

Despite posing no threat to Canadian national security, these men have been waiting over five years to reunite with their families and find a safe place to live.
China: Free Canadian Huseyin Celil
The Chinese authorities accused Huseyin of offences related to his activities in support of Uighur rights. They held Huseyin in a secret place. They gave him no access to a lawyer, to his family, or to Canadian officials. They threatened him and forced him to sign a confession. They refused to recognize Huseyin’s status as a Canadian citizen, and they did not allow Canadian officials to attend his trial. It was not conducted fairly, and resulted in a sentence of life in prison in China. His life sentence was reduced to 20 years in February 2016. Huseyin has spent much of his time in solitary confinement. He lacks healthy food and is in poor health. Kamila needs her husband, and the boys need their father back.
Canada must act to end Islamophobia in Xinjiang, China
There is credible evidence that up to one million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other mainly Muslim groups in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are being detained in secret internment camps. Detainees are brainwashed, tortured and are forced to renounce their religion and culture.


And send a message to Chrystia Freeland demanding that Canada actively support an independent and unrestricted international fact-finding initiative to Xinjiang.
Stop CSIS from targeting everyday citizens & community groups
A recent report revealed that CSIS, Canada’s spy agency, collected over 8,000 pages of documents, spying on citizens like you, people who exercise their democratic rights by attending a community meeting at a local church or taking peaceful action for what they believe in. And CSIS shared this info with Big Oil corporations. Sign this petition to tell the govt to stop using taxpayer money to unconstitutionally spy on Canadians part of peaceful community groups.
All-in-one action page: Stop Mohamed Harkat's Deportation to Torture
Call PM Trudeau, write a letter to Public Safety Minister & your MP, and sign Sophie Harkat's petition to stop the deportation of Moe Harkat.

If sent back to Algeria, Moe faces detention, torture and death.

No one should be deported to torture. Ever.
Defund the police & the RCMP
More and more people are calling on their city councils to reduce and eliminate budgets for policing. We are no longer going to pay for police to harm our communities. These funds can be re-directed to support the recovery and provide much need improvements to public housing, transit, and food security programs among other basic needs. Please use this e-mail tool to tell your City Councillor to act now to defund the police in your communities. Together we keep each other safe.


Philippines: Junk the terror bill and uphold human rights!
The Anti-Terrorism bill is a clear and direct attack against our academic freedom, right to organize, and freedom of expression to air out our grievances towards the inefficiencies and deficiencies of the government's mandate to serve its people through government services.

This positions the government to silence the any dissenter or organizer and given the rich history of harassment of law enforcement agencies and military personnel, harassment and terror-tagging has been a step further for even more killings and silencing.
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. 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.
Your phone is not safe at the border
Canada’s border agents can search your phone and laptop at borders and airports, including looking through your private photos, personal messages, and call history.

These ‘digital strip searches’ are allowed because our laws are incredibly out of date. But politicians are refusing to update them for our digital age.

Fight back with us: demand updated laws, learn more about your rights, and make a complaint if your privacy has been violated at the border.
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 the hundreds of people who have supported us over the years, including on Patreon! As a reward, we are listing below our patrons who give $10 or more per month (and wanted to be listed) directly in the News Digest. Without all of you, our work wouldn't be possible!

Mary Ann Higgs
Kevin Malseed
Brian Murphy
Colin Stuart
Bob Thomson
James Turk
John & Rosemary Williams
Jo Wood
The late Bob Stevenson

Nous tenons à remercier nos organisations membres ainsi que les centaines de personnes qui ont soutenu notre travail à travers les années, y compris sur Patreon! En récompense, nous nommons ci-dessus nos mécènes qui donnent 10$ ou plus par mois et voulaient être mentionné.es directement dans la Revue de l'actualité. Sans vous tous et toutes, notre travail ne serait pas possible!
Merci!