The Globe and Mail 24/04/2014 - The B.C. Civil Liberties Association says people who think they've been spied on by federal law enforcement should file access-to-information requests - two months after the association accused the RCMP and CSIS of monitoring opponents of Enbridge's Northern Gateway project. The association Wednesday unveiled a step-by-step guide that it said would make it easier for people to determine what - if any -  information had been collected about them. The online guide explains how to file a request and how to handle further interactions - such as notices for clarification or extension. "When governments gather information on people who are engaged in democratic participation, it can intimidate them and put a chill on their freedoms. That can't be taken lightly. People need to know about it and access to information is an important, necessary tool in keeping government accountable," Raji Mangat, an association lawyer, told reporters during a conference call.

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BCCLA online guide on spying

24h Montréal 22/04/2014 - Le juge Richard Stark a rejeté, mardi, la contestation de l'article 500.1 du Code de la Sécurité Routière, qui interdit d'«entraver de quelque manière la circulation des véhicules routiers sur un chemin public», utilisé par les policiers pour mettre un terme aux manifestations. Près de 239 personnes arrêtées en vertu de l'article 500.1 lors de la manifestation contre la brutalité policière, du 15 mars 2011, demandaient que cet article ne puisse s'appliquer aux manifestations, considérant qu'il violait les droits d'expression et de réunion pacifique des citoyens. La ligue des droits et libertés (LDL), qui s'était alliée aux avocats des manifestants pour la contestation, compte étudier en détail les 70 pages du jugement. Selon la LDL et les avocats des manifestants, les policiers ont utilisé à tort l'article 500.1 du CSR. «Adopté en 2000, l'article visait essentiellement à faciliter la répression de blocages de routes. Oui, une manifestation ralentit la circulation, mais son but premier n'est pas de la bloquer», a soutenu la coordonnatrice de la LDL, Mme Filion.

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The Globe and Mail 17/04/2014 - Two years ago, Ellen Richardson made what she calls a "half-hearted" attempt at suicide while suffering from depression. A 911 call was placed, police duly arrived on the scene and, thankfully, Ms. Richardson survived. A year later, she was at Toronto's Pearson airport, about to depart on her "dream vacation" - a cruise - but she had to fly to the U.S. first. Ms. Richardson never made it. After checking in for her flight, she was stopped by a U.S. customs agent, grilled about the suicide attempt and her mental health, fingerprinted, photographed and barred from boarding the plane. [...] CPIC's over-eager sharing of sensitive medical information with U.S. authorities shows a stunning ignorance of the potential consequences for ordinary, law-abiding Canadians. The Mental Health Commission of Canada sees "no good reason" to enter most mental health and suicide information into the national police database, or to share it among North American police services. "The marginal potential benefit," says the commission, "is far outweighed by the possible detrimental effects." Exactly right. Under the current policy, it's not hard to imagine a scenario where someone attempting suicide hesitates to call 911, fearing their name could be added to the CPIC blacklist. It's a nightmare scenario. And it's hardly a stretch.

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The Washington Post 21/04/2013 - New anti-terrorism legislation proposed by Egypt's cabinet is drawing searing criticism from rights groups and lawyers that it would grant authorities far-reaching powers to quash dissent amid an already alarming slide toward authoritarianism. Two proposed laws would expand the definition of terrorism under the Egyptian penal code, introduce new procedures for prosecuting terrorism offenses and make a cluster of new crimes - including holding a leadership position in the Muslim Brotherhood - eligible for the death penalty. Militants have killed more than 430 police officers and troops since July, according to government figures. Security forces have arrested as many as 23,000 people in that period, rights groups say. If the draft laws, which are being debated by the cabinet, are passed and signed by interim President Adly Mansour, Egypt is likely to see a raft of new terrorism charges for both violent and nonviolent crimes, lawyers and rights advocates say.

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US blesses Egyptian repression with Apache Attack helicopters

The Huffington Post 22/04/2013 - Prosecutors must turn over never-revealed details about the time a Guantanamo Bay detainee spent in secret CIA prisons after his arrest in connection with the deadly attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, according to a military judge's order released Tuesday. The five-page order was a victory for defense lawyers representing Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri, accused of orchestrating the Oct. 12, 2000, bombing of the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden. The attack killed 17 U.S. sailors, injured 42 others and tore a massive hole into the side of the guided-missile destroyer based in Norfolk, Va. Al-Nashiri, who was born in Saudi Arabia, has been held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2006, after being held in a series of secret CIA prisons. A CIA inspector general's report said al-Nashiri, considered to have once been one of the most senior leaders in al-Qaida, was waterboarded under rules approved by the George W. Bush administration, although many of them have been repudiated as torture. He also was threatened with a gun and a power drill to solicit information about possible attacks against the United States, but those methods were beyond approved interrogation procedures. Prosecutors, who can appeal the judge's ruling, had argued that information about his time spent in CIA custody was irrelevant to the case. The defense believes the case against al-Nashiri is tainted by CIA actions in the secret prisons and could be used to spare him from the death penalty.

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Report on CIA interrogations shadows Gitmo trials

ACLU: Don't let the torturer play censor