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International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
Coalition pour la surveillance internationale des libertés civiles
March 25, 2023 - 25 mars 2023
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ICLMG: National security review of Canada Revenue Agency welcome, but should not delay immediate action | |
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ICLMG 15/03/2023 - The ICLMG is welcoming the announcement from the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) that it will be reviewing the activities of the Canada Revenue Agency’s Review and Analysis Division (RAD). This was a key recommendation in ICLMG’s report on the CRA’s prejudiced audits of Muslim charities, released in June 2021.
However, this review should not be used by the government as an excuse to further delay action to address the documented and ongoing systemic discrimination faced within the Muslim community. This includes the immediate suspension of RAD audits. “For too long, the CRA and RAD have operated without adequate review or oversight. We know that in national security, secrecy allows problems to fester and is used to obscure the harmful impacts of counter-terrorism practices. So we are glad to see the NSIRA taking on this important task,” said Tim McSorley, national coordinator of the ICLMG. “At the same time, for two years the government has had documented evidence of grave problems with the work carried out by RAD, and has failed to take concrete action. This review cannot be an excuse to delay further. RAD’s work must be halted.”
In July 2021, following the publication of ICLMG’s report, among others, and the issue being a central concern at the federal National Summit on Islamophobia, Minister of Revenue Diane Lebouthillier conferred a study of the issue to Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson. However, The Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson, François Boileau, revealed at a hearing of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights in November 2022 that his office was barred from accessing key information and documents needed to carry out its review for national security reasons, among other issues. The NSIRA has the necessary security clearance to be able to access these documents; this is why the ICLMG had recommended in its report that the NSIRA was the appropriate body to investigate this issue. The ICLMG also recognizes the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson’s ongoing and dedicated work on this issue, and believes that the Ombudsperson’s report will provide important, complementary findings and recommendations to the eventual NSIRA report.
The ICLMG also continues to call on the federal government to act on the other recommendations in its report, namely:
- That the Minister of National Revenue declare an immediate moratorium on the targeted audit of Muslim charities by RAD until the review has concluded. This does not preclude the audits of Muslim charities selected at random by the CRA outside of RAD.
- That the Ministry of Finance revisit the anti-terror regulatory, policy and legislative landscape, particularly the 2015 National Risk Assessment (NRA) and its impact, particularly on the Muslim community.
- That the federal government amend the NSIRA Act to allow for complaints from the public regarding the CRA’s national security-related activities.
- That NSIRA and the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) coordinate to carry-out regular reviews of the CRA’s anti-terrorism activities – including the Charities Directorate and RAD – going forward.
The full report is available here. Read more - Lire plus
Civil liberties groups call for immediate moratorium on ‘prejudiced audits’ of Muslim charities pending NSIRA review
Intelligence watchdog investigating CRA following Islamophobia claims
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ICLMG testifies on Islamophobia in Canada at Senate committee | |
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ICLMG 22/03/2023 - ICLMG’s National Coordinator, Tim McSorley, presented on Islamophobia in Canada at the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights on March 20, 2023. Read the transcript of his intervention below. [...]
This systemic Islamophobia has had a tangible, negative impact on Muslims not just in Canada but around the world. When thinking of this impact, we believe it is important that we remember the victims and survivors of these laws, and listen to their words. Those who have directly experienced the most drastic forms of rights-violations must be included in our policy discussions if we hope to truly address these problems.
I want to share some of the words of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who was renditioned from his home in Mauritania, and eventually imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay prison for 14 years, where he faced horrific acts of mistreatment and torture. All of this was based on faulty intelligence provided to the United States by Canadian intelligence agencies. Last May, Mr. Slahi told reporters with the Middle East Eye: “I want Canada to tell the world this was a mistake… I want to clear my name. This is very important to me. […] Without the Canadian government, I would never have been kidnapped. Without the Canadian government, I would never have been selected for the torture programme. […] Instead of the protection I was seeking, I was literally thrown under the bus. […] I just wanted an apology and I want them to give me back my papers that they took away, because I need a life – because my country won’t give me a passport. […] I want to be able to go to Canada freely, and meet my readers and meet my supporters, and do my talks in all the cities in Canada. Because I love the Canadian people.”
Canada has ignored his request for an apology, forcing Mr. Slahi to pursue justice the only way he can: through the courts. His is just one tragic, and enraging, case among many.
Others who have also faced mistreatment or torture either at the hands of or with the complicity of Canada in the name of counter-terrorism include: Maher Arar, Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati, Muayyed Nureddin, Omar Khadr, Mohamed Harkat, Hassan Diab, Abousfian Abdelrazik, Benamar Benatta, Khalid Awan, and more. It is no coincidence that these are all Muslim men.
Over the past two decades, studies have repeatedly documented the disproportionate impact of national security measures on Muslims in Canada. For example, a 2019 study found that 98% of individuals prosecuted under Criminal Code anti-terrorism provisions have been Muslims or linked to Muslim groups. The vast majority of these cases did not involve any executed act of violence, whereas most white perpetrators of actual mass violence have not been prosecuted as terrorists. Our own research has shown the disproportionate, unsupported and prejudiced targeting of Muslim charities by the CRA under the guise of countering terrorist financing. Other examples include:
- Discrimination and profiling in immigration
- Racial profiling at the border and while traveling, including via the Passenger Protect Program (No Fly List)
- Information sharing with rights-violating regimes
- Harassment of Muslims at work, on campus and in their places of worship
In recent years, laws like the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2015 and the National Security Act, 2017 have expanded national security powers without adequate rights-protections, transparency and oversight, and have not gone far enough to address the profiling and systemic discrimination faced by Muslims in Canada. If the federal government truly wishes to address Islamophobia, it must forego policies that are predicated on the vague and politically malleable idea of “terrorism”.
Instead, what is needed is legislative reform, real accountability, and justice for the survivors of rights violations in the name of counter-terrorism. This includes
- Rescinding rights-violating anti-terrorism laws, including CSIS threat disruption powers
- Increase resources for and augment the powers of review and oversight agencies, including independent review of the CBSA
- Establishing clear accountability mechanisms, including to address CSIS breaches of duty of candour
- Mandate the collection of disaggregated race- and religion-based data to inform policy
- End the prejudiced audits of Muslim charities under the guise of combatting terrorist financing in the charitable sector
- Re-examine resources granted to national security agencies with a goal of re-allocating resources towards solutions that promote mental and physical health and well-being, and combat exclusion, prejudices, discrimination, and poverty
Finally, justice for the victims of counter-terrorism abuses would show a concrete change in approach and undermine the pervasive, unfounded image of Muslims posing a threat to the security of Canada. This must include but is not limited to:
- Immediate action to safely repatriate all Canadians currently detained in North Eastern Syria
- Lifting Mohamed Harkat’s security certificate and ending his deportation proceedings
- Calling on the French government to end all proceedings against Dr. Hassan Diab and committing to no new extradition.
- The resolution of the case of Mohamedou Ould Slahi and an apology from the Canadian government for its role in his mistreatment and torture
- The resolution of the case of Abousfian Abdelrazik and an apology from the Canadian government for its role in his mistreatment and torture
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Requesting a transfer of Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy from US prison to Canada, where he could at a minimum be supported by his family, community and mental health services while he serves out his sentence. Read more - Lire plus
Despite global pledge to combat Islamophobia, systemic anti-Muslim hate is on the rise
New report: Islamophobia Leads to the Persecution and Genocide of Muslim Minorities
March 15: UN’s anti-Islamophobia day ‘to stamp out anti-Muslim hatred’
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Party leaders urged to vote against the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act
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ICLMG 14/03/23 - Today, multiple organizations and individuals - including the ICLMG - have sent a letter to the opposition party leaders to urge their parties to vote against the very concerning Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA), part of Bill C-27: the Digital Charter Implementation Act 2022.
Here's an excerpt of the letter: "The Speaker of the House of Commons has already ruled that AIDA is sufficiently different from the rest of C-27 to deserve its own vote. We believe it should not only be studied separately, but re-thought completely. As a result, we are urging your parties to vote against AIDA at second reading, allowing the rest of C-27 to move forward.
A few key reasons:
- The clear absence of public consultations has made it hard for civil society groups, researchers and historically marginalized communities to significantly contribute to the legislation.
- Many important pieces of the Act are left to regulation, and will be decided on only after it is passed. This will result in less scrutiny and transparency.
- The proposed oversight is arbitrary and the enforcement mechanism is fragile.
- The Act fails to apply to government institutions, including national security agencies. This opens the door to abuses by law enforcement agencies like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP) unlawful use of Clearview AI’s facial recognition technology. While we recognize that it is common for separate legislation to regulate the private and public sesctors, we believe this should be reconsidered in light of blurring boundaries when it comes to AI.
- The Act does not address the significant human rights implications of algorithmic systems.
While aspects of these problems could be addressed during committee study, we would be concerned about three issues:
- That, as part of a larger study of C-27, AIDA will not receive the necessary degree of scrutiny that it requires.
- That the committee cannot engage in the level of public consultation that is necessary to address the flaws in this bill and which the government should have undertaken before tabling legislation.
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That key amendments necessary for addressing the flaws in the Act would be deemed to go beyond what is possible at committee, for example applying the Act to government institutions or establishing an adequate, independent oversight body. Read more - Lire plus
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13 civil society groups - including the ICLMG - share core guiding principles for Canada’s upcoming online safety proposal | |
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OpenMedia 15/03/2023 - Today, 13 civil society organizations released a joint statement addressed to the Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez, outlining shared concerns and hopes for Canada’s upcoming online safety proposal. The letter urges the government to move cautiously when introducing legislation around illegal online content in Canada, and presents seven dangerous possibilities Canada’s legislation must avoid, as well as five positive recommendations for advancing Canadians’ privacy and freedom of expression.
The signing organizations are deeply concerned that some approaches the government may consider would be inconsistent with freedom of expression and privacy; many had previously criticized the government’s 2021 white paper on harmful content, and do not want to see a return to its widely criticized approach. Key dangerous directions the letter warns the government against include:
- Proactively monitoring online content;
- Breaking private encrypted communication;
- Requiring mandatory takedown windows for most illegal content;
- Blocking websites without judicial review;
- Implementing new definitions of targeted harmful content, beyond those already defined by Canadian law.
The signatories also proposed a series of positive recommendations for online safety that would advance internet users' civil liberties, including mandatory transparency of data and algorithm use by platforms to their Canadian users, requiring user tools for self-managing their online safety and tailoring wider platform accountability measures to their overall pattern of behaviour and reasonable risk assessment. They strongly urge Minister Rodriguez to carefully consider the vast range of feedback he has received in generating legislation and use the presented principles to shape his legislation moving forward. Read more - Lire plus
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Hassan Diab Support Event | |
Amnesty International calls on France to halt its case against Ottawa's Hassan Diab | |
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Ottawa Citizen 18/03/2023 - An Ottawa university lecturer faces trial in absentia next month in France, where prosecutors continue to allege he was involved in a 1980 terrorist bombing — despite evidence he was in Lebanon at the time. Hassan Diab, 69, a Canadian citizen born in Lebanon, has been pursued by French authorities for 15 years. Amnesty International has called on the French government to halt is “groundless” prosecution of Diab and to find those responsible for the Oct. 3, 1980, attack on a Paris synagogue that killed four people and injured 40 others.
“The renewed prosecution of Hassan Diab risks substituting the necessary pursuit of truth and accountability … with another travesty of justice,” Amnesty International said in a recent statement. Diab’s trial is scheduled to begin April 3. He will be represented in court by French lawyers while he remains in Ottawa. In an interview, Fabien Goa, an Amnesty spokesman based in Paris, said France’s pursuit of the deeply flawed case offended the country’s commitment to fair trials enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights. “We believe this proceeding is descending into arbitrariness,” he said.
Ottawa’s Roger Clark, a member of the the Hassan Diab Support Committee, called on the Canadian government to issue a statement guaranteeing that Diab would not be extradited to France for a second time if he’s found guilty at the upcoming trial. “I think it’s important for Canada to signal to the French authorities that Canada does not accept this is a fair trial,” said Clark, former secretary general of Amnesty International (Canada). “This, I think, is part of Canada’s obligation to protect its citizens. I think Canada has to be very, very firm, and make it very clear — even before the trial begins — that it will not accept a second request for his extradition,” Clark said. “There’s no justice if an innocent man is convicted.”
Diab’s Ottawa lawyer, Donald Bayne, said the case had become deeply politicized in France with many outside parties — representing victims and Jewish groups — pushing for a prosecution. French appeal courts have said those parties deserve a trial. “Unfortunately,” Bayne said, “it means they deserve a scapegoat. It’s quite troubling. But there’s still a slim hope that some reason will prevail in France and the court will acquit him based on the evidence.” Diab faces peril in the case because France could seek his extradition for sentencing if he was found guilty. Bayne vowed to strenuously resist any such extradition request “as unjustified and an abuse of process.” Read more - Lire plus
France : Amnesty international demande l’abandon des charges contre Hassan Diab
Amnesty International: France: Resumption of baseless and flawed Hassan Diab prosecution undermines effective justice for victims of 1980 synagogue bomb attack
Amnistie internationale : France. La reprise des poursuites infondées et entachées d’irrégularités contre Hassan Diab compromet l’efficacité de la justice pour les victimes de l’attentat de 1980 contre une synagogue
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Ramadan Repatriation Chain Fast to Free the Canadian Captives March 23 to April 20, 2023 | |
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Homes Not Bombs 11/03/2023 - Please pick a day to fast in support of immediately freeing and bringing home dozens of arbitrarily detained Canadian Muslim men, women, and children, including the longest-held detainee, Jack Letts. All of them are illegally held without charge in northeastern Syrian jails and prison camps under conditions the United Nations describes as meeting the “threshold for torture, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment under international law.” Justice Henry Brown of the Federal Court stated in December: “Canadians are dying or at risk of dying every day this matter is adjourned.” Every moment of delay increases the risk for the children, men and women.
On January 20, 2023, the Federal Court of Canada ordered the government to repatriate 4 Canadian men illegally detained for as long as 6 years. The previous day, it agreed to bring home 19 women and children held under similarly appalling conditions. Almost two months later, none have been returned.
This should have occurred no later than February 15, 2023, the second anniversary of the Canadian-led Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention. But instead, the Government of Canada is appealing the decision, choosing to prolong the arbitrary detention under conditions akin to torture of Canadian children, women and men. It is also trying to forcibly separate some Canadian children from non-Canadian mothers instead of doing the right thing by keeping families intact, and issuing Temporary Resident Permits to those mothers.
Justice Brown declared in his January 20, 2023 decision that, as soon as reasonably possible, “Canada must make a formal request for their repatriation,” that the detainees “must be provided necessary travel documents,” and Canada be required to “appoint either a delegate or representative to accept their hand over.” He made these findings based on well-settled Supreme Court of Canada jurisprudence and Canada’s international treaty obligations “in the expectation the executive government will act in good faith as its counsel represented to the Court.”
HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CHAIN FAST
a) Pick a day (or a series of days) to fast during Ramadan and email your name and town to tasc@web.ca
b) A list of open dates and names is available at the bottom of the page.
c) More than one person can fast on the same date.
d) Fast according to your preferred tradition (a full 24 hours, liquids only, sun up to sun down).
e) The fast is open to anyone (you can join even if you are not living in Canada). Even if you cannot fast, we encourage you to do these actions below! Read more - Lire plus
ACTION: Call/Write to Ensure Ottawa Obeys Court Order to Bring Canadian Detainees Home from Syria ASAP
ACTION: Canada must repatriate all Canadians detained in NE Syria now!
Please share on Facebook + Twitter + Instagram
Matthew Behrens: “Unnecessary” Muslims: Ottawa Appeals to Prolong Torture of Canadians Detained in Syria
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Pulling Back the Curtain on Canada’s Mass Surveillance Programs – Part Two: The CSE Secret Spying Archive | |
The BCCLA is sharing over 4,000 never-before-seen pages detailing the Communications Security Establishment’s (CSE) surveillance practices. These documents paint a picture of a powerful spy agency in dire need of oversight. | |
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BCCLA 16/03/2023 - A key aspect of any legal proceeding is the discovery process, where both parties are required to disclose all relevant documents in their possession, regardless of whether they support or undermine their position. In the context of national security litigation, this process can be challenging for claimants. Courts tend to give significant weight to claims of secrecy by national security agencies, particularly when it relates to specific methods used by these agencies.
As part of the case these released documents come from, the Federal Court granted the government’s request that the hearings be conducted in secret, and that the related court files be sealed to prevent public access. These measures were allowed despite the fact that all documents were heavily redacted to conceal sensitive national security information. It seemed the public might never be allowed to learn important details about CSE’s spying programs or the BCCLA’s court case challenging them.
That changed when Bill Robinson, a researcher who worked with BCCLA on the case, made a request for the documents under the Access to Information Act. CSE initially refused to release them, claiming litigation privilege. Robinson then made a formal complaint to the Information Commissioner, which the commissioner upheld. Finally, CSE agreed to release the documents with no additional redactions, and the government agreed to lift the implied undertaking of confidentiality, allowing the BCCLA to share these critical documents with the public.
Even with these heavy redactions, the documents paint a picture of a powerful spy agency in dire need of oversight. Despite rules against targeting Canadians, CSE regularly collected Canadians’ communications, shared Canadians’ information with third parties, chose to protect those intelligence sharing relationships over the privacy of Canadians, and prioritized its continued operation over all else. These documents total over 4,900 pages, making up 284 individual documents and focus on the period immediately before the litigation was filed, from the mid-2000s to mid-2010s. The documents fall into 3 broad categories: 1. Ministerial Authorizations, Ministerial Directives, and Memoranda of Understanding; 2. Policy and operations manuals; and 3. Reports and reviews.
7 Key Takeaways
1. A glossary of CSE’s vocabulary and non-standard use of words: The documents reveal how CSE redefines common words to create its own vocabulary. These non-standard definitions provide a misleading impression of CSE’s actions to the public, and potentially to the ministers tasked with authorizing CSE’s surveillance powers.
2. CSE was not allowed to target Canadians but regularly collected Canadians’ information and received it from foreign partners
3. CSE had expansive metadata surveillance programs in place, and those programs were expanding: This likely means that CSE has records of Canadians’ use of websites or apps based outside of Canada, including Google, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tiktok, Twitter, and more, along with their calls, emails, or instant messages to people living outside Canada. Even the metadata of domestic telecommunications can be subject to collection, as a large percentage of Canada-to-Canada internet traffic crosses the Canadian border during its travels.
4. CSE’s cybersecurity mandate gives it the authority to access Canadians’ personal information from within other government agencies
5. CSE shared information potentially relating to Canadians with other government agencies and other countries, and developed a system to share bulk metadata collected by CSE with Five Eyes partners: A report from the CSE Commissioner in 2015 shows that CSE went beyond simply sharing information. It created an automated sharing system that allowed Five Eyes partners to search CSE’s collection of telephone and internet metadata.
6. CSE violated law for five years by failing to minimize Canadian information shared with Five Eyes partners
7. CSE prioritized its relationships with other intelligence agencies over the privacy and safety of Canadians: CSE asks Five Eyes countries to report monthly on measures meant to protect the privacy of Canadians whose information is shared with them. However, CSE states that it would not penalize second party countries for failing to comply with those safeguards, because doing so would “have a significant negative effect on [CSE].”
Conclusion
What was truly shocking is how hard CSE pushes up against the edge of legality, and pushes back against even the most reasonable regulation and oversight. The findings above are just the tip of the iceberg. We encourage journalists, academics, watchdogs, advocates, and the general public to dig into the documents and help us see what else can be found. We hope you’ll share your findings with the public, collaborate with each other, and reach out to us if you think you’ve found something we missed. Read more - Lire plus
Bill Robinson: BCCLA posts CSE documents
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Complaints commission opens investigation into RCMP’s ‘Indian fighters’ | |
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APTN 09/03/2023 - The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) for the RCMP says it is launching a “systemic investigation” into the activities and operations of the Community-Industry Response Group or C-IRG as it’s known. According to CRCC chair Michelaine Lahaie, the investigation will examine whether “policies, procedures, guidelines and training clearly define the RCMP’s and C-IRG’s authorities, roles and requirements; are consistent with applicable jurisprudence/case law and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; and reflect previous relevant CRCC recommendations and other good/leading practices.”
In a news release on Thursday, Lahaie said the investigation will include a “comprehensive file review to assess whether or to what extent the activities and operations of the C-IRG are carried out in accordance with legal standards, policy requirements, and leading practices.” The independent review agency separate from the RCMP, said the investigation will focus on “the C-IRG’s governance, command and control, and operational planning, as well as its activities and enforcement operations,” at three sites, “the Cooper Creek Cedar Ltd injunction on Salisbury Creek Forestry Road; the Coastal GasLink Ltd injunction on Wet’suwet’en traditional territory; and the Teal Cedar Products Ltd injunction in the Fairy Creek watershed.” The CRCC said some additional sites may be added to the investigation.
“It should be noted that the systemic investigation will not investigate individual complaints or make determinations with respect to individual member conduct. In cases where member conduct is of serious concern, the matter will be forwarded to the Chairperson for consideration of further action,” the CRCC said. The C-IRG group is a secretive arm of the RCMP made up of volunteer officers from various detachments in British Columbia. Its role is to clear a path for natural resource projects that will allow companies to build pipelines or other infrastructure. Its work has been on display in B.C. at various protests including Fairy Creek where an old-growth forest was at issue, and the incursion onto Wet’suwet’en territory where Canada-Gas Link is building a pipeline to transport fracked natural gas from northeastern B.C. to Kitimat on the coast.
Prominent First Nations activists call C-IRG “Indian fighters” and “oil and gas mercenaries.” An APTN News investigation of C-IRG in June of 2022 uncovered allegations against the unit that includes “intimidation, torture, brutality, harassment, racism, theft, destruction of property, arbitrary detention, inhumanity, lying and deceit.” The investigation obtained evidence of vast spying — including casual surveillance of law-abiding groups engaged in the democratic process — collusion with private security, collaboration with industry lawyers and wilful violations of RCMP policy. Some of the allegations are backed by evidence and will be tested in court. Others aren’t. Some have already been proven. The unit denies them.
C-IRG has also been active in B.C. where twinning of the Trans Mountain Pipeline that runs from Edmonton, Alta. to the B.C. coast outside Vancouver. There the RCMP unit has used private industry spies to keep watch on various groups who are opposed to the multi-billion dollar project that was bought by Canada in 2018. Kanahus Manuel, leader of the Tiny House Warriors, a group trying to stop construction of the Trans Mountain twinning project, brough allegations against a Mountie after he allegedly broke her wrist when applying a wrist-lock technique during an October 2019 arrest. The allegation has not been proven in court.
APTN has confirmed C-IRG used so-called “pain compliance techniques,” which included gouging a protester’s eyes with a face hold, at Fairy Creek. APTN also confirmed the C-IRG receives and uses intelligence from private security agents, who are almost without exception veteran ex-Mounties, and works closely with them during police operations. According to Lahaie, the investigation “will identify the extent to which C–IRG’s operations and actions meet, reflect, consider or are consistent with” the expectations under the federal government’s Bill C-15 – United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the B.C.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and the calls for justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Currently, three members of the Wet’suwet’en Nation are suing the RCMP and Coastal Gaslink for alleged harassment. The Mounties are also facing a lawsuit by journalist Amber Bracken after how she was treated during a raid on Wet’suwet’en territory. Read more - Lire plus
Coalition calls for suspension of RCMP's Community Industry Response Group amidst review process
RCMP won't agree to respect Gitxsan chiefs' ban on 'militarized' response group
TAKE ACTION: Abolish C-IRG
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Document reveals Canada’s undisclosed motives for arming Saudi Arabia | |
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The Breach 11/03/2023 - Cheap reliable oil, new markets for Canadian corporations, and a heavily-armed proxy for Western countries.
According to a document obtained by The Breach, these are among the reasons Justin Trudeau’s government continues to send massive amounts of weapons to Saudi Arabia.
Previously, Trudeau’s Liberal government has suggested it would like to get out of an ongoing, widely-criticized $15-billion deal to export militarized vehicles to the Middle Eastern dictatorship. But its internal analysis indicates that it in fact believes the weapons business is crucial to maintaining Saudi Arabia as an “integral and valued security partner.” The seven-page, partially-redacted document, marked “secret” and obtained by The Breach through an access to information request, details Ottawa’s rationale for arms sales to the Saudis with a frankness never seen before.
The analysis, written by officials at Global Affairs Canada, notes the Saudis are a “principle guarantor” of affordable oil for western countries. Saudi Arabia has also become an “important market for Canadian companies,” including through large infrastructure contracts for SNC-Lavalin and Bombardier. Arming the Saudis makes them a “regional bulwark” against Iran, as well as reduces the need for potential Canadian and allied troop deployments in the Middle East. The document only briefly acknowledges the regime’s “problematic” human rights record, which has included a brutal war on neighbouring Yemen that has taken hundreds of thousands of lives. The power politics are a far cry from what Trudeau’s government publicly touts as its “feminist foreign policy.” Read more - Lire plus
Yemenis sue top US defence contractors for 'aiding war crimes'
ACTIONS & EVENTS: 8 Years Too Long – End the War in Yemen!
EVENT: International Yemen Can't Wait Online Rally
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Blood and Treasure: Documenting the Costs of Iraq War from Civilian Casualties to Trillions Spent | |
Iraq War anniversary: Repeal military force authorization, limit presidential war powers | |
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The Hill 18/03/2023 - When the Bush administration invaded Iraq, it relied at least as much on what President Bush claimed was his inherent “authority as Commander in Chief” as it did on the Iraq War AUMF. In announcing the invasion, President Bush said he was acting “pursuant” to his constitutional authority and only “consistent” with Congress’s enactment.
The assertion was striking. The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the authority to declare war. It also gives Congress the power to create and regulate the military. Although the Constitution vests the president with an inherent authority to “repel sudden attacks” on U.S. territory and persons, nothing in its text or design suggests that a president may unilaterally initiate hostilities.
The Bush administration’s broad reading of constitutional authority, however, was no anomaly; Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden have similarly encroached on Congress’s war powers. President Obama cited his constitutional authority, not an AUMF, as the original basis for hostilities against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. President Trump cited his constitutional authority, in addition to the Iraq War AUMF, as legal grounds for the 2020 strike on General Soleimani. And President Biden has contended that congressional authorization is not needed for his administration’s tit-for-tat hostilities against Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria, which he claims fall within his power to defend U.S. forces and foreign partners.
Indeed, there are ways in which the Biden administration has an even more capacious interpretation of presidential power than did the Bush administration. Since 2003, successive administrations have expanded and implemented controversial theories for when the president can use force without congressional authorization. [...] To end our era of endless war, Congress must resist these overbroad interpretations of the president’s authority. That means passing resolutions rejecting the national-interest and collective self-defense theories, demanding the withdrawal of U.S. forces from unauthorized hostilities, and cutting off funding for wars that Congress has not explicitly approved. Read more - Lire plus
Lessons of the anti-war movement: Mass action and labour strategy
Video: Remembering the world's biggest peace protest
House hawks kill bipartisan effort to end war in Syria
The “Forever Wars” Are Still Going. But They May Be Running on Borrowed Time.
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DeSantis Says He Advised on Guantánamo Torture in Unearthed Video | |
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The Washington Post 19/03/2023 - Ron DeSantis was a 27-year-old Navy lawyer fresh out of Harvard Law School when he arrived in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, amid an escalating crisis at the U.S. military base. Hundreds of “enemy combatants,” held without charges, had gone on hunger strikes. As pressure grew to end the protests, DeSantis later said, he was part of a team of military lawyers asked what could be done. “How do I combat this?” a commanding officer asked in 2006, as DeSantis recalled in an interview he gave years later to a local CBS television station.
“Hey, you actually can force-feed,” DeSantis said he responded in his role as a legal adviser. “Here’s what you can do. Here’s kind of the rules for that.” Ultimately, it was the Pentagon’s decision to authorize force-feeding. Detainees were strapped into a chair and a lubricated tube was stuffed down their nose so a nurse could pour down two cans of a protein drink, according to military records. The detainees’ lawyers tried and failed to stop the painful practice, arguing that it violated international torture conventions.
Seventeen years later, as the governor of Florida and a potential 2024 presidential contender, DeSantis has largely skimmed over his experience at the base, giving it a brief mention in his new book, “The Courage to Be Free,” and rarely speaking in depth about his actions in Guantánamo — where prisoners have alleged they suffered abuse and human rights violations. Independent groups have decried their treatment, with the U.N. Commission on Human Rights concluding that force-feeding amounted to torture, and the International Committee of the Red Cross reaching a similar conclusion about overall conditions at the prison — both claims that the U.S. military has denied.
DeSantis had an up-close view of some of the most disturbing incidents at the detention camp during one of its most violent years, according to a review by The Washington Post of public records, media reports and dozens of interviews, including with DeSantis’s commanding officer, the prison warden, other base officials, former detainees and defense lawyers. Over the course of nearly a year traveling to and from the base, DeSantis met directly with lawyers and detainees to hear their complaints as they were held without formal charges. He walked through corridors of steel mesh enclosures, “looking eyeball to eyeball with a lot of the detainees,” according to his commander, Capt. Patrick McCarthy. And he spoke regularly with McCarthy and others about pressing legal issues.
His own account of his service at the base and those of his associates also makes it clear that it was a transformational experience that hardened his views about politics, conflict and the Constitution.
He has repeatedly argued that the United States was correct in imprisoning detainees outside the legal system, and after joining Congress in 2013, he became a leading voice to keep the prison open, even though few of the detainees there were ever charged and most have been released. He has described the hunger strikes as part of a “jihad” against the United States, and characterized claims of abuse from detainees and their lawyers as attempts to work the system — foreshadowing his conservative views as a lawmaker on issues ranging from constitutional rights to military and criminal justice.
Asked about the hunger strikes, DeSantis said in the local CBS interview in 2018 that “what I learned from that … is they are using things like detainee abuse offensively against us. It was a tactic, technique and procedure.” Former detainees, defense lawyers and other human rights advocates said in interviews that DeSantis’s actions at the base — and his continued view of what happened there as fully legitimate — present one of the most revealing and troubling chapters of his life, noting that he has never publicly expressed any concern or questioned his own role in what transpired.
J. Wells Dixon, a detainee lawyer who said he remembers meeting with DeSantis at the base, said that the experience should have convinced the governor the base should be closed. “If DeSantis is honest with himself, having served as a naval officer and as a lawyer at Guantánamo, then he surely knows that Guantánamo is a human rights disaster and its continuing existence demeans the United States and is an affront to human rights and the rule of law,” said Dixon, who represents one remaining detainee and is a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. Source
DeSantis’s pivotal service at Guantánamo during a violent year
Former Guantanamo prisoner: Ron DeSantis watched me being tortured
I was a lawyer for Guantanamo detainees. Here’s why the allegations against Ron DeSantis matter
When I saw Guantanamo torture, I was horrified. What did Ron DeSantis think?
Lawyers and rights groups calls for greater scrutiny of DeSantis’s Guantanamo record
For all of us detained at Guantánamo, making art was a lifeline. Why won’t Joe Biden let us keep our work?
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Alarming misuse of high-risk technologies in global fight against terrorism says UN expert | |
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UN 14/03/2023 - States and private actors are using counter-terrorism and security rhetoric to justify and accelerate the deployment and transfer of new high-risk surveillance technologies, without regulation, and at an enormous cost to human rights, a UN expert said today.
In a report to the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, warned of an alarming increase in the use of intrusive and high-risk technologies – including drones, biometrics, artificial intelligence (AI) and spyware – in the global fight against terrorism, without due regard for the rule of law, governance and human rights.
“Exceptional justifications for the use of surveillance technologies in human rights 'lite' counter-terrorism often turn into mundane regular use,” said Ní Aoláin, pointing to the impact on fundamental rights such as family life, freedom of movement, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to privacy. “There must be a pause in the use of intrusive high-risk technologies until adequate safeguards are in place,” she said.
The expert expressed concern about the growing domestication of the use of drones in several countries, the widespread misuse of spyware technology against civil society actors, dissidents and journalists, and the global adoption of biometric data collection. Read more - Lire plus
Counter-terrorism and Security Are Frequently Used To Cover for the Adoption of High-risk and Highly Intrusive Technologies, Special Rapporteur Tells the Human Rights Council
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69 Organizations Urge that Domestic Terrorism Charges Against Defend the Atlanta Forest Protesters Be Dropped | |
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Defending Rights & Dissent 06/03/2023 - 69 environmental, human rights, and civil liberties organizations sent a letter to Georgia prosecutors urging them to drop domestic terrorism charges against Stop Cop City/Defend the Atlanta Forest protesters. The charges represent a draconian escalation seemingly intended to chill First Amendment protected activity.
The letter reads, in part:
Civil disobedience and disruptive activism are part of the American protest tradition. From the Boston Tea Party to the civil rights movement, Americans have long drawn on civil disobedience tactics akin to the occupation of the Atlanta forest by the Stop Cop City protesters. Based on the information contained in the arrest warrants, many of the people charged with domestic terrorism are accused only of trespassing or other minor crimes. In all cases, application of the domestic terrorism statute is an escalatory intimidation tactic and a draconian step that seems intended to chill First Amendment protected activity. Read more - Lire plus
Autopsy Suggests “Cop City” Protester Sitting Cross-Legged, Hands Up, When Shot 14 Times by Police
Ohio law enforcement links Erin Brockovich to potential for 'special interest terrorism' threat in East Palestine
Welcome to Utah, where pipeline protests could now get you at least five years in prison
ACTION: Protecting Water is Never Terrorism!
EVENT: Webinar: Fires, Floods, and Terrorism Charges: The escalation of state repression during the climate crisis - April 4th
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The government of Sri Lanka's crackdown on protesters must end | |
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Amnesty International 2023 - The President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, must repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), a counterterrorism law, that has been weaponized to crackdown on peaceful protestors and stifle dissenting voices, in contravention of Sri Lanka’s international human rights obligations, especially the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
In the last two years, the Sri Lankan government has intensified the crackdown on dissent, severely curtailing civil society freedom. People from all walks of life, especially minority communities, have been threatened, intimidated, harassed, and jailed, simply for expressing their views. Journalists, poets, teachers, and lawyers have been targeted for doing their jobs in ways that displease the authorities. Further, the state has targeted student activists and trade unionists in reprisal of their work. The government and government-affiliated groups have used smear campaigns, abduction-style arrest, raids of media outlets, travel bans, transfers and arbitrary arrests, and torture and other ill-treatment of protesters while in custody to limit and discourage freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
The continued references to protesters as ‘terrorists’ and ‘fascists’ by Members of Parliament and the President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, are attempts to demonize the protest movement. These attempts culminated in the government using the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act against three protesters, including a protest leader. A study conducted by the Human Right Commission of Sri Lanka found that PTA detainees faced a continuum of violence. The study documented that “violence in police custody was found to be an inherent element of the investigation process, whereby torture is inflicted to extract information, confessions, and evidence from detainees”.
The PTA has enabled numerous instances of arbitrary detention and torture and other ill-treatment since 1979. Despite the Sri Lankan government’s multiple assurances that the PTA would be reformed in line with international human rights standards, to date no adequate reforms have taken place and the PTA continues to be used as a tool to arbitrarily arrest and detain people, violate fair trial rights, and put detainees at risk of torture and other ill-treatment, amongst other violations. The PTA is in violation of international human rights law and must be repealed. Read more - Lire plus
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Pakistan: Drop Overbroad Terrorism Charges | |
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Human Rights Watch 21/03/2023 - The police in Pakistan have used abusive measures in the escalating confrontation between police and Imran Khan’s supporters, Human Rights Watch said today. They have charged protesters with batons and detained them under sweeping counter-terrorism laws. The authorities should appropriately prosecute any of the former prime minister’s supporters who have engaged in unlawful acts of violence, uphold the right to peaceful protest, and refrain from the unlawful use of force.
“The use of Pakistan’s vague and overbroad anti-terrorism provisions against opposition protesters is very worrying,” said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “If the authorities believe that Khan’s or his supporters’ actions have resulted in violence or constituted a real threat to public safety, they should be charged under the appropriate laws.” Dozens of Pakistanis of Khan’s political party, Tehrik-I-Insaaf (PTI), including Khan have been charged with terrorism offenses, criminal intimidation, rioting, and assault on government authorities following violent clashes between the police and party members outside a courthouse in Islamabad on March 18. The clashes erupted when Khan arrived at court to face charges of corruption. Dozens of police officers and other people were injured while several vehicles and a police checkpoint were burned in the violence. The police have arrested nearly 200 PTI members for “arson, vandalism and the attacks on police.”
The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism has criticized legal definitions of terrorism that include property crimes, saying they should be limited to acts “committed against members of the general population, or segments of it, with the intention of causing death or serious bodily injury, or the taking of hostages.”
Violent clashes between the police and Imran Khan’s supporters have continued for the past two weeks in Lahore and Islamabad, with police using teargas and rubber bullets against protesters and charging them with batons. Protesters have used sticks and stones to attack the police and have set fire to police vehicles. Dozens of police officers and supporters of Khan’s party have been injured.
The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, which set out international law on the use of force in law enforcement situations, provide that security forces shall as far as possible apply nonviolent means before resorting to the use of force. Whenever the lawful use of force is unavoidable, the authorities should use restraint and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offense. Lethal force may only be used when strictly unavoidable to protect life. Under the basic principles, in cases of death or serious injury, appropriate agencies are to conduct a review and send a detailed report promptly to the competent administrative or prosecutorial authorities.
Governments should ensure that arbitrary or abusive use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials is punished as a criminal offense. Superior officers should be held responsible if they knew or should have known that personnel under their command resorted to the unlawful use of force and firearms but did not take all measures in their power to prevent, suppress, or report such use. The protesters have a responsibility to be peaceful and abide by the law. “All sides should display restraint and respect for human rights and the rule of law,” Gossman said. “It is vitally important for the police to respect the right to peaceful assembly while holding those responsible for unlawful violence to account.” Read more - Lire plus
Pakistan: Blanket ban on critical speeches ‘disturbing demonstration’ of threat to freedom of expression
ACTION: Pakistan: End arbitrary detention of Mahal Baloch
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International solidarity with the HDP against closure case | |
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ANF News 14/03/2023 - The elections in Turkey will take place on 14 May. The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) as a party still does not know whether it will take part in the elections or not because of the politically motivated closure case. This is an attempt to take away the HDP’s right to politics and participation in the elections. This case, initiated by Erdogan’s regime on 17 March 2021 and thus politically motivated, must not lead to a ban on the HDP. The defence of HDP over the closure case is now scheduled for April 11. The HDP has called for solidarity against the politically motivated closure procedure on 13 March. Below are the statements of parties, organizations, politicians and parliamentarians who stand in solidarity with the HDP against all arbitrary and systematic repressions and the closure cases.
COUNCIL OF EUROPE: Unified European Left (UEL): “The UEL strongly condemns an eventual ban of the HDP, a party democratically elected by millions of Turkish people. The politically motivated actions by the Turkish government against the Party should immediately stop. The justice system needs to remain fully independent from politics. The HDP has proved that it fights for Democracy, Human Rights, and freedom in Europe, and the UEL group is honoured to work with them side by side in the context of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The HDP should be free to put its ideas and candidates before the electorate. Their elected members and party activists should also be free to practice their politics without being arrested on spurious excuses, and their elected mayors and councils should be allowed to carry out the roles with which voters entrusted them. The UEL calls on the Turkish government and its institutions to respect international and European law and the European Convention on Human Rights, and to show justice towards the HDP as a prerequisite for democracy.” [...]
Portugal's Bloco de Esquerda in solidarity with HDP against judicial farce in Turkey: “After arresting its leaders and thousands of militants, the Turkish regime wants to outlaw the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), the majority party among the Kurdish electorate. The Left Bloc joins the movement of solidarity with this party. At that time, in 2016, the party’s joint leadership was arrested. 54 MPs were accused of terrorism and 10 were arrested. By March 2018, 11,000 activists had been arrested and of these 3,000 were imprisoned. Large dozens of mayors have been removed from their posts and hundreds of councillors replaced by deputies of the interior ministry. The Attorney General is currently seeking the outlawing of the party by the Constitutional Court and the loss of political rights for more than 600 HDP militants. The reading of the Indictment before the Constitutional Court was scheduled for tomorrow, 14/3, has now been postponed due to internal difficulties in Erdogan’s gang, who incidentally is behind in the polls for president, losing to a centrist, liberal and secular candidate. In this difficult moment, we raise the international solidarity of democrats, as has already been done by the Council of Europe and the European Left, of which the HDP is part. Contrary to the present judicial farce, it will be the dictator who will be judged with the victory of the Turkish and Kurdish peoples!” Read more - Lire plus
ACTION: Hands off the HDP!
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Amendment grants Myanmar junta sweeping new powers under Anti-Terrorism Law | |
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RFA 18/03/2023 - Myanmar’s junta has expanded its ability to target those who seek its removal from power by sharpening the teeth of law that it’s already used to jail hundreds of people since seizing power in a coup d’etat two years ago. The addendum to the Anti-Terrorism Law issued on March 1 allows authorities to eavesdrop on suspects, confiscate their assets and take other steps to crush the opposition, experts say.
The junta will use the amended law to enable its forces to commit atrocities and brand any actions by rebels with the People’s Defense Force or other groups as terrorism, said Than Soe Naing, a political analyst. “The junta is trying to make its crimes – such as burning down villages, confiscating civilian properties and killing their cattle for food – acceptable under their laws,” he said. The provisions were added to the Anti-Terrorism Law that was enacted in 2014 under then-President Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government. The changes – 20 chapters and 120 articles – were published in the junta’s Myanmar Alinn newspaper in a series of segments beginning on March 10, and signed by junta Interior Minister Lt. Gen. Soe Htut.
One chapter details the confiscation and control of assets belonging to terrorist groups or individuals and organizations associated with them. Another chapter spells out how authorities can take control of a suspect’s assets as part of an investigation, including their bank accounts. Another provision adds protections for witnesses of the prosecution, including the ability to testify via video conferencing to avoid facing the accused in the courtroom. Six articles in Chapter 14 provide authorities with sweeping new powers over digital information, including the ability to intercept, monitor, cut off and restrict communications, as well as to pinpoint the location of a suspect. Such information can now be used in investigations into terrorism or the financing of terrorism, and may be submitted as evidence in a court of law. Read more - Lire plus
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Germany follows US lead in misuse of airline reservation data | |
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Papers please 07/03/2023 - On Friday, February 24th, Florian Gutsche, a German citizen and the national chair of the German Association of People Persecuted by the Nazi Regime – Association of Anti-Fascists (VVN-BdA), was intercepted by German federal police at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, prevented from boarding a flight he had planned to take to Sofia, Bulgaria, and served with an order prohibiting him from leaving Germany for the duration of the weekend. Formal parliamentary questions have already been submitted to the German government by a member of the Bundestag, asking by whom and on what basis the order prohibiting Herr Gutsche from leaving Germany was issued. These are important questions. But we are also concerned about how this order was effectuated and what this says about the German government’s use of airline reservations to surveil, control, and restrict “resiefreiheit” — the right to freedom of movement.
According to Deutsche Welle, “The VVN-BdA describes itself as a non-party-affiliated alliance of victims of the Nazi regime, resistance fighters, and anti-fascists of all generations. It was originally founded in 1947, having emerged from an alliance of Holocaust victims’ associations and former anti-Nazi resistance fighters.” [...] According to a press release from the VVN-BdA, the travel ban was justified by a claim that Herr Gutshe would “substantially damage the reputation of the Federal Republic of Germany abroad” by his planned travel. Herr Gutsche’s clothing and luggage were alleged to constitute evidence supporting this allegation: He had with him a black sweater, a black jacket, a black flag, and a VVN-BdA pamphlet. Herr Gutsche does not know what “threat” his travel was supposed to constitute.
Herr Gutsche’s travel plans were, we assume, detected by the police from airline reservation data. The German government requires airlines to “push” Advanced Passenger Information (API) extracted from reservations, and complete mirror copies of Passenger Name Records (PNRs, airlines’ own internal reservation records) to the government.
The German government obtains airline reservations even for flights within the European Union, such as the flight from Berlin to Sofia on which Herr Gutsche was booked. For more than decade, German police have been acting on no-fly “recommendations” made by “advisors” from the US Department of Homeland Security stationed at German airports. Those DHS recommendations have been based on secret evidence, secret US algorithms, and secret US blacklists including the recently-revealed US no-fly list and “selectee” list. German police may not even know on what, if any, evidentiary basis these US advisors have recommended that German authorities prevent a person from flying. The DHS requires all airlines to provide it with copies of API and PNR data for all flights to, from, or overflying the US, and is currently seeking to add to the API data fields. Once such a surveillance system is in place, it’s hard to resist its expansion to more and more data.
But German authorities have not been content to rely solely on US blacklists. They have been developing and deploying their own air travel surveillance and control capabilities.
In 2016, the European Union adopted a directive requiring each EU member state, including Germany, to create a special national surveillance agency to monitor and obtain PNR data from airlines (if it did not already have such an agency) , use PNR data to profile air travelers, and be prepared to “share” PNR data on request with other EU members.
As Statewatch has been reporting, European governments including Germany have been discussing how to make this system more more comprehensive. Similar mandates applicable to all UN and ICAO members worldwide, also including of course Germany, were adopted by the UN Security Council in 2017 and ICAO in 2020. National governments are supposed to use the data obtained from airlines to “prevent terrorism and other serious crimes”. Presumably, this is to be done by means of pre-crime predictive profiling, which isn’t actually possible. However, there is nothing in the EU, UN, or ICAO mandates to prevent the use of API and PNR data for other purposes. Both list-based and pattern-based rules in the traveler profiling algorithms are left to the discretion of each national government to construct according to its own biases.
In the US, the algorithmic ruleset for processing international airline reservations includes TECS alerts which generate an email message to a specific law enforcement agency or officer whenever an airline sends reservation data to DHS matching a specified pattern. A TECS alert can be set by, or at the request of, almost any US law enforcement agency, or at the request of a foreign “partner”, for almost any reason. TECS alerts are used to alert an investigator or agency, in advance, whenever a person of interest plans to travel internationally. API and PNR data is typically “pushed” to DHS starting 72 hours before scheduled departure of each flight, so police have that much time to prepare to intercept a traveler at an airport or prepare a special unwelcoming party or other special treatment. TECS alerts have been used by US authorities to monitor the international travel of journalists and activists, intercept them at airports, and search and seize their electronic devices and privileged information.
The interception of Herr Gutsche at Berlin Brandenburg Airport last month strongly suggests that the German federal police have implemented functionality similar to US “TECS alerts” in their API and PNR-based air travel surveillance and control scheme, and are using it similarly to track and interfere with the travel of disfavored or embarrassing political activists. The capacity for this sort of political misuse is inherent in any such surveillance scheme. The only way to prevent it is to unplug airline IT systems from police and “Do Not Collect”. Anti-fascists and those who remember Nazism and work to prevent its resurgence or repetition are not a threat to German freedom and security. So far as we can tell, Herr Gutsche didn’t try to defy the German government order restricting his freedom of movement within the EU. It’s unclear whether he would have been detected and stopped if he had tried to leave Germany by train, or traveled by car, bus, local transit, or other means from Berlin to Poland or another country and flown to Sofia from there. By the time he was notified of the order, it would have been too late to get to Sofia, other than by air, in time for the anti-fascist event he had planned to attend.
Along with many Germans, we are disappointed and disturbed to see the German government engaging in this sort of anti-anti-fascist political repression. These actions by the German government are far more damaging to its international reputation than anything Herr Gutsche could have said or done on a weekend abroad, whether as one German citizen or as an officer of the VVN-BdA. We hope Germans will learn from this case study in political repression and demand that their government dismantle its air travel surveillance scheme and withdraw from the distributed global air travel surveillance network into which it has been integrated. Read more - Lire plus
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Supreme Court agrees to hear case about Quebec's 'secret trial' | |
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The Canadian Press 16/03/2023 - The Supreme Court of Canada says it will hear an appeal from the media over a so-called secret trial held in Quebec involving a police informant. The high court said today it has agreed to hear the appeal brought by media organizations including Radio-Canada, La Presse, the Montreal Gazette and The Canadian Press, which had sought a partial or complete lifting of seals imposed on the case.
In July, the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled it could not release any information, saying the right of informants to remain anonymous supersedes the principle of court proceedings being open to the public. The original case involved an informant who was convicted of participating in a crime that he or she had revealed to police. The existence of the trial was first reported by La Presse and only became public because the informant appealed his or her conviction and because the Quebec Court of Appeal in March 2022 released a redacted decision that set aside the conviction and was highly critical of the secrecy surrounding the trial.
The case was not given a docket number, and its details were kept secret — including the nature of the crime and where it allegedly took place, the name of the judge involved and the names of the lawyers. In the wake of these revelations, a consortium of media outlets requested the full or partial unsealing of the information that was held secret. The Attorney General of Quebec requested a modification to the file's sealing. The motions were denied. The Supreme Court was therefore asked to hear the case, and on Thursday it agreed. Source
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Canada must repatriate all Canadians detained in NE Syria now! | |
On January 20, 2023, Federal Court Justice Henry Brown ruled that Canada must repatriate Canadians illegally and arbitrarily detained in northeast Syria. On February 6, 2023, the Canadian government filed an appeal and asked that the Brown ruling be set aside and placed on hold while the appeal plays out. This is unacceptable.
Every day the government fails to bring these Canadians home, it places their lives at risk from disease, malnutrition, violence, and ongoing military conflicts, including bombing by Turkey’s military. United Nations officials have even found that the conditions faced by Canadians in prison are akin to torture. Please click below to urge the federal government to repatriate all Canadians illegally & arbitrarily detained in northeast Syria without delay.
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20 years of fighting deportation to torture: Justice for Mohamed Harkat Now! | |
Take Action for Justice for Hassan Diab! | |
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Since the Taliban takeover of a year ago, Canadian aid organizations have faced barriers in sending aid to Afghanistan due to Canadian sanctions and a restrictive interpretation of the Canadian Criminal Code’s anti-terrorism provisions. This is despite the US, the UK, the EU countries and even the UN taking action to ensure sanctions do not interfere with crucial humanitarian assistance.
ICLMG has teamed up with other Canadian organizations to call on Prime Minister Trudeau and the Canadian government to act immediately to remove barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance. This includes ensuring that sanctions and counter-terror finance and criminal law restrictions do not impede the provision of lifesaving humanitarian aid. This issue isn’t limited to Afghanistan, either, which is why we are also asking the government to address the long-standing issue of ensuring that anti-terrorism laws and sanctions do not interfere with humanitarian assistance. Version française
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Canada must protect encryption! | |
Canada’s extradition system is broken. One leading legal expert calls it “the least fair law in Canada.” It has led to grave harms and rights violations, as we’ve seen in the case of Canadian citizen Dr Hassan Diab. It needs to be reformed now.
Click below to send a message to urge Prime Minister Trudeau, the Minister of Justice and your Member of Parliament to reform the extradition system before it makes more victims. And share on Facebook + Twitter + Instagram. Thank you!
Regardez la vidéo avec les sous-titres en français + Agir
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Protect our rights from facial recognition! | Facial recognition surveillance is invasive and inaccurate. This unregulated tech poses a threat to the fundamental rights of people across Canada. Federal intelligence agencies refuse to disclose whether they use facial recognition technology. The RCMP has admitted (after lying about it) to using facial recognition for 18 years without regulation, let alone a public debate regarding whether it should have been allowed in the first place. Send a message to Prime Minister Trudeau and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair calling for a ban now. | |
OTHER NEWS - AUTRES NOUVELLES | |
July to December 2022 - Juillet à décembre 2022 | |
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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;
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Protecting our privacy from government surveillance, including facial recognition, and from attempts to weaken encryption, along with advocating for privacy law reform;
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Fighting for Justice for Mohamed Harkat, an end to security certificates, and addressing problems in security inadmissibility;
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Ensuring Justice for Hassan Diab and reforming Canada’s extradition law;
- The return of the 40+ Canadian citizens indefinitely detained in Syrian camps, including more than 20 children;
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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;
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And much more! Read more - Lire plus
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Les opinions exprimées ne reflètent pas nécessairement les positions de la CSILC - The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the positions of ICLMG. | |
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THANK YOU
to our amazing supporters!
We would like to thank all our member organizations, and the hundreds of people who have supported us over the years, including on Patreon! As a reward, we are listing below our patrons who give $10 or more per month (and wanted to be listed) directly in the News Digest. Without all of you, our work wouldn't be possible!
James Deutsch
Bill Ewanick
Kevin Malseed
Brian Murphy
Colin Stuart
Bob Thomson
James Turk
John & Rosemary Williams
Jo Wood
The late Bob Stevenson
Nous tenons à remercier nos organisations membres ainsi que les centaines de personnes qui ont soutenu notre travail à travers les années, y compris sur Patreon! En récompense, nous nommons ci-dessus nos mécènes qui donnent 10$ ou plus par mois et voulaient être mentionné.es directement dans la Revue de l'actualité. Sans vous tous et toutes, notre travail ne serait pas possible!
Merci!
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