News Digest - May 2, 2013
War on terror     

Feds can't account for $3.1B in anti-terror cash, AG finds

CBC news 30/04/2013 - The federal government needs to do better at tracking and evaluating some of its program spending to ensure taxpayer dollars are being well-spent, Auditor General Michael Ferguson found in his spring report released today, and one of the most striking examples is that it can't account for $3.1 billion in anti-terrorism funding. The lack of information on spending and on results achieved for money spent is a common theme throughout Ferguson's report, which includes 11 chapters in total. In his audit of the Public Security and Anti-Terrorism (PSAT) Initiative, Ferguson suggested there should have been a government-wide review of spending by 35 departments and of the results for the program that was funded between 2001 and 2009. He found that departments reported spending $9.8 billion of the $12.9 billion allocated for security and anti-terrorism measures under the program but he couldn't determine where the other $3.1 billion went. The Treasury Board had no clear answers for him.

 

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Opinion - Wesley Wark: National security a mess
Reflection on civil liberties     

Opinion: The slow and painful death of freedom in Canada

Huffington Post 29/04/2013 - Less than a generation ago, Canada was a world leader when it came to the fundamental democratic freedoms of assembly, speech and information.  Fast-forward a decade, and we've become a true north suppressed and disparate -- where unregistered civic demonstrations are inhibited and repressed, rebellious Internet activities are scrutinised and supervised, government scientists are hushed and muzzled, and public information is stalled and mired by bureaucratic firewalls. In the 2013 World Press Freedom Index -- an evaluation done by Reporters Without Borders on the autonomy of a country's media environment, Canada came in at a paltry 20th, putting us behind liberal-democratic powerhouses such as Namibia, Costa Rica, and the Western Hemisphere's new champion of free media -- Jamaica.

 

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Omar Khadr  

Editorial: Let Omar Khadr speak

 

The Globe and Mail 01/05/2013 - Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen, may be the only person in recent history convicted of (or even charged with) war crimes for offences committed when he was a juvenile. Canadians have a right to hear from him. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews won't let them. He overruled a prison warden's decision that would have allowed the Canadian Press to interview him. For what possible reason would Mr. Toews interfere in an interview request with a prisoner? It is impossible to see how an interview would affect public safety. The only imaginable reason is political - a desire by at least some in the government to continue cultivating an image of Mr. Khadr, now 26, as an implacable terrorist. Allowing Canadians to come to their own opinion matters not at all.

 

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Omar Khadr to appeal terrorism convictions 

Reflections on terrorism   

Murder in a friendless world

Al Jazeera 30/04/2013 - Of the many questions that have been asked about the bombings, one of the most important is why the murder of the three innocent people is so quickly described as terrorism while the murder of 26 children and teachers in Newtown, or 12 students and one teacher at Columbine are the work of insane people. After Boston, politicians are calling for even more draconian restrictions on rights and civil liberties; after Newtown, they called for increasing mental health treatment. One led to a push for more mental health care and the other for more "homeland security" spending. What makes some violence terrorism and some violence merely criminal? One murderer insane and another an "enemy combatant" - that is, totally outside the social body? Why do we assume that if a young man is obsessed with extremely violent videos, websites and extreme music that he is psychologically disturbed, but if he's obsessed with religion - not any religion, Islam only it appears - and begins following extremists online and viewing violent videos or reading violent literature that he's become merely a "radical" - that is, he's made a conscious and "sane" political decision to attack and murder people in the name of an ideology, and isn't suffering from some kind of mental illness?

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Opinion: The irony of Muslim terrorism

Opinion: Terror in the mirror
 
More news
Access to information          
Anti-terror legislation          
Airport security         
Border security         
Criminalization of dissent          
Guantanamo         
Immigration and refugee rights 

Rule of law
Surveillance and privacy 
Terrorism       
Torture      
War on terror       
Miscellaneous

 

What is the News Digest?

 

The News Digest is ICLMG's weekly publication of 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. Unless stated otherwise, the content of this News Digest does not necessarily reflect the positions of ICLMG. The ICLMG is a national coalition of thirty-nine Canadian civil society organizations that was established in the aftermath of the September, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.


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Why are you proud to protect refugees?     

Following recent changes to Canada's refugee determination  system, it may be tougher to protect refugees in Canada. Join the Canadian Council for Refugees in showing Canadians and the world why we are still proud to protect refugees and refugee rights.

 

Take action 

Deportation is not entertainment! Cancel the reality show Border Security     

Dozens of people were interrogated, arrested, and detained by the Canadian Border Services Agency. Shockingly, some of these traumatic experiences were filmed for a reality TV show "Border Security" which airs on National Geographic Channel. Sign the petition to urge National Geographic Channel and Force Four Entertainment, to cancel the show "Border Security" immediately. 

 

Take action 

Donate to the legal fund for Mohamed Mahjoub    

The security certificate process was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada in the 2007 Charkaoui ruling. A new certificate was issued against Mr. Mahjoub in February 2008 under this new process and he was forced to begin the process all over again. The Federal Court has not yet ruled on the 'reasonability' of the new certificate against him. In the context of these new security certificate proceedings, Mr. Mahjoub was subject to an unprecedented violation of his rights. The present fund-raising initiative is aimed at obtaining a permanent stay of the unfair proceedings against him in light of this unprecedented violation.

Take action 

"Hundred for Hassan" Campaign   

Hassan will be put in prison if he does not pay his "creditor" - in this case, the Canadian government - $2,000 per month for the cost of his  own surveillance. Justice for Hassan Diab invites you to be one of 100 people who care about due process and the presumption of innocence and oppose abusive extradition proceedings, by pledging $20 per month or more to share the cost of Dr. Diab's oppressive burden.