Canadians should heed the uproar in the United States, Europe and Latin America over the recent revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) is spying, without warrants, on e-mails, faxes and telephone calls going into and out of or simply transiting through the country. The fear is that data collection and data-mining systems used by the NSA are not just monitoring suspected terrorists, but also filtering through the international, and possibly even domestic, communications of potentially all ordinary law-abiding citizens. What is even more startling is that Canadian security agencies have been authorized to do the same thing here, and may be using the same approach to conduct vast data-mining of our communications.

The refusal of entry into their airspace by European states for the Bolivian presidential jet on the basis of suspicions that Edward Snowden was on board was an astonishing manoeuvre that flies in the face of the EU’s commitment to democracy, human rights and international law.

The potential damage that this action does to both the reputation of the European Union and respect for international law within and beyond its borders cannot be understated. The forcing down and searching the Bolivian President’s jet was a clear breach of fundamental principles of diplomatic immunity and inviolability. Such principles are the bedrock of good international relations and customary international law.

The states involved in forcing down and searching the Bolivian President’s jet should be held to account while the EU should concentrate on protecting the fundamental rights of Europeans by putting an end to the unwarranted mass surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden.

Many European countries have a proud history of providing refuge to people facing prosecutions of a political nature. If they are to avoid the same international reputation for injustice that increasingly plagues their Transatlantic partner they should cease and desist in their efforts to apprehend Mr. Snowden, recognise his service to European democracy and guarantee him safe haven or passage.

Read the whole statement and see the signatories

Presented by the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, Amnesty International Canada, and the Center for Constitutional Rights

When: Wednesday, June 19, 2013, 7-9pm

Where: Octopus Books, 251 Bank Street, Ottawa, Ontario

What: The screening of the documentary followed by a discussion with J. Wells Dixon (CCR attorney representing men at Guantánamo), Abdullah Almalki (Canadian citizen who was tortured in Syria because of inaccurate information given by Canada), and Paul Champ (Ottawa human rights and national security litigation lawyer), and moderated by Hilary Homes (Amnesty International Canada).

Join us for this timely event, as the majority of the men at Guantánamo are on their fourth month of hunger strike in protest of more than 11 years of indefinite detention without charge or trial. 

*This event is free and open to the public* 

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More details here

Vanessa Redgrave reads letter from CCR GITMO client Djamel Ameziane (video)