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International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group

Coalition pour la surveillance internationale des libertés civiles

January 14, 2023 - 14 janvier 2023

What we've been up to from July to Dec 2022 + Our plans for 2023

In case you missed it, we've published our biannual summary of activities last month. Here are the legislation and issues we worked on from July to December 2022:

Bill C-20, Public Complaints and Review Commission Act
Bill C-26, An Act respecting cyber security & amending the Telecommunications Act
Bill C-27, Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022
"Online harms" proposal
Countering terrorist financing & prejudiced audits of Muslim charities
International Assistance and anti-terrorism laws
Justice for Dr Hassan Diab & reform of the Extradition Act
CSIS accountability and duty of candour
Facial Recognition Technology (FRT)
Canadians detained in Northeastern Syria
Justice for Moe Harkat and abolish security certificates
Canada’s armed drone purchase
Listing of Iranian Canadians
Ongoing No Fly List problems

For more details on each issue, click here. And here are the issues we plan to work on in the first half of 2023:

Advocating for changes to anti-terror laws that prohibit Canadian organizations from providing international assistance in Afghanistan and other regions in need;
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 privacy law reform;
Fighting for Justice for Mohamed Harkat, an end to security certificates, and addressing problems in security inadmissibility;
Ensuring Justice for Hassan Diab and reforming Canada’s extradition law;
The return of the 40+ Canadian citizens indefinitely detained in Syrian camps, including more than 20 children;
The end to the CRA’s prejudiced audits of Muslim-led charities;
Pushing for Canadian government action on behalf of Iranian Canadians negatively and unjustly impacted by the US terror listing of the IRGC;
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;
And much more! Read more - Lire plus

Press release: Troubling revelation of possible government targeting of Muslim Association of Canada requires independent investigation

ICLMG 15/12/2022 - The troubling allegations revealed in the Globe and Mail today regarding possible government targeting of the largest Muslim organization in Canada requires further investigation by an independent party, says the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group.

“Given the seriousness and deeply troubling nature of the documents received by the Muslim Association of Canada, it is imperative that there be independent verification of their veracity and the allegations they contain,” said Tim McSorley, national coordinator of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group. “Whether this is a hoax or not, the unfortunate reality is that we know Muslim Canadians and Muslim organizations have been targets for surveillance and criminalization under the guise of counter-terrorism driven by systemic Islamophobia and racism. It is important that the government take this issue seriously and act on it quickly.”

To that end, the ICLMG believes that these allegations should be independently investigated, particularly given that they possibly implicate the RCMP and other federal agencies. The government should consider referring the matter to the appropriate complaints body, including the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission or the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency. Source

MAC Statement About the Globe and Mail Article – “RCMP probes elaborate scam targeting Canada’s largest Muslim organization”

Inquiry possible into potentially forged papers sent to Muslim charity, Trudeau says

Alex Neve & Leilani Farha: If the CRA is targeting Muslim-led charities, Canadians deserve to know

Alex Neve is the former secretary general of Amnesty International Canada. Leilani Farha is the former executive director of Canada Without Poverty.

The Globe and Mail 20/12/2022 - In 2012, Stephen Harper’s government tightened Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) regulations and gave the CRA a special assignment: auditing charitable organizations to determine whether they exceeded permissible levels of “political activity.” Environmental, human rights, international development and other civil society organizations felt disproportionately targeted, with audits seeming to focus on groups that highlighted the climate impact of the oil and gas industry, defended the rights of Palestinians and advanced an anti-poverty agenda. Many of the audited organizations were well-known to Canadians, including Oxfam Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation and our own charities; many had been critical of Harper-era policies and decisions. While the government denied political interference around the audits, they had a notable chilling effect on the charitable sector nonetheless. Groups became afraid of the potential repercussions of being offside of the Harper government on hot-button issues. It felt as if the CRA had been weaponized. In 2016, a year after the election of Justin Trudeau’s government, Canada Without Poverty (CWP) filed a Charter challenge in Ontario’s Superior Court, arguing that the audit of the organization’s “political activity” had violated its right to freedom of expression. Two years later, the court ruled in CWP’s favour, the federal government chose not to appeal and the restrictive policy was overturned. So it is distressing to learn that another group within the charitable sector feels similarly under attack today.

In recent years, members of Mr. Trudeau’s government have received complaints that the CRA’s counterterrorism financing unit, the Review and Analysis Division (RAD), has been disproportionately targeting Muslim-led charities. In 2021, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group found that between 2008 to 2015, RAD audited 16 charities, eight of which had their charitable status revoked; of those eight, six were Muslim-led. That same year, a research paper from the University of Toronto’s Institute of Islamic Studies and the National Council of Canadian Muslims was published, examining audits of three Muslim charities and concluding that Canada’s anti-terrorism financing and anti-radicalization frameworks can produce bias. At recent hearings held by the Senate’s Standing Committee on Human Rights, the CRA indicated that since RAD’s inception, it has revoked the charitable status of 14 of the 39 charities it audited; 12 of the 14 are Muslim. The director- general of the CRA’s Charities Directorate has also confirmed that the RAD follows Canada’s 2015 National Risk Assessment, which concludes, with little justification, that the highest risk of terrorism financing lies with racialized groups, with Muslim-led groups as the top risk. As was the case for advocacy organizations a decade ago, the experience of these audits has been aggressive and intimidating, and many of these charities have effectively silenced themselves.

The Muslim community has rightly demanded more data to clarify if indeed the CRA is engaged in systemic Islamophobia, but the CRA – which denies such targeting – has cited national security concerns in keeping that information top-secret. This catch-all excuse has often been used to mask governments’ biases against Muslims, including here in Canada, until the claims’ fragile and dubious nature is challenged and exposed. The CRA denies specifically targeting Muslim charities. But the fact remains that 85 per cent of RAD-revoked charities are Muslim-led. Canada’s Taxpayer Ombudsperson, tasked by the Revenue Minister with looking into these concerns, has taken the unusual step of complaining publicly that the CRA is not providing the documents he requires. And now, The Globe and Mail has found that elaborate government documents, sent anonymously to the Muslim Association of Canada alleging that the RCMP and CRA were attempting to entrap the organization by using supposed informants to construct a case about terrorist funding, were forged. This is confounding and troubling. And how do these revelations relate to the broader concerns?

We had hoped that discriminatory CRA practices, in relation to the charitable sector, had ended. That does not seem to be the case. There must be a comprehensive review of the CRA to ensure required checks and balances to prevent systemic discrimination in charitable audits are in place, especially since the CRA lacks independent oversight.

The Muslim community has called for a suspension of the RAD and for its activities to be reviewed by the National Security Intelligence Review Agency; we unreservedly support that call. An already marginalized community feels that the CRA is disadvantaging them, without credible or transparent justification. To date, the Muslim charitable sector has largely been left to fight this on its own in a country where Islamophobia remains a stubborn reality. The charitable sector more broadly, and Parliament, must rally to their side – because what is at stake concerns us all. Read more - Lire plus

Monia Mazigh: Why is the Canadian government still targeting Muslim charities?

MAC: Systemic Islamophobia by the CRA that targets the heart of the community is the worst kind of all

2022 Islamophobia in Review: Canada

Canadian special forces involved in U.S. military team accused of killing scores of innocent people in Iraq, Syria

Ottawa Citizen 03/11/2023 - Canadian Forces personnel were involved in a controversial U.S. military team that has been accused of killing scores of innocent people in Iraq and Syria. But details about the Canadian special forces role in the team, code-named Talon Anvil, is still secret. One Canadian special forces soldier was part of the 20-member team in 2015 while other Canadian military personnel played a supporting role or were briefed on its activities, according to documents obtained by this newspaper as well as information provided by military sources. In December 2021 the New York Times revealed that Talon Anvil was responsible for launching tens of thousands of bombs and missiles against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq but in the process had killed hundreds of civilians. The reckless actions of the Talon Anvil team, which operated from 2014 to 2019, alarmed members in the U.S. military and even the C.I.A., the newspaper reported.

Rules designed to protect civilians were circumvented. People who had no role in the conflict, including farmers trying to harvest crops, children playing in the streets, families fleeing fighting, and villagers sheltering in buildings, were killed, the New York Times investigation found. Two days after that newspaper published the first of several articles on Talon Anvil, Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) raised concerns that questions could arise about its own involvement in the team. “Were any allegations as described in the NYT article known to CANSOFCOM leadership at the time or have come to light since?” one officer noted in an email to Brig. Gen. Martin Gros-Jean. Gros-Jean was appointed in 2020 to a new position as deputy commander support, which oversees the daily force management of CANSOFCOM.

The advice and information provided to Gros-Jean was censored entirely from the documents obtained by this newspaper using the Access to Information law. The Canadian Forces cited reasons of national security for withholding the information. But National Defence, in a separate statement to this newspaper, has acknowledged one Canadian special forces member was part of Talon Anvil. The department did not provide details on what role the individual performed on the 20-member team but noted the special forces soldier was embedded with the U.S. military at the time. Talon Anvil was led by U.S. special forces known as Delta. CANSOFCOM has a close relationship with Delta, as well as other U.S. special forces.

The Canadian special forces soldier was assigned to Talon Anvil from April to October of 2015, according to the department. “CANSOF Command leadership is aware of allegations against the US military unit, which was investigated at the time by U.S. Forces,” the statement added. “As the investigation was U.S.-led, we have no additional information to provide.” The New York Times reported that only one airstrike launched by Talon Anvil that resulted in civilian deaths is being examined. Talon Anvil, which was located in Erbil, Iraq and later moved to Syria, was responsible for around 80 per cent of the 112,000 bombs and missiles launched at Islamic State targets. Independent investigators and human rights groups have estimated that at least 7,000 civilians were killed by coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. Read more - Lire plus

'No reason' Canadians detained in Syria should still be there, lawyer tells court

The Canadian Press 06/01/2023 - A lawyer for citizens detained in northern Syria who want to return to Canada says the federal government will continue to create obstacles and reverse decisions unless it is ordered to bring them home.The Federal Court heard final arguments Friday in a challenge from family members of 23 Canadians held in Syria who say Ottawa is violating Charter rights by not arranging for their return. Lawrence Greenspon, one of the lawyers representing detainees, questioned whether Global Affairs Canada could be trusted to appropriately deal with the issue in the absence of a court order to act.

"What is inevitable is that the government will continue to create obstacles ... they will continue to delay," he said. "They'll continue to create secret frameworks without notice, and then change their position at the last minute. That's what's inevitable."

The detainees are among many foreign nationals in Syrian camps run by Kurdish forces in regions reclaimed in the war-torn region from the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. Lawyers sparred Friday over whether new evidence submitted by the applicants, including a letter from a United Nations special rapporteur, was relevant in determining if Canada breached procedural fairness when deciding whether the detainees should be repatriated.

The report includes details on how Canada's record of repatriating citizens held in the region compares to efforts by other countries. Canada has brought four citizens home. At least seven other countries have repatriated people, including 659 from Iraq and 58 from France. Seventeen Australian nationals, 12 Germans, 40 Dutch, 38 Russians and two British have also been returned home. Those details were submitted into evidence, but Crown lawyer Anne Turley successfully argued other details weren't relevant and should not be considered evidence. The family members want a declaration saying the government's lack of action was unreasonable, a formal request for repatriation of the detainees, emergency travel documents issued and authorization of a Canadian representative to bring about their return. Read more - Lire plus

Monia Mazigh: Feds engaging in double-talk on Canadians detained in Syria

TAKE ACTION: Urgent Action! A Few Minutes for 40 Canadians: Drone Strikes Threaten Canadians Detained in Syria

Canada is still preventing charities from bringing aid to Afghanistan

Canadian Dimension 22/12/2022 - [...] While some countries have an exemption mechanism in their anti-terrorism laws when it comes to “the provision of life-saving humanitarian aid,” Canada does not. Despite lobbying by aid groups, the Trudeau government chose not to act throughout most of 2022, refusing to even offer a timeline for unblocking aid to Afghanistan through this or any other mechanism.

On December 14, the Senate human rights committee released a statement calling for the government to issue an immediate waiver for the delivery of “legitimate humanitarian aid” to Afghanistan. The committee also noted that several government ministers who promised to attend the hearings about aid deliveries to Afghanistan did not show up, and that “[t]he absence of all of these officials was at odds with the assurance from the department officials who did appear… that this issue is a priority for the government.”

Following the committee’s recommendations, somebody in the Trudeau cabinet finally promised action. On December 14, International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan revealed that the federal government is looking into amending Canada’s anti-terrorism laws to allow the delivery of aid to Afghanistan⁠—however, he claims it will take at least a year.

“We need to do this well; we can’t rush this,” Sajjan said. In an apparent reference to the continuation of sanctions, he also noted that the Trudeau government is “not going to let go of our expectation for the Taliban to allow girls to go to school; this is something that has to be met. And so we will keep very strong on this…” Despite public statements, both the Canadian and US governments are actively preventing aid deliveries from entering Afghanistan, and as such, they are complicit in the worsening of the humanitarian crisis in that country. As Basir Bita, an Afghan activist who works with the refugee community in Canada, told In These Times: “Who pays the price for the US freezing the funds? The public. The people who live in Afghanistan.” Similarly, it is the people in Afghanistan who suffer while the Trudeau government makes the decision, every single day, to continue criminalizing those who simply want to alleviate the suffering of Afghans. Read more - Lire plus

The Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights report: Federal inaction limiting needed Afghanistan aid

Liberals may take a year to clear Afghanistan aid blockade, as senators urge speed

Shree Paradkar: A four-year study has mapped out ‘The Canadian Islamophobia Industry’

The Toronto Star 10/12/2022 - What connects a book titled “How Baby Boomers, Immigrants and Islam Screwed My Generation”, a tweet with two women wearing sweatshirts labelled “Deus Vult”, a meme of a Trojan horse labelled “Infiltrating From Within” and public warnings about the “Great Replacement”? It’s not merely that a thread of Islamophobia weaves through them all. It’s that the thread is supported by a well-funded and orchestrated matrix, as uncovered by a new report titled “The Canadian Islamophobia Industry: Mapping Islamophobia’s ecosystem in the Great White North.” Wilfrid Laurier professor Jasmin Zine likens the four years she and a group of graduates spent investigating the networks of hate and bigotry that purvey Islamophobia to playing whack-a-mole. “We went down hundreds of rabbit holes investigating so many different Islamophobic groups and organizations and individuals, and one led to another,” she said this week at a discussion of her report at the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism.

Islamophobia has had an insidious and deadly impact in Canada, leading, in just one example, to the murder of Muslims in Quebec City in 2017 and in London, Ont., in 2021.

Zine is an expert on the topic; the author of a recent book titled “Under Siege: Islamophobia and the 9/11 Generation” and a consultant on the subject for international human rights agencies such as The Council of Europe and the UNESCO. Her recently released 240-page report based on a four-year study unveils an ecosystem that comprises media outlets and Islamophobia influencers, white nationalist groups, fringe-right pro-Israel groups, self-professed “Muslim dissidents,” think-tanks and their designated security experts, and the donors who fund their campaigns. While studies such as “Hijacked by Hate” or “Fear Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America” and the book “The Islamophobia Industry” have shown the co-ordinated and monetized nature of Islamophobia in the United States, Zine’s report is the first to show the links between various actors in Canada that target and vilify Islam and Muslims here. It adds urgency to act on the recommendations of the Summit on Islamophobia last July. [...]

Crusader imagery is a popular symbol for these groups. A photo of Canadian Islamophobia influencers Faith Goldy and Lauren Southern wearing hoodies with the term “Deus vult,” Latin for “God willing” is one example. Deus vult was a rallying cry against Muslims during the First Crusade. “Reviving the tropes of this centuries-old battle, they invoke moral panic about Muslims and ignite Islamophobic fears and fantasies,” Zine writes. Repeatedly circulating the idea of Islam as an existential threat primes people to accept blatantly anti-Muslim policies, including heightened surveillance of Muslims in the name of “counter terrorism.” And a law to ban head coverings by Muslim women, as Quebec did, under the guise of banning all items of overt religiosity. In 2017, Southern went to the Mediterranean Sea to support the racist, xenophobic Defend Europe campaign and procured a 250-foot boat to stop NGOs such as Doctors Without Borders from conducting search-and-rescue missions to aid migrants in distress. While she and the motley crew ultimately failed to stop migrant ships, they earned credibility in racist movements that included a thumbs up from a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke. [...]

Zine writes: “The Muslim community and its allies must work to engender social movements and to enact dedicated advocacy and powerful lobbies to combat the formidable and lucrative business of Islamophobia.” Read more - Lire plus

Jasmin Zine: Attempts to undermine research on the violent effects of Islamophobia do a disservice to all; a response to Barbara Kay

Hamilton mosque speaks out after bomb threat, calls incident 'disturbing and concerning'

Canadian officials ignored their obligation to support activist detained in 2017 over mining dispute in Peru: report

The Hill Times 27/12/2022 - A recent report says the Canadian government failed to follow its own policies when called upon to support a Canadian activist who was detained by Peruvian police and declared a threat to national security because of her work with local communities affected by a Canadian-owned copper mine.

On Dec. 10, the Justice & Corporate Accountability Project (JCAP), a legal clinic affiliated with Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto and the faculty of law at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C., released a report called The Two Faces of Canadian Diplomacy. It used access-to-information records to piece together how Canadian embassy and trade commission officials responded when Jennifer Moore of MiningWatch Canada was detained by Peruvian police in April 2017, and when she subsequently challenged her treatment through the Peruvian court system.

Charis Kamphuis, a co-author of the report and a law professor at Thompson Rivers University, told The Hill Times this is the first study of the Canadian government’s adherence to its Voices at Risk guidelines, which were introduced in 2016 by then-international trade minister Chrystia Freeland (University-Rosedale, Ont.). The policy provides detailed guidance for Canada’s diplomatic missions on how to support human rights defenders around the world. “We see many Canadian officials abjectly ignoring a prominent policy that clearly applies to the situation,” said Kamphuis. “In a way, it’s not an interesting story because it’s very clear cut. It’s very obvious that what [Moore] was doing was 100 per cent legitimate. It was supported by local organizations, it was totally legal, she was exercising her free expression rights, she had meaningful relationships with the community, she had been there multiple times.” “And yet Canada did absolutely nothing to support her. Rather, they did everything to ignore her. They had 90 organizations write to them. They had multiple UN bodies ask them questions. And they tried their very best to do nothing.” [...]

Speaking with The Hill Times last March about the previous Canadian government’s support for another Canadian mining company in Guatemala, Kamphuis said she believes GAC and its predecessors have not followed their own human rights policies and Canada’s international human rights commitments when providing “economic diplomacy” support to Canadian companies overseas, especially in mining and other extractive sectors.

She said the culture within Global Affairs Canada is to “disbelieve the defender, ignore the defender, be suspicious of the defender, and support the company at all costs.”

As a Canadian activist with a Canadian passport and access to a larger network of civil society organizations, Moore has greater access to protection than local activists and community members. “If this can be done to her, then the bar moves. The next journalist, the next activist, or human rights worker is at risk,” said Kamphuis.

The current government established the Office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) within GAC in 2019 as a mechanism to investigate environmental or human rights complaints against Canadian companies operating abroad. Kamphuis said its mandate also allows it to recommend that the government review its policies on responsible business conduct abroad. “The CORE could absolutely take this on as an issue,” said Kamphuis, but said this was not one of the report’s recommendations because her partner organizations have “lost faith and trust” in CORE as a mechanism for improving matters on this file. Kamphuis said JCAP’s latest report and its March report about events in Guatemala in 2010 and 2011 are evidence that Canada’s “current policy approach to economic diplomacy and human rights defenders is not working.” “If Canada is committed to these things,” she said, “we need a complete rethink.” McPherson said that, as the NDP representative on the House subcommittee on International Human Rights, she would be putting forward a motion to conduct a comprehensive review of Canadian officials’ actions in this case and of the Voices at Risk guidelines more broadly, as recommended by the JCAP report. Read more - Lire plus

Report Finds that Canada's Policies on Human Rights and Environment Defenders are Effectively Meaningless

Pulling Back the Curtain on Canada’s Mass Surveillance Programs – Part One: A Decade of Secret Spy Hearings

BCCLA 14/12/2022 - Soon after the first Snowden leaks, the Harper government was forced to comment on CSE’s own bulk metadata collection, offering the misleading excuse that Canadians’ information was not “targeted.”2 However, as the documents produced in the litigation will reveal, this denial was largely meaningless. The CSE has its own unique vocabulary, so while Canadians may not be “targeted” by CSE, their information can still be obtained by CSE and, in some cases, shared with other countries.

A Decade of Secret Hearings

Although the public picture of CSE’s spying programs was not complete, there were enough pieces in place to allow the BCCLA to bring lawsuits challenging the sections of the National Defence Act that enabled the CSE’s secret spying programs. One case sought a declaration that the programs were a violation of Canadians’ Charter rights and orders preventing the operation of the secret spying programs. The other was a proposed class action seeking damages for these Charter violations. Like the programs it challenged, the BCCLA’s litigation was shrouded in secrecy by the government. The claims were not allowed to proceed under the usual principles of open court. Canada insisted that public hearings would compromise national security, so the Federal Court ordered closed-door hearings and imposed confidentiality on document production. Even then, the documents that were produced were heavily redacted.

New National Security Intelligence Framework

The BCCLA’s litigation pushed the government to introduce Bill C-59, legislation that would create a new framework for national security and intelligence activities in Canada. Bill C-59 became law in 2019, bringing significant changes to how CSE operates:

The CSE was brought under a new statutory framework with publicly defined mandates, as set out in the new Communications Security Establishment Act.
The signals intelligence mandate allows CSE to obtain information from various communications and computer systems.
The cybersecurity mandate allows it to assist other government and non-government entities with cybersecurity matters and obtain information required to do so.
The new law also includes controversial provisions that go beyond intelligence-gathering and protecting Canadian communications systems, allowing CSE to conduct cyberwarfare in certain circumstances. (CSE Act, s 18-19)
Ministerial authorizations for surveillance require written requests from the CSE and can only be approved if a set of criteria are met. (CSE Act, s 34(1))
Ministerial authorizations are overseen by the Intelligence Commissioner, a new office created by the Intelligence Commissioner Act, and can only come into effect if the Commissioner concludes the Minister’s approval was “reasonable.”
CSE activities cannot “[interfere] with the reasonable expectation of privacy of a Canadian or a person in Canada” unless specifically authorized to do so. (CSE Act, s 22(3)). The CSE Act does not specify whether Canadians have a reasonable expectation of privacy in metadata about their communications.
CSE activities cannot violate other laws unless they are specifically authorized to do so (CSE Act, s 22(4)).
A new review body, the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (“NSIRA”), reviews the operations of CSE and can take complaints from the public, pursuant to the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency Act.

The new system is far from perfect. The powers given to Canada’s intelligence agencies are still incredibly broad, and the oversight and review bodies have limited authority and resources to do their jobs. However, it is still a vast improvement over the secrecy and unaccountable ministerial authorizations that were in place, and NSIRA has the potential to serve as a meaningful watchdog. The BCCLA will continue to push for additional limits and oversight on the broad spying powers available to CSE.

End of the Litigation and Public Release of Documents

The new legislation replaced the sections of the National Defence Act challenged by the BCCLA. Since the goals of the litigation had broadly been achieved, BCCLA withdrew the claims. In addition to encouraging the government to reform its unaccountable surveillance regime, the BCCLA litigation will give Canadians a close look at what CSE has been doing in secret. Thanks to an access to information request by researcher Bill Robinson, almost all the documents produced by the government in the litigation can now be made public. The documents cover a wide range of subjects, from CSE operational handbooks to previously secret reports on breaches of privacy by the CSE. We will be releasing these never-before-seen documents in the coming weeks, along with another blog post providing context and highlighting some of the more interesting things we learned from the documents. Read more - Lire plus

RCMP has spent nearly $50M on policing pipeline, logging standoffs in B.C.

CBC News 06/01/2023 - An RCMP squad charged with policing resistance to resource extraction in British Columbia spent nearly $50 million enforcing injunctions obtained by the petroleum and forestry sectors in its first five years, an internal accounting shows. The figures, released to CBC News under access-to-information law, offer the first publicly available, if rough, estimate of the costs incurred by Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG). Formed in 2017, the C-IRG has no defined territorial jurisdiction, an unknown number of members, and no set budget. It goes where industry meets land occupations, blockades and civil disobedience.

The unit says it needs this flexible mandate to respond to unpredictable protests, but critics fear the C-IRG received a blank cheque and little oversight from governments.

"The human rights, the Indigenous rights of this country are being weakened day by day by allowing that money to be spent on such units as C-IRG, which did not exist more than a few years ago," said Na'moks (John Ridsdale), a hereditary chief of the Wet'suwet'en Nation. "Canada should hold them accountable. B.C. should hold them accountable. The world should hold them accountable. Somebody should be held accountable and take responsibility for the damage that is being done."

Na'moks said the public deserves to know how much cash the unit spends. He said hereditary chiefs were threatened with arrest, subjected to intrusive vehicle checks and refused access to their territories near Coastal GasLink pipeline build sites as work intensified in recent months. The Mounties racked up the costs on C-IRG-led operations for that project and two others: the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and old-growth logging at Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island. [...] Meghan McDermott, policy director at the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, like Na'moks, expressed concerns about a lack of accountability and oversight when shown the numbers. "It seems like a deliberate political choice to not restrain them whatsoever," she said. "I've worked in government. It seems just so absurd to me to have a unit that has no budgetary restrictions. It's very strange and absurd."

Spending continues

The cost of C-IRG-led operations has likely now topped $50 million, as the access request does not cover the latter part of 2022, though it shows spending on the operations continued. Meanwhile, misconduct allegations, ongoing lawsuits and hundreds of official complaints facing the C-IRG, all obtained and reviewed by CBC News, continue to wind through official channels. One allegation, involving the C-IRG's use of exclusion zones, has been upheld in court. In 2021, a B.C. judge ruled the squad broke the law when it used broad exclusion zones to restrict movement at Fairy Creek. "The RCMP do not have legal authority for these actions. The actions are unlawful," Justice Douglas Thompson wrote. Unproven allegations include accusations of racism, brutality, arbitrary detention, charter violations, theft, intimidation, harassment, destruction of property, abuse of police powers, collusion with private security agents, media manipulation and unorthodox methods. [...]

Wet'suwet'en activists are suing the RCMP, among others, alleging C-IRG members perpetrated a conspiratorial campaign of intimidation and harassment against them. [...] Karen Mirsky, a criminal defence lawyer representing more than two dozen Fairy Creek arrestees, called the cost of the operation "preposterous." She said it reveals the need for better-funded watchdogs and tougher oversight, and sets what she calls a worrying precedent. "It's saying to police, 'Go fill your boots. We trust you. Do what you need to do. We're looking the other way,'" Mirsky said. "It's a dangerous precedent. It's a disturbing precedent. I see that as the police using this money to quash people's rights to free expression and congregation." Read more - Lire plus

Amnesty International calls for the RCMP to leave Wet’suwet’en territory

TAKE ACTION: Stop Deportation of Student Activist Zain Haq

Mendicino willing to talk about changing CSIS's legal authority after Emergencies Act hearings

CBC News 28/12/2022 - Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says he's open to discussing changes to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's legal authority after the spy agency's chief signalled during the Emergencies Act inquiry that his organization needs "critical" reform. CSIS's key mandate is to investigate activities suspected of constituting threats to the security of the country, and to report to the Government of Canada. But the definition in law of such threats under the Emergencies Act turned out to be a key point of contention during the inquiry.

During the Public Order Emergency Commission inquiry, CSIS director David Vigneault and deputy director of operations Michelle Tessier sat for an in-camera interview with lawyers representing the inquiry. In the course of that exchange, they were asked about potential reforms of the intelligence service. According to a summary of that conversation, Vigneault "explained that one critical area for reform was modernization of the definition of a threat to the security of Canada." Under CSIS's enabling law, such threats are defined as espionage or sabotage, foreign influence activities detrimental to Canada's interest, serious violence against persons or property "for the purpose of achieving a political, religious or ideological objective" in Canada or a foreign state, and activities intended to overthrow a government by violence. Tessier told the commission that definition is outdated.

"In today's environment, we really need to be looking at the definition of threats to the security of Canada. It's more threats to Canada's national interests," says the summary of that joint interview. The summary says Tessier called for a change to the definition of a threat to national security "to match the expanding expectations from the government for more information from the intelligence service, for example relating to economic security, research security and pandemic and health intelligence, because the definition in terms of threat currently can be quite narrow." In an interview with CBC News, Mendicino said the federal government continues to assess CSIS's "authorities" to determine whether it needs additional tools to respond to evolving threats. "That is something that I think we're all going to continue to reflect on and be laser-like focused on — understanding how ideological or politically extreme ideology can motivate individuals to take up the cause and become potentially violent," he said. "How that then relates to revisiting certain laws and statutory authorities is going to be the subject of an ongoing conversation." [...]

Brenda McPhail, director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association's privacy, technology and surveillance program, said she sees any expansion of the legal definition of a "threat to national security" as a power grab. "If everything is national security, then nothing is off the table," she said. "Our national security bodies, reasonably, have extraordinary powers, to do the difficult and important job that they do. For a body with extraordinary powers, it's important that their mandate be narrow, precise and clear." [...]

McPhail said security agencies have in the past used public events to acquire new powers. "Our national security landscape changed immensely after 9/11 and many of the actions that were put in place at that time were things that security agencies had been advocating to have the power to do for some time. And no one thought it was necessary until there was a really heart-wrenching crisis on North American soil," she said. "Times of fear, when we've just been through a crisis that has been difficult, are usually not good times to make really significant policy changes." [...]

McPhail said she doesn't think Canadians "are going to roll over and play dead" in response to any push to change CSIS's mandate. "What we're really talking about is changing the degree to which our national security spy agency can intervene or interfere in the lives of Canadians," she said. "And that's not the kind of decision that should be taken lightly." Read more - Lire plus

Le gouvernement Trudeau achète les premiers F-35. A-t-on vraiment besoin de ces avions coûteux?

La Press 09/01/2023 - Les Canadiens, comme moi, ont appris récemment que le Conseil du Trésor avait approuvé l’achat des 16 premiers de 88 avions F-35 de la société américaine Lockheed Martin. L’argent de nos impôts servira à payer la facture, initialement estimée à 19 milliards de dollars, mais qui, selon les experts, s’élèverait à au moins 76,8 milliards de dollars si l’on considère le coût à vie (sur 30 ans) de ces 88 machines de combat.

Aux dernières nouvelles, nous apprenions que le coût continuera d’être « affiné » et que les 16 premiers jets nous coûteront 7 milliards, ce qui, selon La Presse Canadienne, est « environ quatre fois plus que le coût de l’avion annoncé publiquement ». Apparemment, l’achat d’un avion de chasse est un peu comme l’achat d’une voiture – il y a le prix annoncé, et puis il y a le prix après avoir ajouté les petits « extras »... comme les portes. Étant donné que 16 avions représentent 18 % de la flotte totale, le coût initial pour l’ensemble de la flotte serait donc de 7 milliards X 5,5 = 38,88 milliards, soit plus du double de l’estimation initiale. Cependant, ma préoccupation dans cette affaire n’est pas tant le coût que le principe démocratique.

Le Canada est encore une démocratie, du moins sur papier : où est le sondage qui montre que les Canadiens veulent dépenser 76,8 milliards ou plus pour des machines militaires meurtrières capables de larguer des bombes atomiques ? Où est le référendum qui nous demande si nous voulons dépenser l’argent public pour tuer des gens à l’étranger plutôt que de nous attaquer aux problèmes chez nous, comme la pandémie, la crise du logement, la pauvreté et la crise climatique ? J’ai vu d’innombrables articles d’opinion et de lettres de citoyens qui s’opposent à cet achat. Une centaine de personnalités canadiennes ont signé une lettre publique d’opposition.

En mars 2012, 80 % des Canadiens qui étaient au courant du projet du gouvernement conservateur de dépenser au moins 9 milliards pour acheter des avions furtifs F-35 estimaient que le projet devait être abandonné. En 2015, pas encore au pouvoir, Trudeau a promis que l’achat ne se ferait jamais. Avance rapide de presque 11 ans, jusqu’en 2023, et le gouvernement Trudeau, fidèle à lui-même, a dit une chose et fait autre chose. Lire plus - Read more

TAKE ACTION: Parliamentary petition: Cancel the planned purchase of F-35 fighter jets and invest in climate action and the well-being of Canadians

TAKE ACTION: Canada: Drop the F-35 Fighter Jet Deal

Justin Trudeau selling record number of weapons to authoritarian countries

How To Fix Canada’s Proposed Artificial Intelligence Act

Just Security 01/12/2022 - Canada is finally joining international efforts to regulate artificial intelligence. In June 2022, the Canadian government tabled Bill C-27, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022, consisting of three separate acts, including the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA), Canada’s first attempt to regulate AI systems outside privacy legislation. [...] Together with researchers from McGill University’s Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy, the Cybersecure Policy Exchange at the Toronto Metropolitan University, and the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University, we outlined a few key challenges and recommendations for AIDA in a new report, AI Oversight, Accountability and Protecting Human Rights: Comments on Canada’s Proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act. Below, we summarize our first reactions to the proposed legislation:

1. The Canadian government did not hold a formal public consultation on AIDA. [...]

2. Independent oversight is missing. [...]

3. AIDA excludes government institutions.

The Act does not apply to products, services, or activities under the direction of the Minister of National Defence, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the Chief of the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), or “any other person who is responsible for federal or provincial departments or agencies”. The absence of regulation for these law enforcement and public safety agencies poses significant human rights risks. As illustrated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s unlawful use of facial recognition technology from Clearview AI and the Department of National Defence’s procurement of two AI-driven hiring services, there exists a dangerous precedent that the Canadian government must address. Meanwhile, the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act only exempts AI systems developed or used exclusively for military purposes. This is only a partial solution – it is imperative that AIDA’s framework be broadened to include government institutions given the country’s history of unlawful use by public bodies.

4. Inconsistent definitions for AI systems [...]

5. Bill C-27 fails to adequately address the human rights risks of AI systems.

More broadly, Bill C-27 does not sufficiently address the human rights risks that AI systems pose, putting it out of step with international precedents. Surprisingly, there are no explicit provisions which acknowledge the well-established disproportionate impact these systems have on marginalized populations such as BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+, economically disadvantaged, disabled, and other equity-deserving communities in Canada.

To address these important gaps, the government should consider developping a framework on the processing of biometric information, have high-level protections for children under 18, and include explicit prohibitions on certain algorithmic systems and practices. For instance, while the EU AI Act prohibits certain practices such as using AI for “real time” biometric identification of individuals in public spaces for law enforcement, including social scoring systems, those intended to subliminally manipulate a persons behaviour, and those likely to cause physical or psychological harm – AIDA does not currently outline any outright prohibitions on AI systems, including those deemed to present appropriate risk. The Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) also outlines strong prohibitions against private collection, disclosure and profit from biometric information, along with efforts (in both Illinois and Massachusetts) to restrict uses for law enforcement. Read more - Lire plus

More than 150 international organizations call on Biden to close Guantanamo on 21st anniversary

The Intercept 11/01/2023 - On the 21st anniversary of the first orange-jumpsuit clad “unlawful enemy combatants” arriving blindfolded and shackled to the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo Bay, more than 150 international human rights organizations are urging President Joe Biden to finally shutter the prison. The letter, coordinated by the Center for Victims of Torture, or CVT, and the Center for Constitutional Rights, calls for a closure to the current prison, an end to the indefinite military detention of the men living there, and a pledge to never again use the naval base for “unlawful mass detention.” “It is long past time for both a sea change in the United States’ approach to national and human security, and a meaningful reckoning with the full scope of damage that the post-9/11 approach has caused,” the letter says.

Following a slow trickle of transfers out of the facility under the Biden administration, 35 men remain imprisoned today. Over the last two decades, 779 men and boys passed through the catastrophic prison. Of those who remain there today, 20 are eligible for transfer out of indefinite detention; three are awaiting judgment from six different government agencies, known as the Periodic Review Board; three more have been convicted; and nine are involved in pre-trial hearings in the flawed military commission system. The case against accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-conspirators is ongoing and has not yet reached trial.

In the post-9/11 era, torture with impunity at CIA black sites, the failed invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, drone strikes, botched raids across a global battlefield, domestic surveillance of Muslims, and the incalculable loss of civilian life in the Middle East have defined America’s quest for national security. But Guantánamo Bay, and its earlier iteration as a detention facility for Haitian refugees in the ’90s, “is the iconic example of the abandonment of the rule of law,” the letter argues. “The world knows detainees were tortured, [as well as] the heinous methods, names of those who approved and participated, and that videotapes of torture were deliberately destroyed; yet not a single person has been held accountable,” Yumna Rizvi, policy analyst for CVT, told The Intercept. “The fact that all those complicit remain free, [and that] some even describe what they did without fear of prosecution, is astounding. The U.S. has lost its credibility for human rights, justice, and accountability.”

Renewed pressure and calls for the prison to finally be closed are only the beginning of ending the injustice, argues CAGE’s Mansoor Adayfi. “We need to see compensation, acknowledgement, and an apology for what happened to us,” Adayfi, a former Guantánamo prisoner, told The Intercept. “This is part of closing Guantánamo.” Read more - Lire plus

EVENTS & ACTIONS: Free The Guantánamo 20: Events Marking the 21st Anniversary of the Opening of the Prison

USA: Amnesty International condemns 21 years of ongoing violations at Guantánamo Bay

19 retired military leaders urge Biden to close Guantanamo

"You have no rights": Sabri al-Qurashi Has Lived Without Legal Status in Kazakhstan Since His 2014 Guantánamo Release

Mansoor Adayfi: I survived Guantánamo. Why is it still open 21 years later?

They Won Guantánamo’s Supreme Court Cases. Where Are They Now?

The Coalition for an Ethical Psychology Timeline on Torture, Psychology, and the War on Terror

Military Plans New $435 Million Health Facility at Guantánamo Bay

Turkey exploits Paris attack on Kurds while claiming to be 'anti-terror' - analysis

The Jerusalem Post 27/12/2022 - A 69-year-old Frenchman has been charged with killing three people in Paris last week. The attack targeted a Kurdish culture center, and three Kurds were murdered. Even though government authorities were quick to condemn the attack at the highest levels, there were days of protests and some riots and clashes after the killing. Turkey’s ruling party and pro-government media have led a campaign to exploit the attack, not sympathizing with the victims but condemning the protesters as “terrorism supporters.” Turkey has also summoned France’s ambassador, claiming protesters spread anti-Turkish propaganda. This is a new type of exploitation, where an extremist murders members of a minority, and then a foreign country condemns the minority and bashes the country where it took place. [...]

Why would Ankara seek to exploit this case in France?

Kurds were killed in the attack last week. Kurdish people and their supporters were quick to respond by protesting and arguing the government has not done enough to support them. Some Kurdish groups also brought flags to the protests. This is where Ankara stepped in. It wanted to paint the protesters as “PKK supporters,” even though there was no evidence that this was the case. But for several days, Ankara-based media published reports in English that didn’t mention the victims were Kurds, instead claiming “terrorism supporters” were burning police cars and rioting. Why does Ankara want to label these protesters “terrorists”? The reports didn’t say “some protesters” or claim that some extremists infiltrated the protests. It made blanket generalizations.

Ankara has done this before. In the wake of the killing of George Floyd in 2020, the same pro-government, nationalist, right-wing media in Turkey spread stories about how “Antifa” was linked to “YPG/PKK” and was involved in the protests. This was an attempt to sway public views in the US, tapping into some right-wing views that “Antifa” was behind the protests and getting those people to sympathize with Ankara. Turkey claims it is fighting “terrorism” even though there is no evidence of the kind of claims Ankara makes. Ankara wants support for a new invasion of Syria. In Syria, Turkey claims to be fighting the “YPG” and “PKK,” two Kurdish groups. It claims that the US-backed SDF, another group, is the same as these “terrorists.”

This is a kind of Orwellian rhetoric that condemns every critic and group as “terrorists” as a way to excuse targeting them. For instance, after a recent bombing in Istanbul, Turkey carried out dozens of attacks on Syria, even though there was no evidence linking the bombing to Syria. By quickly using the media to claim any protesters in Paris were “terrorists,” Ankara sought to prevent any criticism of Turkey and to prevent Kurds in France from being able to organize a protest. Ankara fears Kurdish dissidents and any Kurdish groups abroad. It often works to target the Kurdish language, Kurdish music and flags. Ankara also knows that its opponents will sometimes use these events to raise their flags and voices, so it’s easier for Ankara to claim “terrorists” are protesting than to try to segment out the organized critics from the innocent average people.

Major media in the West didn’t portray the protesters as “terrorists” and generally sympathized with the Kurdish victims, even if some felt the riots were unacceptable. The danger that Ankara’s intervention represents is that Ankara is always willing to exaggerate and even willing to summon ambassadors of European countries, or try to force NATO not to admit democracies like Sweden, in order to force European countries to suppress critics and minorities in the same way that Ankara does at home. So far, it appears that France’s judicial system is doing the right thing and that peaceful demonstrations are now the norm in Paris. However, it should be noted that this incident of Ankara meddling in internal politics in France, just as it tried to do in 2020 with protests in the US, is a new escalation. Ankara is seeking to exploit issues in Europe and the West to its benefit. Under the guise of claiming to be against “terrorism,” it has warped language to an Orwellian degree. This is a remnant in some ways of the US “global war on terror” and the way countries such as Turkey took this to mean it could do whatever it wants as long as it labels its adversaries “terrorists.” Read more - Lire plus

TAKE ACTION: Tell Sweden: Stop the NATO deportation of Kurdish refugees!

Turkish Medical Association chief convicted on ‘terror’ charge

Al Jazeera 11/01/2023 - A court has convicted the president of the Turkish Medical Association of disseminating “terror organisation propaganda” following a trial that human rights groups have denounced as an attempt to silence government critics. The court in Istanbul on Wednesday sentenced Sebnem Korur Fincanci to nearly three years in prison but also ordered her released from pre-trial detention while she appeals the verdict.

Fincanci, 63, was arrested in October and charged with engaging in propaganda on behalf of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The arrest followed a media interview in which she called for an independent investigation into allegations that the Turkish military used chemical weapons against Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq. The PKK alleged that 17 of its fighters had died last year in Turkish chemical weapons attacks in the mountains of northern Iraq. Fincanci is the latest activist to be convicted under Turkey’s broad “anti-terrorism” laws. The forensic expert has spent much of her career documenting torture and ill-treatment and has served as president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey. During her trial, Fincanci rejected accusations that she engaged in propaganda during the interview, arguing that she gave a professional opinion.

The charges stemmed from an interview she gave to the pro-Kurdish Medya Haber TV outlet in which she commented on a video purporting to show the use of chemical weapons. She suggested that a toxic gas may have been released but also called for an “effective investigation”. Fincanci told the court on Wednesday that she did not expect a fair trial. She cited a Turkish poll showing that “one out of every two people believes that people are in prison based on what they think”. “In this country, killing people is not enough to keep people in prison, but giving your scientific opinion causes people to go to prison,” the Media and Law Studies Association, a court-monitoring group, quoted her as saying. Read more - Lire plus

TAKE ACTION: Türkiye: Free Prof Şebnem Korur Fincanci

Nigerian Army killed children in its anti-terror war: Witnesses

Reuters 12/12/2022 - More than 40 soldiers and civilians told Reuters they witnessed the Nigerian military kill children or saw children's corpses after a military operation. Estimates totaled in the thousands. Reuters investigated six incidents in which at least 60 died. One mother described the deaths of her twin babies: “The soldiers said they killed those children because they are children of Boko Haram.”

First, he heard voices, then the sputter of gunfire. Kaka crept behind an acacia tree and froze in terror. The teen was returning home after gathering firewood late one July afternoon in 2020. Peering ahead, he saw a group of men at a waterhole, most in Nigerian Army camouflage. They stood over a line of children face down in the dirt, wailing for their mothers, Kaka recalled. Nearby, several adults lay prone – including mothers with infants tied to their backs. He heard some voices cry out to God. Two or three men already lay dead; the soldiers shot three more. They killed the women next, and then the children, cutting short their cries with a hail of bullets, Kaka said. The troops dragged the bodies into a pre-dug grave, shoveled sandy earth over them and drove off. Panic-stricken, Kaka tore off toward Kukawa, the nearby town in Nigeria’s northeast where he lived. The young man, now in his early 20s, was one of five people who recounted to Reuters details of the army-led roundup and mass shooting of at least 10 children and several adults at the waterhole that day.

The massacre, previously unreported, is just one instance in which the Nigerian Army and allied security forces have slaughtered children during their gruelling 13-year war against Islamist extremists in the country’s northeast, a Reuters investigation found. Soldiers and armed guards employed by the government told Reuters army commanders repeatedly ordered them to “delete” children, because the children were assumed to be collaborating with militants in Boko Haram or its Islamic State offshoot, or to have inherited the tainted blood of insurgent fathers.

Intentional killings of children have occurred with a blurring frequency across the region during the war, according to witnesses interviewed by Reuters. More than 40 sources said they saw the Nigerian military target and kill children or saw the dead bodies of children after a military operation. These sources included both parents and other civilian witnesses, as well as soldiers who said they participated in dozens of military operations in which children were slaughtered.

Together, their estimates added up to thousands of children killed.

Reuters was unable to independently verify each of those estimates. But reporters investigated six specific incidents and found, based on eyewitness accounts, that a total of at least 60 children were killed in those episodes, the most recent in February 2021. Each of those incidents, including the waterhole massacre, was confirmed by at least two sources who saw the killings or the aftermath. Read more - Lire plus

Night Raids: Victims of CIA-Backed Afghan Death Squads Known as “Zero Units” Demand Accountability

Democracy Now! 12/01/2023 - We speak with journalist Lynzy Billing, whose investigation for ProPublica details how CIA-backed death squads, known as Zero Units, have yet to be held accountable for killing hundreds of civilians during the U.S. War in Afghanistan.

The Afghan units, which were routinely accompanied by U.S. soldiers, became feared throughout rural Afghanistan for their brutal night raids, often descending upon villagers from helicopters and carrying out summary executions before disappearing. Families of victims continue to demand answers, but since the operations were directed by the CIA rather than the military, there is almost no oversight or disclosure when things go wrong.

“Many people I spoke to feel that these operations… were counterproductive and actually had turned their families against the U.S.-backed government in Kabul and against the U.S.,” says Billing. Read more - Lire plus

UK launches probe into claims its troops killed Afghan civilians

Families of hundreds of Muslim-American political prisoners gather in Washington DC to raise injustices meted out by the 'war on terror'

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ACTIONS & EVENTS

20 years of fighting deportation to torture: Justice for Mohamed Harkat Now!

December 10, 2022 - ironically Human Rights Day - marked the 20th "anniversary" of the arrest of Mohamed Harkat under Canada's rights-violating security certificate regime. For Mr. Harkat, it's been two decades of fighting deportation to torture, 16 years of harassment and intrusive surveillance, arbitrary detention, solitary confinement, secret trials, PTSD: enough is enough! We call for justice for Moe Harkat now! Watch - Visionnez

TAKE ACTION: Stop Moe Harkat's deportation to torture!

ACTION: Arrêtez la déportation vers la torture de Mohamed Harkat!

Take Action for Justice for Hassan Diab!

Sign and share the LeadNow petitions to protect Hassan from further injustice

Petition in English + Pétition en français

Send an email using ICLMG’s one-click tool and share widely!

Letter in English + Lettre en français

For more information on the case of Hassan Diab, read our webcomic, watch our animated version of the comic, or visit justiceforhassandiab.org.

Free Jack Letts and all Canadian Detainees in NE Syria

Canada must immediately act to free four dozen Canadian men, women and children left to rot in one of a series of notorious Northeastern Syrian prisons and detention camps described as “Guantanamo on the Euphrates.”

The longest held detainee is Jack Letts, 26, who has been imprisoned for almost 5 years without charge under conditions the United Nations has described as meeting the “threshold for torture, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment under international law.”