ICLMG 06/01/2016 - Since 2007, when the Passenger Protection Program (PPP) was implemented in Canada - copied on the one in the United States - the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG) and other organizations have been denouncing the arbitrariness of the program and its unconstitutional nature. In December 2008, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart, reported to Parliament that Transport Canada had provided "no evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of no-fly lists." In 2010, in collaboration with the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), the ICLMG released a comprehensive report about the PPP. We documented cases of Canadians who were stopped at the borders, checked extensively, humiliated, turned down or finally let go after many hours of interrogations. Since then, not much has improved. On the contrary, with the new Anti-terrorism Act of 2015 (also known as Bill C-51), the No-Fly list has been perpetuated and expanded

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Version française: Désolés, vous ne pouvez pas voler, mais nous ne savons pas pourquoi

Canada's no-fly list is 'very mysterious' and leaves targets little recourse, say critics

This 6-year-old Habs fan is on airline's security watchlist

No-fly list flags more Canadian toddlers as security risks

The Toronto Star 07/01/2016 - The United Nations Committee Against Torture castigated the Canadian government for its complicity in the torture of Arar, El-Maati, Almalki and Nureddin. But while Maher Arar has received compensation for his ordeal, Canada's other torture victims continue to fight lengthy legal battles for recompense. More recently, we have learned through media reports that Salim Alaradi, a Canadian citizen of Libyan descent who has been incarcerated for more than 17 months in the United Arab Emirates without charges, has been tortured. His lawyer Paul Champ told the media that the Canadian government knew Alaradi was tortured, but did not tell the family until he became involved in the case as lawyer. Is it a privacy issue as the government claims, or yet another deafening silence when it comes to denouncing torture? These shameful episodes did not only occur under Stephen Harper's Conservative government, infamous for its willingness to discard the basic human rights of certain humans, but also during the post-9/11 reign of the Liberal Party. The Liberals and their "sunny ways" are back again. Will they finally banish the dark shadow of Canadian complicity in torture?

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U.S. targets Kurdish activist for deportation in senseless act of counterterrorism

Advancing medical professionalism in US military detainee treatment

Common Dreams 10/12/2015 - [...] The thrust behind these hashtags is the white militants should be labeled "terrorists," and law enforcement should recognize who they are dealing with are not "patriots." But this serves the interests of the security state. To the extent that political support for wielding tools against people who are like these militants grows, the apparatus that perpetuates the War on Terrorism can generate new tentacles. This reflexive urge to view all developments, particularly those involving violence, through the lens of "terrorism"  should be questioned vigorously. The desire to label acts "terrorism" in order to bring some kind of equality to the application of force by law enforcement should be shunned as well. "Terrorism" has no fixed meaning. It is a political term with tremendous propaganda value to the government when it is wielded. When we debate why this is not considered "terrorism," this is a discussion that helps sustain the status quo. It further enables the State to engage in authoritarian practices against the population. Instead of clamoring for the government to label white extremists as "terrorists," the whole concept of "terrorism" should be made obsolete.

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Glenn Greenwald: The deceptive debate over what causes terrorism against the West

Prior to San Bernardino attack, many were trained to spot terrorists; none did

French police's slow response to Paris terror attacks queried

A Special Relationship: The United States is teaming up with Al Qaeda, again

Common Dreams 06/01/2016 - Citing last year's Paris attacks as justification, the French government is seeking to expand police powers permanently-relaxing rules around the firing of weapons, enabling nighttime raids, and loosening restrictions on searching and detaining suspected terrorists, according to a draft bill seen by the newspaper Le Monde. Politico Europe reported Tuesday that the draft, sent to the French Supreme Court for review in December, lays out plans to "perennially strengthen  the tools and resources at the disposal of administrative and judicial authorities, outside the temporary legal framework implemented under the state of emergency." In November, the French Parliament voted overwhelmingly to extend the state of emergency through the end of February and to increase certain powers including allowing the government to impose a house arrest as long as it has "serious reason to think that the person's conduct threatens security or the public order." In December, the French cabinet backed reform proposals that could see that state of emergency enshrined in the nation's constitution.

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Antiterrorisme : le gouvernement veut étendre les pouvoirs de la police

Déchéance de nationalité : qui serait concerné par le projet de loi constitutionnelle?

Projet de loi antiterroriste : « Il y a une volonté d'écarter les juges »

NYT editorial: France's diminished liberties

Landmark settlement in challenge to NYPD surveillance of New York Muslims: What you need to know

Rescapée du Bataclan, elle regrette "le racisme très décomplexé en France"

Sikh Americans are not Muslims, but they still suffer from Islamophobia

"Notre responsabilité dans la radicalisation de nombreux jeunes musulmans est sans commune mesure"

If the Oregon militiamen were Muslim or black, they'd probably be dead by now

Spying on Congress and Israel: NSA cheerleaders discover value of privacy only when their own is violated

Jose Figueroa leaving church sanctuary! Removal order cancelled!