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International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group

Coalition pour la surveillance internationale des libertés civiles

August 18, 2023 - 18 août 2023

The News Digest will resume in a few weeks. La Revue reprendra dans quelques semaines

ICLMG raises significant concerns in submission to federal anti-terrorist financing consultation

ICLMG 16/08/2023 - On August 4, 2023, ICLMG sent our submission to the Department of Finance’s Consultation on its review of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA). As per our mandate, we focused on the anti-terrorist financing aspect of the act. Click below to read the full 26-page submission or read a summary of our concerns with anti-terror laws in general, the anti-terrorism financing (ATF) regime specifically and this consultation.

Table of content:

1. The broader context of the “War on Terror”

2. Key concerns with aspects of the ATF regime covered in the consultation

a. The return of “lawful access” and attacks on privacy

b. Expanding the use of intelligence as evidence in court

c. Information sharing

i. Private-to-Private Information Sharing

ii. Public-to-Private Information Sharing

iii. Private-to-Public Information Sharing

iv. Public-to-Public Information Sharing

d. Virtual Currency, Digital Assets, and Technology-Enabled Finance

e. De-risking

f. Monitoring smaller transactions risks mass surveillance

g. No expansion of the definition of threat to national security necessary

3. Issues with the consultation

a. The fallacies of effectiveness and risk

b. The framing of non-profit sector outreach

c. Lack of concern for the protection of civil liberties and human rights

Read more - Lire plus + Share on Facebook + Twitter

FATF trying to prevent overuse of counter-terror financing rules in non-profit sector

Canada is condemning citizens in Syrian camps to 'life sentence,' UN rapporteur says

CBC News 05/08/2023 - The UN special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights says Canada is putting the lives of its citizens at risk by not helping to return them from prisons in Syria. "It is inconceivable for any country, including Canada, to leave its vulnerable children in these camps for a day longer than they should be," said Fionnuala Ní Aoláin in an interview airing Saturday on CBC's The House.

The UN special rapporteur also accused the Canadian government of hypocrisy, arguing that its actions on citizens in Syria devalued other efforts on the international stage. "Canada is the leading state on the children-in-armed-conflict agenda at the UN. But actually those words ring hollow when you're telling other countries to look after their children in other conflicts and you're not prepared to look after your own," she said. A number of Canadian citizens have been detained in Syrian camps, suspected of links to the ISIS terrorist group. They haven't faced charges or been given a trial. The camps are controlled by Kurdish-led authorities.

Ní Aoláin visited a series of the camps and prisons during a visit to the region last month, and she told guest host Ashley Burke that she was devastated by the conditions, especially in what's known as the Panorama prison. "It is, in my view, the worst prison we have on Earth at this time, simply because of the scale of mass arbitrary detention of children," she said. "There's nothing like this place on Earth." [...]

One Canadian who has not been returned is a Quebec mother, who along with some of her children remains in Syria. The woman's lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, said the government told him that they believe she adheres to an extremist ideology. The government has said it is willing to repatriate the children separately from her mother. Ní Aoláin called that idea "profoundly unconvincing, inconsistent with international law." Ní Aoláin said that after meeting with the woman, she concluded that she is severely disabled and has a "sweltering, swollen wound" that appears to be untreated. Ní Aoláin said the woman relies on her children to help her bathe and perform other basic necessities of life.

Ní Aoláin also said security experts she had spoken to argued that countries like Canada had the capability to mitigate any security concerns and give citizens due process while still upholding their responsibilities. "I recognize there's little sympathy for individuals who went overseas, even where people have been trafficked, even where people have had demonstrated mental illness, even where children were brought without their consent," Ní Aoláin said. "But again, I would say civilized society don't separate women from children. Canada has had a long and terrible history of that, and I wouldn't suggest we start again with women and children in northeast Syria." Ní Aoláin also spoke about the situation of Jack Letts, a Canadian who travelled to Syria and is now believed to be held in the Panorama camp. Ní Aoláin said she visited the camp but wasn't able to speak with Letts.

Letts, a former British citizen, admitted in a 2019 interview to joining ISIS in Syria, according to an interview with U.K.-based ITV News. His mother denies the allegation and said he gave the interview under duress. His family also has said he was imprisoned by ISIS three times and has denied being part of the terror group.

In a letter to Lane from GAC director general of consular operations Victoria Fuller, sent earlier this year and obtained by CBC News, Fuller said the Canadian government has not received confirmation from Kurdish authorities that Letts is alive. Ní Aoláin said the Panorama prison is currently experiencing a massive and untreated epidemic of tuberculosis. When untreated, TB results in an approximately 50 per cent mortality rate. "What you're essentially doing by not bringing [Canadians] home is condemning them to a life sentence, because that's what it is. People will not survive these kinds of conditions unless their governments take the responsibility of bringing them home." Read more - Lire plus

ACTION: Canada must repatriate all Canadians detained in NE Syria now!

National security committee submits classified report about RCMP federal policing

CTVNews 14/08/23 - A committee of parliamentarians that oversees national security has submitted a report to the prime minister about the RCMP's federal policing mandate.

The report is considered confidential for now, but a declassified version must be handed over to Parliament within 30 days of its next sitting.

The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians began reviewing the RCMP's role in February 2021, and was meant to establish baseline knowledge about the Mounties' mandate and capabilities.

In addition to being the police of jurisdiction for much of rural Canada, the RCMP mandate includes national security, organized crime, personal protection for the prime minister and other dignitaries and cybercrime. Read more - Lire plus

ICYMI: ICLMG's Submission to the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians’ Review of the RCMP’s Federal Policing Mandate

Il faut renforcer la Loi sur l’intelligence artificielle et les données avant son adoption

Le devoir 15/07/2023 - Les dernières prouesses des systèmes d’intelligence artificielle (IA) laissent entrevoir de nouvelles possibilités pour nos sociétés. Elles nous conduisent dans le même temps à réfléchir à une utilisation responsable de l’IA, si bien que depuis quelques semaines, plusieurs débats ont émergé quant à l’encadrement normatif de l’IA dans le monde et notamment au Canada, à travers le projet de loi sur l’intelligence artificielle et les données (LIAD), partie prenante du projet de loi C-27.

Or l’adoption de cette loi ne fait pas consensus. Pour certains, appartenant surtout au petit monde l’IA canadien, il y a urgence à adopter la LIAD. Ils considèrent en effet que sa version actuelle présente « un juste équilibre entre la protection de la population canadienne et les impératifs liés à l’innovation ». Seulement, il convient de souligner ici que ces spécialistes en informatique, parmi lesquels figurent des dirigeants d’entreprises privées, ont des intérêts, notamment économiques, à militer pour une adoption rapide de ce projet de loi.

En contrepartie, d’autres chercheurs, plutôt issus des sciences sociales, ont répondu en préconisant de ne pas se précipiter, arguant qu’il faut au contraire améliorer sensiblement la loi avant son adoption. Mes récentes analyses comparatives sur la LIAD, la proposition de législation européenne sur l’IA et le projet de loi américain sur la responsabilité algorithmique me conduisent à la même conclusion. Rappelons de plus qu’une adoption trop rapide pourrait être problématique dans la mesure où il est très difficile de modifier une loi une fois celle-ci entrée en vigueur.

Force est de constater que les mesures européennes et américaines sont pour le moment plus aiguisées que la LIAD canadienne, qui est loin d’être à l’avant-garde, comme l’écrivent les promoteurs de la version actuelle du projet de loi. Par exemple, à l’inverse de la législation européenne sur l’IA, la LIAD n’interdit pas la création de systèmes de notation sociale de personnes physiques à l’initiative ou pour le compte des autorités publiques.

Comme le rappelle le second groupe de chercheurs, elle ne condamne pas non plus les systèmes prohibitifs de reconnaissance biométrique à distance et en temps réel. Or, ces deux pratiques portent pourtant atteinte au principe de non-discrimination et au droit à la dignité. Elles vont à l’encontre des valeurs de justice et d’égalité et interfèrent avec les libertés et les droits des personnes visées. Il est dès lors urgent que la LIAD interdise les systèmes destinés aux pratiques similaires et intègre ces spécificités.

La LIAD devrait aussi renforcer ses exigences en ce qui concerne la gouvernance des données « algorithmiques ». En l’état actuel, elles se concentrent principalement sur la manière dont ces données sont anonymisées et sur l’utilisation des données anonymes que l’on retrouve dans les systèmes d’IA. En comparaison, la législation européenne s’intéresse à l’analyse des biais potentiels et à la façon dont les données sont choisies, collectées et utilisées. La LIAD devrait, au minimum, en faire autant.

En matière de transparence, la LIAD devrait aller plus loin et encourager l’ouverture, c’est-à-dire l’accès, aux données — y compris d’apprentissage — utilisées par les algorithmes dont les décisions seraient susceptibles d’avoir une incidence sur les droits de la personne et/ou être éthiquement discutables, dans le respect du secret industriel (des conditions d’accès pouvant être édictées) et des restrictions réglementaires. Read more - Lire plus

These Women Tried to Warn Us About AI

US: Artificial Intelligence Legislation Tracker

Launch of the Global Study on the Impact of Counter-Terrorism on Civil Society & Civic Space

United Nations 21/06/23 - The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, has brought together Member States, civil society, the United Nations and other stakeholders during the Third United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week to launch the Global Study on the Impact of Counter-Terrorism on Civil Society & Civic Space.

This event aimed to bring together diverse stakeholders to discuss the global impact of counter-terrorism measures on civil society and civic space, rooted in the latest data and findings presented by the Global Study. It served as a rare opportunity for Member States, civil society and the UN to engage, and included civil society representatives from across all regions. The side event is co-sponsored by the Federal Republic of Germany, the Permanent Mission of Spain to the United Nations, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (NY) and civil society coalitions including the CSO Coalition on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism, the Security Policy Alternatives Network (SPAN) and the Global NPO Coalition on FATF. Watch - Visionner

Resources from the Global Study on Counter-Terrorism & Civic Space

2023 Palestine Delegation: Report

Progressive International 07/08/2023 - The occupying regime has developed a wide array of tools to surveil, control, humiliate, exclude, dispossess, impoverish, and end Palestinian lives.

In Ramallah, our delegation met with a range of human rights organizations that had recently been designated as ‘terrorist’ groups, making it illegal for banks to provide services to them or their staff.

Regular raids on Palestinian homes see movement leaders and civilians assassinated by Israeli security forces with absolute impunity. Since the start of this year, over 150 Palestinians have been murdered by occupying forces, including well over 20 children — and the Israeli regime has subsequently demolished the houses of many of the assassinated or imprisoned leaders. In May alone, Israeli regime forces killed 36 Palestinians in a four-day assault on the Gaza Strip. And that violence has only continued to escalate.

In Silwan, Jerusalem, some half of all houses are subject to demolition. Families are given the opportunity to bail their home out — to pay a ransom for it to remain standing. But, having paid, the bulldozers still come. Then, the evicted family receives a bill for the soldiers and dogs that evicted them from their home — and for the machines that tore it down.

In Bethlehem, residents of the Aida refugee camp are subject to routine humiliation at the hands of the occupying authorities. Every few months, Israeli military trucks spray the neighbourhood with excrement, directing their hoses toward open windows. Sometimes, soldiers burst through the walls of homes with explosives, traumatising children in the process. When our delegation arrived, families were teargassed as they paid respects to their deceased relatives at the community cemetery. When our delegation visited the same cemetery later that evening, we were threatened at gunpoint.

In the weeks after we left Bethlehem, the Israeli regime installed an automated rifle on its exclusion wall, right above the cemetery. These “smart shooters”, as they are called, represent one of the many technological solutions developed by the Israeli regime and its international backers to sustain the occupation and crush the Palestinian people. Here is another example, whose use we witnessed on two separate occasions: Since Palestinian children learned to throw teargas canisters out of harms’ way, the US developed a new teargas grenade — locally dubbed “the butterfly” — that jumps around while it releases the toxic gas.

The impunity that is allowable before international observers speaks to the horrors that take place in their absence. One night before we arrived at the Aida camp, Israeli soldiers shot two young men with explosive bullets — munitions that are banned under international law. One lost a leg. The other’s intestines burst out from his abdomen. Both survived even though the Israeli troops left them to die at the side of the road. Read more - Lire plus

Rising revolt against administrative detention: 5 Palestinians on hunger strike, over 1100 jailed without charge or trial

NEW ACTION: Canada attempting to block the ICJ advisory opinion on Palestine

ACTION: Urge Your MP to Support JUSTICE For Palestinian Children!

ACTION: Canada must denounce Israel’s attack on the Jenin refugee camp

ACTION: Tell Scotiabank to Divest Now from Elbit Systems

How the Israeli right cynically exploits the word ‘terror’ for its political ends

Haaretz 16/08/23 - [...] In 2021, Israeli President Isaac Herzog – once considered left-wing in Israel – spoke of “economic terrorism” because Ben & Jerry’s decided to cease distributing ice cream in the settlements (a decision its parent company subsequently reversed). This week, far-right television personality Yinon Magal of the pro-Netanyahu station Channel 14, said that Israel is facing a terror attack – by which he meant, he explained, “mind terror!” Magal was referring to the widespread concerns of top defense officials that the IDF is losing its preparedness for war due to reservists declining to volunteer to serve.

Meanwhile, the Kan public broadcaster reported on a caricaturist from a kibbutz who published an image showing children planting trees, symbolizing their future, with a cartoon Netanyahu lurking with a chainsaw. Responses on Facebook said the cartoonist was no different from Hamas. [...]

Netanyahu conflated the left with terror to traduce political opponents and win elections. By 2021, he had moved from persuading voters to undermining a legitimately elected government by slander. That year, he orchestrated incessant recitations of the lie that United Arab List, the first independent Arab party to join an Israeli governing coalition, supported terror. The entire government, under the guilt by association tactic, became terror supporters. The government collapsed within a year.

The current government hopes to use “terror” to stop Arabs from even reaching elected office. It’s not new. Back in 2002, lawmakers passed a law to bar candidates who support terror. (Apparently the law does not apply to Ben-Gvir, who has literally been convicted for supporting an anti-Palestinian terror organization, then elected, crowned minister and is set to lead an antiterror task force within the police – against Palestinians.)

At present, anyone convicted of a minimum of seven years for committing terror or serious security offenses must serve the sentence and wait another 14 years before competing in elections. One Likud lawmaker submitted a bill this year to bar such a person from ever running for office. In February, the Knesset passed a law that can strip the citizenship of those convicted of terror; another bill would put them to death.

Let me be clear. Actual terror – attacks on civilians for political aims – is depraved and must face severe punishment. But it is folly to think that Israel’s leaders would ever adhere to the accepted definition; Israelis can’t even avoid the word for Palestinian attacks on armed soldiers, on active duty, in a military conflict. Maybe one day ice cream terrorists, caricaturists and mind terrorists should also be barred from running in elections, stripped of citizenship or put to death.

If that seems far-fetched, consider that just last week, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich tried to freeze funding from academic preparatory programs helping East Jerusalem Palestinians integrate into Israeli universities. He claimed that the university environment turns them into “extremists” – all Israelis know that’s just a step away from terror. It’s hard to think of anything closer to Southern-style supremacy than collectively discouraging Arab higher education for the hypothetical crime of “extremism.”

Smotrich lied, of course: Israeli security authorities agree that higher education reduces extremism.

Perhaps the Israeli right is feeling embattled on the issue; even the U.S. State Department has recently branded both Palestinian and Israeli attacks on civilians as terror. If that seems unfair, maybe they should just stop killing Palestinians. If Tally Gotliv plans to slander occupation critics as terror supporters, she might want to stop making pilgrimages to actual terror suspects who shoot Palestinian civilians. Read more - Lire plus

It’s Time for the U.S. to End the War on Terror

WPR 07/08/23 - When news of the military coup in Niger broke last week, it might have surprised many U.S. observers to learn that the political developments in the capital city, Niamey, jeopardized a sizable U.S. military presence in the country. The U.S. has two drone bases in Niamey and Agadez, with the latter reportedly costing more than $110 million to build. Additionally, in 2020, The Intercept reported that the U.S. military had also established four contingency locations across the country, making Niger the African state hosting the biggest U.S. military footprint at that time. As part of wider U.S. military assistance to the country that began in 2002, these troops aim to advise, train and support Niger’s armed forces in their fight against violent extremist groups.

In addition to Niger, U.S. forces currently conduct counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations in Somalia. Indeed, after having been downsized under the Trump administration, the U.S. contingent in Somalia was increased last year by U.S. President Joe Biden. In addition to traditional security assistance, U.S. forces actively engage in combat alongside Somali security forces in the fight against Al-Shabaab, while also conducting airstrikes against the group. Overall, the U.S. military footprint to counter violent extremism across Africa is significant, with 29 military bases in 15 different countries and at least 36 operations and activities across the continent.

Since the launch of the “great power competition” framework, U.S. policymakers seem to have moved on entirely from the war on terror, focusing instead on countering China and Russia—for better or worse—and on maintaining an international order that is favorable to the U.S. and its Western allies. But as the events in Niger demonstrate, it would be a mistake to consider the war on terror as solely in the past. Indeed, as illustrated by the U.S. national security strategy, it is still an important element of U.S. foreign policy today, meaning the U.S. continues to wage a war it has fought virtually across the entire world for the past 22 years.

Great power competition may be dominating the political agenda in Washington, but now more than ever, the U.S. public must redouble its efforts to push Congress and the Biden administration to end the forever war on terror. Experts have strived for the past two decades to question Washington’s assumptions and inform the U.S. strategy to address violent extremism abroad. Some have looked at how the “terrorist” label affects analysis and understanding of violent actors and how it can hinder the development of adequate responses to violence. Others have pointed to the lack of transparency about U.S. policies and military operations and the oftentimes counterproductive outcomes of security cooperation, as in Niger and the wider Sahel region.

Part of the problem is that the U.S. strategy to address violent extremism relies primarily on security tools, including intelligence-sharing, military exercises to strengthen foreign security forces and security sector assistance, such as capacity strengthening, education and transfer of conventional arms. Other activities include countering financing for violent extremist groups and strengthening partner countries’ rule of law institutions. Most recently, the Biden administration’s pivot to an over-the-horizon strategy in Afghanistan, using remotely piloted drones to strike at threats, is another example of the U.S. government’s apparent inability to frame its response to violent extremism outside of a security-first strategy, despite rhetoric about the need for holistic approaches to tackling the root causes of violence. [...]

Ending the war on terror does not mean stopping all efforts to counter violent extremism. But it means taking several steps back from counterproductive policies, integrating the lessons from two decades of failure and developing new strategies and approaches that truly aim to support foreign governments as they address the actual roots of violence. That means that U.S. leaders must back up their rhetoric with action when it comes to spurring investment in critical sectors to address grievances. These investments range from enhancing governance and the delivery of basic services to strengthening resilience against climate insecurity and fostering economic opportunities. In other words, they will require new models of development assistance.

A first step toward a renewed approach to countering violent extremism would be for Congress to repeal outdated Authorizations for Use of Military Force, or AUMFs. According to a Congressional Research Service report, of the 12 AUMFs ever passed by Congress, half have yet to be repealed, including the oldest one, which was enacted in 1798. Members of the House and Senate have tried to repeal the 1957, 1991, 2001 and 2002 authorizations, which all enable elements of the war on terror, but all such efforts have failed due to a lack of consensus on the issue. The latest attempt to repeal the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs for the war in Iraq was passed by the Senate in March 2023 and may be put before the House for a vote.

Besides the risk of abuse or misuse of these outdated authorizations by the executive branch, the AUMFs allow an open-ended legal framework for war. This leaves little room for Congress and the Biden administration to reflect on the U.S. strategy for countering violent extremism, particularly when it comes to its actual impact on the countries and populations where U.S. military force is being used.

According to a 2023 Brown University report, the direct death toll from the war on terror in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and Yemen could be at least 4.5 million people. This figure does not include the estimated 3.6 million indirect deaths in those countries, or those in other theaters of the war on terror in Africa—such as Niger—and Asia. In terms of U.S. spending, the total cost of the war on terror could be over $8 trillion.

Four successive presidential administrations have carried on the war on terror, which has now become a permanent part of U.S. foreign policy. It is unclear today who exactly the U.S. is fighting within this framework and what its long-term strategy is. Worse, there does not seem to be sufficient momentum among the U.S. public or Congress to press the Biden administration to clearly articulate its position on that issue.

The pursuit of great power competition is now compounding the errors of this approach. It shifts attention—and scrutiny—away from the war on terror, but it also encourages U.S. leaders to engage in a bidding war to maintain U.S. influence in countries where, for example, Russia has used the campaign against violent extremist groups to establish military partnerships.

Worse, whether it is through the war on terror or great power competition, U.S. policymakers have once again taken a page from the Cold War playbook, defining the country’s foreign policy through the unlimited and ill-defined fight against an adversary or enemy, thereby turning the entire world into a U.S. national security issue. This not only undermines U.S. interests, but also puts the security and prosperity of wide swathes of the world’s population in jeopardy. The U.S. has been overlooking the continuing war on terror for long enough. It’s time to end it. Read more - Lire plus

Decontructed Podcast: How the U.S. Makes Its Wars Invisible

Will Abu Ghraib Torture Victims Finally Get Their Day in Court? CACI Lawsuit Will Proceed to Trial

DemocracyNow! 08/08/2023 - A federal lawsuit brought by Iraqi torture survivors appears finally headed to trial after a federal judge refused to dismiss the case last week. The Iraqis are suing the U.S. military contractor CACI, which provided interrogators at Abu Ghraib, the notorious Iraqi prison where the men were tortured by U.S. guards. The lawsuit, which alleges CACI was complicit in that torture, was first filed in 2008. Since then, CACI has attempted 18 times to have the case dismissed.

Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is representing the torture survivors in the case, says the men suffered a range of abuse including sexual humiliation, beatings and more. “They’re all suffering the aftereffects, psychological and physical, of their time at Abu Ghraib,” he says. Read more - Lire plus

The Lawfare Podcast: How is it that torture-obtained evidence still seems to be being used in certain GTMO cases?

The Lawfare 08/08/23 - Just weeks ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the life sentence of a Yemeni national serving out his time at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. He had appealed this life sentence, in part on the grounds that his conviction was based on evidence obtained by torture.

Meanwhile, at the Guantanamo military commissions, another detainee tried to appeal charges against him on the basis that torture-obtained evidence was used in his referral for trial by the military commissions—but in June, the body that reviews referrals for trials at Guantanamo denied this appeal. He and his co-defendants are currently set to have pre-trial hearings in October. 

All of this is happening despite the fact that in 2022, in a case about a different Guantanamo detainee, the Biden administration’s Justice Department committed to a reinterpretation of a key statute that blocks the use of torture-obtained evidence in Guantanamo litigation and reaffirmed that it would not try to admit statements that the detainee gave while in CIA custody. 

So how and why is it that torture-obtained evidence still seems to be being used in certain GTMO cases? To understand the issues, Lawfare Associate Editor Hyemin Han spoke to Scott Roehm, Director of Global Policy and Advocacy at the Center for Victims of Torture, and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown Law School. They talked about the history of torture evidence at GTMO, dove into a few cases in context of the Justice Department’s 2022 re-interpretation, and discussed what this all might mean for other GTMO detainees moving forward. Read more - Lire plus

Afghan Guantanamo prisoner to have case reviewed in bid for freedom

540 Days at CIA Black Sites. 18 Years at Guantanamo Without Charge. Hundreds of Paintings, Now Out in The World.

Pregnant Woman’s False Arrest in Detroit Shows “Racism Gets Embedded” in Facial Recognition Technology

DemocracyNow! 07/08/23 - A shocking story of wrongful arrest in Detroit has renewed scrutiny of how facial recognition software is being deployed by police departments, despite major flaws in the technology. Porcha Woodruff was arrested in February when police showed up at her house accusing her of robbery and carjacking.

Woodruff, who was eight months pregnant at the time, insisted she had nothing to do with the crime, but police detained her for 11 hours, during which time she had contractions. She was eventually released on a $100,000 bond before prosecutors dropped the case a month later, admitting that her arrest was based in part on a false facial recognition match.

Woodruff is the sixth known person to be falsely accused of a crime because of facial recognition, and all six victims have been Black. “That’s not an accident,” says Dorothy Roberts, director of the University of Pennsylvania Program on Race, Science and Society, who says new technology often reflects societal biases when built atop flawed systems. “Racism gets embedded into the technologies.” Read more - Lire plus

Meet Porcha Woodruff, Detroit Woman Jailed While 8 Months Pregnant After False AI Facial Recognition

What is end-to-end encryption and how does it work?

BBC 15/07/23 - WhatsApp, iMessage, Android Messages and Signal all use the super-secure system called end-to-end encryption. The technology means only the sender, at one end, and the receiver, at the other, can read messages, see media or hear phone calls. Even the app makers cannot access the content. But how does it work? Watch - Visionner

Australia: Home affairs tried to water down report critical of ‘extraordinary’ counter-terror powers, documents reveal

The Guardian 11/08/23 - Department of Home Affairs officials told researchers to water down a key report that threatened to undermine the government’s use of “extraordinary” counter-terror powers allowing individuals to be imprisoned for a crime they have not yet committed, documents show.

Australia’s preventive detention regime for terror offenders, which allows individuals to be imprisoned for up to three years to prevent a future crime, has been described as “extraordinary” and disproportionate by the nation’s independent national security laws watchdog, who called for its abolishment in March and said it was causing Australia to become a “coarser and harsher society”.

The powers, deployed using court-ordered continuing detention orders (CDOs), rely on the use of tools designed to assess the risk of someone committing a future terror offence or engaging in violent extremism. In 2018, the home affairs department engaged leading researchers at the Australian National University to review the accuracy of the risk assessment tools. Their report was damning, finding a lack of evidence had “serious implications” for their validity and reliability.

The Morrison government was handed the report in May 2020 but sat on it and did not provide it to courts in cases where CDOs or extended supervision orders (ESOs) were being considered, denying individuals material casting doubt on the assessment process and prompting scathing criticism by defence lawyers and the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM).

Internal documents obtained by Guardian Australia using freedom of information laws show that, once the researchers submitted their findings, the Department of Home Affairs attempted to remove the most serious criticisms contained in the report. The department emailed researchers in June 2020 to tell them to “reconsider” findings suggesting two of the risk assessment tools, known as Vera-2R and Radar, were not fit for purpose.

It also urged them to “revisit the writing tone” to avoid suggestions that “the Australian government should dispense with both tools”. “This is the section of the report most readers will visit,” the department told the ANU researchers, referring to the report’s executive summary. “We would be grateful if you would revisit the writing tone. Some decision makers might misinterpret your findings as they are currently expressed and conclude that the Australian Government should dispense with both tools, leaving law enforcement and correctional agencies with only operational experience.” Read more - Lire plus

Rizwaan Sabir : Ernest Moret & the double-standards of UK counterterrorism

The New Arab 08/08/23 - Following his arrest by UK counterterrorism police, French publisher Ernest Moret was cleared of all charges. But this is not always the case for targets of the security case, particularly for those who are racialised, argues Rizwaan Sabir.

Occasionally, the ‘wrong’ person – say a white, French, non-Muslim, male journalist with social capital - gets caught in the web of ‘national security’ and ‘counterterrorism’. Suddenly, a world that largely operates in the shadows - because it is created to overwhelmingly target Muslims and racialised ‘others’ – is brought into light.

When this happens, the relevant authorities are quick to show remorse by instigating reviews and inquiries – duly apologising for the ‘mistaken’ targeting of the ‘wrong’ people by a counterterrorism system not meant for them. This is what happened in a recent case involving 28-year-old Ernest Moret, the Foreign Rights Manager at the left-wing French magazine Editions La Fabrique. Moret, who had taken the Eurostar train from Paris to St Pancras station to attend the London Book Fair, was stopped under ‘Schedule 7’ of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Schedule 7 is a stop-and-search power that allows British police to interrogate any person entering or leaving the UK at air, sea, or land borders for a total period of 6 hours to see whether they appear to be a terrorist. Under the power, the police are not required to show ‘reasonable suspicion’, and so can stop anyone for any reason. Most importantly, the person being stopped does not have the right to remain silent. They must answer all questions asked of them and surrender any passwords and PINs for their electronic devices that can be seized by the police, or risk being charged and prosecuted.

While Moret answered the police’s questions at St Pancras station, he refused to give his PINs and was subsequently arrested under the Terrorism Act. He was taken into custody for further questioning. He was released on bail later the same day and was subsequently freed from all charges in June.

Within minutes of Moret’s arrest, human rights groups, publishers, and public figures quickly mobilised to denounce the police’s heavy-handed actions against him. The Metropolitan Police subsequently referred itself to the police watchdog, and the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, launched an investigation into Moret’s arrest and released a report which found that Schedule 7 should not have been used against him; meaning it was an incorrect use of the terrorism power.

Indeed, Moret himself was questioned on his political views, his involvement with recent protests in Paris against the French government’s decision to increase the pension age and the views held by his friends and associates.

The fact that this line of questioning now comes under counterterrorism powers is something we can trace to a decades-long view by the British security state that sees left-wing protesters as internal enemies working with external powers to subvert and overthrow parliamentary democracy. This view has contributed to the erasure of the boundaries between public order policing and counterterrorism and led to the increased targeting of anti-racist, anti-war, and trade union activism, oftentimes with minimal oversight and accountability.

We can see the suspicion ‘left-wingers’ are viewed and subsequently treated with in Moret’s case specifically given he was not stopped on a ‘random’ basis but detained in a pre-planned, intelligence-led stop. The police, in other words, were waiting to detain Moret before he had even arrived in the UK. [...]

Hall’s report says the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) most likely decided against charging and prosecuting Moret because they would not have been able to prove that the initial stop for terrorism was lawful, a pre-requisite for a successful conviction.

But there’s another reason why Moret was released, which cannot be accounted for in Hall’s report, and reflects the way counterterrorism laws are often applied in a weaponised and racialised fashion, and the way the state has weakened the evidential standards required to prove somebody’s guilt for terrorism. Indeed, many terrorism offences in the UK no longer even require the state to prove somebody intended to commit terrorism.

To prove guilt, the state has increasingly started to invoke something called ‘mindset evidence’ – contextual information that does not prove criminal or terrorist wrongdoing but emphasises beliefs and ideas held by a person which are considered ‘extremist’ and are believed to increase the likelihood that a jury will find somebody guilty of terrorism.

So, someone who is pro-Palestinian and believes that people living under occupation should resist Israel, for example, will not necessarily be viewed as a criminal but will be seen as somebody who is more susceptible to supporting or being involved in terrorism. This would also be the case for somebody who, for instance, believes in Islamic governance when it comes to world-politics. Believing such things are not criminal but they are oftentimes used to be suggestive of ‘extremism’ and therefore supportive of violent groups such as Daesh.

The CPS themselves are far more inclined to view as an ‘extremist’ and ‘potential’ terrorist a Muslim who believes these things by virtue of their racialised identity, and the way it is socially constructed as suspicious. They are more likely to thus prosecute because there is a higher chance of securing a conviction.

And it is this double-standard at play within the world of counterterrorism that reveals a systematic Islamophobia and racism that allows Moret to walk free from terrorism charges after he refuses to disclose his PINs, but sees people like Muhammed Rabbani charged, prosecuted, and convicted for terrorism for doing the exact same thing.

As somebody who has lived experience of counterterrorism and its overreach, including at the border where I have been detained in pre-planned intelligence-led stops under Schedule 7, I know what Moret experienced was horrid. His treatment shows the ease with which counterterrorism laws can be abused, and the endemic mediocrity and arrogance within the ranks of counterterrorism policing that allows abuse to become a reality so easily.

Whilst Moret’s treatment should be condemned in the strongest possible terms, we should also reflect on the differential treatment he received and the reasons for it as we continue to critique and challenge the security state and its supporting discourses. Read more - Lire plus

Lithuania declares more than 1,000 Belarusians and Russians to be national security risks

AP news 04/08/2023 - Lithuania declared more than a thousand citizens of Russia and Belarus living in the country to be threats to national security on Friday and said it was stripping them of their permanent residency permits. The decision comes after the government asked the Russians and Belarusians to answer a questionnaire that included questions about their views on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the status of Crimea, the Ukrainian territory which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Lithuania, a Baltic nation that declared its independence from the Soviet Union more than 30 years ago, is a democracy that belongs to NATO and the European Union. It has been a strong backer of Ukraine and also a place of refuge in recent years for many who have fled an authoritarian crackdown in neighboring Belarus and increased repression in Russia.

The Migration Department said Friday that it had established that 1,164 Belarusian and Russian citizens residing in Lithuania posed a threat to national security, a decision that was based on an evaluation of public and non-public information. It said 910 of those were Belarusian citizens and 254 Russian citizens.

How people answered the questionnaire was taken into consideration in deciding whether to grant or deny residence, according to the Migration Department, the government office that carried out the survey. Those deemed to be national security threats are only a fraction of the Belarusians and Russians living in Lithuania. According to the Migration Department, more than 58,000 Belarusian citizens and 16,000 Russian citizens are currently residing in Lithuania. They are required to renew their residence permits every year to three years, depending on the application status.

Those stripped of permits can appeal the decision in court. Others will have up to a month to leave the country, according to the Migration Department. There was no immediate reaction from the Russian or Belarusian governments. Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said the opposition was in touch with the Lithuanian authorities on the issue, and that the Belarusian opposition sought to “prevent a strike on innocent people who are not associated with the regime.” Read more - Lire plus

Activist or terrorist? How Filipino authorities blur the line

The Christian Science Monitor 07/08/2023 - The Rev. Glofie Baluntong wishes she could be preaching the gospel and serving the poor in the Philippines’ Mindoro province right now. Instead, she’s sitting tight, away from her parish, praying that the government will absolve her of the “terrorist” label that’s loomed over her for the past year. “I miss my community, but we have to consider not just my safety but also the safety of the people I serve,” says Ms. Baluntong, a deaconess for 24 years before she was ordained.

For decades, her ministry has focused on serving the region’s Mangyan Indigenous people by conducting humanitarian works and promoting human rights through education. Everything changed in 2019, when the military accused the pastor of having ties to the Communist Party of the Philippines, which the government considers a terrorist organization. In August 2022, she was subpoenaed for alleged violations of the country’s controversial anti-terrorism law, and she hasn’t seen home since. 

Indeed, the “red-tagging” of Indigenous leaders and activists has been an ongoing problem. It was made worse, rights groups say, after the 2020 Anti-Terrorism Act endowed the newly formed Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) with vast power to designate and investigate domestic terrorists. The council has since designated 35 people as terrorists for alleged connection to the communist rebels, and that number is rising. Just last month, the council announced the names of four Indigenous leaders in the northern Philippine region of Cordillera now designated as “terrorist individuals.” Government officials maintain that the council is necessary for fighting insurgencies, but rights groups say it’s become a tool for silencing dissent. 

“The government said the law [will] target terrorists such as the ISIL-linked Abu Sayyaf fighters in the southern Philippines,” says Liza Maza, spokesperson of the Council for People’s Development and Governance, a countrywide network of nongovernmental organizations. “But now it is being used against human rights defenders, activists, and development workers advocating for fundamental political and economic reforms.” Read more - Lire plus

Human rights lawyers eye challenging Anti-Terrorism Act

Oversight panel urged to look into use of anti-terror law

Foreign diplomats in China treated to tour of Xinjiang and ‘happy’ Uyghurs

RFA 11/08/2023 - A Chinese government-sponsored visit to Xinjiang by 25 Beijing-based ambassadors and other diplomats from developing countries has come under fire by human rights activists for pushing an official narrative that the mostly Muslim Uyghurs in the far-western region are thriving, despite the reality of severe repression.



The delegation, which included diplomats from Dominica, Myanmar, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Nicaragua and Mexico, visited the western autonomous region from July 31 to Aug. 3. In the image, foreign envoys visit an exhibition on Xinjiang's "anti-terrorism and deradicalization work" in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Xinhua news agency and CGTN, China’s state-run international TV broadcaster, covered the diplomats as they visited Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi, the cities of Aksu and Kashgar, and other significant locales to observe the region’s “economic and social progress” and affirm that “the local population in Xinjiang is living a happy life.” And the Chinese government's efforts appear to have paid off. 

“During our time in Xinjiang, we had open conversations with the local people and observed that they lead content and happy lives,” Martin Charles, the ambassador to China from the small Caribbean island nation of Dominica, told Xinhua. “We didn’t come across any instances of forced labor, and there were no indications of human rights violations,” he said. China is relying on government-organized visits for foreign officials and influential people from various professions to promote an alternative vision of Uyghur life in Xinjiang amid growing condemnation by Western nations over its maltreatment of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities.

The U.S. government and several Western parliaments have declared that the ongoing human rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions, torture, forced sterilizations of Uyghur women, and forced labor, amount to genocide and crimes against humanity. China has also denounced a report issued nearly a year ago by the U.N. high commissioner for human rights that documented cases of severe rights abuses in Xinjiang. The report said that the abuses could constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity. Though the groups invited to tour the region are diverse, they have one thing in common: They all support China’s “Xinjiang policy.” [...]

Henryk Szadziewski, director of research at the Uyghur Human Rights Project, said the arranged visits are “a consistent tactic employed by the Chinese government to conceal their wrongdoings” during which they use others to amplify their messages. “Whether it is a western vlogger doing a travel blog or diplomats from countries that are friendly, or that rely on China in terms of its economy, or [face] threats or pressure, they put out this message that Xinjiang is now safe and prosperous as a region,” he said. While China invites people from nations sympathetic to its perspective to visit Xinjiang, it has rejected requests by the U.S. and human rights groups that independent investigators be able to visit the region.

Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said all visits to Xinjiang by foreign diplomats were designed by China to cover up rights abuses. “If everything is fine, why not let in independent international investigators, particularly given the mountain of evidence of some of the most serious crimes under international law?” she asked. “So, it’s not clear why some people got to go and others don’t unless Beijing has something to hide,” she said.

Sayragul Sauytbay, an ethnic Kazakh who testified about the abuse she witnessed while detained in a “re-education” camp in Xinjiang, cautioned visiting diplomats against ignoring China’s rights abuses in the region and becoming accomplices to them. “They know and can see China is lying, but they are turning a blind eye,” she said. “These are the countries that rely on China, but for them, this is a rare opportunity. They are going there to help spread propaganda and cover up the crimes China has committed.” Read more - Lire plus

Hong Kong national security police arrest 10 linked to 2019 protester relief fund

HKFP 11/08/2023 - Ten people linked to a defunct fund set up to help Hong Kong protesters during the 2019 anti-extradition bill unrest have been arrested by national security police.

Four men and six women were arrested on suspicion of “conspiring to collude with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security” and inciting a riot, police confirmed in a statement on Thursday.



According to the force’s investigation, the 10 – aged 26 to 43 – were suspected of conspiring with the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund to “accept donations from foreign organisations, and provide financial assistance to organisations that support overseas fugitives or advocate for imposing sanctions on Hong Kong.” Read more - Lire plus

Hong Kong leader should outweigh courts in national security matters, gov’t says after protest song ban rejected

Venezuela: UN experts condemn use of counter-terrorism laws to convict trade unionists and labour leaders

OHCHR 11/08/2023 - UN experts* warned today that convicting trade unionists and labour leaders on terrorism charges was a “chronic misuse” of Venezuela’s counter-terrorism laws against those advocating for the rights of workers.

The experts expressed deep concern about the 1 August 2023 judgment convicting six Venezuelan trade union and labour leaders under the Organic Law against Organised Crime and Financing of Terrorism measures.

“It is evident that we are witnessing chronic misuse of counter-terrorism measures against those advocating for the rights of workers, addressing working conditions, and those engaging in trade union organisations in Venezuela,” the experts said. “In a legal process marked by irregularities and exceptionalities, such abuse of counter-terrorism measures is entirely contrary to international law,” they said.

In a previous communication to the Government of Venezuela, the experts highlighted the lack of fair trial protection, failure to provide access to lawyers for union activists and labour leaders, the inadequacy of evidence to the charges applied, and the failure of key informants to testify at trial.

“We denounce the misuse of counter-terrorism laws against those who have advocated for the protection of social and economic rights and the freedom of association in society,” the experts said. “This kind of misuse is an attempt to stifle and choke organised civil society.”

While underscoring that the use of counterterrorism measures must be necessary, proportionate, and non-discriminatory, the experts recalled that the United Nations Security Council and human rights bodies have consistently held that counter-terrorism legislation and practice must be undertaken in respect of human rights. The experts were profoundly concerned that all those convicted had been given exceptionally long prison sentences.

“We see such extensive prison sentences as an attempt to take civil society actors out of circulation and damage civic space in Venezuela,” the experts said. “The harsh sentencing serves as a warning to others who might engage in dissent or associational activity, contrary to the government’s views,” they said. The convictions epitomised a growing and concerning trend in Venezuela of targeting and harassing those who disagree with the Government or defend human rights, the experts said. “Venezuelan authorities were using the language of counter-terrorism to ostracise and undermine legitimate human rights work,” they said.

“These convictions are an attack on freedom of association, targeting organisations whose raison d’être is drawing individuals into collective action to improve their lives and the lives of their communities,” the UN experts said. They urged the Venezuelan Courts to urgently review the convictions, applying internationally compliant human rights standards of adjudication and review.

“The use of counter-terrorism legislation against civil society actors and human rights defenders must cease forthwith,” the experts said. They invited other governments and all relevant UN human rights and counter-terrorism bodies to focus on the misuse of the counter-terrorist legislation and demand that the Government of Venezuela complies with its international human rights obligations. In this regard, the experts encourage the Venezuelan authorities to fully implement the commitments undertaken with the International Labour Organisation. “We call for swift and decisive action to protect labour rights defenders in Venezuela,” the experts said. Read more - Lire plus

2 youths held for posting video of Pakistan’s Independence Day

The Hindu 16/08/2023 - Two teenagers were arrested on Wednesday by the Mumbai police for posting a video clip of Pakistan’s Independence Day celebration as their status on a social networking platform, an official said. The two 19-years-old college students from Colaba were placed under prohibitory arrest for posting a video of Pakistan’s flag on its Independence day on August 14 as their status on Instagram.

This was brought to the notice of the Colaba police station by a 26-year-old businessman who saw the status of the duo and filed a complaint. The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) was informed and the team tracked down the students. An official said, “From their conduct, manner of speaking and behaviour, it seems that they were doing this with the intention of disturbing the law and order in the country on August 15,” he said.

An official from the Colaba police station said the arrest was made under Section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognisable offences) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The police and the ATS questioned the boys on the video and removed it from their mobile phones and seized the phones. Read more - Lire plus

The Dissident: Umar Khalid Challenged Modi’s Anti-Muslim Agenda. India Accused Him of Terrorism and Locked Him Up.

The Intercept 06/08/2023 - It was September 2020, on a hot, stuffy morning in Delhi. Seven months earlier, in late February, a wave of sectarian violence had ripped through the Indian capital. Amid mass demonstrations against a restrictive citizenship law that targeted Muslims, a mob goaded by a local leader clashed with Muslims in the area. Over the next four days, violence swept through predominantly Muslim neighborhoods; at least 53 people were killed and 14 mosques gutted. The timing was noteworthy: U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in India to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the day after the riots erupted. While Trump and Modi hugged and lavished each other with praise, Delhi’s northeastern district burned.

As the violence unspooled, Umar Khalid was halfway across the country in the eastern state of Bihar. He was headlining a protest where he told the audience seated cross-legged before him that many Hindu supremacists “have nurtured the dream that Muslims will leave the country, that they will go to Pakistan.” “They have spread hate to make it happen. They have nothing but hate. But we will respond with love,” he said. “They are trying to provoke us. They are trying to start a riot. They are saying, ‘Shoot them.’ What are we saying? We are saying, ‘There is no better place in the world than India.’” The secular activist rose to national prominence giving powerful speeches criticizing Modi and his far-right political party for leading a campaign of repression previously unseen in independent India. Khalid has compared Modi to India’s British colonizers, whose centuries-long stranglehold was enabled by policies that pitted religious and ethnic groups against each other, fueling mutual suspicion and resentment. A target of the Modi government since he was a university student, Khalid was now among the leaders of a broad-based movement that had emerged to protest the prime minister’s anti-Muslim policies — and the government was eager to squash its momentum.

In April, while Indians were ordered to stay in their homes, the Delhi police began arresting student leaders and activists who had participated in the citizenship protests, charging over a dozen high-profile activists with a slew of offenses, including murder, sedition, and, not long after, terrorism. News of the arrests put Khalid on edge. Lahiri recalled, “There was crazy tension in the air.” In August, Khalid received a phone call from the Delhi police. The summons was couched as a request for help with the police’s investigation into the riots, but Khalid knew his turn had come. Over the next few weeks, Khalid was called in twice for questioning. He knew the interrogations weren’t intended to establish the facts; they were a sham to make it seem as if the officials were doing their job. He was fully aware of how this would end.

He decided to record the video, telling his close friend to release it at a press conference when the police finally made their move. “They are silencing me,” Khalid said, staring into the smartphone camera. “They are putting me behind bars. But they also want to imprison you — with lies. They want to frighten you into silence. I’d like to end with an appeal: Don’t be afraid. Raise your voice up against injustice.” Three days later, on September 13, the police called Khalid to the office of the city’s counterterrorism unit. This time, they didn’t let him leave. Nearly three years on, he remains in jail without a trial date. Read more - Lire plus

ICLMG ACTIONS & EVENTS

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!

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.

Canada must protect Hassan Diab!

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

Letter in English + Lettre en français

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

Petition in English + Pétition 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.

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.

Please share on Facebook + Twitter + Instagram

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!

Reform Canada's extradition law now!

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!

Version française: Le Canada doit réformer la loi sur l'extradition! + Partagez sur Facebook + Twitter + Instagram

Phone PM Justin Trudeau

TAKE ACTION: Justice for Hassan Diab!

Just Peace Advocates' action: Write a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau: Say “No" to a second extradition of Hassan Diab

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

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

Afghanistan

Targeted for years, Afghan prosecutors were left behind when the Taliban returned to power. Twenty-nine have been killed since then.

War Criminal’s Bid to Become Lawyer Faces Obstacle: His Own Troops. Donald Trump pardoned Clint Lorance, a former Army officer convicted of murdering innocent civilians in Afghanistan.

Attacks on dissent

Attaques contre la dissidence

Violence surrounds Canadian mining projects in Ecuador

Rabaa Massacre: A Decade After Egypt Slaughtered 900+ Protesters, No One Has Been Held to Account

ACTION: Water protectors are not terrorists! Support Jessica Reznicek

Freedom of expression

Liberté d'expression

Federal Appeals Court Undercuts First Amendment Protest Rights

Canadian Dimension calls on Vladimir Putin to free Boris Kagarlitsky

ACTION: Freedom for Boris Kagarlitsky!

Why Is Ukraine Prosecuting Pacifist Yurii Sheliazhenko for “Justifying Russian Aggression”?

ACTION: Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko

Pakistan confirms secret diplomatic cable showing U.S. pressure to remove Imran Khan

Pakistan: Anti-Terrorism Court dismisses Imran Khan's interim bail in seven cases

U.S. Activists Arrested at European Air Bases Protesting U.S. Nuclear Weapons Stationed There

Freedom of the press

Liberté de la presse

‘McCarthyist’: Conservative Politicians Want A Government-Ordered Inquiry To Investigate Canadian News Outlets

Kansas to Probe Police Raid on Local Newspaper; Co-Publisher Dies from Stress Day After Raid

Migrant and refugee rights

Droits des migrant.es et réfugié.es

Rights groups call for investigation: U.S. relies on unreliable information in immigration screening and adjudications

House Conservatives Threaten to Shut Down Homeland Security

Will Biden Stop Texas from Separating Asylum-Seeking Families at Border Under Operation Lone Star?

Police

Toronto police hit with class action lawsuit over ‘carding’ stops

Privacy and surveillance

Vie privée et surveillance

ACTION: You Can Help Stop These Bad Internet Bills (USA)

India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Bill passed: “it’s a bad law”

Iraq Lifts Suspension of Telegram App

Whistleblowers

Lanceur.ses d'alertes

U.S. official hints at possible plea deal for Julian Assange

Miscellaneous

Divers

NEW ONLINE EVENT: The Media, CSIS and Modern Sinophobia

NEW EVENT: Manufacturing the Threat at Montreal Cinema Du Parc on Aug 25th at 7PM

NEW ONLINE EVENT: Manufacturing Consent for War in Canada and the United States, Aug 26th

Nearly 1,500 people in Canada have died in custody in the past two decades, according to new analysis

Canada Secures $418 Million Sale of 55 Light Armoured Vehicles to the Colombian Army

ACTION: No more cluster bombs in Ukraine

ACTION: Don’t let Canadian cannons fire cluster bombs

ACTION: Urge PM Trudeau to reduce military spending

ACTION: Stop Deporting Russian War Resisters

January to June 2023 - Janvier à juin 2023

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)
• “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
• 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 rest of the Canadian citizens and the non-Canadian mothers of Canadian children indefinitely detained in Syrian camps
• 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

Les opinions exprimées ne reflètent pas nécessairement les positions de la CSILC - The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the positions of ICLMG.