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International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
Coalition pour la surveillance internationale des libertés civiles
November 11, 2023 - 11 novembre 2023
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Canada’s hand in the war on Gaza - podcast | |
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The Breach 06/11/2023 - Dania Majid, president of the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, joins The Breach Show to talk about the legal dimensions of Israel’s escalating assault on Gaza. As UN experts warn of a “risk of genocide,” is Canada meeting its obligations? And as an occupying state, does Israel actually have a “right to defend itself?” Majid also breaks down the effect of anti-Palestinian racism and the surge in mobilizing for solidarity with Palestine.
Martin Lukacs, managing editor: Welcome to The Breach Show, featuring sharp analysis on politics and social movements in Canada. I’m your host, Martin Lukacs, and our guest today is Dania Majid, joining us to talk about the escalating Israeli assault on Gaza. Dania is a lawyer, the president of the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, the artistic director of the Palestinian Toronto Film Festival, and her day job is as a lawyer with a legal clinic in Ontario. Dania, thanks for joining us.
Dania Majid: Thanks for having me. [...]
Lukacs: Just yesterday, a group of UN experts issued a statement saying, Gaza is “running out of time,” and that “we remain convinced that the Palestinian people are at grave risk of genocide.” Lots of other legal scholars are using that term as well. I want to play you a clip from Mehdi Hasan‘s show where he is quoting top Israeli politicians and generals statements in the last few weeks.
Mehdi Hasan, broadcaster: When it comes to “intent,” in the context of the genocide convention, listen to what Israeli politicians and generals themselves have said.
Cabinet ministers like Yoav Gallant, the defence minister who said Israel was fighting “human animals” and ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. No electricity, no food, no fuel.
Or, heritage minister, Amichai Eliyahu, who said “blow up and flatten everything,” in the north of Gaza, and “give that land to Israeli settlers.”
Or, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who said that the innocent civilian population of Gaza—2.3 million people, half of them children—weren’t so innocent because they could’ve risen up against Hamas.
Members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing party in the Israeli Knesset like Revital Gotliv, who called for the use of a “doomsday” weapon to flatten Gaza without mercy.
Lukacs: Dania, what are your thoughts?
Majid: These are things that we have heard playing out—or similar statements being made not just recently but for months and even years—this type of language being used against the Palestinian population.
In international law, genocide is the worst of the worst of crimes. Its use, or anything being referred to as genocide, is not done lightly. If anything, experts, government officials, UN officials tend to be very cautious when they use this term because of its weight and its significance. It requires a great deal of evidence to be gathered to be able to make that claim.
We already started seeing the term genocide being used, first by international law scholars and experts, and then we started hearing the UN officials saying and using this term warning of the grave risk of genocide or an unfolding genocide.
I think this really underscores—especially for those of us in the legal community—how serious and how bad the situation is. We do have an international genocide convention, which both Israel and Canada are a party to. It outlines what acts would be deemed to be considered genocide, including the intent.
It underscores the importance that there needs to be an intent to destroy—whether it be in whole or in part—an ethnic, national, racial or religious group. Those acts include killing members of that group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of that group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole and in part.
In under three weeks, when we look at what’s happening in Gaza, it’s very clear that we have crossed all these acts. Where the hesitation for many international scholars or international bodies comes is the intent piece because we see mass destruction happening in other conflicts.
But the intent to genocide is sort of the piece that prevents these officials from saying it is a genocide. However, here, which is even more alarming, is that intent has been formed so very quickly and probably very easily compared to other conflicts. That’s because as you played on those clips, Israeli officials have been very open about what their plans are for Gaza.
Canada and other Western countries have an absolute obligation to prevent a genocide and stop a genocide. This is why it is very problematic that the West still has not called for a ceasefire, an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. Read more - Lire plus
United Nations' Definition of Genocide
“Text-Book Case of Genocide”: Top U.N. Official Craig Mokhiber Resigns, Denounces Israeli Assault on Gaza
Palestinian Groups Ask ICC to Arrest Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu for War Crimes & Genocide in Gaza
Canadian policy-makers turn their backs on thousands of Palestinian deaths
Palestine/Israël – La Ligue des droits et libertés appelle au respect des droits humains et du droit international
CUPW Calls on the Canadian Government to Demand an Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza
Israel/OPT: Horrifying cases of torture and degrading treatment of Palestinian detainees amid spike in arbitrary arrests
Committee to Protect Journalists: Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza war
200 Workers block access to Toronto weapons-maker, L3Harris, amidst blockades at three other weapons plants arming Israel in Ontario and Quebec
State Department Official Resigns, Says Israel Is Using U.S. Arms to Massacre Civilians in Gaza
France’s Macron urges Israel to stop bombing and killing civilians in Gaza, hopes other leaders, including those in Washington, will join him
Pro-Palestinian marches held across Canada, the world
“Not in Our Name”: 400 Arrested at Jewish-Led Sit-in at NYC’s Grand Central Demanding Gaza Ceasefire
ACTION: Amnesty International to world leaders: call for an immediate ceasefire
ACTION: Parlimantery petition calling for a ceasefire - signed by 210,000+ Canadians already!
ACTION: Canada needs to take immediate action
ACTION: Canada: Urgent Action Needed to Secure an Immediate Ceasefire & Humanitarian Corridor in Gaza
ACTION: Email your MP to call for a ceasefire
ACTION: Find a local event calling for a ceasefire on November 12th
ACTION: Send an urgent message to demand Canada stop arming Israel and push for an immediate ceasefire
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How Israel Is Repeating The U.S.' Post-9/11 Mistakes | |
Joint Statement against the attack on free speech and the labelling of pro-Palestinian rallies as ‘hate rallies’ | |
ICLMG is one of the 91 signatories to this statement. To add your organization as a signatory, email info@canadianmuslimpac.ca or add directly to this linked document. | |
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CMPAC 09/11/2023 - We, the undersigned Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Palestinian and Arab Community, civil society, human rights, faith-based, ethnic, professional, humanitarian and relief organizations are writing to express our deep disappointment and concern with the recent public statements by senior politicians and public figures describing pro-Palestinian rallies as hateful and anti-Semitic. These stances are one-sided, do not adequately represent the sentiments of thousands of Canadians, and create an environment where Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism thrive. This rhetoric is dangerous and based on inexcusable misinformation. It puts entire communities under the threat of harassment and potential attacks. We are already witnessing harsh consequences and censorship for employees, students, and community members. This is unacceptable.
The death toll in Gaza has risen to well over 10,000 people, including over 4,000 children. Carpet bombing of Gaza continues to this hour with targets including hospitals, schools, residential houses, refugee camps, shelters, and critical infrastructure. The situation in Palestine deeply affects our community in Canada. Numerous Canadian Muslim families have seen their loved ones killed or wounded, homes destroyed, and others living in dire conditions without water, food, electricity, or fuel. Additionally, Canadian citizens visiting Gaza are still stranded and cannot return to Canada.
According to a recent poll 77% of Canadians want the attacks on Gaza to stop, and support a ceasefire. Too much human life has been lost. Let us be clear, condemning these Israeli atrocities against innocent Palestinian civilians is a stance against human rights abuses, not an act of anti-Semitism. Peaceful demonstrations advocating for Palestinian rights are a lawful expression of support for justice and should not be misconstrued as hate rallies. Standing for the rights of Palestinians to their land, dignity, and life is an endorsement of basic human rights, not a promotion of hate or terrorism.
Politicians and law enforcement must educate themselves on the complexities of the longstanding conflict in Palestine, ensuring that their actions and words are informed and not swayed by misinformation or partial narratives. As an example, the chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be Free”, represents a call for Palestinian self-determination and does not advocate for the erasure of Jewish people. It expresses a vision for a future where Palestinians have autonomy and full rights throughout their land.
We affirm that all activities that our organizations are associated with are not anti-Semitic. We stand against all forms of violence, hate and discrimination against any group of people from any race, religion or background. We stand against the killing of innocent lives. The organized chants, prayers and supplications are in support of victims and against human rights violations and atrocities committed by aggressors. They are not against a specific religious group. They express solidarity with the rights of Palestinians to live freely and with dignity on their lands. These are our collective moral positions against occupation and aggression towards Palestinians. Our demonstrations, rallies and sit-ins are not meant to intimidate or harass communities. They are an open expression of solidarity with the oppressed and the voiceless, and they are an open invitation for the entire Canadian community to join the call for humanity, justice and peace. Taking a principled stand with a particular opinion (even if it is not inline with the government) is a fundamental right for all Canadians and does not equal hate against anyone.
Rather than vilifying those who advocate for peace, we call upon our politicians and leaders to truly hear and represent the concerns of Canadians. We expect Canada to champion the imperative of a ceasefire, ensure access to humanitarian aid, and uphold the principles of justice and peace. Read more - Lire plus
Statement by Canada's Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia — Meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada on the rise in Islamophobia and protecting civil liberties
Jasmine Zine: How disinformation foments anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia (podcast)
Open Letter to the Canadian Legal Community on Pro-Palestine Speech, Signed by 700+ organizations, individuals and firms
BCCLA statement on attempts to suppress support for the people of Palestine
IJV: Repression of Palestinian Solidarity on Campuses Must End
CAUT Statement on Academic Freedom in Times of Conflict
The Trudeau Government Has Condemned Every Peaceful Method Of Palestinian Resistance
Hundreds gather in support of Hamilton MPP Sarah Jama in virtual rally
ACTION: Alberta must drop spurious charges against Palestine protest organizer Wesam Khaled
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Amnesty International: Peacefully protesting against injustice in Israel/OPT is not a threat to security | |
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Amnesty International 09/11/2023 - Speaking out against injustice or joining a solidarity march are some of the few tools we – as peoples around the world – have available to try and effect change. Without the right to publicly and peacefully protest – to share messages on social media, write letters and sign petitions – people are silenced.
And yet, over the last month, moves by several European governments to curb expression and protest in response to the unprecedented violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories appear designed to do just that: stifle dissent, deny collective grief, foment fear of raising one’s voice and create a “chilling effect” that threatens to stop speech cold.
Authorities in a number of European states have banned Palestinian solidarity protests and harassed and arrested people for expressing – in public and online – support for Palestinians’ rights. Some governments have threatened to shutter organisations and groups that advocate for human rights for Palestinians and to block funding for Palestinian, Israeli and regional human rights organizations.
Foreign nationals have been warned that they might be deported for expressing “radical ideologies” and authorities have supported measures by employers to sack people who speak up on behalf of Palestinians. Schools, colleges and universities have been encouraged to be on high alert for signs of so-called “extremism” in the speech of their students.
Initially claiming that restrictions were necessary in the interest of “public order”, European governments have begun to employ a hack we have seen before: they have conflated support for Palestinian human rights with support for terrorism. Since there is no universally accepted definition of “terrorism,” every state defines the word for itself, usually in overly broad and extremely vague terms, which has led to massive abuse of counter-terrorism legislation across the world. The post 11 September 2001 era was – and remains – rife with counterterrorism and counter extremism measures that have radically narrowed civic space, including the rights to freedom of expression and assembly.
The rapid manner in which this is happening across Europe at both EU and national levels would seem to indicate that, in the momentum for states to respond to the brutal Hamas attacks in Southern Israel on 7 October, there simply has been “overreach.” But I would argue that conflations between Hamas and all Palestinians; between Hamas and distinctly different armed groups such as ISIL; and between all Muslims and terrorism, are deliberate and intended to generate alarm and confusion. Such fearmongering has a logical outcome: people will be reluctant to stand up for the human rights of Palestinians.
In the midst of all that fear and uncertainty, better to say nothing at all.
By imposing measures linking expressions of solidarity with Palestinians specifically with support for or encouragement of terrorism, states have moved beyond the already dubious assertion that protests may be a threat to public order and into claims that they could threaten national security. Authorities can thus try to claim an easy “out” regarding their obligations under international human rights law because the European Court of Human Rights affords states a wide “margin of appreciation” on national security issues.
States still have to justify measures that deviate from their human rights obligations by enshrining them in law and ensuring that every measure is necessary and proportionate. But specifically invoking support of terrorism as a threat to national security creates space and impetus for rights to be subordinated to alleged security imperatives.
This burgeoning narrative by many European states contradicts their human rights obligations. Direct incitement to violence, with the likelihood that such violence could occur, is a crime and should be treated accordingly. Any form of speech that incites people to violence, discrimination or hostility should be considered hate speech and those engaging in such speech should be held accountable.
Indeed, the last month has included a very real and frightening increase in both anti-semitic and Islamophobic attacks. States should direct their efforts towards combatting genuine hate speech and hate crimes rather than banning or restricting protest or other forms of solidarity with Palestinians’ human rights. Expression that persuades, encourages or demands action on the part of a government is not a crime, no matter how offensive to some.
Support for the human rights of Palestinians under Israel’s ongoing bombardment, apartheid and occupation, with their attendant daily abuses, is support for universal human rights, applicable to all, including Palestinians and Israelis. Laws including vague terms like “apology for terrorism” or “glorification of terrorism” are open to such broad interpretation that they cannot be perfected to align with a state’s obligation to respect and protect freedom of expression. The prevailing trend in Europe of states using counter-terrorism laws as a pretext to silence dissenting views must stop.
States can get away with a lot by defining terrorism so broadly and instrumentalizing the notion of what constitutes a threat to “national security.” A threat to national security must involve real danger of physical force that would imperil a nation. European states have many tools at their disposal to respond to such extreme threats when they are genuine. Claiming that peaceful protests constitute such a threat is a violation of human rights and a dangerous weaponization of counter-terrorism powers.
This piece is by Julia Hall, Amnesty International’s expert on counter-terrorism and human rights in Europe. Read more - Lire plus
Risking arrest and assault, Israelis begin protesting Gaza war
Inside the Israeli crackdown on speech
Palestinians in Europe fear for safety as crackdown on speech fosters hate
The Free Speech Exception: Support for Palestinian rights is facing a McCarthyite backlash
Hundreds of Legal Community Members Demand Action To Stop Racist Targeting of Palestine Advocates and Safeguard Fundamental Rights
ACLU Open Letter to Colleges and Universities: Reject Efforts to Restrict Constitutionally Protected Speech on Campuses
Watching the watchdogs: Fear in newsrooms silences pro-Palestine voices
The New York Times: Statement on Yousef Masoud
Palestinian Digital Rights Coalition Calls on Meta to Stop Dehumanizing Palestinians and Silencing Their Voices
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Traumatized by Turkish Airstrikes: Testimonies from Rojava | |
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The Kurdish Centre for Studies 02/11/2023 - Children searching around for their father’s head. Cats running away from homes and refusing to return. Fires so bright they turn the night into day and resemble the surface of the sun. Terrified children who have gone mute out of fear. Fainting mothers who awake and do not recognize their children. Six young friends lying dead together in the street with nobody to retrieve them. Parents finding their son with only half his face. Families keeping their kids from attending school so they can all die together. Entire cities trembling from explosions. And a traumatized generation without power, water, or food trying to maintain a semblance of hope. This is the apocalyptic hell that Turkish military jets and drones have forsaken the people of Rojava to over the last month, as described in this article by the victims themselves.
This living nightmare began in early October, when the Turkish state launched one of the most intense waves of aerial bombardments in Rojava’s recent history. While occasional drone strikes have been common since the end of the invasion of Afrin in 2018, the series of air and drone strikes that began on October 5 this year is the deadliest cluster of attacks since the wave of airstrikes carried out by the Turkish military in November 2022. At that time, more than 1,500 strikes on 265 locations claimed the lives of more than a dozen SDF fighters and 14 civilians, as well as 19 Syrian government soldiers.
On October 5, Turkish warplanes began their campaign of terror, striking electricity, oil, gas, and water infrastructure and leaving many areas of Rojava without power or drinking water. Several strikes also targeted the area near the Washokani IDP camp, home to those displaced by Turkey’s 2019 invasion of Serê Kaniyê, causing humanitarian organizations to withdraw from the camp. It is obvious that Erdoğan’s regime in Turkey is using the fact that the world’s media is singularly focused on the war in Gaza, to carry out his own atrocities unnoticed.
The Kurdish Center for Studies (KCS) carried out several interviews with witnesses and survivors of the recent bombings, which have left 48 dead and civilian infrastructure completely destroyed, according to local monitors from the Rojava Information Center. Read more - Lire plus
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Canada's legislation on facial recognition tech is dangerous, say civil society groups and scholars | |
The Right2YourFace Coalition – a group of prominent civil society organizations and scholars – sent the letter below to the Minister of Public Safety, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and other affected parties stating that the new proposed government legislation for privacy and AI falls short and will be dangerous for Canadians. | |
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ICLMG 09/11/2023 - Dear Ministers,
As Bill C-27 comes to study by the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology (INDU), the Right2YourFace Coalition expresses our deep concerns with what Bill C-27 means for oversight of facial recognition technology (FRT) in Canada.
FRT is a type of biometric recognition technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and other computational tools to ostensibly identify individuals based on their facial features. Researchers have found that these tools are about as invasive as technologies get.
Biometric data, such as our faces, are inherently sensitive types of information. As mentioned in our Joint Letter of Concern regarding the government’s response to the ETHI Report on Facial Recognition Technology and the Growing Power of Artificial Intelligence, the use of FRT threatens human rights, equity principles, and fundamental freedoms including the right to privacy, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, and the right to non-discrimination. AI systems are being adopted at an increasingly rapid pace and Canada needs meaningful legislation to prevent the harms that FRT poses. As it stands, Bill C-27 is not that legislation – it is not fit for purpose and is in dire need of significant amendments.
Bill C-27 is comprised of three parts and our concerns lie primarily with two of them: The Consumer Privacy Protection Act (CPPA) and the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA). The CPPA creates the rules for data collection, use, and privacy that flow into implementations covered by the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA). While implementations like FRT are the target of AIDA, the datasets FRT systems rely on must be collected and used under the terms of the CPPA. Consequently, we submit that both CPPA and AIDA require amendments to fully protect vulnerable biometric information.
We have identified five core issues with the Bill, including elements of both the CPPA and AIDA, that require immediate attention in order to avoid significant harm. They are:
- The CPPA does not flag biometric information as sensitive information, and it does not define “sensitive information” at all. This omission leaves some of our most valuable and vulnerable information—including the faces to which we must have a right—without adequate protections;
- The CPPA’s “legitimate business purposes” exemption is too broad and will not protect consumers from private entities wishing to use FRT;
- “High impact systems” is undefined in AIDA. Leaving this crucial concept to be defined later in regulations leaves Canadians without meaningful basis from which to assess the impact of the Act, and FRT must be included;
- AIDA does not apply to government institutions, including national security agencies who use AI for surveillance, and exempts private sector AI technology developed for use by those national security agencies – creating an unprecedented power imbalance; and
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AIDA focuses on the concept of individual harm, which excludes the impacts of FRT on communities at large. Read more
ACTION: Protect our rights from facial recognition!
Version française: La législation canadienne sur la technologie de reconnaissance faciale est dangereuse, affirment des groupes de la société civile et des universitaires
The Canadian Press: Privacy bill fails to address dangers of facial recognition technology: coalition
No AIDA is better than this AIDA - Canada should craft an 'agile' AI regulatory regime, but not short-change democratic deliberation to pass an ill-conceived bill
What would governing AI democratically in Canada look like? (webinar)
Former Blackberry co-chief executive Jim Balsillie says Ottawa should scrap proposed law to regulate artificial intelligence and start over
ACTION: Tell your MP: Get the AI regulation puzzle right!
ACTION: Dites à votre député.e : Réglementez l’IA correctement!
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ICLMG denounces Bill C-27 national security exemptions at parliamentary hearing | |
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ICLMG 02/11/2023 - On November 2, 2023, ICLMG presented at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry and Technology (INDU) for their study of Bill C-27 alongside several other civil society groups: the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, OpenMedia, the Privacy and Access Council of Canada, and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. The bill is meant to address privacy protections in the private sector and the regulation of artificial intelligence.
Bill C-27 contains several national security exemptions that are unacceptable and dangerous for our rights, and the proposed AI regulations in particular fail to address the human rights concerns around the technology overall. Source
Read more about our concerns here.
Watch the full INDU committee session, including the other groups’ testimonies and the Q&A period, here.
Watch the press conference held before the committee meeting here.
ACTION: Canada: Remove the national security exemptions from Bill C-27!
Civil liberties groups give C-27 failing grade, call for AIDA to be ‘reset and reworked’ separately
Ottawa’s plan to protect against dangers of artificial intelligence lacks teeth, critics charge
DHS Must Overhaul Its Flawed Automated Systems
Britain is ‘omni-surveillance’ society, watchdog warns
LDL Dominique Peschard: L’essor de la société de surveillance
LDL Dominique Peschard: À l’ère du capitalisme de surveillance
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ICLMG on Senate report: Combatting Hate: Islamophobia & its impact on Muslims in Canada
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Facebook 07/11/2023 - We were grateful to be invited to share our concerns with the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights for their study of Islamophobia in Canada and welcome the release of the Committee’s report.
On a regular basis, we see how Canada’s anti-terrorism activities profile and target Muslims in Canada and around the world based on religious and racial profiling. We have also documented how national security laws and policies are ingrained with systemic Islamophobia, leading to assumptions and policy decisions that negatively impact the entire Muslim community.
We are particularly glad to see the inclusion of concerns around systemic Islamophobia in national security activities, and the specific focus on the impact of the CRA’s activities on Muslim charities in Canada.
We support the committee’s call for a review of the 2017 National Security Act, for changes to the federal National Inherent Risk Assessment on terrorist financing, for more transparency and data around the CRA’s audits and revocations, and legislative changes based on a forthcoming review of the CRA’s Review and Analysis Division (RAD).
We continue to call for RAD’s activities to be suspended pending the outcome of the review, when new procedures can be established to replace the CRA’s current problematic and prejudiced approach to addressing concerns of terrorist financing. Source
ACTION: Stop Prejudiced Audit of Muslim Charities
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Minister intervenes in deportation of man facing death sentence in Egypt | |
The ICLMG sent a letter to Minister Miller on October 31st urging him to immediately halt the deportation of Dr. Gouda. We are relieved he was not deported. | |
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The Canadian Press 02/11/2023 - A man who was set to be deported from Canada to Egypt, where he faces a death sentence, says the federal immigration minister intervened in his case and prevented his removal.Dr. Ezzat Gouda was ordered to return to Egypt by Nov. 1, despite claims that he would be persecuted and killed because of his political affiliations in the aftermath of the Arab Spring revolution.
Gouda says he showed Canadian officials court documents that prove he has been sentenced to death in Egypt, but was told they were too vague and insufficient for his refugee claim to be accepted. On Wednesday, as he prepared to board a flight back to Egypt, he says he suffered a stroke and was taken to the hospital. Gouda says that later in the day, he learned in an email from the Canada Border Services Agency that Immigration Minister Marc Miller had stopped the deportation. Miller's office said it would not respond to questions about the matter because of privacy concerns. Read more - Lire plus
More details: Canada to deport Montreal man facing death sentence in Egypt
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Calling for refusal of possible second extradition of Hassan Diab | |
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CFSC 26/10/2023 - Over the years, Canadian Friends Service Committee has closely followed Hassan Diab’s case, and is dismayed over the recent news that the Court of Cassation in France is seeking a secondary extradition after declaring him guilty, despite exculpatory evidence. In 2018, Hassan Diab was released from prison after the case was dismissed due to “consistent evidence of innocence.”
Diab, a Canadian citizen, has already faced an intensive legal process, and the possibility of a second extradition raises substantial human rights and justice concerns. He was previously extradited from Canada in 2014 and agonizingly served more than three years of solitary confinement in a French prison while being investigated by French authorities over a bombing that took place in 1980.
In 2018, Prime Minister Trudeau said “what happened to [Hassan Diab] never should have happened…we’ve asked for an independent external review to look into exactly how this happened and make sure that it never happens again.” CFSC calls on the Canadian government to follow through and guarantee for Hassan Diab that this will never happen again.
The recent trial utilised secret intelligence, which is unconstitutional in Canada. No new evidence was presented, and no official recordings or transcripts exist of the proceedings. The continued secrecy and lack of transparency indicate several concerning uncertainties surrounding Diab’s case.
CFSC calls on the Canadian government to not accede or accept a second request for his extradition. Diab, a Canadian citizen, should live a peaceful life with his family, friends, and community. CFSC also calls on the Canadian government to follow through with recommendations on reforming Canada’s Extradition Act, thereby ensuring the human rights and welfare of Canadian citizens are upheld. Source
The 15-Year Ordeal of Hassan Diab
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Event Summary: "From Policy to Practice: Implementation of the Global Study on the impact of counter-terrorism on civil society and civic space" | |
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CSO Coalition 23/10/2023 - On 23 October 2023, the CSO Coalition on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism, in partnership with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, the Permanent Mission of Canada to the UN, and the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN, hosted the side event, “From Policy to Practice: Implementation of the Global Study on the Impact of Counter-Terrorism on Civil Society & Civic Space”. Speakers included:
- Prof. Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism
- H.E. Mr. Robert Rae, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Canada to the UN
- Ms. Tanya Boulakovski, Legal Researcher, MENA Rights Group
- Mr. Rio Hada, Chief, Equality, Development and Rule of Law Section, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Ms. Rahma Ramadhan, Research Fellow, Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies
This side event brought together civil society, Member States, the United Nations and other stakeholders to discuss avenues to implement the recommendations presented in the Global Study on the Impact of Counter-Terrorism Measures on Civil Society and Civic Space, produced by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin. The core analysis and findings of the Global Study on the Impact of Counter-Terrorism Measures on Civil Society and Civic Space were institutionalized in the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism transmitted to the General Assembly during the 78th session.
The event opened with remarks made by the Special Rapporteur and Ambassador Rae who both spoke on the wealth of data found within the Global Study. The Special Rapporteur highlighted the key findings from the Global Study, which was based on rigorous data-collection, including from civil society consultations in South Asia and Asia Pacific, Sub-Sharan Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Caribbean, Middle East & North Africa; and North America and over 100 written inputs. The findings show that the abuse of counter-terrorism is structural, and the scale at which the abuse occurs cannot be treated as a marginal issue or unintended consequence. The Study documented the pervasive discriminatory aspects of P/CVE and counter-terrorism efforts, in particular the use of these measures against religious and cultural minorities, women and girls, LGBT and gender diverse persons, indigenous communities, and other marginalized groups in society.
The Special Rapporteur called on Member States to call out misuse and abuse of counter-terrorism measures that targets civil society, the need for monitoring, oversight, and accountability of counterterrorism at the national, regional and global levels. The Special Rapporteur and Ambassador Rae encouraged Member States to engage and support civil society, who provide valuable advice on counter-terrorism policies, as evidenced during the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy review led by Canada and Tunisia earlier this year.
The panel, comprised of Ms. Tanya Boulakovski, Mr. Rio Hada, and Ms. Rahma Ramadhan, highlighted key recommendations that resonated with their work and how to move forward with implementation of the Global Study. Ms. Tanya Boulakovski spoke on the need to bridge the gap between those working on human rights and those working on counter-terrorism policies to achieve a “fundamental transformation” as called for in the Global Study. Mr. Rio Hada addressed how the UN can further the recommendations in the Global Study, including by discussing ways to strengthen civil society engagement in the Global Compact’s Human Rights and Rule of Law Working Group, which OHCHR leads, and how to implement this across UN counter-terrorism entities.
Ms. Rahma Ramadhan spoke to a recommendation from the Global Study for Member States to create accountability mechanisms that build upon the data in the Global Study by establishing regional mechanisms to effectively address the impacts of counter-terrorism measures on organizations and human rights defenders. Following the initial remarks by our speakers, the floor was opened for interventions from those joining us online and in-person, including representatives of civil society organizations as well as Permanent Missions. Interventions from the floor highlighted additional findings from the Global Study, including the use of counter-terrorism measures to curtail free speech and freedom of assembly, the deployment of new technologies for mass surveillance, measures taken by states to deliberately misuse CFT laws and administrative powers to suppress civil society, and the gendered impacts of counter-terrorism measures. Watch event - Visionnez l'évènement
The Lawfare Podcast: Fionnuala Ní Aoláin on Counterterrorism and Human Rights
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A coalition of 6 organisations takes EU’s dangerous terrorist content regulation to court | |
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EDRi 08/11/2023 - On 8 November 2023, a coalition of six organisations – La Quadrature du Net (LQDN), Access Now, ARTICLE 19, European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL), European Digital Rights (EDRi) and Wikimedia France – filed a complaint before the French supreme administrative court, the Conseil d’État, against the French decree implementing the Regulation on addressing the dissemination of terrorist content online (also known as “TERREG”). They are asking the Conseil d’État to request a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the validity of the TERREG in light of fundamental rights protected by EU law.
Under this regulation, law enforcement authorities in an EU country can order a website, a social media platform or any online service provider which hosts user-generated content to block within one hour any content alleged to be of terrorist nature – across all Member States in the EU. These service providers can also be forced to implement “specific measures” to prevent the publication of terrorist content. These “specific measures” – the choice of which remains at the discretion of the service providers – may include, for example, automated upload filters which scan all content before publication. Such automated systems are unable to take account of the context of the publication and are notoriously prone to errors that result in the censorship of protected speech such as journalism, satire, art, or documentation of human rights abuses. Furthermore, the obligation to adopt “specific measures” may violate the prohibition of imposing a general monitoring obligation under the Digital Services Act.
The litigant civil society organisations – among many others – have denounced the potential of fundamental rights violations entailed by the TERREG since the legislative proposal was published by the European Commission in 2018. While fighting terrorism is an important objective, TERREG threatens freedom of expression and access to information on the internet by giving law enforcement the power to decide what can be said online, without prior independent judicial review. The danger of law enforcement overreach and abuse of content removals has been widely reported, and will inevitably increase with this Regulation. This legislation also reinforces the hegemony of the largest online platforms, as only very few platforms are currently able to meet the obligations under TERREG. The French government is expected to file their arguments in defence of the case in the next few months. The decision of the Conseil d’État is not expected before next year. Read more - Lire plus
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Amnesty calls for Prevent strategy to be abolished over ‘human rights abuses’ | |
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The Guardian 01/11/2023 - Amnesty International has called for the abolition of the government’s counter-extremism strategy Prevent, accusing it of severe human rights abuses and of encouraging a culture of “thought policing”. A report by the group said Prevent’s legal duty on public sector workers, such as in schools and health, to report their suspicions was “fundamentally incompatible” with international human rights obligations.
Amnesty said the legal duty led to breaches of the right to freedom of expression, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of peaceful assembly, and the right to equality and non-discrimination. The report is a blistering attack on the Prevent programme, which security officials see as one of the most important ways to stem the flow of recruits to Islamist and, increasingly, extreme rightwing terrorism.
The Guardian has learned that official estimates, which have never been made public, are that since 2015 3,800 people have been turned away from a path to terrorism. But even some security officials have feared Prevent’s mission has become confused, sometimes under political pressure, and moved towards trying to capture those with unpopular extremist views who are not committing a crime. Amnesty highlights official guidance that recommends people use their “gut feeling” before reporting concerns.
“The Prevent strategy rests on the idea that there is a causal relationship between undefined ‘extremist’ views and ideas, which may be espoused by lawful non-violent groups, and ‘terrorism’,” the report said. “But the alleged link between the two is not clearly articulated, nor is it clear where legality ends and potential criminality begins.” It added: “The breadth of discretion permitted in Prevent decision-making has resulted in a significant risk of discrimination. Islamophobic stereotypes associating Muslims with extremism or terrorism have played a major role in referrals to Prevent. A disproportionate number of neurodiverse people and children also feature in Prevent referrals.”
The report, called This is the Thought Police, said: “Amnesty International spoke to people who were referred to Prevent largely because they expressed non-violent political beliefs, including one person whose employer referred them to Prevent for their leftwing social media posts. “People were often not told why they had been referred to Prevent, or what the outcome of their referral was. Such secrecy and lack of clarity is difficult to justify in what purports to be a voluntary pre-crime programme.”
Amnesty said that 87% of Prevent referrals do not “meet the criteria for intervention”, suggesting too many people are caught up in the programme, with one in three referrals being for children under 15. Cases cited by Amnesty include Irfan, a teacher in the north of England who was referred to Prevent after complaining about Islamophobic harassment at school, including jibes about his beard and being called a “terrorist”. Read more - Lire plus
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Second investigation to open into role of British spies in torture of Guantánamo detainee | |
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The Guardian 29/10/23 - The UK’s intelligence agencies are facing a fresh judicial investigation into allegations that British spies were complicit in the CIA’s post-9/11 secret torture and rendition programme. The investigatory powers tribunal (IPT) has said it will open a second investigation into allegations that the intelligence services were involved in the mistreatment of a prisoner detained by the US. In a ruling released on Friday, the secretive court said it would examine a complaint filed on behalf of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi Arabian citizen held at the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba.
Lawyers for Nashiri have argued that there is an “irresistible inference” that the UK’s intelligence agencies, including MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, participated in intelligence sharing relating to al-Nashiri and “were complicit in his torture and ill-treatment”. The IPT’s decision to investigate the claims comes after it agreed in May to examine a similar complaint by another man held at Guantánamo, Mustafa al-Hawsawi. In its latest ruling, the IPT – a specialist judicial body that hears complaints against the intelligence services – said the underlying issues in both cases “are of the gravest possible kind”.
UK government lawyers had sought to persuade the tribunal that Nashiri was out of time to pursue the complaint, but a panel of judges said it was “in the public interest for these issues to be considered” in the same way Hawsawi’s case is being examined. The IPT has unique powers to obtain classified files from the intelligence agencies, which will now be required to share with the tribunal documents relating to the UK’s cooperation with the CIA. Together, the cases before the IPT illustrate how questions about the UK’s complicity in the CIA’s mistreatment of prisoners continue to weigh on British intelligence more than two decades after the secret detention programme began.
In 2018, the parliamentary intelligence oversight committee concluded that the UK’s spy agencies were involved in the CIA’s kidnap and torture of terrorism suspects. The government later abandoned a commitment to hold a judge-led public inquiry into the issue. Following the parliamentary committee’s findings, lawyers at Sternberg Reed filed a complaint with the IPT in which they argued that Nashiri was of “specific interest” to British intelligence in the 2000s.
According to a US senate investigation into the CIA’s detention programme, al-Nashiri was repeatedly tortured while held in secret prisons operated by the agency, known as black sites. The so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” used against him included waterboarding, mock executions and “rectal feeding”, which according to medical experts was a form of violent sexual assault. Nashiri is awaiting trial in a death penalty case before a military tribunal in connection with the USS Cole bombing in 2000 that killed 17 American sailors. Earlier this year, a UN human rights panel called for his immediate release. Responding to the IPT’s decision, Nashiri’s barrister, Hugh Southey KC, said: “There are legitimate concerns about the role the UK played in the treatment of Mr Nashiri. We welcome the fact that there will now be an independent review of the conduct of the UK services.” Read more - Lire plus
This veteran was accused of spying at Guantanamo. Now he advocates for civil liberties
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The Adverse Impact of Counter Terrorism Laws on Human Rights Defenders and FATF Compliance in India | |
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The American Bar Association 30/10/2023 - The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an intergovernmental body charged with combatting money laundering and terrorism financing. India was granted membership to FATF in 2010 and has repeatedly amended its anti-terrorism and money laundering laws allegedly to be in compliance with FATF’s requirements. This process, however, has resulted in wide-ranging adverse impacts on non-profit organizations (NPOs) and human rights defenders who have been targeted with prosecutions, in many instances, for exercising their civic freedoms by critiquing the government.
This report examines FATF’s recommendations on money laundering and terrorist financing and how India’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Counter Financial Terrorism (CFT) regime contravenes FATF’s requirements and guidelines by impacting the human rights of civil society actors. The report first analyzes the three laws that form India’s counter-terrorism regime—the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967 (UAPA), the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act of 1976 (FCRA). The report then analyzes five illustrative cases of NPOs and human rights defenders in India that have been the target of the government’s enforcement of these laws. The analysis of this report is based on desk research and interviews with human rights defenders in the field.
The findings of this report highlight the misuse of countering terrorism financing legislation to target human rights defenders and close civic space. The report finds that India’s counter-terrorism laws have expanded over time, becoming increasingly vague, and often overturning basic procedural safeguards for defendants. In enforcing these counter-terrorism laws, investigating officers often use vague allegations and inconsistent evidence to attempt to punish human rights defenders and NPOs that are critical of India’s government. The process of prosecuting individuals under these laws has also become punishment itself through the use of extensive pretrial detention and repeated denial of bail.
The report concludes by setting forth recommendations for India that are to be taken into consideration in reviewing its compliance with FATF requirements, specifically regarding the effects that India’s counter-terrorism regime has on the exercise of civil and political rights. As human rights defenders and NPOs critical of the government are often the victims of the government’s abuse of counter-terrorism laws, the report concludes with recommendations for the Indian government to stop its abuse of its counter-terrorism laws, which if ignored, will impact democracy, the rule of law, and India’s credibility as an international partner on counter-terrorism. Read more - Lire plus
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France says five-year conviction for citizen held in Iran 'unacceptable' | |
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Reuters 08/11/2023 - France said on Wednesday that one of its citizens being held in Iran has been sentenced to five years in prison on a baseless conviction calling for his immediate release and that of three other of its nationals held in the country.
Ties between France and Iran have been strained over the issue in what Paris has said are arbitrary arrests that are equivalent to state hostage taking. "We learned with the greatest concern that Mr. Louis Arnaud had been sentenced to five years in prison," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre said in a statement.
"This conviction, for which there is nothing to support and the absence of any access to a lawyer, is unacceptable." Arnaud, who has been held since September 2022, is one of four French nationals held in Iran, and is being detained at the Evin prison in Tehran. His mother, Sylvie, told Reuters the pretext given for his sentencing were for "propaganda and harming the security of the Iranian state." "These are completely baseless and a carbon copy of what they attribute to other Europeans held in Iran," she said. Read more - Lire plus
Iran sentences Frenchman Louis Arnaud to five years on national security charges
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Oregon Police Obsessively Spied on Activists for Years, Even After Pipeline Fight Ended | |
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The Intercept 08/11/2023 - Siskiyou Rising Tide are not new to being watched. Founded in 2016 under the name Southern Oregon Rising Tide, the direct action climate justice group was a key player in the yearslong battle to stop the Jordan Cove Energy Project, a 229-mile natural gas pipeline that threatened to be the largest single emitter of greenhouse gasses in Oregon.
Alongside a coalition of environmental and Indigenous groups, Siskiyou Rising Tide faced major police counterinsurgency efforts, including aggressive monitoring funded by Pembina Pipeline Corporation, the Canadian fossil fuel company behind the project. But a dense web of interagency and corporate surveillance was unable to curtail the Jordan Cove opposition: In a rare victory for the climate movement, Pembina canceled the project in 2021. A new trove of internal police emails, however, reveals that the intrusive and overreaching surveillance practices that developed around the pipeline project have remained firmly in place, even years after Pembina pulled out of the area.
Obtained through public records requests by Information for Public Use and Siskiyou Rising Tide and shared exclusively with The Intercept ahead of their publication, the emails show a policing apparatus that treats even the most placid social justice activities — like vigils and Juneteenth celebrations — as sites of criminal threat. “As the Jordan Cove pipeline was defeated around 2020, Siskiyou Rising Tide pivoted to focusing on housing and racial justice issues, and these records requests were part of an attempt to understand what the surveillance landscape looked like post-Jordan Cove,” the Information for Public Use said in a statement shared with The Intercept.
The emails show that, from 2016 to 2023, the Medford Police Department coordinated heavy-handed police responses to peaceful rallies and protests, tracked activist groups’ social media pages, and consistently treated typical, First Amendment-protected activity as a potential crime worthy of law enforcement scrutiny. Sam Becker, a member of Information for Public Use, wrote in a Signal message that the Medford Police Department’s overreach included surveilling a Black teenager’s vigil, pushing back against the Oregon Health Authority’s choice to fund a harm reduction nonprofit, and monitoring a reproductive justice organization after receiving a tip from a member of an evangelical anti-abortion group.
Information for Public Use and Siskiyou Rising Tide believe that the surveillance activities revealed in the email trove constitute a violation of both First Amendment protections and an Oregon-specific law, ORS 181A.250, which prohibits law enforcement agencies from collecting and maintaining “information about the political, religious or social views, associations or activities” of individuals, groups, or business, unless the police have “reasonable grounds to suspect the subject of the information is or may be involved in criminal conduct.” Read more - Lire plus
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Craig Murray: Incredibly, I Face Investigation for Terrorism
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Blog 26/10/23 - My phone is not being returned to me by police as, astonishingly, I am now formally under investigation for terrorism. Whether this relates to support for Palestine or for Wikileaks has currently not been made clear.
What follows is, unspun and unvarnished, my account of my interview under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act as given to my lawyers:
I arrived from Keflavik airport, Iceland to Glasgow airport at about 10am on Monday 16 October. After passport control I was stopped by three police officers, two male and one female, who asked me to accompany them to a detention room.
They seated me in the room and told me: I was detained under Section 7 of the Terrorism Act. I was not arrested but detained, and therefore had no right to a lawyer. I had no right to remain silent. I had to give full and accurate information in response to questions. It was a criminal offence to withhold any relevant information.
I had to give up any passwords to my devices. It was a criminal offence not to do this.
They searched my baggage and my coat, going through my documents and taking my phone and laptop. They did not look at one document from Julian Assange’s lawyers that I told them was privileged.
They asked me about boarding cards for Brussels and Dublin they found and what I had been doing there. I replied I was at a debate at Trinity College in Dublin, while in Brussels I had attended a human rights meeting focused on the case of Julian Assange.
They asked me to identify the individuals from some visiting cards I had from the Brussels meeting (one was a German MP).
They asked me the purpose of my visit to Iceland. I told them that I was attending a coordinating meeting of the campaign to free Julian Assange. I said I had also attended a pro-Palestinian rally outside the Icelandic parliament, but that had not been a prior intention. They asked how I earnt my living. I said from two sources: voluntary subscriptions to my blog, and my civil service pension.
They asked what organisations I am a member of. I said the Alba party. I said I worked with Wikileaks and the Don’t Extradite Assange campaign, but was not formally a “member” of either. I was a life member of the FDA union. No other organisations.
They asked if I received any money from Wikileaks, from Don’t Extradite Assange or from the Assange family (separate questions). I replied no, except occasional travel expenses from Don’t Extradite Assange. In December I had done a tour of Germany and received a fee from the Wau Holland Foundation, a German free speech charity.
They asked what other campaigns I had been involved in. I said many, from the Anti-Nazi League and Anti-Apartheid movement on. I had campaigned for Guantanamo inmates alongside Caged Prisoners.
They asked why I had attended the pro-Palestine demo in Iceland. I said one of the speakers had invited me, Ögmundur Jónasson. He was a former Icelandic Interior Minister. I said I did not know what the speeches said as they were all in Icelandic. They asked whether I intended to attend any pro-Palestinian rallies in the UK. I said I had no plans but probably would.
They asked how I judged whether to speak alongside others on the same platform. I replied I depended on organisers I trusted, like the Palestine Solidarity Committee or Stop the War. It was impossible to know who everyone was at a big rally.
They asked if anyone else posted to my twitter or blog. I replied no, it was all me.
They asked how considered my tweets were. I replied that those which were links to my blog posts were my considered writing. Others were more ephemeral, and like everyone else I sometimes made mistakes and sometimes apologised. They asked if I deleted tweets and I said very seldom.
I volunteered that I thought I understood the tweet that worried them and agreed it could have been more nuanced. This was the limitation of twitter. It was intended to refer only to the current situation within Gaza and the Palestinian people’s right of self-defence from genocide.
That was more or less it. The interview was kept to exactly an hour and at one point one said to another “18 minutes left”. They did not tell me why. At one point they did mention protected journalistic material on my laptop but I was too dazed to take advantage of this and specify anything.
They took my bank account details and copies of all my bank cards.
ENDS
This is an enormous abuse of human rights. The abuse of process in refusing both a lawyer and the right to remain silent, the inquiry into perfectly legal campaigning which is in no way terrorism-associated, the political questioning, the financial snooping and the seizure of material related to my private life, were all based on an utterly fake claim that I am associated with terrorism.
I have to date not been arrested and not charged. Contempt of court is therefore not in play and you are free to comment on the case (although in the current atmosphere any kind of free thought is liable to vicious state action). I am safe and currently in Dublin. I intend next to travel to Switzerland to take this up with the United Nations.
My legal team have already made a submission against this outrage to the United Nations Human Rights Committee and are looking at the possibility of judicial review in the UK. We also have to prepare the defence against possible terrorism charges, ludicrous as that sounds. Read more - Lire plus
Craig Murray seeks UN protection in Switzerland against British police-state persecution
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Reclaiming Security Webinar Series: Putting people & planet at the heart of national strategies | |
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UN OHCHR 18/10/2023 - This webinar series accompanies the launch of Rethinking Security’s Human Security Strategy and will challenge the established, bipartisan consensus about what security is and how it is best created. It will set out alternatives, rooted in human and common security, exploring the importance of reclaiming security from militarism and what a difference it would make for global, community and individual security.
The Westminster consensus on ‘national security’ needs urgent interrogation. Not only has it failed to create a more equal, just and secure world, but it is manifestly failing even on its own terms of preserving an international order dominated by UK allies and their interests. It is increasingly unsustainable, not least in contributing to the breakdown of the ecological systems on which our food, health and economic security depend. Read more - Lire plus
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NEW Canada: Remove the national security exemptions from Bill C-27!
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Bill C-27, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, has been introduced by the federal government with the promise that it would enhance privacy protections, adequately regulate artificial intelligence (AI) and protect human rights. The bill, however, is not up to the task. Please join us in denouncing the dangerous national security related exemptions in the bill. | |
Canada: Do not purchase armed drones | |
The ICLMG is a member of the No Armed Drones campaign | |
In the government's proposal seeking bids for its drone program it laid out disturbing scenarios for Canadian military drone use: One scenario described drones being used to surveil activists protesting a (theoretical) G20 Summit in Quebec, helping the security team intercept and identify the occupants of a vehicle, who are “anti-capitalist radicals” intending to “hang a banner concerning global warming.” Another scenario modeled after US drone strike programs features a drone bombing “Fighting Age Males” in the Middle East after spotting one of them “holding a small radio or cell phone." The initial cost estimate is $5 billion with billions more to operate the drones over their 25-year lifespan. | |
CSIS isn't above the law! | |
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In recent years, at least three 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 Marco Mendicino demanding that he take immediate action to put an end to this abuse of power and hold those CSIS officers involved accountable, and for parliament to support Bill C-331, An Act to amend the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act (duty of candour). Your message will also be sent to your MP and to Minister of Justice David Lametti.
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Canada must protect Hassan Diab! | |
Canada must repatriate all Canadians detained in NE Syria now! | |
On January 20, 2023, Federal Court Justice Henry Brown ruled that Canada must repatriate Canadians illegally and arbitrarily detained in northeast Syria. On February 6, 2023, the Canadian government filed an appeal and asked that the Brown ruling be set aside and placed on hold while the appeal plays out. This is unacceptable.
Every day the government fails to bring these Canadians home, it places their lives at risk from disease, malnutrition, violence, and ongoing military conflicts, including bombing by Turkey’s military. United Nations officials have even found that the conditions faced by Canadians in prison are akin to torture. Please click below to urge the federal government to repatriate all Canadians illegally & arbitrarily detained in northeast Syria without delay.
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20 years of fighting deportation to torture: Justice for Mohamed Harkat Now! | |
Canada must protect encryption! | |
Canada’s extradition system is broken. One leading legal expert calls it “the least fair law in Canada.” It has led to grave harms and rights violations, as we’ve seen in the case of Canadian citizen Dr Hassan Diab. It needs to be reformed now.
Click below to send a message to urge Prime Minister Trudeau, the Minister of Justice and your Member of Parliament to reform the extradition system before it makes more victims. And share on Facebook + Twitter + Instagram. Thank you!
Regardez la vidéo avec les sous-titres en français + Agir
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Protect our rights from facial recognition! | Facial recognition surveillance is invasive and inaccurate. This unregulated tech poses a threat to the fundamental rights of people across Canada. Federal intelligence agencies refuse to disclose whether they use facial recognition technology. The RCMP has admitted (after lying about it) to using facial recognition for 18 years without regulation, let alone a public debate regarding whether it should have been allowed in the first place. Send a message to Prime Minister Trudeau and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair calling for a ban now. | |
OTHER NEWS - AUTRES NOUVELLES | |
January to June 2023 - Janvier à juin 2023 | |
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Here is what we worked on so far this year thanks to the support of our members and donors:
- Bill C-20, Public Complaints and Review Commission Act
- Bill C-26, An Act respecting cyber security and amending the Telecommunications Act
- Bill C-27, Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022
- Bill C-41: International assistance and anti-terrorism laws
- Canadians detained in Northeastern Syria
- Justice for Dr Hassan Diab & reform of the Extradition Act
- Combatting Islamophobia
- Countering terrorist financing & prejudiced audits of Muslim charities
- National Security and Intelligence Review Agency
- CSIS accountability and duty of candour
- CSE, surveillance and cyberwarfare
- Facial Recognition Technology (FRT)
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“Online harms” proposal
- Canada’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
- Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism
- UN Counterterrorism Executive Directorate Canada assessment
- UN Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights global survey on counterterrorism and civic space
For more details on each item and to see all the media articles we were mentioned in or were interviewed for, click here.
What we have planned for the rest of 2023!
- Ensuring that the Canadian government’s proposals on “online harms” do not violate fundamental freedoms, or exacerbate the silencing of racialized and marginalized voices
- Protecting our privacy from government surveillance, including facial recognition, and from attempts to weaken encryption, along with advocating for good privacy law reform
- Addressing the lack of regulation on the use of AI in national security, including proposed exemptions for national security agencies
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Fighting for Justice for Mohamed Harkat, an end to security certificates, and addressing problems in security inadmissibility
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Ensuring Justice for Hassan Diab and reforming Canada’s extradition law
- The return of the rest of the Canadian citizens and the non-Canadian mothers of Canadian children indefinitely detained in Syrian camps
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The end to the CRA’s prejudiced audits of Muslim-led charities
- Greater accountability and transparency for the Canada Border Services Agency
- Greater transparency and accountability for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
- Advocating for the repeal of the Canadian No Fly List, and for putting a stop to the use of the US No Fly List by air carriers in Canada
- Pressuring lawmakers to protect our civil liberties from the negative impact of national security and the “war on terror”, as well as keeping you and our member organizations informed via the News Digest
- Publishing a collection of essays written by amazing partners on the work of the ICLMG for our 20th anniversary
- And much more!
Version française: Ce que nous avons fait jusqu'à présent en 2023
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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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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 $10 or more per month (and wanted to be listed) directly in the News Digest. Without all of you, our work wouldn't be possible!
James Deutsch
Bill Ewanick
Kevin Malseed
Brian Murphy
Colin Stuart
Bob Thomson
James Turk
John & Rosemary Williams
Jo Wood
The late Bob Stevenson
Nous tenons à remercier nos organisations membres ainsi que les centaines de personnes qui ont soutenu notre travail à travers les années, y compris sur Patreon! En récompense, nous nommons ci-dessus nos mécènes qui donnent 10$ 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!
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