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Revue de l'actualit� - News Digest 
21 mai 2015 - May 21, 2015
Surveillance globale
Mass surveillance
 

CBC News 21/05/2015 -
 Canada and its spying partners exploited weaknesses in one of the world's most popular mobile browsers and planned to hack into smartphones via links to Google and Samsung app stores, a top secret document obtained by CBC News shows. Electronic intelligence agencies began targeting UC Browser - a massively popular app in China and India with growing use in North America - in late 2011 after discovering it leaked revealing details about its half-billion users. [...] The 2012 document shows that the surveillance agencies exploited the weaknesses in certain mobile apps in pursuit of their national security interests, but it appears they didn't alert the companies or the public to these weaknesses. That potentially put millions of users in danger of their data being accessed by other governments' agencies, hackers or criminals. "All of this is being done in the name of providing safety and yet ... Canadians or people around the world are put at risk," says the University of Ottawa's Michael Geist, one of Canada's foremost experts on internet law. CBC News analysed the top secret document in collaboration with U.S. news site The Intercept, a website that is devoted in part to reporting on the classified documents leaked by U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden.  

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USA Freedom Act passes House, codifying bulk collection for first time, critics say

The Intercept 13/05/2015 - After only one hour of floor debate, and no allowed amendments, the House of Representatives today passed legislation that seeks to address the NSA's controversial surveillance of American communications. However, opponents believe it may give brand new authorization to the U.S. government to conduct domestic dragnets. The USA Freedom Act was approved in a 338-88 vote, with approximately equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans voting against. The bill's supporters say it will disallow bulk collection of domestic telephone metadata, in which the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has regularly ordered phone companies to turn over such data. The Obama administration claims such collection is authorized by Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, which is set to expire June 1. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently held that Section 215 does not provide such authorization. Today's legislation would prevent the government from issuing such orders for bulk collection and instead force it to rely on telephone companies to store all their metadata - some of which the government could then demand using a "specific selection term" related to foreign terrorism. Bill supporters maintain this would prevent indiscriminate collection. [...] However, the legislation may not end bulk surveillance and in fact could codify the ability of the government to conduct dragnet data collection.

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Vie priv�e
Privacy
 
CBC News 20/05/2015 - The plan, released today, identifies the "key privacy concerns" that Canadians want to see addressed, according to OpenMedia: 1. Warrantless access to personal information. 2. Widespread dragnet surveillance of entire populations. 3. Insufficient oversight and accountability of surveillance activities. Among the suggested fixes: requiring that surveillance operations garner "judicial, not political  authorization," put a stop to the collection and analysis of social media chatter and ask the parliamentary budget officer and auditor general to develop "clear cost projections for surveillance activities." The report has garnered the endorsement of a diverse group of advocacy and activist groups from across the ideological spectrum, including PEN Canada, the Canadian Constitution Foundation, Greenpeace and the National Firearms Association. And while he says that he hasn't yet had the chance to review its findings in detail, federal privacy watchdog Daniel Therrien "welcomes" the initiative. [...] Not only does the commissioner "share many of the views expressed by participants in this project," but he notes that several of the proposed fixes "echo recommendations made by our office over the years," including "the importance of the court authorization process" and the push for more intense oversight.

L�gislation antiterroriste
Anti-terror legislation


rabble.ca 15/05/2015 - I've spent over two years studying the 21st century version of the insidious practice of "disruption" prior to the introduction of Bill C-51. "Eyes-on-surveillance" (essentially organized stalking), break-ins, demagnetization of bank cards, vandalism, smear campaigns, installing rootkits and vicious malware on computers, overwhelming a vehicle's electronics to cause malfunction and injecting metallic noise onto a home's powerlines resulting in sleep deprivation are all tactics used in disruption. The end game in disruption is a "sting." Hence agent provocateurs are brought in to try to dupe the target into committing a crime or acting "dangerous." Spies call disruption "dirty tricks." It is a very apt description. Our very own McDonald Commission long ago concluded, "nothing has done more to discredit western democracies, including Canada, than their perpetration of dirty tricks." The McDonald Commission's findings were largely responsible for disbanding the RCMP's Security Service and reforming its apparatus into a "security intelligence" service -- Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). Dirty tricks were supposed to have ceased with the creation of CSIS -- a civilian intelligence agency. Fast forward to 2009 and the Security Intelligence Review Committee's (SIRC) study of CSIS' use of "disruption" from 2006 to 2008. SIRC concluded that CSIS had effectively reverted to carrying out disruption activities as was supposed to have ceased with the disbanding of its predecessor.

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On C-51, Harper is losing the people he needs to convince

Here's how your MPs voted on Bill C-51

Mulcair vows to repeal Bill C-51 at NDP rally in Surrey

Report of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) - Legal analysis of Bill C-51: Potential impact of freedom of expression 
Interagency cooperation
Coop�ration inter-agences


VICE News 20/05/2015 - Highly classified documents obtained by VICE News offer new insights into how Canada's two-headed spy apparatus works to blend its intelligence, skirt court oversight of its spying powers, and intercept communications inside the country's borders. The documents are protected under Canada's highest intelligence classifications of "secret" and "top secret" and reveal that even the Canadian government was nervous over the agencies' effort to try and give themselves more latitude to operate free of political oversight. The 87 pages, released under Canada's access to information laws, include three agreements between the country's domestic spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), and its foreign intelligence counterpart, the Communication Security Establishment (CSE), as well as meeting notes and memos. It, however, is carefully redacted to keep secret crucial details about their work. Those who closely follow Canada's intelligence community, were not surprised to learn that the country's two main spy bodies worked so closely. For civilians, like independent member of parliament Brent Rathgeber, it's the limited oversight that gets their antennas up. [...] Forcese told VICE News he's not tremendously surprised by the documents. But he suspects they aren't the full story. [...] Bill Robinson, who has been blogging about CSE for a decade, raises two red flags about the documents - what's missing, and what the two agencies have never really spoken about. He told VICE News that what interested him was the redactions inside the documents.

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Omar Khadr
 
Supreme Court rejects argument Omar Khadr was adult offender

The Toronto Star 14/05/2015 - The country's top court swiftly dismissed the Conservative government's latest attempt to see former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr dealt with as a hardened offender deserving of more time in an adult federal penitentiary. It was a rare judgment issued from the bench that came after little more than two hours of oral argument on Thursday. And it is the third time that Ottawa has lost in matters involving Omar Khadr at the Supreme Court of Canada. The high court said Ottawa made a grave mistake in how it interprets the International Transfer of Offenders Act in Khadr's case, and he should never have been placed in the federal penitentiary system, given the American eight-year sentence he faced. The judges said it is clear under Canadian law Khadr should have been placed "in a provincial correctional facility... for adults." The high court didn't expressly declare Khadr was a young offender at the time of his crimes, but the ruling is based on the fact that the sentence he received was equivalent to a youth sentence for murder in Canada. (The maximum youth sentence for first-degree murder is 10 years here.) Khadr is out on bail, but Ottawa continues to appeal that decision.

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Omar Khadr's release challenges the fearmongers: Burman

Une poursuite civile de 134 millions contre Omar Khadr

How Omar Khadr's odd-couple legal team worked together to free him 
Primaut� du droit
Rule of law
 
Ottawa efface un d�lit par une loi r�troactive

Le Devoir 15/05/2015 - Le gouvernement conservateur est au pouvoir et il entend se servir de ce pouvoir pour se prot�ger. Ottawa fera en effet adopter une loi r�troactive qui lui �vitera une poursuite judiciaire pour avoir, dans le pass�, failli � ses obligations l�gales en mati�re d'acc�s � l'information. L'histoire est en lien avec le registre des armes d'�paule, maintenant disparu. En 2012, neuf jours avant l'adoption du projet de loi autorisant la destruction du registre, le militant Bill Clennett fait une demande d'acc�s � l'information pour obtenir toutes les donn�es qu'il contient. M. Clennett obtiendra une r�ponse (plus de 8 millions de lignes de donn�es comportant chacune 16 colonnes), mais il soup�onne qu'elle est incompl�te. Il d�pose une plainte au Commissariat � l'information qui, apr�s enqu�te, tranche en sa faveur. Dans le registre, chaque ligne de renseignement contenait plut�t 64 colonnes. Mais il est trop tard : la Gendarmerie royale du Canada (GRC) a d�truit les donn�es entre-temps. La commissaire conclut que la GRC a failli � son obligation l�gale, car elle savait qu'une enqu�te �tait en cours et la Loi l'oblige � conserver les donn�es jusqu'� la fin de celle-ci. Aussi, la commissaire demande au procureur g�n�ral de d�poser des accusations criminelles. En vertu de la Loi sur l'acc�s � l'information, il est interdit de � d�truire � ou de � cacher � un document � dans l'intention d'entraver le droit d'acc�s pr�vu �. Une condamnation entra�ne jusqu'� deux ans de prison ou une amende de 10 000 $. Le gouvernement conservateur a donc ins�r� dans son projet de loi budg�taire une disposition invalidant a posteriori l'application de la Loi au registre des armes � feu. L'enqu�te de la commissaire, Suzanne Legault, devient ainsi caduque. En entrevue avec Le Devoir, la commissaire Legault fulmine. � Dans notre soci�t� d�mocratique, est-ce conforme � la r�gle de droit d'�liminer r�troactivement une responsabilit� civile ou criminelle sachant qu'il y a potentiellement une infraction criminelle ? [...] C'est un pr�c�dent extr�mement p�rilleux pour la d�mocratie canadienne. �

 
Autres nouvelles - More news
Anti-terror legislation
L�gislation anti-terrorisme  
Charities and political activities
Organismes de bienfaisance et politique 
Citizenship, immigration and refugee rights
Criminalisation de la dissidence
Democracy and civil liberties
D�mocratie et libert�s civiles
Drones 
Freedom of expression
Libert� d'expression
Guantanamo

Guerre au terrorisme
War on terror 
Politique et terrorisme
Politics and terrorism
Privacy
Vie priv�e

Reflections on terrorism
R�flexions sur le terrorisme 
Scientific freedom
Libert� scientifique 
State secret
Secret d'�tat 
Surveillance of dissent
Surveillance de la dissidence
Terrorism
Terrorisme
Terrorism cases
Proc�s pour terrorisme
Torture 
Miscellenaous
Divers

 

 
CETTE SEMAINE / THIS WEEK
 
Action   

UPDATE
Tell the still undecided Senators to Stop Bill C-51

OpenMedia - The government is about to ram through a reckless, dangerous and ineffective "Secret Police" law called Bill C-51. This damaging legislation is now before the Senate! See which Senators are still undecided.

Sign this petition to tell Senators to stop Bill C-51 before it's too late.


Action 
 
Tell the Senators for your province/territory to Stop Bill C-51

Leadnow - Bill C-51, a bill so bad that the Globe and Mail warned it would create a "secret police" in Canada, has gone to the Senate.

Now the Senate has an opportunity to show the people of Canada that they can fulfill their responsibility to provide "sober second thought" when a government tries to pass a reckless bill with long-reaching consequences for our rights and freedoms.

Send a message and share widely!


Event    
 
May 30th: Unite 4 Our Rights! Stop C-51 Canada wide event

Bill C-51 is a threat to our rights and freedoms. Join the National Convergence in Ottawa as we continue to voice our opposition, or if you are unable to go to Ottawa, join or start a rally in your own community.



Action   
 

Conservative letter against Bill C-51 

"We, the undersigned, come from principled conservatives and libertarians.  While we are not exclusively supporters of the Conservative Party of Canada, we represent a significant portion of the base of voters the Conservative Party depends upon to get elected.

Bill C-51 represents everything that principled conservatives have been fighting against for the past decade.  It is appalling that a Conservative government would even consider voting for such legislation, much less crafting it and pushing it into law."

Any conservative or libertarian Canadian can sign this letter. Share widely!


Action   

Canada: Prevent torture in detention centres around the world

Amnesty International - Thirty years ago, the international community agreed to ban torture and adopted the Convention against Torture. Yet in recent years, the practice remains widespread as governments justify any means to combat security threats and organized crime or simply suppress dissent. Key safeguards that would reduce and prevent the use of torture remain unimplemented.

Send a message to Canada's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Rob Nicholson, calling on him to ensure Canada fully commits to ending the use of torture around the world.

Action   

Walk with refugees   

CCR - Organize or join a Walk with refugees 15-21 June 2015 as a way to mark World Refugee Day. A Walk with refugees is a guided tour with stops highlighting significant places and stories from refugees and others in your community, but it can take many forms.

A guided walking tour like a Walk with refugees helps connect the voices and stories refugees and others seeking protection to common landmarks and shared community experiences. See your community through new eyes and use your feet to join the national Walk with refugees.


Action   

Tell the U.S. government to free Slahi  

ACLU - Tell the Secretary of Defense: Mohamedou Slahi is being held indefinitely despite his innocence. His ongoing imprisonment is unlawful, as was the torture he survived. I'm asking you not to contest Slahi's habeas case. Please release Mohamedou Slahi without delay.
The best-selling author at Guantanamo


Ressource 

Bill C-51: List of briefs presented to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security   

The ICLMG has compiled a non-exhaustive list of briefs and speaking notes presented to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security on Bill C-51.

Consult them here
Action   

UnfollowMe: Tell governments to ban mass surveillance   

Amnesty International Canada - Governments are snooping on everything we do online. State intelligence and security agencies are using mass surveillance to collect our private emails, calls, internet searches, contact lists, phone locations, webcam images and more.

Sign our petition today, and call on Canada, the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand - to end indiscriminate mass surveillance today.


Action   

Signez la p�tition pour lib�rer le blogueur saoudien Raif Badawi  



Amnistie internationale - Raif Badawi, prisonnier d'opinion en Arabie saoudite, risque la mort pour avoir offert un d�bat sur la libert� religieuse.
Exigeons des autorit�s saoudiennes que les coups de fouet cessent imm�diatement, que Raif soit lib�r� sans condition, et qu'il soit r�uni avec sa famille r�fugi�e au Canada.
Exigeons de cet �tat qu'il respecte ses obligations en mati�re de droits humains et qu'il abolisse la flagellation.



English petition
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

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.