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War in Mali
The bombing of Mali highlights all the lessons of western intervention
The Guardian 14/01/2013 - First, as the New York Times' background account from this morning makes clear, much of the instability in Mali is the direct result of Nato's intervention in Libya. Second, the overthrow of the Malian government was enabled by US-trained-and-  armed soldiers who defected. Third, western bombing of Muslims in yet another country will obviously provoke even more anti-western sentiment, the fuel of terrorism. Fourth, for all the self-flattering rhetoric that western democracies love to apply to themselves, it is extraordinary how these wars are waged without any pretense of democratic process. Finally, the propaganda used to justify all of this is depressingly common yet wildly effective. Any western government that wants to bomb Muslims simply slaps the label of "terrorists" on them, and any real debate or critical assessment instantly ends before it can even begin. The "war on terror" is a self-perpetuating war precisely because it endlessly engenders its own enemies and provides the fuel to ensure that the fire rages without end.
Read moreMali insurgency followed 10 years of U.S. counterterrorism programs
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Rule of lawMilitary commission won't say whether US Constitution applies to 9/11 case
The Huffington Post 15/01/2013 - The judge presiding over the trial of the five co-defendants accused of masterminding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks has said he won't decide  whether the U.S. Constitution applies to the case. The opinion, which was originally withheld from the public, is now available here. Defense lawyers had filed a legal motion asking the Guantanamo Bay military commission to clarify whether the U.S. Constitution applies to the war court there, which is preparing to try the men accused of the deadliest terrorist attack ever carried out against the United States. Government prosecutors, however, argued in October that the judge shouldn't decide: "Congress clearly did not intend that every right that applies to U.S. citizens in a U.S. federal court would apply to the accused in a military commission," Clayton Trivett, a Justice Department lawyer, said at a hearing held in the Guantanamo courtroom. Read more Even Senator on Intel Committee can't get details on Obama 'Kill List'
Common Dreams 15/01/2013 - As Congress prepares to consider President Obama's nomination of his top counterterrorism advisor John Brennan to lead the CIA, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday demanded that Brennan release legal documents explaining the basis for the US government's covert and ongoing drone  assassination program. In a letter to Brennan - the architect of Obama's "Kill List" program - Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), who himself sits on the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence asks, "How much evidence does the President need to determine that a particular American can be lawfully killed? ... Does the president have to provide individual Americans with the opportunity to surrender before killing them?" Wyden writes that he repeatedly asked for legal opinions obtained by the Justice Department, but to his "surprise and dismay" did not receive the information. "The fact that this request was denied reflects poorly on the Obama administration's commitment to cooperation with congressional oversight," Wyden said. Read moreThe truth about Obama's drone campaign: It's about attrition, not decapitationForeign complicity in the drone warKing: I have a dream. Obama: I have a drone.'Mr Drone': That 'other' Obama nominee and the American 'mainstream'Critics of US drone programme angered by John Brennan's nomination to CIAThe grilling that John Brennan deservesU.S. drone strikes in Pakistan on rise for 2013Drone war expansion sparks questions about effectiveness, oversight in Obama's second termGet ready: The autonomous drones are comingHow a lawyer from Canada became a leading critic of U.S. national security policies
The Toronto Star 15/01/2013 - The sharpest thorn in the U.S. administration's side, when it comes to civil rights in a post-9/11 world, is a mild-mannered 41-year-old Canadian who gave up Wall Street a decade ago to slip down a  legal rabbit hole. Jameel Jaffer, a Kingston, Ont., native and Upper Canada College graduate, is the head of the American Civil Liberties Union's Center for Democracy, and in the past 10 years, he has emerged as one of the most prominent critics of secretive national security policies in the United States. Read more
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State secrets
On the matter of Bradley Manning
Esquire 09/01/2013 - This case is a mess, legally, ethically, morally and every other way. If Manning's treatment was more rigorous than was necessary and that it exceeded what was required to meet legitimate  government interests, as military judge Colonel Denise Lind rules, then it cannot have been done for Manning's benefit, and somebody ordered the excesses and somebody countenanced them and somebody carried them out. We do not have to be children here. Bradley Manning could have been confined in conventional imprisonment and brought to a simple trial. The only reason to drag this case out, and to engage in the conduct that Colonel Lind described, was to coerce him into implicating other people. Nothing else makes any possible sense. We are not required to disengage our brains in cases like this. We are repeatedly encouraged to do so, however. Read morePunishment before trial: more than 1,000 days and counting for Bradley ManningCanadian judge raps Justice officials for treatment of whistle-blower |
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Anti-terror laws
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Border controls
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Guantanamo
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Immigration and refugee rights
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National security
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No-Fly List
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Oversight of security agencies
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Racism
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Repression of dissent
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Surveillance
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Terrorism
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Torture
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War on terror
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Miscellaneous
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About us
The ICLMG is a national coalition of forty Canadian civil society organizations that was established in the aftermath of the September, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. You will find in this News Digest news articles, events, calls to action and much more regarding national security, anti-terrorism, civil liberties and other issues related to the mandate and concerns of ICLMG and its member organizations. 
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Event
Carters: The Ottawa Region Charity & Not-for-Profit Law Seminar
Thursday February 7, 2013
8:30am-3:30pm
Travelodge Convention Centre, Ottawa West
The seminar is designed to assist charities and not-for-profit organizations in understanding developing trends in the law in order to reduce unnecessary exposure to legal liability.
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Take action
Tell your MP to stand against Bill C-30 and warrantless online spying
OpenMedia.ca - The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police called on the government to revive the invasive Online Spying Bill C-30 - legislation that would grant them warrantless access into the private lives of each and every one of us. Call on your MP to stand against invasive warrantless Online Spying.
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