The Toronto Star – To The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada: We, the undersigned, are calling upon you as concerned Canadian citizens and organizations to use the full power of your office to demand the immediate release of Canadian permanent resident Khaled Al-Qazzaz who has been illegally detained in Egypt for over 365 days without charge and is in present danger of suffering a heart attack. He should have been promptly charged with a recognizable criminal offence or released. One year is most certainly not prompt. His illegal detention was, in fact, recently extended by an Egyptian court. Your intervention is critical in securing his immediate release and safe return home to Canada. Read more
Signatories:
Warren Allmand, International Human Rights Consultant
Maher Arar, Canadian Activist
Margaret Atwood, Author
Gerald Caplan, Public Affairs Commentator
Paul Copeland, C.M., Lawyer, Life Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada
Yves Engler, Author and Activist
John Greyson, Associate Professor, York University; Video artist, Writer and Activist
Karen Hamilton, Reverend; General Secretary, The Canadian Council of Churches
Barbara Jackman, Partner, Jackman Nazami & Associates
Abdul-Basit Khan, Partner, WeirFoulds LLP
Raja Khouri, Commissioner, Ontario Human Rights Commission
Kathleen Mahoney, QC, Fellow, Royal Society of Canada
Obiora Okafor, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School
Alex Neve, Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada (English Branch)
Clayton Ruby C.M., Partner, Ruby Shiller Chan Hasan Barristers; Member of the Order of Canada
Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers)
Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association
Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association
Downtown Muslim Professional Network
International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG)
Ligue des droits et libertés