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ICLMG 24/02/2016 - What is unusual in the case of Nuttall and Korody is that during their trial, the judge became concerned about the possibility of entrapment of the couple. Indeed, an RCMP undercover officer posing as a rich Arab businessman befriended them and helped them with their plot. During the trial, the head of an RCMP team tasked with investigating possible terror suspects testified at the B.C. Supreme Court "that he had concerns about entrapment and abuse of process near the start of a police sting." [...] In 2014, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report, "Illusion of Justice", that documented 27 counterterrorism cases. The HRW report indicates  that, "according to multiple studies, nearly 50 percent of the more than 500 federal counterterrorism convictions resulted from informant-based cases; almost 30 percent of those cases were sting operations in which the informant played an active role in the underlying plot". Moreover, the report found that in many cases where entrapment had been deployed, people with mental and intellectual disabilities had been targeted. [...] In Canada, an independent investigation is needed to tell Canadians whether the RCMP has been using the same entrapment strategies as the FBI. The decision of B.C. Supreme Court Justice, Catherine Bruce, regarding the entrapment of Nuttall and Korody could be the best reason to do so. However, the trial has been suspended after CSIS refused once again to turn over documents relating to their involvement in the plot. We could be in the dark for a very long time. |
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Anti-terror legislation
Législation anti-terroriste
Amnesty International raises concerns over Canada's anti-terrorism law, land rights
CTV News 24/02/2016 - The report also called out Canada's new anti-terrorism law, known as Bill C-51, saying that "sweeping reforms" to national security laws raise human rights concerns. "It expands the authority of the Canadian government agencies to  share information about individuals without adequate safeguards and allows the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to take measures to reduce security threats, even if such measures would violate rights," the report stated. Read more - Lire plusAmnesty International critique la réponse «liberticide» de la France aux attentats
CSE can assist in 'threat reduction' without a warrant, documents show
The Toronto Star 20/02/2016 - Canada's electronic spies can assist CSIS with the agency's new mandate to disrupt security threats with little oversight from politicians or the courts, documents obtained by the Star show. The Communications Security Establishment told Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan last November they can aid CSIS with new "threat reduction" efforts - a power granted to the agency under Bill C-51. It's not unusual for CSE to lend a hand to police or intelligence agencies; in addition to electronic espionage and cyber defence, assistance to law enforcement is one of the agency's core mandates. CSE confirmed that they do not  necessarily need a court's approval to assist CSIS in threat reduction. The new power has opened the door for CSE to act as a "virtuous hacker" for CSIS, according to national security researcher Craig Forcese. [...] According to Forcese, tampering with a suspect's laptop or snooping on their online activity would likely still require a judge to sign off. But Forcese laid out a scenario where CSIS is attempting to interview someone overseas, and enlists CSE to track them down. Potentially, that could be done without anybody but the two agencies being aware. "You can see there are going to be circumstances that arise where either they don't need a warrant, clearly, or it's uncertain whether they need a warrant," Forcese says. "I'm most interested actually in circumstances where it's uncertain if they need a warrant, whether CSIS is going to be conservative or aggressive on that point."
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'Difficult to determine' scope of privacy breach in Five Eyes data sharing
CBC 23/02/2016 - Jean-Pierre Plouffe, commissioner of the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), told a Senate committee Monday that data were erased from the agency's system, making it difficult to find out the number of people impacted." [...] "It's not accidental," Plouffe said in an interview about the CSE breaking the law. "It's because of a lack of due diligence." [...] CSE is  supposed to monitor only foreign communications for intelligence that may be of interest to Canada. If the spy agency comes across Canadians' information, the law requires it to delete the data from its systems. [...] Ontario's former privacy commissioner, Ann Cavoukian, says CSE never should have collected the metadata in the first place and wants the practice to end. "It has been illegally collected," said Cavoukian. "It's unscrupulous they're doing this...The whole thing from A to Z is unacceptable." Read more - Lire plus
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Autres nouvelles - More news
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Torture
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Join CESAR & ICLMG for an International Women's Day event! When: Thursday, March 3 at 5:30p.m. Where: Thomas Lounge, Student Centre (55 Gould St.), Ryerson University, Toronto  Dr. Monia Mazigh will initiate a stirring discussion of what it means to be a Muslim woman in Canada. How do Muslim women respond to islamophobia here in Canada and abroad?
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ICLMG - Canada's numerous national security agencies - including CSEC, CSIS, the RCMP and CBSA - have inadequate or simply no oversight or review mechanisms. This has led to human rights violations such as the rendition to torture of Canadiancitizens Maher Arar,
Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El-Maati and Muayyed Nurredin, among others. In 2006, Justice O'Connor concluded the Arar Commission with several recommendations to prevent such atrocities from happening again: Canadian national security agencies must be subjected to robust, integrated and comprehensive oversight and review. Years have passed and the federal government has yet to implement the recommendations.
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ICLMG has put together a table detailing the issues with the legislation, actions and review mechanisms of the CSE, CSIS and the RCMP. There are 21 federal departments and agencies with national security responsibilities in Canada  - including the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Financial Transactions and Report Analysis Centre (FINTRAC), Foreign Affairs, National Defence, and Transport Canada. Only 3 have some sort of review mechanism - which are highly inadequate. We need better oversight and review now!
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Action
Tell your MP:
"I demand a real, open consultation that will let us Kill C-51"
OpenMedia - Right now, the government is deciding how to deal with C-51 and its irresponsible spying powers. If we don't act ASAP, there's a huge chance decision-makers will side with pro-surveillance forces and sacrifice our Charter rights once and for all. But, if we can get a real, open consultation  on C-51, people like you will ensure the government finally has to kill the bill's dangerous powers. Parliament resumes on Monday, which means they're deciding now. Message your MP today, and make sure we get the real, open consultation we deserve to kill C-51 for good.
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Action
PM Trudeau: 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 Trudeau to urge him to call on the UAE to free Salim Alaradi now!
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Action
Let Khaled leave Egypt!
Free Khaled Al-Qazzaz - Write to your MP to ask them to urge the Egyptian authorities to remove the travel ban on Canadian resident Khaled  Al-Qazzaz so he can finally be free after being detained without charges for a year and a half and released since January 2015 but prevented from leaving the country.
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Report
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Report
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Les opinions exprimées ne reflètent pas nécessairement les positions de la CSILC - The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the positions of ICLMG
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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 43 Canadian civil society organizations that was established in the aftermath of the September, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. +++
La revue de l'actualité est notre publication hebdomadaire de nouvelles, d'évènements, d'appels à l'action, et beaucoup plus, entourant la sécurité nationale, la lutte au terrorisme, et les libertés civiles. La CSILC est une coalition nationale de 43 organisations de la société civile canadienne qui a été créée suite aux attentats terroristes de septembre 2001 aux États-Unis.
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Criticizing or opposing Canada's policies and/or a foreign country's policies should not be condemned: it is the essence of our freedom and democracy. We remain committed to these principles and we call on our government to commit to them.
means the teen must still go through all of the required medical, security and background checks before permanent residency is granted. Basman had appealed to McCallum to look into Mohammed's case, and had he not opted to process the teen's application directly on compassionate and humanitarian grounds, the minister could have allowed the teen to make a refugee claim, she said. McCallum's decision, she said Thursday, "is really good news. We're thrilled."
university's Human Rights Research and Education Centre and Centre for International Policy Studies, "Arar +10" reviewed the state of national security and human rights in Canada a decade after a public inquiry was established to investigate the rendition to Syria and torture of Canadian citizen Maher Arar. From a range of panels key recommendations emerged. The conference's recommendations are particularly timely as the new federal government prepares to introduce legal and other reforms reversing or revising national security and citizenship laws and practices.
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.
