Author Archives: ICLMG CSILC

ICLMG welcomes the news of the release of Canadian citizen Salim Alaradi

641b7b2c281f4da398adc3597a9c74d6_18Ottawa – The International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG) welcomes the news of the release of Canadian citizen Salim Alaradi by a United Arab Emirate court. After spending almost 22 months in prison suffering from solitary confinement, torture and numerous health issues, Salim Alaradi can be finally reunited with his family.

“The release of Salim Alaradi is an excellent news to his family and to all his friends and supporters who campaigned tirelessly to obtain it. Since the beginning of this horrible ordeal, ICLMG along with other civil liberties groups called upon the Canadian government to ensure that the rights of Canadian citizen Salim Alaradi are protected, mainly his right to due process,” said Monia Mazigh, National coordinator of ICLMG.

Recently, 30 Canadian and international lawyers wrote to the Emirati President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan calling for the release of Salim Alaradi and the American nationals co-accused in his trial, Kamal and Mohamed Eldarat.

“The public and private pressures that have been exerted at different levels and from different governments on the Emirati government is evidence that pressure has clearly worked and that keeping quiet is not an option. The Canadian government should use all sorts of pressures in its power to obtain the release of Canadians detained abroad for political motives,” insisted Monia Mazigh.

– 30 –

Stop Mohamed Harkat’s deportation to torture – Let’s keep up the pressure!

hi-cp-00042256-harkat-852

Read ICLMG’s letter urging Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to exempt Mohamed Harkat from deportation and let him stay and live with his wife and family in Canada.

The following is a request written by Sophie Harkat, Mohamed Harkat’s spouse.

Dear supporter,

As you probably know by now, Mohamed Harkat (detained under a security certificate since Dec. 2002) faces deportation to torture. He was issued his inadmissibility letter during the federal election campaign and under the leadership of the Liberals, the CBSA is still pushing through with his deportation. They stated in their report that Mohamed has not been an active contributing member of society, has not financially helped his family and that I would be fine without him (never mind the fact he was detained by force for 43 months without charge, on house arrest for 7.5 years under the toughest bail conditions in Canadian history , still prevented from using technology/computer/internet/cell phone outside the home and his name ruined by allegations) Mohamed held three jobs before he was arrested and has actively been looking for full time work.

The report also agrees he might face risks if deported to Algeria, but that Canadians face more risks if he remains in Canada.

Over a thousand supporters wrote letters this past winter (THANK YOU!!), but there has been no movement at their end.

THIS NEEDS TO STOP NOW!

Since then, some important decisions have been made:

1- The Liberals have agreed to sign the UN Optional Protocol Against Torture

2- The UK refuses to deport 8 Algerian men back to Algeria because they face being tortured/detention or risks to their safety

3- The US government has concluded that diplomatic assurances are not reliable and that they cannot keep track of the detainee once the transfer is completed. Many detainees have been tortured.

Let’s ask the Liberals, why are they going ahead with the deportation then?

PLEASE take one minute to email the letter below.

Thank you for your support, solidarity and generosity!

Sophie Harkat, wife of Mohamed Harkat who thinks Mohamed is an asset to this society, and would be a GREAT Canadian; he has a huge network of friends and family that love him and want him to stay in Canada!

If you want to help with legal fees (we get no legal aid), you can do so at www.justiceforharkat.com

LETTER

Send to ralph.goodale@parl.gc.ca and john.mccallum@parl.gc.ca and copy  letharkatstay@gmail.com

Dear Minister Goodale and Minister McCallum,

In the spirit of the Liberals recent stated intention to sign the UN Optional Protocol Against Torture, we urge you to comply with Article 2 of the Convention Against Torture (“No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political in stability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.”) and Article 3 (No State Party shall expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.”

We bring this to your attention because of Canada’s ongoing efforts to deport Mr. Mohamed Harkat – who has lived in Canada for 20 years – to Algeria, where it is clear that he would be at substantial risk of torture both as someone who fled that country as a refugee and given the false state security allegations that have been leveled against him. As you are likely aware, Mr. Harkat has been subjected to the Kafka-esque secret hearing process known as a security certificate, and has never had a proper opportunity to challenge and refute the secret allegations that form the basis of the case against him, and which rely on a secret informant who failed a lie detector test.

Needless to say, even state security agencies such as CSIS and the RCMP concede Mr. Harkat has never committed any act of violence nor violated any law (passed his criminal background check).  All of the risk assessments done by the CBSA and CSIS since 2009 have been positive and concluded that Mohamed is a low risk.

We also draw your attention to a recent Appeals Court case in the UK in which Sir Anthony Clarke, Lord Justice Buxton, and Lady Justice Smith refused to deport eight men to Algeria despite the so-called “diplomatic assurances” that they would not be tortured by the Algerian regime. International human rights organizations including Amnesty International have long highlighted that “diplomatic assurances” in human rights cases  are not worth the paper they are written on. In addition, they violate Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention Against Torture, to which Canada remains a signatory.

Date:

Name:

Address:

RCMP warrantless spying on journalists: We need stronger oversight and better journalistic ethics

gilles-toupin-and-joel-denis-bellavance

By Monia Mazigh – “Bombshell”, “denounce”, “yikes”. These are some of the words used by some journalists or commentators to describe the recent news that some “rogue” elements of the RCMP, without any judicial warrant, put two journalists under physical surveillance over a certain period of time to probe a leak done by a CSIS agent to two Canadian journalists working at La Presse.

In our analysis of this news story, three main points should be made clear here:

  • Press freedom and freedom of expression are strong pillars of our democracy but reporting stories from anonymous sources is also an extremely “dangerous” business. It can bring truth to the public eyes as it can also damage the reputation of people if it turns out to be a lie or a half-truth fabricated by the intelligence officers. Journalists are supposed to do their work in accordance with some ethical standards. Unfortunately, it has not been the case. The desire of publishing a “scoop” or some exclusive material has trumped several times over the damage done to the life of the person subject of the leak. Juliet O’Neil did it in the past, as Maher Arar knows painfully well. Except for the courageous former Globe and Mail reporter, Jeff Sallot, no journalist has done his/her mea culpa. Ethics is an increasingly rare commodity in the journalistic world.
  • There is an ongoing competition between law enforcement and information-gathering authorities that pre-dated even the creation of CSIS. This competition or “foot stepping game” can bring similar cases where the police forces are investigation what the intelligence services are doing. What should be emphasized and remembered here is that Bill C-51 granted additional powers to CSIS that would allow them to step into the law enforcement territory. CSIS recently acknowledged that they used these new powers and that they will continue using them. Does this mean we should expect more spying activities from one agency on the other and more collateral damages in between?
  • The article reported that these are “rogue” elements within RCMP who conducted such warrantless surveillance. Once again, the simplistic explanation seems to prevail when we pinpoint to controversial activities conducted by law enforcement or intelligence forces. How about CRA information of Canadian citizens obtained by CSIS without warrants? Rogue elements did it and they stopped afterward… How about information about Canadian citizens shared with foreign agencies that led to the torture and arrest of the former?  “Bad apples” among the forces did it but we will be more careful next time… This has been going on forever. I am almost tempted to say it is the rule rather than the exception!

The moral of the story isn’t solely about the importance of freedom of expression, but also about the importance and the urgent need to implement oversight and review mechanisms so that our national security agencies will be held accountable, and no leaks will be made to destroy people’s lives, and no journalists will be spied on and put under surveillance.