header bilingue
Revue de l'actualit� - News Digest 
1er octobre 2015 - October 1st, 2015
Citoyennet�
Citizenship


iPolitics 01/10/2015 - Before Bill C-24, revocation of citizenship was limited to naturalized Canadians who acquired their citizenship through false representations. With the new law, dual citizens can have their citizenship stripped away from them if they commit an act of terrorism, espionage or treason. The law only applies to naturalized citizens or those who were born in Canada but can claim citizenship in another country through one of their parents - even if they have have no ties with that country whatsoever. Meanwhile, if you were born in Canada and can't be eligible for citizenship in another country, you can't be stripped of your Canadian citizenship - no matter what kind of crime you've committed. The new grounds for revocation are very broad and seem to be based on some spot evaluation of the offender's loyalty to Canada. What isn't clear - as the Canadian Bar Association has pointed out - is why the loyalty of dual nationals should be questioned more than that of other Canadians, or why their loyalty should determine the status of citizenship. This is a very slippery slope and we're standing on top of it. [...] Terrorism is an ongoing threat, here and around the world. The current Canadian government is using the excuse of the terrorist threat to create two classes of citizens under the law, divided on the basis of their origins. But in treating terrorism as a special class of crime - and dual citizens as a special class of criminal - the federal government is perverting our laws, our citizenship and of our democracy... dividing our society, making it weaker in the process.

Editorial: Citizenship is a right, not a privilege, even for convicted terrorists

The Globe and Mail 28/09/2015 - It is never fun to be in the position of having to defend a democratic principle by invoking the rights of a terrorist. But that is exactly the situation the government put us and many others in late last week, when it revoked the Canadian citizenship of a dual citizen convicted of terrorism offences. [...] The law is wrong for three reasons. One, it creates classes of citizens: those who are subject to exile, and those who aren't, as the Canadian Bar Association worded it in its 2014 submission on Bill C-24.[...] Two, it is inhuman. Mr. Amara was a child when he was naturalized. His family travelled from Jordan to Cyprus to Canada, and he arrived here as a young boy. His home is Canada; it is the country he has lived in the longest. He didn't ask for Canadian citizenship. To strip him of it now is cruel. Three, citizenship is a right. For it to have any meaning at all, it must be something more reliable than a status that can be granted or revoked for political reasons. [...] Bill C-24 doesn't strengthen Canadian citizenship. It weakens it.

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Roach & Forcese: Banishment is a poor tool in fight against terrorism 

Bill C-24: Trudeau says terrorists shouldn't be stripped of citizenship In leaked audio
Islamophobie
Islamophobia
 
Le Devoir 30/09/2015 - Je veux �tre une femme voil�e, parce qu'il n'y a rien ni personne de plus influent aujourd'hui. Quel prodige pour cette femme voil�e d'�tre tout et son contraire, � la fois l'ombre et la lumi�re, le z�ro et l'infini, le juste et l'injuste, le bien et le mal, le vrai et le faux. Son impuissance est si puissante que la femme voil�e provoque des guerres � elle seule. En Afghanistan, en Irak, en Syrie, la femme voil�e est l'infiniment impuissante, la totalement domin�e, celle dont le malheur absolu est tel que des politiciens mobilisent leur arm�e pour la sauver. Sans lui demander son avis, �videmment. Que de belles photos que ces Afghanes compl�tement voil�es qui font la file pour voter lors d'�lections frauduleuses. L�-bas, une femme voil�e qui vote est la preuve que la d�mocratie a bien triomph�. Nos politiciens et nos militaires peuvent alors abandonner le pays en ruines avec la satisfaction de la t�che accomplie. Or, surprise ! En  Occident, la femme voil�e n'est plus cet �tre infiniment impuissant qu'il faut lib�rer � coups de bombes. Non : c'est elle qui nous envahit, de par sa toute-puissance totalitaire, et elle menace la d�mocratie quand elle veut voter voil�e. Combien y en a-t-il au Qu�bec ? Quelques dizaines. Aucune femme voil�e n'est politicienne, directrice d'une banque ou propri�taire d'une grande firme, d'un m�dia concentr�, aucune n'est journaliste ou chroniqueuse, militaire ou polici�re, directrice d'un festival, pr�sidente d'un syndicat ou porte-parole d'une association �tudiante, artiste ou humoriste adul�e, universitaire, grand pr�tre, idole du sport ou marraine de la mafia. La femme voil�e ne se pr�occupe pas de telles frivolit�s. Par sa seule existence individuelle et son visage voil�, elle impose ses valeurs � tout un pays, toute une population.

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Editorial - Niqabs: The election's weapon of mass distraction  

The Globe and Mail 28/09/2015 - Let us be perfectly clear: A woman wearing a niqab at a citizenship ceremony is in no way whatsoever hiding her identity. Her identity is known to the officials at the ceremony and has been re-established by her lifting her veil in private just prior to taking the oath. The citizenship judge, too, is satisfied that her identity has been established. Otherwise he or she wouldn't proceed, obviously. To say differently is cynically misleading. But the BQ and the Conservatives continue to do just that, believing they now have the wedge that will separate them from the other parties. The Harper government polled Canadians in March and found that 82 per cent of them support "a requirement that people show their face during Canadian citizenship ceremonies." [...] We must disagree. The day a government imposes "normal" cultural values is the day Canada's basic freedoms go down the drain. We cannot become a country that selectively bans religious practices that have no demonstrably harmful consequences for others. Canada, Mr. Harper's semantics notwithstanding, is not a "family" governed by a parental authority that lays down a dress code. This country is more free than that. And it faces real issues in this election, such as the economy, that should not be overshadowed by an ugly distraction. Let's leave it behind us and focus on what matters.

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L'Assembl�e nationale adopte � l'unanimit� une motion condamnant l'islamophobie

The British government's anti-terrorism school programs are racist

The US gazes into the Islamophobic abyss  
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Migration and refugee rights 
Immigration et droits des r�fugi�.es 

Rima Elkouri: Harper, les r�fugi�s et la s�curit�

La Presse 01/10/2015 - Contrairement � ce que pr�tend le gouvernement Harper, il ne serait ni irr�aliste ni dangereux d'en faire plus. Il n'y a pas que le CCR et des organismes de d�fense des droits de la personne comme Amnistie internationale qui le disent, en demandant au gouvernement de s'engager lui-m�me (c'est-�-dire autrement que par du parrainage priv�) � accueillir 10 000 Syriens de plus d'ici la fin de 2015. Des gens comme le g�n�ral � la retraite Rick Hillier - que l'on ne peut vraiment soup�onner d'�tre un vilain gauchiste faisant de l'ang�lisme - le disent aussi. Selon lui, le Canada pourrait tr�s bien, sans compromettre sa s�curit�, accueillir non pas 10 000, mais bien 50 000 r�fugi�s d'ici No�l, avec l'aide de l'arm�e canadienne. Et la s�curit�, alors? Contrairement aux id�es re�ues � ce sujet, il est beaucoup plus difficile d'entrer au Canada comme r�fugi� que comme visiteur, rappelle le CCR. Il faut obligatoirement passer des contr�les de s�curit� du SCRS et de la GRC. Il est peu probable qu'une personne d�sirant commettre un attentat s'expose � de tels contr�les. Il faut aussi rappeler que la loi exclut d'embl�e les demandeurs d'asile jug�s inadmissibles pour des raisons de s�curit�. �Il faut arr�ter d'avoir peur de son ombre�, disait � ce sujet, en entrevue � la CBC, l'ex-commandant Hillier. Il est tout � fait possible de mettre sur pied une op�ration urgente d'aide aux r�fugi�s sans compromettre la s�curit� de quiconque. �Ce n'est pas responsable de dire qu'on va juste ouvrir les vannes�, r�plique Stephen Harper, en amalgamant sans cesse r�fugi�s et ins�curit�. Comme s'il �tait plus responsable, au nom d'un d�lire s�curitaire, d'abandonner des gens en d�tresse.

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Anti-immigrant activists more prone to terrorism than refugees

Harper says only bogus refugees are denied health care. He's wrong.

Journalist Peter Greste calls on Australia to end secrecy over offshore asylum detention centers

Oxford University resources on refugee law
L�gislation antiterroriste
Anti-terror legislation  

An open letter from Artists Against C-51

Maclean's 29/09/2015 - More than 200 Canadian artists say they fear the government's new national security law, C-51, attacks free expression. "This bill was rammed through Parliament by the Harper Conservative government, despite a huge public outcry and without due consultation. As many experts have pointed out, this bill allows the government to silence dissenting voices without oversight or accountability. It criminalizes "advocating or promoting the commission of terrorism offences in general," which, because of this vague wording, could be interpreted in some very stupid ways. In effect, it gives the government carte blanche to suppress any voice they don't like. Is it promoting terrorism if we: write a spy novel about an assassination plot? record a song questioning our government's agenda? paint a mural about the conflict in Syria? produce a documentary on security threats in Canada? put on an art show critical of the oil sands? make a film with an environmental theme?
Creativity, expression, opinion, and art are not the same as terrorist propaganda. Through its "chill" effect, C-51 undermines one of the chief freedoms of a democratic society: the right of every Canadian to free speech and free expression, including free artistic expression.

Criminalisation de la dissidence
Criminalization of dissent


Voices-Voix - By linking Voices-Voix to terrorism, the federal government used the same "vilification/smear" technique which Voices-Voix has documented and spoken out against for five years. Organizations and individuals have been labelled as "radical ideologues," "liars," "extremists," "security threats," "enemies of the state," or "supporters of terrorism." Examples include a wide range of environmental and Indigenous groups opposing northern and eastern pipelines, as well as other  organizations like ForestEthics, Sierra Club Canada Foundation, Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care, and Palestine House, to name a few. Such inflammatory statements serve to prime the Canadian public to believe that the targeted organizations are suspect or at least anti-Canadian. The wager appears to be that the public will be more likely to support-or at least not oppose-measures taken against such groups, like defunding, enhanced scrutiny, and surveillance. To date, Voices-Voix has documented over 30 official statements incorporating the government's use of the vilification/smear technique to silence organizations and individuals who oppose it.

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

rabble.ca 25/09/2015 - As the Oxford Research Group notes, "the central premise of sustainable security is that we cannot successfully control all the consequences of insecurity, but must work to resolve the causes. In other words, 'fighting the symptoms' will not work, we must instead 'cure the disease.'" 'Common Security' helped to arrest the momentum of the last Cold War by demonstrating our interdependence and mutual vulnerability, which helped to stem provocative deployments and the search for military advantage. In this ongoing nuclear era, our security dilemma is similar to that of two people in a canoe: you can't destabilize one without jeopardizing the other. Like it or not, we're in this world together and despite our extremes, we're gradually inching toward a common perspective of 'one world.' Cooperation is imperative in a shared/common approach to break from the tradition of self-help and the competitive pursuit of national security at the expense of others. Both a revitalized United Nations and a more preventative approach are essential to ensure challenges are addressed before they manifest as threats. A key determinant of security is that it applies broadly and offers help worldwide. Like 'positive peace,' sustainable common security offers a more comprehensive approach, acknowledging the relationship between direct violence (e.g., war, violent conflict and destructive approaches), structural violence (e.g., exploitation and exclusion), and cultural violence (as manifested in corporate media, academe, divisive politics, militarism, patriarchy and extremism).

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Exclusive interview: Robert Fisk on Syria's civil war and the refugee crisis

Les quatre raisons qui poussent les combattants � quitter l'�tat islamique

Britain meddles in Somalia at its peril - don't make al-Shabaab stronger

Juan Cole: Why Obama and Putin are both wrong on Syria

US anti-terrorism fight: Tough news from the fields of battle

The Ottawa Citizen 30/09/2015 - Information commissioner Suzanne Legault has launched a constitutional challenge of the government's retroactive changes to the legislation, called the Ending the Long-gun Registry Act, or ELRA. "After giving the provisions described above detailed consideration, I am of the view that the retrospective aspect of the Bill C-59 amendments completely remove any criminal liability in relation to deletion of long-gun registry data by the RCMP," writes OPP Det. Supt. Dave Truax. Legault issued a special report to Parliament last spring laying out how the RCMP knowingly destroyed registry files, even though it knew those records were part of an active investigation under the Access to Information Act, and even though the federal public safety minister had assured Legault's office that the Mounties would abide by the access law and preserve the data. Legault recommended charges be laid and Justice Minister Peter MacKay referred the matter to the public prosecutors' office on May 6, but the following day the government tabled an omnibus bill that retroactively wiped the offences from the legal code.

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Autres nouvelles - More news
Drones 
Freedom of expression
Libert� d'expression
Guantanamo 
"Guerre au terrorisme"
"War on terror"

Nigerian forces free 241 women, children in Boko Haram camps, arrest kingpin

New York City to join U.S. anti-terrorist program criticized by rights groups

Anti-terrorism summit: 'Ideologies are not defeated with guns, they're defeated by better ideas,' says Obama

Obama's self-deceit

U.S. bombs somehow keep falling in the places where Obama "ended two wars"

'Operation Endless War': US could leave 10,000 troops in Afghanistan after 2016

Syrie : des rebelles form�s par les Etats-Unis ont remis des munitions � Al-Qaida

Despite brutal irony, US accuses Russia of 'pouring gasoline on fire' in Syria

Russia steps up Syria support 'to stop fall of Assad'

La Russie poursuit ses bombardements en Syrie, sur des cibles incertaines

France bombs IS group training camp in Syria

Military airstrikes continue against ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq

Afghanistan : l'arm�e � nettoie � les rues de Kunduz, � la recherche de talibans
Mass surveillance
Surveillance globale
Press freedom
Libert� de la presse
Privacy
Vie priv�e
Reflections on terrorism
R�flexions sur le terrorisme

State terrorism
Terrorisme d'�tat

Surveillance

Terrorist listings
Listes d'entit�s terroristes

Torture

Miscellaneous
Divers

Conservatives amend law to allow export of prohibited weapons to Israel, Kuwait

Canadian military ponders integrated force with U.S. to respond to hotspots

Canada's global promotion of human rights has declined: internal memo

The Toronto Star editorial: Revive Canada's UN role

Opinion: I am quitting the Conservatives because of Stephen Harper's politics

La Palestine hisse son drapeau � l'ONU et cherche � remobiliser sur le conflit isra�lo-palestinien

Jewish Voice for Peace releases first-ever report on the use of false charges of anti-semitism to limit Palestinian rights activism on campuses

At General Assembly, Ukrainian President says country suffering 'brutal violation' of UN Charter

Y�men: 131 morts dans un raid sur un mariage attribu� � la coalition

Richard Falk: The Yemen catastrophe: Beset by contradictions of will and intellect

Saudi objections halt U.N. inquiry of Yemen war

Manifestations au Mexique, un an apr�s la mort des 43 �tudiants du Guerrero

World leaders recommit to modernize 120,000-strong UN peacekeeping force
CETTE SEMAINE / THIS WEEK
 
Event    

Canadian Mining and Criminalization in the Americas

Talk organized by MiningWatch, PSAC & ICLMG
Tuesday, October 6 at 7:00pm
PSAC Building, 233 Gilmour St, Ottawa

Special guest: Esperanza Salazar is a member of Bios Iguana, an environmental organization in Mexico who has been criminalized by state authorities for their work in defence of land and life, forcing members of the organization to spend months out of state and making it difficult to continue their support of mining affected communities. Following Esperanza's presentation, Jen Moore, from MiningWatch Canada, and Monia Mazigh, our National Coordinator, will talk about our new report: 'In the National Interest? Criminalization of Land and Environment Defenders in the Americas' and facilitate a discussion.

Facebook event
Report


ICLMG & MiningWatch Canada - In summary, the report observes that it is becoming ever more dangerous and difficult for affected communities and organizations who are fighting for Indigenous rights, self-determination and environmental justice in the Americas to speak out and do their work. As this situation worsens, the Canadian government has increasingly dedicated its diplomatic services, aid budget, and trade and investment policy to promote and favour the interests of Canadian mining companies and to influence decisions over extractive projects and related policies. The trend of repression and deregulation in Canada to favour mining, oil, and gas projects is consistent with the model that the Canadian government promotes abroad. Concluding with a series of ideas and recommendations for discussion, the report seeks to spur debate and foster creative action to protect dissent in defence of land and the environment, and to question Canada's role in promoting the underlying economic development model that is putting communities at such a deadly disadvantage.

Action   

Saudi Arabia: Stop the execution of juvenile activist Ali al-Nimr

Amnesty International - Two courts have upheld the death sentence against a Shi'a activist. He has exhausted his appeals and may be executed as soon as the King ratifies the sentence. Ali al-Nimr was sentenced to death on 27 May 2014 for offences  he is alleged to have committed when he was 17 years old. The court seems to have based its decision on "confessions" which Ali al-Nimr has said were extracted under torture and other ill-treatment and has refused to look into this allegation. When Ali al-Nimr was arrested in February 2012 he was not allowed to see his lawyer. He has said that GDI officers tortured him to make him sign a "confession". Read more and sign the petition now!


Action   

UPDATE 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   

Remind Prime Minister Harper: Canadians welcome Syrian refugees  

Amnesty International - On September 2, 2015, the body of three year old Aylan Kurdi washed ashore on a Turkish beach. He and his young brother were among at least 11 people believed to have drowned when their boat ran into trouble as they tried to reach the Greek island of Kos. Call on the Prime Minister and all party leaders to increase Canada's contribution to the Syrian refugee crisis!


Action   

PM Harper: Call on the UAE to free Canadian citizen Salim Alaradi now!   

ICLMG - Salim Alaradi, a Canadian citizen and father of 5 young children, has been detained without charge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since August 2014. We are also worried that he was tortured. His health is deteriorating quickly as his family has informed us this week. Write to Prime Minister Harper to urge him to call on the UAE to free Salim Alaradi now!


Action   

All Parties: Commit to Repealing Citizenship Changes! Don't leave millions of us as second class Canadian citizens!

BCCLA, CARL - Canada is all about diversity. Many Canadians were born in other countries or are citizens of other countries because of their family history - and all of us are 100% Canadian. But the changes made to Canadian law by Bill C-24 will shatter a core principle of Canadian citizenship - that all Canadians have equal rights. This new law makes second-class citizens out of every Canadian who's born elsewhere or who is a dual citizen.


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   

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   

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

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.