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Amira Elghawaby: Can Canada strike proper balance on rights and security?
The Toronto Star 25/04/2016 - With Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale currently embarking on a sweeping review of national security policy in Canada, and promising to consult with communities and civil society, now is an opportune moment to raise critical issues that have been neglected or bungled for too long. First, the federal government must review the lessons of the past and implement the required fixes. Second, the government must accept the findings of an internal inquiry into the handling of a case involving three other men who  were also tortured abroad. Moreover, the government has not yet taken a firm position on the use of torture-tainted evidence, or the sharing of information with states that are known human rights abusers. Third, will the new Office of the Community Outreach and Counter-radicalization Coordinator truly address the various factors leading to radicalization, the role of community stigmatization, as well as security threats from far-right extremists (who have been identified by Canada's security agencies as a leading security concern). Finally, perhaps the most important test for the government will be how it implements the recommended changes and amendments to the Anti-terrorism Act, 2015. Read more - Lire plus |
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E-petition calls on Liberals to hold inquiry into Afghan torture allegations
The Canadian Press 26/04/2016 - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals have been put on the spot by an e-petition demanding a federal inquiry into unresolved questions about the treatment of prisoners during the Afghan war, something that human rights groups support. Former New Democrat MP Craig Scott, who represented the riding of Toronto-Danforth up until the Oct. 19 election, has gathered 750 names for the digital solicitation - well over the threshold of 500 individuals that compels a  reply. The Liberals have until May 30 to respond in writing - and unlike the old paper petitions tabled in the House of Commons, the federal government is obliged to post its answer online. The system of e-petitions is new and only came into effect last December. Paul Champ, an Ottawa-based lawyer who represented Amnesty International Canada and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association in a series of legal battles over the issue of Afghan prisoners, said Tuesday the absence of clear answers has long cast a shadow over the Canadian military. "We never had a true public investigation, and we are a lot poorer for that," Champ said. Read more - Lire plusUS judge grants torture victims their first chance to pursue justice
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Survey of Muslim Canadians rebuts lazy generalizations with hard data: Neil Macdonald
CBC News 28/04/2016 - The cover page of a new study on Muslims in Canada features six carefully chosen images: Justin Trudeau, cheek to cheek with a woman in a headscarf, in yet another grinning selfie, a bearded man in a skullcap shaking hands with a policeman, a child in tribal dress, a minaret, a handsome, barbered young guy in some sort of Canada-motif shirt who may or may not be Muslim, and a political demonstration somewhere. The  message seems to be that Muslims are a fully integrated, engaged strand in the warp and woof of Canada's social fabric, and that everything is peachy. The report's contents are more clear-eyed. "Muslims in this country," it states flatly, "do not enjoy the acceptance accorded to other religious minorities." The study, produced by the Environics Institute, is an important, scholarly, data-based assessment of a community beset by myths and suspicions, and which, upon inspection, appears to have more commonalities than differences with other Canadians. Read more - Lire plusSpeaking Arabic while flying |
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Refugee crisis: When is a tragedy a massacre?
Al Jazeera 28/04/2016 - The recent drowning of 500 refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean Sea was not only preventable, but arguably caused by policy. A policy known colloquially as "Fortress Europe", designed to make the journey to Europe as difficult as possible for asylum seekers. The European Union's two-faced approach to human rights has rarely been so crudely apparent as in its treatment of refugees. Article 4 of the European  Convention on Human Rights is unequivocal. "Collective expulsion of aliens is prohibited." That is the full extent of the article. It is not qualified or mitigated in any way, so self-evident is the principle taken to be. But mark the sequel. The first line of the recent agreement between the EU and Turkey, on the other hand, states that: "All new irregular migrants crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands as of 20 March 2016 will be returned to Turkey." Only by the most strained linguistic tort is this not "collective expulsion". Read more - Lire plusUK - Labour says 'fight will go on' after Tories vote down child refugee planYanis Varoufakis: Europe's "hot spot" refugee registration centers are "concentration camps" |
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Press freedom
Liberté de la presse
Canada drops 10 spots on 2016 World Press Freedom Index after "dark age for journalism"
CFJE 20/04/2016 - A new report from the global press freedom watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), describes the tenure of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper as a "dark age" for journalism in Canada, citing his hermetically-sealed style of government and the shameful state of our access to information system. The report notes that current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spoken strongly for media freedom but "only time will tell" if he follows through on his promises. RSF's assessment, from its annual World Press Freedom Index released  on April 20, 2016, highlights how the Canadian public's right to know was systematically undermined by the previous federal government's penchant for secrecy and control. Canada fell ten spots from 2015, now at 18th place in the global ranking of press freedom, while the United States rose eight places to 41st. The report describes a "deep and disturbing decline in respect for media freedom at both the global and regional levels," as attacks on journalists rise and governments and private interests around the world seek to limit public debate and media pluralism. Read more - Lire plus
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Autres nouvelles - More news
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News from the ICLMG
Open letter to the Prime minister on Saudi arms deal authorization
The ICLMG, alongside 13 groups, have co-signed the following letter: Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, We, the undersigned, wish to express our profound concerns about the issuance of export permits for Canada's multi-billion dollar arms deal with Saudi Arabia, despite the flagrant incompatibilities of this contract with the human rights safeguards of our export controls.  To provide such a large supply of lethal weapons to a regime with such an appalling record of human rights abuses is immoral and unethical. The spirit and letter of both domestic export controls and international law support this view. The government has had every opportunity to uphold this position, but has chosen not to. We therefore ask the government to rescind the export permits, ensuring that this deal does not go ahead unless and until relevant human rights concerns have been resolved. Read more - Lire plus
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Event
The Rule of Law in an Age of Fear: A talk with Dennis Edney, Omar Khadr's lawyer
This event, presented by ICLMG, InterPares and Octopus Books, is free and open to everyone.  When: Saturday, June 4, 2016, 4-6pm Where: Octopus Books, 251 Bank Street, 2nd floor, Ottawa What: Dennis Edney will speak about Omar Khadr's case and the climate of fear surrounding the war on terror and how it has affected and continues to negatively affect human rights, due process, and the rule of law. More detailsFacebook event
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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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Action
Become a social media champion!
Are you on Facebook and/or Twitter? If you are and you would like to support ICLMG's work, you can start today by becoming one of our social media champions.  - Like our Facebook page and like, share and comment on our posts. - Follow us on Twitter. - Write a review on our Facebook page and invite your friends to like our page.
- Set yourself a goal of sharing ICLMG's content once a week, or more. - Ask to receive emails with convenient, easy-to-share social media links to our press releases, reports and weekly News Digest. Details here
Find out how else you can help!
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Action
Stop stingray surveillance!
OpenMedia - Stingrays (also known as "IMSI-catchers") are surveillance devices that can suck up every piece of sensitive, personal info in our cell phones. Every call, email, and text - our most intimate moments. You don't have to do anything wrong to be a victim. Stingrays CAN'T target one  person. They CAN vacuum up an entire neighbourhood, or up to 10,000 people's private data at once. We know they're being used in countries including the U.S. and Australia, and other governments are fighting to keep their use a secret. We must rein this in. Tell law-makers: It's time to put a stop to invasive Stingray cellphone surveillance.
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Action
Free Huseyin Celil
Amnesty International - Huseyin has been in prison for 10 years after an unfair trial.  Take action now to ensure that Huseyin is not subject to another 10 years of unfair treatment.
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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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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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the answer is a resounding no. "The interests of the accused in having a fair trial where the accused is able to make full answer and defence outweighs the public interest in protecting police-investigative techniques," he ruled. While police in Canada may have plenty of protections to keep human informants anonymous, they have no analogous legal safeguards for surveillance technology or corporate relationships.
