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Revue de l'actualit� - News Digest 
13 ao�t 2015 - August 13, 2015
L�gislation antiterroriste
Anti-terror legislation

Reality Check: Stephen Harper's take on the anti-terror bill

Ottawa Citizen 07/08/2015 - Thursday's federal leaders' debate produced some passionate statements from Conservative leader Stephen Harper about the danger terrorism poses to national security. They included an aggressive defence of his government's divisive Bill C-51, the legislation giving sweeping powers to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the RCMP to thwart suspected threats. Here's the spin, and a few facts to add context. The Spin: "What we did in developing our legislation is we looked at what modern powers police and security agencies have across our allies, and we've made sure that we are up to those standards." - Stephen Harper. The Facts: Recent reviews of national security laws in other western countries, including Canada's closest allies, found no instance of a true precedent for new CSIS powers. Academics Craig Forcese and Kent Roach, leading experts on national security law, concluded: "Canada is not 'catching up to allies'. It appears to be on an adventure of its own."

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Editorial: Tories rolling back rights 

Ottawa Citizen 10/08/2015 - On Sunday, Stephen Harper said a re-elected Conservative government would impose a blanket ban on travel to regions of the world controlled by terrorist groups. The penalty for breaking a similar law in Australia is 10 years in prison. "There is absolutely no right in this country to travel to an area under the governance of terrorists," the Conservative leader said at a rally in Ottawa. In fact, freedom of mobility is a human right, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in our Constitution. The government can restrict it, as with any right, but only to a reasonable and justifiable degree. [...] Some other people might be able to go, but, as Harper said, there are few "legitimate reasons" to travel to certain areas. Actually, it's pretty easy to come up with several legitimate reasons to travel to countries affected by ISIL, let alone all the other parts of the world you could argue are under the control of terrorist entities (which includes many state governments). [...] Putting the onus on citizens of a free country to get approval for their reasons for leaving Canada is problematic. Among the many consequences of such a law might be the state deciding which journalists were "legitimate." [...] Not only are blanket travel restrictions based on an assumption of guilt an affront to Canadians' rights, they're expensive and, in many cases, unworkable. At best, Harper's announcement was a cynical election ploy. At worst, it's an attempt to roll back Canadians' freedoms using fear as cover. Either way, it's unacceptable.
Mass surveillance
Surveillance globale 

Harper's surveillance decade

The Harper Decade 06/08/2015 - Nowhere has Prime Minister Stephen Harper's infamous promise to transform Canada beyond recognition been more fulfilled than in the area of surveillance and privacy. The Harper Decade has been characterized by a constant and consistent chipping away at fundamental human rights - particularly the right to privacy - and an increase in the powers of state organizations to investigate and interfere with the lives and views of Canadians. Despite the fears generated by small increases in the numbers of surveillance cameras on public streets for mega-events like the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and the Toronto G20 summits, Canada has not gone down the road of 'cameras on every corner' as in the United Kingdom. Instead, Harper has followed suit in regard to the other major component of the British surveillance society: the state's assertion of its right to infiltrate itself into the communications and private information of its citizens. Read or listen to a podcast.

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The Philosopher of Surveillance 
Canadians detained abroad  
Canadien.nes d�tenu.es � l'�tranger 

Man's family, rights groups to Harper: please help us free Canadian in UAE

The Canadian Press 07/08/2015 - A coalition of national organizations is calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to intervene in the case of a Canadian detained in the United Arab Emirates for nearly a year. Salim Alaradi has been behind bars since last August, with no charges and no explanation provided to his family on just why he's being held. "Mr. Alaradi's situation is urgent," the letter sent to Harper said. "We are now calling upon you, Prime Minister, to take prompt and meaningful action." Alaradi and his family were on vacation last August in the U.A.E. when the 46-year-old was abruptly taken away by the country's security
services. His family, who spent the first two months after he was detained not knowing whether Alaradi was dead or alive, has only spoken to him a handful of times since then - a few phone calls and one visit at an Abu Dhabi prison where his wife noticed a burn mark on his hand, triggering fears he is being tortured. The case caught the attention of several organizations, including Amnesty International Canada, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group and the Libyan Canadian Community Organization, who are among those who've asked Harper to act for Alaradi. "Your intervention is critical in ensuring that Mr. Alaradi's human rights will be respected and upheld," their letter said. "It is vital that Canada demand that he be released unless he is charged immediately with a recognizable criminal offence and brought promptly to trial in fair proceedings."

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Guantanamo 

Exclusive: Pentagon blocking Guant�namo deals to return Shaker Aamer and other cleared detainees

The Guardian 13/08/2015 - The Pentagon is blocking the return of UK permanent resident Shaker Aamer and two other longtime Guant�namo Bay detainees for whom the US Department of State has completed diplomatic deals to transfer home, the Guardian has learned. American and UK diplomats reached an agreement in late 2013 for the return of Aamer, who has spent more than 13 years at the infamous detention facility without charge, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the understanding. But even as the White House pledged to make his case a priority after a personal plea from David Cameron, Barack Obama's defense secretaries have played what one official called "foot-dragging and process games" to let the deals languish. Pentagon chief Ashton Carter, backed by powerful US military officers, has withheld support for sending Aamer back to the UK. The ongoing obstruction has left current and former US officials who consider the detainees a minimal threat seething, as they see it undermining relations with Britain and other foreign partners while subverting from the inside Obama's long-stifled goal of closing the infamous detention facility. Some consider the White House indecisive on Guant�namo issues, effectively enabling Pentagon intransigence ahead of the release of a long-awaited strategy for closing the facility before Obama's presidency ends. Two of the men being kept at Guant�namo were cleared by a 2010 government review, in which the Pentagon participated, that found them to pose little threat to US or allied national security. Aamer is among them.

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Hunger striking detainee tests Obama's will close Guantanamo

Glenn Greenwald: Democrats continue to delude themselves about Obama's failed Guant�namo vow

Pentagon: Plan to close Guant�namo coming after August recess

No thanks, Obama and McCain. Continuing indefinite detention isn't closing Guant�namo.

Issue of where to move Guantanamo detainees threatens closure plan
Torture 

No more torture: World's largest group of psychologists bans role in national security interrogations

Democracy Now! 10/07/2015 - By a nearly unanimous vote, the American Psychological Association's Council of Representatives voted Friday to adopt a new policy barring psychologists from participating in national security interrogations. The resolution also puts the APA on the side of international law by barring psychologists from working at Guant�namo, CIA black sites and other settings deemed illegal under the Geneva Conventions or the U.N. Convention Against Torture, unless they are working directly for the persons being detained or for an independent third party working to protect human rights. The vote came at the APA's first convention since the release of a report confirming the APA leadership actively colluded with the Pentagon and the CIA torture programs. The sole dissenter was retired Col. Larry James, former top Army intelligence psychologist at Guant�namo and Abu Ghraib.

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Gitmo is a "rights-free zone": Dissident psychologists speak out on APA role in CIA-Pentagon torture

CIA torture tactics reemerge in New York prison

The Google search that made the CIA spy on the US Senate
 
Autres nouvelles - More news
Anti-terror legislation
L�gislation anti-terrorisme  
Biom�trie
Biometrics
Citizenship
Citoyennet� 
Criminalisation et surveillance de la dissidence
Criminalization and surveillance of dissent 
Drones 
Freedom of expression
Libert� d'expression
"Guerre au terrorisme"
"War on terror"
Islamophobie
Islamophobia
Migration and refugee rights
Immigration et droits des r�fugi�.es 
Militarization of the police
Militarisation de la police 
Oversight of security agencies
Surveillance des agences de s�curit�
Press freedom
Libert� de la presse
Privacy
Vie priv�e
Reflections on terrorism
R�flexions sur le terrorisme

Reflections on the war on terror
R�flexions sur la guerre au terrorisme

State secret
Secret d'�tat

State terrorism
Terrorisme d'�tat

Surveillance

Terrorism
Terrorisme
Terrorism cases
Proc�s pour terrorisme
Miscellenaous
Divers
CETTE SEMAINE / THIS WEEK
 
Action   

Join the great Canadian petition drive to kill Bill C-51 and win prizes! 

OpenMedia - If we want to get Bill C-51 repealed, we need to add as many voices as we can so our message can be heard far and wide. So to provide a little extra incentive to help us reach 300,000 signatures, we've put together some pretty great prizes for those who help us reach the most people.
Join the Great Canadian Petition Drive to Kill C-51 now with the chance to win an awesome pro-privacy prize pack! Are you ready to beat Margaret Atwood?

Action   

UAE: Free Canadian citizen Salim Alaradi! 

Free Salim Alaradi Campaign - We urge the United Arab Emirates to stop the torture and unconditionally and immediately release Canadian citizen Salim Alaradi, who has been detained for over 285 days without charge.

Please sign the petition and share widely!


Action   

Send Canada's Privacy Plan to the party leaders  

OpenMedia - Send the Crowdsourced Action Plan to the party leaders. The government has just rammed its anti-privacy Bill C-51 through the Senate.
Now we need to tell Party Leaders to #KillC51 and implement this positive alternative. Click below, read the plan and enter your information. They will use it to email the Privacy Plan to party leaders.


Action   

P�tition: Le Canada doit respecter sa promesse d'accueillir 10 000 r�fugi�.es Syrien.nes  

Amnistie internationale - Je vous appelle � : 1. Respecter la promesse d'accueillir 10 000 r�fugi�s syriens sur trois ans. 2. Donner la priorit� aux r�fugi�s les plus vuln�rables, conform�ment � la politique du HCR, comprenant les enfants non accompagn�s, les femmes et les jeunes filles expos�es � des risques, les personnes ayant surv�cu � des actes de torture, les personnes de la communaut� LGBTI, ainsi que celles ayant de graves besoins m�dicaux. 3. Allouer suffisamment de ressources administratives pour que toutes les demandes soient trait�es rapidement et �quitablement.


Action   

Petition: Call a Coroner's Inquest in to Abdi's death 

End Immigration Detention Network - Abdi had been in immigration prison without charges, trial or date of release for three years at the time of his death in a maximum security prison in Lindsay, Ontario. Days after his death, 88 immigration detainees imprisoned at the same prison, the Central East Correction Centre, defied sanctions to issue a joint petition calling for an inquiry into their friend's death. We at the End Immigration Detention Network have just been able to access to this petition. It reads:
* Coroner's inquest must happen and made public.
* Thorough inquest, must include talking to detainees.
* Implementation (of recommendations) from the inquest must be made immediately.
* The parties responsible must be made accountable.


Action   

Sign the Declaration of the Voices-Voix Coalition 

Voices-Voix Coalition - United, we call upon the Government of Canada to: 1. Respect the right to freedom of opinion and expression; 2. Act in accordance with Canada's democratic traditions and values; 3. Be transparent.

Both individuals and organizations can endorse the declaration.
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.