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Revue de l'actualit� - News Digest 
8 janvier 2015 - January 8, 2015
R�flexions sur la guerre au terrorisme
Reflections on the war on terror 

Canada's war on terror has a Catch-22 absurdity: Walkom

The Toronto Star 19/12/2014 -
Ottawa's decision to force a former charity into a classic Catch-22 double bind is the latest absurdity in Canada's war on terror. It is not the only one. Certainly, the tale of the International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (Canada) is rich in the kind of irony explored by Joseph Heller in his novel, Catch-22. In April, Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney officially listed the fund, called IRFAN, as a terrorist entity. The reason given was that relief slated for Gaza had gone to organizations connected with the Islamic group Hamas. Hamas governs the Palestinian enclave and is also on Canada's terror list. One of the organizations IRFAN funded was Gaza's health ministry. The relief fund can appeal this terrorist designation and is trying to do so. But to mount a successful legal action it must raise money.

Yet as a proscribed terrorist organization it cannot raise money without putting donors at risk of being labelled terrorists. That's because, as the public safety department website explains, it is illegal to fund "any activity of a listed entity for the purpose of enhancing the ability of the entity to facilitate and carry out a terrorist activity" - a clause the government apparently interprets quite broadly

Put simply, if an organization is labelled terrorist by the government, any attempt to dispute that label is itself terrorism. Catch-22. As The Canadian Press reported Thursday, the relief organization is going to federal court in an effort to win the right to raise money to mount a defence. To avoid running afoul of anti-terror laws, the lawyer in this particular case is working for free.  

  

Terrorisme
Terrorism


Ricochet 07/01/2015 - [C]e qui m'inqui�te le plus avec la barbarie qui a frapp� Charlie Hebdo, c'est que le risque est grand, voire assur�, qu'elle soit suivie par la barbarie qui, elle, prend le visage du d�fenseur de la R�publique pour cracher sa haine. Ce n'est pas une barbarie nouvelle, c'est peut-�tre m�me la plus ancienne, mais elle reste le plus souvent silencieuse. Pauvre France qui, en ce mois de janvier 2015, se retrouve prise dans le feu crois� du terrorisme islamiste et du nationalisme x�nophobe.
Pauvre nous, aussi. Les d�bordements, les amalgames douteux ont travers� l'Atlantique � la vitesse d'un gazouillis cybern�tique. Et, comme on attend le refoulement d'�gout lors d'une inondation, les appels � l'adoption d'une � Charte � ne se sont pas fait attendre. Parce qu'aux yeux de certaines personnes, aiguiser la discrimination institutionnelle semble �tre un moyen de se prot�ger contre le terrorisme. Ces gens ne semblent pas remarquer le caract�re profond�ment paradoxal de leur position : d'un c�t�, utiliser la France comme mod�le de la�cit� qui, si appliqu�, nous prot�ge du � p�ril musulman � et, de l'autre c�t�, d�noncer les attentats qui ont eu lieu au cœur... de la capitale fran�aise. La voil�, notre version bien � nous de la r�ponse frontiste, qui ne cesse de parler du � danger qu'il va falloir nommer, qu'il va falloir combattre �. Laisser mariner l'horreur de l�-bas pour la servir � la sauce de chez nous. La barbarie terroriste et la barbarie du nationalisme exalt� ont besoin l'une de l'autre, elles vivent d'une noire symbiose : la voie de sortie n'est pas dans la complaisance � l'�gard de l'une ou dans la reformulation � soft � de l'autre, mais bien dans le combat contre les deux � la fois. Aussi difficile que cela puisse l'�tre. 

  

Libert� de la presse
Freedom of the press 

Amal Clooney: Canadian Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy should be released not retried in Egypt

Huffington Post 04/01/2015 - On 1 January 2015, the Egyptian Court of Cassation issued a ruling upholding the appeal filed by Mohamed Fahmy to overturn his conviction and 7-year sentence. In so doing, Egypt's highest court has recognized that there were legal errors in the original trial. But instead of releasing Fahmy, the Court ordered a retrial and declined to grant him bail. The Court's reasoning and the position of the prosecution on the re-trial are due to be published in the coming weeks. Mr. Fahmy is a journalist who was convicted of reporting false news and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood. These allegations are not true and were not backed by any evidence at trial. Mr. Fahmy has never supported the Brotherhood. There was no evidence presented at trial that showed that he ever fabricated a report or knowingly made a false statement. He is serving a draconian sentence for simply reporting the news. A re-trial process is lengthy and its outcome is uncertain. It is also not clear how a new process would fix any of the deficiencies in the original trial. The charges themselves are a violation of the right to free expression under Egyptian and international law. There are no guarantees that a new panel of judges would respect due process or demand cogent evidence before concluding that a crime was committed. Fahmy cannot therefore count on the retrial process to offer a just or swift solution. As Mr. Fahmy's counsel, we are therefore pursuing discussions with the Egyptian and Canadian authorities in a spirit of cooperation in order to identify a swift and fair resolution to the case. We have submitted a written request for a pardon and for his release to the Egyptian President, Minister of Justice, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Prosecutor-General, and we await their response.

Read more - Lire plus

Nouveau proc�s pour le journaliste canadien d�tenu en �gypte

Globe editorial: Free Mohamed Fahmy and uphold journalistic freedom

Un reporter canadien emprisonn� au Caire demande l'aide de Harper

Amal Clooney, Mohamed Fahmy's lawyer, denied meeting with John Baird

�gypte: des journalistes d'Al-Jazeera d�tenus misent sur leur extradition

Christmas letter from jailed Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste

Defending press freedom, NYT reporter James Risen refuses to reveal key details in whistleblower case
Libert�s civiles et d�mocratie
Civil liberties and democracy 

Ailing Canadian resident held as a prisoner in Egypt despite release order, family says

National Post 06/01/2015 - An ailing Canadian resident remains under detention in a hospital in Egypt despite an order given more than a week ago by the country's attorney general for his release, his family said Tuesday. It was not immediately clear why Khaled Al-Qazzaz, a father of four, had yet to be freed. In an interview, his wife said the family's jubilation at the release order has given way to worry at his ongoing detention. "Our initial reaction last week was happiness and excitement," Sarah Attia told The Canadian Press. "We're getting a little nervous because it's taking so long but we're trying to remain positive and hopeful that this will end in a few days." Al-Qazzaz, 35, a University of Toronto engineering graduate, is a former aide to ousted president Mohammed Morsi. He was arrested along with Morsi and eight other aides in July 2013 when the Egyptian military removed the president from office. Egyptian authorities never charged him nor explained why they arrested him. The case has attracted attention from human rights activists and groups, such as Amnesty International. Attia, 34, said the attorney general's release order issued Monday last week has been communicated to Al-Qazzaz and his lawyers and should have taken only two or three days to be executed.

Read more - Lire plus

553 Days - Khaled Al-Qazzaz Release Order Issued
Securit� nationale
National security  

2015 is Canada's year of the spy

Vice 06/01/2015 -  The Prime Minister rung in the new year by appointing Canada's ex-spy chief Richard Fadden as his critically powerful national security advisor, while moving Julian Fantino, a grizzled ex-cop, to oversee military intelligence. With new powers to collect Canadians' data, new legislation that allows our spooks to operate abroad, and a raft of new government agents on the security and intelligence file-it's a clear signal that 2015 will be Canada's year of the spy. On Monday, Stephen Harper announced that embattled Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino, lambasted for entirely screwing up his job, was moving back to his old gig, the associate minister for National Defence. While it was characterized as a demotion, his new job might prove to be significantly more important. Then, on Tuesday, a press release from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) announced that the Prime Minister had a new National Security Advisor-ex-CSIS boss Richard Fadden. 
Surveillance globale
Mass surveillance  

NSA fesses up to improper surveillance of U.S. citizens

Huffington Post 26/12/2014 - While you were drinking eggnog on Christmas Eve, the National Security Agency released hundreds of pages of heavily redacted documents detailing instances of improper surveillance on U.S. citizens in the last 12 years. The batch of documents, stretching from the fourth quarter of 2001 to the second quarter of 2013, was released in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. While some of the information was already publicly known, the reports shed more light on instances in which NSA employees either intentionally or unintentionally violated the law and collected the private data of American citizens. "These materials show, over a sustained period of time, the depth and rigor of NSA's commitment to compliance," read a statement on the NSA's website. "By emphasizing accountability across all levels of the enterprise, and transparently reporting errors and violations to outside oversight authorities, NSA protects privacy and civil liberties while safeguarding the nation and our allies." The reports include instances in which analysts conducted unauthorized surveillance on U.S. organizations with the mistaken belief they were authorized to do so; instances in which analysts willfully ignored restrictions on surveillance; and even instances in which analysts intentionally abused the system to gather data on spouses or love interests. Such cases apparently occurred enough to have earned the name LOVEINT.

 
Autres nouvelles - More news
Afghanistan 
Airline security
S�curit� a�rienne 
Anti-terror legislation
L�gislation anti-terroriste 
Canadian policies & human rights
Politiques canadiennes et droits humains 
Drones 
Freedom of speech
Libert� d'expression
Guantanamo
Guerre au terrorisme
War on terror 
Immigration and refugee rights 
Immigration et droits des r�fugi�.es 
Islamophobie  
Islamophobia
Oversight of intelligence agencies
Surveillance des agences de renseignement 
Privacy and technology
Vie priv�e et technology 
State secret
Secret d'�tat 
Terrorism cases
Proc�s pour terrorisme
Terrorist listing
Liste d'entit�s terroristes 
Torture 
Miscellenaous
Divers

 

 
CETTE SEMAINE / THIS WEEK
- Reflections on the war on terror: Canada's war on terror has a Catch-22 absurdity: Walkom
- Terrorisme: Charlie-Hebdo: au-delà de l'attaque, le vrai danger
- Freedom of the press: Amal Clooney: Canadian Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy should be released not retried in Egypt
- Civil liberties and democracy: Ailing Canadian resident held as a prisoner in Egypt despite release order, family says
- National security: 2015 is Canada's year of the spy
- Mass surveillance: NSA fesses up to improper surveillance of U.S. citizens
- Autres nouvelles / More news
 
Arar +10   

Watch the Arar +10: National Security and Human Rights, 10 years later conference

Retrospective of the Past Decade
Opening remarks: Retrospective of the Past Decade
Panel 1: The People and Lives Behind the Issues
Panel 1: The People and Lives Behind the Issues
Panel 2: Perspectives from the Media
Panel 2: Perspectives from the Media
Keynote Panel: Judicial Reflections on National Security and Human Rights
Keynote Panel: Judicial Reflections on National Security and Human Rights
Panel 3: Lawyering for Human Rights in a National Security Context
Panel 3: Lawyering for Human Rights in a National Security Context
Panel 4: A View from Community Level
Panel 4: A View from Community Level
Panel 5: Oversight and Review
Panel 5: Oversight and Review
Closing Remarks
Closing Remarks
Film   

Citizenfour at the Bytowne Cinema on January 15-17 

In January 2013, filmmaker Laura Poitras was several years into the making of a film about abuses of national security in post 9/11 America when she started receiving encrypted emails from someone identifying himself as "citizen four," who was ready to blow the whistle on the massive covert
surveillance programs run by the NSA and other intelligence agencies. In June 2013, she and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with the man who turned out to be Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her. The film that resulted from this series of tense encounters is absolutely unique in the history of cinema: a 100% real life thriller unfolding minute by minute before our eyes.

Schedule & details

Les opinions exprim�es ne refl�tent pas n�cessairement les positions de la CSILC - The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the positions of ICLMG

What is the News Digest? Qu'est-ce que la Revue de l'actualit�?

The News Digest is ICLMG's weekly publication of news articles, events, calls to action and much more regarding national security, anti-terrorism, and civil liberties. The ICLMG is a national coalition of thirty-eight Canadian civil society organizations that was established in the aftermath of the September, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.
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La revue de l'actualit� est notre publication hebdomadaire de nouvelles, d'�v�nements, d'appels � l'action, et beaucoup plus, entourant la s�curit� nationale, la lutte au terrorisme, et les libert�s civiles. La CSILC est une coalition nationale de 38 organisations de la soci�t� civile canadienne qui a �t� cr��e suite aux attentats terroristes de septembre 2001 aux �tats-Unis.