It’s been a busy summer, but we wanted to take some time to reflect both on what we’ve accomplished over the past year, as well as the important work that still needs to be done – hopefully with your help!

THE VICTORIES

• The results of the federal government’s national security consultation were unequivocally in favour of our positions.
• The government plans on creating a new overarching review agency for all national security activities – something we have advocated for since 2006.
• The government has finally settled multiple cases with torture victims. The ICLMG, along with other human rights groups, campaigned alongside these survivors for several years.
• Citizenship equality was restored with the adoption of Bill C-6; the ICLMG was one of the first organizations to speak out when the Conservative government weakened citizenship in 2014.

For more details, check out our Achievements and Gains page!

With continuous support, we could secure many more victories! This is why we created a page on Patreon. Patreon is a platform where people can support people and organizations in exchange for rewards so they can do their work sustainably and freely without having to rely on corporate sponsors. You can give as little as $1 per month (that’s just $12 per year!) and you can unsubscribe at any time. We hope you’ll become an ICLMG patron and support our work!

THE WORK AHEAD

While we have had successes, there are still major challenges ahead, and we have our work cut out for us.

The Trudeau government has presented Bill C-59 as their way to fix the tremendous problems caused by the dangerous and useless Anti-terrorism Act of 2015 (also known as Bill C-51). But C-59 is a complex omnibus bill that will bring in a wide array of changes. To fully grasp what’s in it, we need to do a full analysis and work with other experts across the country. What is clear already though: C-59 does not repeal Bill C-51, and even proposes to give new powers to Canada’s spy agencies.

We need your help to ensure Bill C-59 will protect our human rights!

Beyond C-59, we will continue our work on several other campaigns, including:

• The release of Hassan Diab from jail in France
• Justice for Mohamed Harkat who risks deportation to torture
• The removal of the torture memos
• A public inquiry into Canada’s role in the torture of Afghan detainees
• The protection of privacy and bodily integrity at the border
• Ending the no-fly list and the “terrorist” entities list
• Analyzing the impact of “counter-radicalization” plans on our rights
• Protecting freedom of expression, freedom of the press and the right to dissent, and more.

We do not receive any funding from any federal, provincial or municipal governments or political parties so we need your support to continue our work. If you’d rather not use Patreon, or would prefer to make a one-time donation, click on the button below.
Thank you for your investment in protecting our civil liberties!

Anne & Tim

Amidst speculation about whether the new US administration will move to fill up Guantanamo’s cells rather than close it down for good, the case of Ammar al Baluchi illustrates everything that is wrong with the ongoing detention and trial regime. Raashid Williams, Ammar Al-Baluchi’s defense counsel, was in Ottawa to discuss Al-Baluchi’s case and the human rights issues around Guantanamo Bay prison.

The talk taught us a lot about the kafkaesque universe of Guantanamo – it will blow you away!

If you were unable to attend, we have filmed the presentation and the following Q&A. Please share in your networks so that people are informed of what is happening in Gitmo!

The presentation was co-sponsored by the ICLMG, Octopus Books, and Amnesty International.

About Raashid Williams:

Maj. Raashid Williams is defense counsel for one of Guantánamo’s “high value” detainees Ammar Al-Baluchi.

About Ammar al Baluchi:

“The result of over classification is that my memories are classified, my thoughts are classified, my pain and suffering is classified, my post torture (post trauma) symptoms are classified.” Ammar al Baluchi, December 2015

Taken into custody in Pakistan in April 2003, Ammar al Baluchi was subjected to enforced disappearance in secret CIA custody until he was transferred to Guantánamo in early September 2006. He currently faces an unfair trial before the military commission for an alleged role in the 9/11 attacks. During his three and a half years in CIA custody he was held in a number of locations, the identity of which remain classified Top Secret. The countries in which “black sites” operated by the CIA were located during the time that Ammar al Baluchi was in CIA custody are believed to have included Afghanistan, Poland, Romania, Morocco, and Lithuania.

While the details about his treatment in CIA custody were withheld from Ammar’s legal team, they may have been shared by the CIA with the makers of the 2012 Hollywood film, Zero Dark Thirty. A draft CIA document released under Freedom of Information Act notes that the film “includes several interrogation scenes the first of which is an interrogation of a character who is modelled after Ammar al-Baluchi”. As an article in Time Magazine put it in 2013, “the first 25 or so minutes of the film are largely taken up with torture: Ammar is strung up, beaten, waterboarded and kept awake for 96 hours straight”. According to the scriptwriter’s initial email contact with the CIA’s Office of Public Affairs, “we intend to make accuracy and authenticity hallmarks of the production, for we believe that this is one of those rare instances where truth really is more interesting than fiction”. The matter is currently before US courts.

About Guantanamo:

There are 41 detainees still in Guantánamo. Five are cleared for transfer to third countries while over 20 remain in the legal limbo of continued indefinite wartime detention.