International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
February 12, 2021
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Connecting Abolitionist Struggles: Settler Colonialism, Mass Incarceration, and the ‘War on Terror’ |
Noor Cultural Centre 06/02/2020 - Watch the recording of this amazing panel with Shady Hafez | Algonquin & Syrian Indigenous rights advocate & Yellowhead Institute fellow; El Jones | poet, academic, and prisoners’ justice advocate; and Dr Arun Kundnani | author and critical scholar of the “war on terror”; moderated by: Azeezah Kanji, legal academic and journalist. Co-sponsored by the ICLMG.
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ICLMG: Expanding and entrenching problematic anti-terrorism laws is the wrong approach in the urgent fight against white supremacist and hate-based violence |
ICLMG 03/02/2021 - “We cannot hope to achieve a more just, safe, and equitable society by using discretionary laws that have time and again been shown to not just undermine the fundamental rights of people in Canada, but have also perpetuated the xenophobic, Islamophobic and racist tropes of the so-called ‘War on Terror,’” said ICLMG National Coordinator Tim McSorley.
The Terrorist Entities List is a rights-violating and politicized process that allows for decisions to be made behind closed doors, based on secret information that does not need to meet the legal standard of evidence, and which can be withheld from the listed entity on vague grounds of “injuring national security.” Such secrecy undermines the justice system and prevents the accused of mounting a proper legal defense.
Moreover, the discretionary nature of which organizations are added to the list is highly problematic, and has resulted in the list perpetuating the harmful myth that terrorism and violence are primarily associated with non-white, non-western and non-Christian communities. This is despite the fact that there has been a documented rise in white supremacist violence worldwide. The answer instead lays in the calls that have gone out from civil liberties, anti-racist and legal experts since 2001: there are tools in Canada’s criminal code that can be used to protect our safety and address organized violence without needing to resort to anti-terrorism laws which undermine due process and violate our rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“We are deeply concerned that future Canadian governments could easily take advantage of a growing acceptance of the Terrorist Entities List to add those fighting for justice – but against their political interests – to the list, including Indigenous and environmental organizations, or those fighting for racial justice,” said McSorley. “And we would be left without credibility to challenge them.” The coalition is therefore urging the government to combat white supremacist and hate-based violence by focusing on laws and regulations that increase the security of people in Canada all while protecting their rights, and disavowing the use of anti-terrorism laws such as the Terrorist Entities List. Read more
News featuring comments by ICLMG:
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Organisations support Hassan Diab following unjust French court of appeal decision |
JHDC 10/02/2021 - On 27 January 2021, a French Court of Appeal decided to refer Dr. Hassan Diab’s case to trial, three years after a lower court set him free because of overwhelming evidence of his innocence. The decision of the Court of Appeal is the continuation of a long odyssey of injustice that Hassan and his family have endured for more than 12 years. The following organisations have issued public statements in support of Hassan:
International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
“It is outrageous that a French court of appeal has decided to overturn the dismissal of the case against Hassan Diab and to order a trial. There has been no new evidence introduced, and nothing that changes the decision from three years ago when the investigating judges released him without charge.”
Amnesty International
“The French court’s decision to keep pursuing this prolonged injustice against Hassan Diab is unacceptable. His family has been through so much over the past 12 years, only to learn that this painful saga is not over. The Canadian government must do everything in its power to have these charges dropped so Hassan and his family can move forward.”
Canadian Association of University Teachers
“Rather than pursuing the continued persecution of Dr. Diab, French authorities should focus on finding the true culprit or culprits of this horrific crime. CAUT will continue to support him in his appeal of this decision to the Supreme Court of France.”
Independent Jewish Voices – Canada
“IJV is calling on the Canadian government to take the following three actions: 1) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau must intervene with their French counterparts to put a stop to this endless, Kafkaesque affair; (2) The Prime Minister must put into action his statement of June 20, 2018, that what happened to Dr. Diab should never happen again, and commit to not extraditing him to France a second time; (3) The government must immediately initiate steps to reform its extradition laws to ensure that no other person is forced to suffer through the same ordeal as Dr. Diab ever again.”
United Jewish People’s Order – Winchevsky Centre
We at the United Jewish People’s Order (UJPO)-Canada call on Justice Minister David Lametti and the federal government to stand by Hassan Diab, a citizen of Canada and an innocent man who France is determined to lock up based on discredited handwriting analysis. We further call on the Canadian government to tell France that the proper course of action is to drop this case. Read more - Lire plus
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New "Islamophobia Is" website: Short video series, resource list and educators' guide |
Islamophobia Is... more than hate crimes, perpetuated by mainstream media, the myth of the Muslim 'terrorist', gendered, the myth of shariah takeover. Visit the website
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Facial Recognition Software Has Been Used by 48 Agencies in Canada
Privacy commissioners find Clearview AI broke laws, plea for more powers against illegal surveillance.
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The Tyee 03/02/2021 - Controversial facial recognition firm Clearview AI broke Canadian laws and had at least 48 accounts in agencies across the country, most of them police forces, federal and provincial privacy commissioners said today. And legislation — including proposed reforms — will not be adequate to deter similar privacy-harming software in the future, they said in a telephone press conference to discuss the release of their report. The privacy watchdogs found Clearview AI’s technology enabled mass surveillance of Canadians and violated their rights. The 48 agencies using the software were not named in the report or the media conference held this morning. However, police forces across the country have publicly admitted to using the software. They made the admission after hackers obtained Clearview AI’s client list and leaked it to BuzzFeed News.
The RCMP and Vancouver Police Department each have used the software on at least one occasion, media reports including those by The Tyee have reported. The RCMP has only named one of the four units that used the software. Clearview AI’s collection of billions of images including those of Canadians was a “clear violation” of privacy rights in Canada, agreed federal, B.C., Quebec and Alberta privacy commissioners in a report. It is not clear how the joint condemnation might translate into changed or new laws. In a joint press conference held this morning by the provincial and federal commissioners, federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien highlighted that his Office of the Privacy Commissioner lacks the ability to either issue orders or impose fines in these circumstances. B.C.’s information and privacy commissioner Michael McEvoy echoed Therrien’s call for stronger laws. “It’s clear that we need stronger enforcement measures to ensure that companies realize it’s going to be cheaper to invest in the privacy and security of their clients up front rather than face the consequences if they don’t,” said McEvoy.
The federal government is reviewing its privacy laws and new legislation. Bill C-11, which would enact the Consumer Privacy Protection Act and the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act is being debated in Parliament. The bill may end up giving the privacy commissioner the ability to issue orders to government agencies including police and impose fines, says Therrien. But he says it is already clear that proposed legislation will lack sharp teeth. “Sadly, the violations of privacy law that we found in relation to Clearview would not lead to financial penalties according to C-11,” said Therrien. Therrien will be pressing for more powers to issue fines with parliamentarians when discussing C-11, he said. Read more - Lire plus
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Secretive CSIS technology that could reveal 'lifestyle choices' needs a warrant, says court |
CBC 27/01/2021 - Canada's spy agency needs a warrant when using a secretive type of technology that could help them "learn about an individual's private activities and personal choices" as part of its foreign intelligence gathering mandate, according to a recent Federal Court decision.
Details of what exactly that technology is and how it's used were redacted in the June 2020 court ruling, which was posted online today. The Federal Court's findings would only say it concerns technology that allows the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to collect certain information from mobile devices. The ruling grew out of a 2017 application for warrants to gather foreign intelligence on an undisclosed entity. "It then grew, becoming a vehicle for the consideration of a number of issues," wrote Justice James O'Reilly in his decision, which had entire paragraphs blacked out. [...]
CSIS also argued that while the surveys it conducts with this technology are searches, they are "minimally intrusive." However, O'Reilly ruled that CSIS's interception of this type of data "is more than minimally intrusive" and requires a warrant under a section of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protecting against unreasonable search and seizure. "Having access to this data would allow the service to draw inferences about an individual's personal lifestyle choices," he wrote. "Therefore, in my view, the information [redacted] may allow inferences to be drawn about lifestyle choices and private activities that individuals would wish to maintain and shield from state authorities. Their expectation of privacy in that information is reasonable." [...]
The Federal Court justice also said CSIS should improve its policies around the collection of "incidental" information it gathers on Canadians, including elected officials, as part of its foreign intelligence gathering mandate. Under the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, the agency can gather information about the "capabilities, intentions or activities" of foreign states or any persons other than Canadian citizens and permanent residents to assist the ministers of defence and foreign affairs. As part of the application for warrants, questions were raised about incidental interception of communications between members of federal or provincial legislatures and foreign actors.
"I found the service's conduct generally to be appropriate and satisfactory. However, I suggest that the service should develop guidelines for distributing and unminimizing the identities of Canadians whose communications have been incidentally intercepted, and should provide the court an opportunity to comment on them," he wrote. "It should also specifically disclose when there is a possibility that the communications of an elected official or other public servant may be intercepted, allowing the court to impose any necessary terms and conditions on the execution of the warrants." Read more - Lire plus
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Mass Rapes. Sweeping Surveillance. Forced Labor. Exposing China’s Crackdown on Uyghur Muslims |
DemocracyNow! 04/02/2021 - China faces widespread condemnation following a BBC report about the mass rape and sexual torture of Uyghur women and other Muslims detained in the province of Xinjiang. Women who spoke with the BBC described gang rapes, routine sexual torture using electrocution tools, forced sterilizations and men outside the prison camps paying for access to the detainees. China has rejected the report as “wholly without factual basis” and claims its mass detention of Muslim minorities is part of a “vocational training” program to counter extremism.
Meanwhile, The Intercept has obtained a massive police surveillance database used by the Chinese government to monitor residents of Xinjiang, confirming China collects millions of text messages, phone contacts and call records — as well as biometric data — from Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. Information collected is used to decide who to detain. We speak with Abduweli Ayup, a Uyghur linguist and poet who was detained for 15 months for running a Uyghur-language kindergarten in Xinjiang. He says he was raped, tortured with electric shocks and subjected to humiliation rituals during his detention. “What’s happening there is inhuman, and the target is the Uyghur, because of their religion and because of their culture,” he says. We also speak with anthropologist Darren Byler, author of two forthcoming books on China’s treatment of Uyghurs and technologies of reeducation. Read more - Lire plus
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Syria: UN experts urge 57 States to repatriate women and children from squalid camps |
OHCHR 08/02/2021 - UN human rights experts expressed serious concerns at the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation at the Al Hol and Roj camps in northeast Syria - home to over 64,000 people, mostly women and children - and urged 57 States* [including Canada] whose nationals are held there to repatriate them without delay.
“The number of the countries concerned and the dire humanitarian conditions of the camps highlight the need for collective, sustained and immediate action to prevent irreparable harm to the persons in vulnerable situation held there” the experts said. “Thousands of people held in the camps are exposed to violence, exploitation, abuse and deprivation in conditions and treatment that may well amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under international law, with no effective remedy at their disposal. An unknown number have already died because of their conditions of detention.”
UN human rights experts have issued official letters to 57 governments who are believed to have nationals in the camps. At the Al-Hol camp – the largest camp for refugees and internally displaced people in Syria - more than 80 percent of those being held are women and children. Reports of increased violence in the camps since the start of the year compound the experts’ calls for urgent action. The experts recall the urgent need for justice, truth and reparation for all of the victims of the very serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law that have occurred in the region. Read more - Lire plus
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Mohamedou Ould Slahi accuse le SCRS et la GRC d'avoir joué un rôle dans sa détention à Guantanamo |
La Presse 24/01/2021 & 09/02/2021 - L’arrivée de M. Slahi à Montréal alors que Ressam passait à l’acte a alimenté, dit-il, des soupçons voulant qu’il soit un membre haut placé d’Al-Qaïda responsable d’une cellule locale. Les agents canadiens, embarrassés par l’affaire, étaient « fébriles » et le suivaient partout, affirme le ressortissant mauritanien, qui dit avoir été terrorisé par la pression exercée à son encontre.
« J’avais quitté l’Allemagne pour ne plus vivre dans le soupçon et je me suis jeté dans la gueule du loup », souligne le Mauritanien, qui a décidé de rentrer dans son pays d’origine en janvier 2000.
La décision, dit-il, faisait suite à un appel de sa famille qui l’avait informé que sa mère était malade. « J’ai appris par la suite que les services de renseignement mauritaniens leur avaient ordonné de me demander de rentrer », souligne M. Slahi. Il a été arrêté au Sénégal lors d’une escale et interrogé sur ses liens avec l’attentat du millénaire, notamment par un agent du FBI, avant de pouvoir se rendre en Mauritanie, où il a encore une fois été appréhendé et détenu pour être interrogé. « Le responsable des services de renseignement m’a dit qu’il fallait que je réponde aux questions des Américains, mais qu’il se foutait que je réponde ou non aux questions venant des Canadiens », relate M. Slahi, qui y voit une indication claire que les autorités canadiennes avaient été informées du stratagème visant à le faire partir et souhaitaient lui soumettre des questions dans un contexte où les protections juridiques étaient moindres. [...]
Lorsque les attentats du 11 septembre 2001 sont survenus un an plus tard, il a été arrêté de nouveau et envoyé à bord d’un avion privé en Jordanie. Il a été longuement interrogé et torturé sur place avant de se retrouver brièvement à la base américaine de Bagram, en Afghanistan, et, finalement, en août 2002, à Guantánamo, où l’administration de George W. Bush disait vouloir concentrer les pires terroristes. Il n’en ressortira qu’en 2016, libre de toute accusation. Les interrogateurs de Guantánamo, qui ont développé en 2003 un protocole élaboré de torture pour le faire parler, revenaient régulièrement à l’époque, dit M. Slahi, sur des informations qu’ils disaient avoir obtenues des autorités canadiennes.
Ils étaient notamment « obsédés », dit-il, par la transcription d’un échange téléphonique survenu à Montréal avec un ami, également visé par les autorités, qui devait venir prendre le thé.
« Je lui ai demandé d’apporter du sucre. Ils étaient convaincus que c’était une conversation codée, mais je leur disais que je voulais vraiment qu’il apporte du sucre », relève M. Slahi, qui aime le thé très sucré comme le veut la culture mauritanienne.
« Ils m’en parlaient tous les jours. C’était pratiquement comme si c’était l’élément central de leur dossier à mon encontre », relate-t-il. En février 2003, un homme dénommé « Christian » se décrivant comme un représentant du Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité (SCRS) est venu le rencontrer à Guantánamo. L’équipe a aussi profité de l’occasion pour parler avec Omar Khadr, qui sera libéré des années plus tard et renvoyé au Canada après avoir été arrêté en Afghanistan dans une zone de combat et catégorisé comme « combattant ennemi » par les États-Unis. Nathan Whitling, un avocat ayant participé à la défense d’Omar Khadr, a tenté en vain d’obtenir il y a 10 ans par les tribunaux canadiens le compte rendu d’entrevues menées par les forces de sécurité canadiennes à Guantánamo avec M. Slahi. Un juge fédéral s’est dit convaincu que les entretiens avaient bien eu lieu, mais a refusé de forcer la divulgation des transcriptions en relevant que le fait de ne pas être citoyen canadien le privait de ce droit. [...]
Mohamedou Ould Slahi dit être venu s’installer à Montréal en 1999 à la suggestion d’un ami, Mohsen Hasni, qui s’est aussi retrouvé dans le collimateur des forces de l’ordre canadiennes après l’arrestation d’Ahmed Ressam. Les deux hommes s’étaient d’abord connus en Allemagne durant leurs études. M. Hasni, qui habite aujourd’hui en Alberta, dit que des agents enquêtant sur le projet d’attentat du millénaire sont venus le voir à plusieurs reprises à l’époque et voulaient tout savoir notamment sur M. Slahi, le questionnant avec insistance. « Ça me semblait complètement fou. […] Il a été victime d’un comportement arbitraire des autorités, ce n’était pas basé sur des faits », relate M. Hasni, qui dit avoir été menacé dans les années suivantes par un agent du SCRS qui voulait le recruter comme informateur. « Il m’a dit qu’il détruirait ma vie si je refusais », relate l’ex-résidant montréalais, qui affirme avoir régulièrement des ennuis aujourd’hui lorsqu’il prend l’avion en raison des soupçons ayant pesé sur lui. Le SCRS n’a pas donné suite à nos questions à ce sujet. [...] Read more - Lire plus
Alex Neve, professeur de droit qui a longtemps chapeauté la section canadienne-anglaise d’Amnistie internationale, pense que le SCRS et la GRC « devraient faire ce qui est juste » et préciser le rôle qu’ils ont joué dans les démêlés de M. Slahi. Le contexte sécuritaire de l’époque, dit-il, favorisait les dérives puisque les agents « cherchaient des terroristes sous chaque roche et s’emballaient dès qu’ils trouvaient quelque chose de suspect ». M. Neve relève que cette approche a contribué aux démêlés de Maher Arar, qui a été envoyé en Syrie en 2002 et torturé après que la GRC a relayé des informations inexactes à son égard. Il n’y a « pas de doute », ajoute M. Neve, que le travail des forces de l’ordre canadiennes a pu jouer un rôle significatif dans les démêlés de M. Slahi. La situation met encore une fois en relief le risque inhérent au partage d’informations sensibles avec des services de renseignements étrangers, ajoute M. Neve. Read more - Lire plus
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'We Will Hold Him Accountable Until He Does': 110+ Groups Demand Biden Close Gitmo Without Delay |
Common Dreams 02/02/2021 - Building on recent demands from advocacy groups and ex-detainees, 111 organizations on Tuesday collectively called on President Joe Biden to close the Guantánamo Bay offshore prison, end indefinite military detention, recognize the harmful effects of post-9/11 practices, and chart a new course for U.S. national security policy.
The latest message to Biden on Gitmo came in the form of a letter spearheaded by the Center for Victims of Torture and Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents six of the 40 men still imprisoned at the detention facility that has existed under four administrations, having opened under former President George W. Bush. In a statement Tuesday, Scott Roehm, Washington director at the Center for Victims of Torture, noted that Biden has long backed closing down the Guantánamo Bay prison—which former President Barack Obama, under whom Biden was vice president, promised but failed to do during his eight years in office. "If the president is determined to close the prison, he can, and in relatively short order," Roehm said. "Unless and until he does, Guantánamo's corrosive impact—both literally and for what it represents—will continue to deepen and spread." [...]
Signatories to the letter include the Amnesty International USA, ACLU, CodePink, MoveOn, Peace Action, Physicians for Human Rights, Reprieve U.S., Veterans for Peace, and Win Without War. Aliya Hussain of the Center for Constitutional Rights said, "That so many groups are calling for an end to the indefinite detention of Muslim men without charge or fair trial at Guantánamo, and see it as part of a broader movement to uphold human rights, demand accountability for U.S.-sanctioned torture and violence, and fundamentally change the flawed criminal legal system, is significant." "There is wide-ranging public support for President Biden to close Guantánamo," Hussain added. "He must take bold and decisive action, and we will hold him accountable until he does." Read more - Lire plus
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Turkey’s Erdogan Calls Student Protesters Terrorists, Intensifying Anti-LGBT Rhetoric |
VOA News 04/02/2021 - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused student demonstrators of being terrorists as Turkish police arrested them for protesting Erdogan’s appointment of a new rector at one of the country’s top universities this week. For over a month, students, faculty members and alumni of Bogazici University in Istanbul have protested Erdogan’s appointment of Turkish politician and academic Melih Bulu, demanding an election to choose a rector among the university’s own faculty.
His involvement in politics also stirred controversy over his appointment, since he once ran for Parliament as a candidate for Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). He told reporters Wednesday that he does not intend to resign from his university post. Still, his appointment has been viewed as an assault on academic freedom, which has sparked other protests in the country. This week, Turkish police detained more than 250 protesters in Istanbul and 69 students in Ankara, some of whom were released later. At least 51 of the protesters in Istanbul were referred to court on Wednesday and were released Thursday on bail. On Tuesday, academics wearing their gowns gathered on the Bogazici campus, their backs turned to the rector’s building in protest, demanding Bulu’s resignation and the release of detained students. Turkish government officials called the protesters terrorists. [...]
Erdogan echoed Soylu’s statement in a video address to his ruling AKP on Wednesday, saying the protesters lack Turkey’s “national and spiritual values” and are members of terrorist groups. “This country will not be run by terrorists,” he said. “We will do whatever is needed to prevent this. … We have not stood with terrorists, and we will not.” Rights groups say the Turkish government has broadened the definition of anti-terrorism laws to suppress dissent. “Turkish authorities have a long history of clamping down on free expression through abusive investigations, arbitrary detentions and unfounded prosecutions under vaguely defined anti-terrorism laws,” Deniz Yuksel, a Turkey advocacy specialist at Amnesty International, told VOA. Read more - Lire plus
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Muslim boy, 4, was referred to Prevent over game of Fortnite |
The Guardian 31/01/2021 - A four-year-old boy’s referral to the government’s anti-extremism Prevent strategy after talking about the popular Fortnite video game at his after-school club has prompted fresh calls to abolish the controversial scheme. The boy, who is from the West Midlands and is a Muslim, was referred to Prevent in September 2019 after saying that his father had “guns and bombs in his shed”.
However, transcripts of a conversation with a club worker reveal that the reference to weaponry was linked to Fortnite. The child’s mother believes that if her boy were white and not a Muslim he wouldn’t have been considered at risk of radicalisation.
In the first (anonymous) interview from a parent of an under-six referred to Prevent, she described her upset at police turning up at the family home at 10.30pm. “It could have gone really wrong. I worry armed police could have come to my house and, you know, arrested the parents, with social services getting involved.” [...]
The case has amplified disquiet over the scheme, which has been labelled anti-Muslim and called discriminatory and divisive. Last week, the anti-extremism strategy was criticised again after the appointment of William Shawcross, a former head of the Charity Commission, to lead the ailing review of Prevent that was announced two years ago this month. He has made a number of contentious comments about Islam. Almost 10 years ago, when he was director of neoconservative thinktank the Henry Jackson Society, he said: “Europe and Islam is one of the greatest, most terrifying problems of our future.”
Meanwhile, figures obtained under freedom of information laws by the Observer reveal that the four-year-old is one of 624 under-sixes referred to Prevent between 2016 and 2019 . During the same period, 1,405 children between the ages of six and nine were also referred to the scheme. The scale of referrals is linked to the obligation on public bodies, including nurseries and schools, to report concerns about radicalisation, which in itself had provoked fears that the scheme had become too intrusive. Read more - Lire plus
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Canada’s Transportation Ministry recently approved a $36.16 million dollar contract for drone technology from Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons company.
The money will purchase a “civilian” version of Elbit’s lethal military drone, the same one which was used to kill civilians during Israel’s assault on Gaza in 2014.
Through this purchase, Canada directly supports the profits of a weapons company responsible for ongoing human rights violations against Palestinians.
Click below to tell Transport Minister Omar Alghabra to cancel the Elbit Systems drone contract now! Your email will also be sent to the Prime Minister, other federal political leaders, and your local MP.
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Two recent court decisions revealed the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) engaged in potentially illegal activities and lied to the courts. This is utterly unacceptable, especially given that this is not the first time these serious problems have been raised. CSIS cannot be allowed to act as though they are above the law.
Send a message to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair demanding that he take immediate action to put an end to this abuse of power and hold those CSIS officers involved accountable. Your message will also be sent to your MP and to Minister of Justice David Lametti.
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Read our full statement on the issue here for more information. Please share it on:
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Protect Encryption in Canada |
Our ability to use the Internet safely, securely and privately is under threat. Canada wants to create 'back doors' into encryption like some of our partner countries in the Five Eyes Alliance have already done. This weakens Internet safety for all of us. If we don’t act, Canada could be next. We need a policy that explicitly protects our right to encryption. |
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Repatriate Canadian Children from Syria |
Official Parliamentary petition to the Canadian government:
We, the undersigned citizens of Canada , call upon the Government of Canada to immediately repatriate the 25 innocent Canadian children living in inhumane conditions in the camps of northeast Syria.
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Reject Dr. Carvin's Offensive Actions and Promote Anti-Racism |
On September 3, 2020, Dr. Stephanie Carvin, Assistant Professor at Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) at Carleton University, proudly shared on her Twitter account gruesome depictions of killings of Muslim and Brown bodies as terrorists on cakes. As members and allies of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) community, we are denouncing her actions and we are calling on Carleton University and NPSIA to publicly denounce Dr. Carvin's actions and to commit to an anti-racist environment by offering the necessary training and resources to its faculty members. |
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#FreeCihanErdal #LiberezCihanErdal |
Cihan Erdal, a queer youth activist and a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University, was detained in Istanbul, Turkey on September 25, 2020 along with 81 other politicians, academics and activists.
We call on Canadian and Turkish authorities to take urgent action and demand Cihan’s immediate release and Cihan’s safe return to Canada!
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Pardon Edward Snowden for exposing the government's illegal surveillance |
Edward Snowden exposed the U.S. government’s illegal mass surveillance programs, along with shocking collusion between large technology companies and spy agencies. He risked everything to blow the whistle and help protect all of our basic human rights. He’s been in exile for long enough. It’s time to bring him home. Everyone from the ACLU to Senator Rand Paul has spoken out in support of the embattled whistleblower, and now even President Trump has indicated his potential support for a pardon. The administration is testing the waters. If we show overwhelming support to #PardonSnowden right now, we could finally get justice for him, and set a precedent that protects whistleblowers, journalists, and defenders of human rights in the future.
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Reunite Ayub, Khalil, and Salahidin with their families |
Ayub Mohammed, Salahidin Abdulahad, and Khalil Mamut are three Uyghur men who left China after childhoods of discrimination, persecution, and hopelessness.
They were sold by Pakistani bounty hunters to the US military in 2001 and taken with 19 other Uyghurs to Guantanamo Bay. Despite being exonerated as early as 2003, they were kept in Guantanamo for years.
Now in forced exile - Ayub in Albania, and Salahidin and Khalil in Bermuda - their families are here in Canada; and their kids growing up without their fathers.
Despite posing no threat to Canadian national security, these men have been waiting over five years to reunite with their families and find a safe place to live.
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China: Free Canadian Huseyin Celil |
The Chinese authorities accused Huseyin of offences related to his activities in support of Uighur rights. They held Huseyin in a secret place. They gave him no access to a lawyer, to his family, or to Canadian officials. They threatened him and forced him to sign a confession. They refused to recognize Huseyin’s status as a Canadian citizen, and they did not allow Canadian officials to attend his trial. It was not conducted fairly, and resulted in a sentence of life in prison in China. His life sentence was reduced to 20 years in February 2016. Huseyin has spent much of his time in solitary confinement. He lacks healthy food and is in poor health. Kamila needs her husband, and the boys need their father back. |
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Canada must act to end Islamophobia in Xinjiang, China |
There is credible evidence that up to one million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other mainly Muslim groups in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are being detained in secret internment camps. Detainees are brainwashed, tortured and are forced to renounce their religion and culture.
And send a message to Chrystia Freeland demanding that Canada actively support an independent and unrestricted international fact-finding initiative to Xinjiang.
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Stop CSIS from targeting everyday citizens & community groups |
A recent report revealed that CSIS, Canada’s spy agency, collected over 8,000 pages of documents, spying on citizens like you, people who exercise their democratic rights by attending a community meeting at a local church or taking peaceful action for what they believe in. And CSIS shared this info with Big Oil corporations. Sign this petition to tell the govt to stop using taxpayer money to unconstitutionally spy on Canadians part of peaceful community groups. |
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All-in-one action page: Stop Mohamed Harkat's Deportation to Torture
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Call PM Trudeau, write a letter to Public Safety Minister & your MP, and sign Sophie Harkat's petition to stop the deportation of Moe Harkat.
If sent back to Algeria, Moe faces detention, torture and death.
No one should be deported to torture. Ever.
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Defund the police & the RCMP |
More and more people are calling on their city councils to reduce and eliminate budgets for policing. We are no longer going to pay for police to harm our communities. These funds can be re-directed to support the recovery and provide much need improvements to public housing, transit, and food security programs among other basic needs. Please use this e-mail tool to tell your City Councillor to act now to defund the police in your communities. Together we keep each other safe.
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Philippines: Junk the terror bill and uphold human rights! |
The Anti-Terrorism bill is a clear and direct attack against our academic freedom, right to organize, and freedom of expression to air out our grievances towards the inefficiencies and deficiencies of the government's mandate to serve its people through government services.
This positions the government to silence the any dissenter or organizer and given the rich history of harassment of law enforcement agencies and military personnel, harassment and terror-tagging has been a step further for even more killings and silencing.
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Call on Justin Trudeau to ensure justice for Abousfian Abdelrazik |
In September 2003, Canadian citizen Abousfian Abdelrazik was arrested in Sudan, while he was back in the country visiting his ailing mother. Over the next three years he was imprisoned for nearly 20 months and was held under house arrest for 12 months. He was denied a lawyer, and was never charged or brought before a judge. During that time he was badly tortured in three different prisons.
Not only did Canada fail to take steps to protect him, CSIS officials frequently obstructed efforts to secure his release.
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Your phone is not safe at the border |
Canada’s border agents can search your phone and laptop at borders and airports, including looking through your private photos, personal messages, and call history.
These ‘digital strip searches’ are allowed because our laws are incredibly out of date. But politicians are refusing to update them for our digital age.
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MORE NEWS - AUTRES NOUVELLES |
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Attacks of dissent
Attaques contre la dissidence
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Indefinite detention
Détention indéfinie
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Migrant and refugee rights
Droits des migrant.es et réfugié.es
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Privacy & Surveillance
Vie privée et surveillance
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From July to December 2020 |
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ICLMG - 2020 has been BUSY! Click below to see what we’ve accomplished in the second half of 2020, but first here is our plan for the next year.
In 2021, we will continue fighting:
- against facial recognition technology, governments' attacks on encryption, and online mass surveillance
- for a review mechanism for the Canada Border Services Agency
- to abolish security certificates and end deportation to torture
- to repeal of the Canadian No Fly List
- for justice for Hassan Diab & the reform of the Extradition Act
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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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THANK YOU
to our amazing supporters!
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We would like to thank all our member organizations, and the hundreds of people who have supported us over the years, including on Patreon! As a reward, we are listing below our patrons who give $10 or more per month (and wanted to be listed) directly in the News Digest. Without all of you, our work wouldn't be possible!
Mary Ann Higgs
Kevin Malseed
Brian Murphy
Colin Stuart
Bob Thomson
James Turk
John & Rosemary Williams
Jo Wood
The late Bob Stevenson
Nous tenons à remercier nos organisations membres ainsi que les centaines de personnes qui ont soutenu notre travail à travers les années, y compris sur Patreon! En récompense, nous nommons ci-dessus nos mécènes qui donnent 10$ ou plus par mois et voulaient être mentionné.es directement dans la Revue de l'actualité. Sans vous tous et toutes, notre travail ne serait pas possible!
Merci!
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