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International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
Coalition pour la surveillance internationale des libertés civiles
April 15, 2023 - 15 avril 2023
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Hassan Diab's kafkaesque nightmare continues: Trial in absentia underway in France | |
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ICLMG 03/04/23 - Today, we hold Canadian professor Dr. Hassan Diab in our thoughts. Despite French judges deciding five years ago that there was no justification to proceed to trial on terrorism charges, today, April 3rd, 2023, his trial in abstentia begins.
For 15 years he has fought for justice against unfounded allegations of his involvement in a deadly bombing in Paris in 1980. Extradited to France in 2015 despite deep misgivings from the courts, he spent 3 years in a Paris prison, often in solitary, without charge or trial. Over that time, not only was the key "evidence" against him disproved, but judges found consistent proof supporting the fact that he was in Lebanon at the time of the bombing. On that basis, in 2018 he was released and returned home to his wife and two children in Ottawa.
Despite no new evidence being presented, upper courts overturned the decision, and ordered a trial to proceed. While Dr. Diab remains in Canada, he faces the ongoing threat of miscarriage of justice in France and a possible second extradition request. We need to support Hassan & his family as they go through this terrible ordeal. Please call PM Trudeau to let him know you support Hassan, that Canada must denounce this travesty of justice, & confirm no new extradition request will be accepted. Source
NEW ACTION: Phone Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Urging Him to Protect Hassan Diab
ACTION: Justice for Hassan Diab!
Dr. Hassan Diab: When will 15 years of injustice end? | Alex Neve and Robert Currie
CBC Power and Politics: Interview with Don Bayne, Hassan Diab’s Canadian Lawyer
Andrew Mitrovica: Justin Trudeau won’t keep his word to protect a Canadian Muslim
Hassan Diab trial puts Canada extradition law back in spotlight
Watch the recordings of the event featuring Hassan Diab
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ICLMG’s submission to United Nations for Canada’s Universal Periodic Review | |
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ICLMG 05/04/23 - On April 5, we sent out our stakeholder submission to the United Nations for Canada’s upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in November 2023.
Through the UPR, the Human Rights Council reviews, on a periodic basis, the fulfilment by each of the 193 United Nations Member States of their human rights obligations and commitments.
A review of a State is based on: (a) a national report prepared by the State under review; (b) a compilation of United Nations information on the State under review prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); and (c) a summary of information submitted by other stakeholders (including civil society actors, national human rights institutions and regional organizations), also prepared by OHCHR.
The submission has to be quite short but we managed to cover many anti-terrorist laws and national security actions and their negative impact on human rights, including:
- The National Security Act, 2017 (C-59) and particularly the lack of guarantees that all use or sharing of information won’t lead to or hasn’t been obtained through torture; the no-fly list; the lower threshold for terrorism peace bonds; preventative detention powers; CSIS threat reduction powers and immunity for offences; the oversight and review agencies’ lack of binding powers; the erosion of due process the Anti-terrorism Act, 2015 extended in security certificate proceedings; CSE “active” cyber security powers; and CSIS and CSE mass surveillance powers
- Security Certificates and the case of Mohamed Harkat
- Extradition and due process – The Hassan Diab Case
- Criminalization of dissent
- Discretionary powers, secret evidence, and CSIS misleading the courts
- Surveillance, facial recognition and artificial intelligence
- Provision of humanitarian aid and other forms of international assistance
- Canadians detained in Northeastern Syria
- Lack of full redress regarding complicity in torture in the cases of Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati, Muayyed Nureddin, Omar Khadr, Abousfian Abdelrazik & Mohamedou Ould Slahi
- Systemic Islamophobia, including the CRA prejudiced audits against Muslim charities, Canada’s planned armed drones purchase, and dubious counter-radicalization programs
We have also sent a much longer Annex containing issues that were included in previous UPR submissions but have yet to be fixed, additional details on issues that are mentioned in this UPR submission, and developments that are not yet final or enshrined in law but that we must keep an eye on. Read more - Lire plus
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Urgent repatriation of Canadians detained in northeast Syria only rights-compliant response: legal community to PM Trudeau | |
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ICLMG 27/03/2023 - An unprecedented open letter was sent to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by more than 110 members of Canada’s legal community, calling on his government to honor the recent Federal Court ruling ordering the repatriation of Canadians arbitrarily detained in northeast Syria and work to urgently bring them back to Canada, consistent with the country’s domestic and international law obligations.
On January 20, 2023, the Federal Court of Canada ordered four of the detained Canadian men returned under section 6(1) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees Canadian citizens the right to enter Canada. Instead of honoring this decision, though, the federal government is appealing it, and, in doing so, making the troubling argument that by upholding basic rights, the courts are somehow interfering in government affairs. The letter was released as the Federal Court of Appeals hears arguments today in the government’s appeal of the initial ruling. The letter is in support of an op-ed published today in the Globe and Mail.
Signatories include:
- Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Allan Rock
- Human rights advocates Alex Neve, Sharry Aiken, Faisal Kutty, Yavar Hameed, Azeezah Kanji, Paul Champ, Carmen Cheung Ka-Man and Nicole Filion
- International law experts François Crépeau, Obiora Okafor, Michael Byers and John Packer
- Experts in national security and criminal law Kent Roach and Faisal Bhabha
- Natasha Bakht, Jasminka Kalajdzic, Robert Currie, Ardi Imseis and numerous other law professors from across the country
- Representatives of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association, the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, the National Association of Women and the Law, the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, the BC Civil Liberties Association and the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights, among many others.
Here is an excerpt from the letter:
The Canadian government’s highly restrictive approach to repatriation is incompatible with international and constitutional legal norms. For example, Global Affairs Canada’s “Policy Framework [for repatriation] appears drafted to exclude the Canadian men [… in which] case the Policy Framework as presently advised could not withstand subsection 6(1) Charter scrutiny,” as the Federal Court concluded. Moreover, the refusal to admit detained non-Canadian mothers with their Canadian children effectively mandates forcible child-parental separation, in contravention of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Canada’s failure to repatriate perpetuates a pattern of Canadian governmental complicity with the overseas torture, arbitrary detention, and forced exile of Muslim Canadians, as recorded in the two official inquiries on the cases of Maher Arar, Ahmad Abou El-Maati, Abdullah Almalki, and Muayyed Nureddin, and multiple legal complaints.
Instead of advancing legal interpretations that would vitiate fundamental rights protections, we call on the Canadian government to honour the Federal Court’s repatriation order; to work to urgently bring back all Canadian detainees and, with respect to detained children, any non-Canadian caregiving parents as well; and to finally address the underlying deficiencies in Canadian policies – many of them identified in unimplemented recommendations from the 2006 Arar Inquiry – that have led to this deplorable situation, to prevent any future recurrence. We urge this course of action both to address the grave human rights concerns in these pressing cases, and to convey a strong and much-needed message that Canada does indeed take its human rights obligations seriously in a world and at a time when those universal principles are increasingly undermined. Read more - Lire plus
ACTION: Canada must repatriate all Canadians detained in NE Syria now!
ACTION: Call/Write to Ensure Ottawa Obeys Court Order to Bring Canadian Detainees Home from Syria ASAP
ACTION: Ramadan Repatriation Chain Fast to Free the Canadian Captives March 23 to April 20, 2023
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‘Unnecessary’ Muslims: Ottawa appeals to prolong torture of Canadians detained in Syria | |
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rabble.ca 11/04/2023 - On February 12, 2023, the Government of Canada chose to prolong the torturous conditions endured by four Canadian Muslim men arbitrarily detained in northeast Syria. By launching an appeal against a Federal Court repatriation order which concluded the four had for years been “imprisoned against their will without charge or trial,” Ottawa sought to extinguish the Charter rights of Canadians who, according to Federal Court Judge Henry Brown, “are dying or at risk of dying every day this matter is adjourned.”
In an equally disturbing development, the Federal Court of Appeal agreed on March 14 to place a stay on further repatriation efforts pending the outcome of the appeal, which was heard March 27. When weighing whether irreparable harm would come to the Canadian government if it were forced to repatriate four Canadian men held under conditions the UN describes as “akin to torture,” the Court of Appeal shamefully sided with Ottawa based on the government’s paper-thin House of Cards arguments, built on an astounding collection of lies, unfounded speculation, and an unspoken but very clearly enunciated Islamophobia (detailed below). “There may be additional harm suffered by [the detainees] as a result of the delay, but that delay will be short,” the Court of Appeal callously concluded.
In language normally reserved for nuclear waste, the appeal paints the uncharged detainees as an alleged threat to be “mitigated”. They are “unnecessary” human beings unworthy of assistance. Despite fully knowing for years the dire conditions of these arbitrarily detained Canadians – and despite the repeated pleas of US officials, including President Joe Biden, to repatriate all the detained foreign nationals in northeast Syria – Canadian government lawyers argue that repatriations should only occur if “absolutely necessary.”
Canada’s Orwellian appeal employs apocalyptic language while claiming that keeping these long-suffering men under brutal conditions is actually in their best interests since efforts to secure their release “could in some way result in harm to” the detainees. Ironically, on January 19, 2023, the day before the original repatriation order was released, the federal government confirmed a settlement to repatriate 19 women and children (14 of whom came home April 6) who had originally been connected to the same court case. Justice Brown was quick to point out in his decision that “the legal principles applicable to the Canadian men are the same as those applicable to the Canadian women and children.”
This discriminatory attempt to separate the men from the women and children comes on the heels of a concerted public relations effort to undermine the factual integrity of the landmark January 20 court order. Led by CBC and Globe and Mail reporters, a series of grossly inaccurate and inciting stories flew in the face of the publicly available court record. In the worst tradition of Islamophobic writing, they tarred all Canadian detainees with the same inflammatory brush, with headlines screaming about returning “ISIS members” coming to terrorize Yazidi refugees while reviving long-dismissed fallacies about the potential for an international tribunal in northeast Syria. Despite numerous complaints to the CBC Ombudsperson about the grossly inflammatory pieces, the media outlet refused to end its scare-mongering.
The appeal announcement also followed the astounding late January Global Affairs Canada ultimatum delivered to four detained women with Canadian children in the prison camps. Ironically, on the same day Canada announced its first representative to combat Islamophobia, the detained Muslim women were directly told to surrender their children or remain there with them forever because Canada would never come for them again. As a nation built on the forced separation of Indigenous children from their families, this latest Canadian move certainly ran afoul of its much-trumpeted “never again” promises, and contravened its legally binding commitments under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The January and February legal and media attacks against this relatively small group of detainees – the majority of them children – contributed to their ongoing banishment in an off-shored “Guantanamo in the desert” that seriously troubled Federal Court Justice Brown, who wrote on January 20 that “there is no known offence in Canada that carries with it exile or banishment as a penal consequence.” Yet both by its actions and conscious inaction, exile or banishment were plainly the result for Canadians stuck in northeast Syria. It’s all a stark contrast to Canada’s well-publicized, robust efforts to secure the release of illegally detained white non-Muslim Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who were always afforded the presumption of innocence by Canadian media while held by the Chinese regime. [...]
Some of these detainees are among the most misunderstood groups of people on the planet, largely due to racist assumptions about their religious faith, alleged political beliefs, and geographic location. Many were fleeing or opposed ISIS when detained, or were trafficked by agencies like Canadian spy agency CSIS; others were in the region for humanitarian purposes; some were intrigued by the many videos promising a utopian paradise only to find out differently on day one and then being unable to escape. Hundreds of Yazidi refugees are in these prison camps too, unable to return home. Yes, there are no doubt adherents of ISIS who remain too (and they should be held accountable for whatever crimes they may have committed), but studies by the likes of Save the Children and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) show they are a minority. [...] As the Federal Court of Canada noted in its repatriation decision, not even the government of Canada alleges illegality or involvement in terrorism on the part of these detainees. Read more - Lire plus
Ottawa ne veut pas être obligé de rapatrier des Canadiens détenus en Syrie
Advocates Welcome Expected Partial Repatriations, Reiterate Demand that All Be Brought Home from Syrian Prison Camps and Jails
Unable to leave Syria, mothers of Canadian children forfeit repatriation to keep their families together
Children in Northeast Syria must be urgently repatriated: UN experts
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Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson report on systemic bias at Canada Revenue Agency demonstrates need for moratorium, accountability and transparency | |
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ICLMG 27/03/2023 - Today’s report from the Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson into systemic racism and bias in the CRA’s treatment of Canadian charities, and particularly those which are Muslim-led, demonstrates the urgent need for transparency, accountability and action to address this problem, according to the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG), a Canadian coalition focused on the impact of anti-terrorism activities on civil liberties in Canada.
[T]he OTO’s report once again makes it clear that the government should have realized, from the beginning, that the OTO would not have the access necessary to answer the questions put forward by the Minister of National Revenue.” The result is that, nearly two years after the important issue of systemic bias in the CRA’s counter-terrorism activities were initially raised, Canadians still do not have answers, accountability or significant reforms at the CRA, its Charities Directorate, or the secretive Review and Analysis Division (RAD). “We once again call on the government to take immediate action and place a moratorium on the operations of the CRA’s Review and Analysis Division until the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency completes its review and reforms to the CRA’s policies and practices are made,” said McSorley.
The ICLMG originally documented these problems in its June, 2021, report, The CRA’s Prejudiced Audits: Counter-Terrorism and the Targeting of Muslim Charities in Canada. The report detailed how a faulty and unsubstantiated national security “risk assessment” approach to the monitoring of terrorism financing in the charitable sector has led to Muslim charities in Canada being unduly targeted for surveillance, audits and revocation of their charitable status. The new report from the OTO is available here. The ICLMG supports the key recommendation that the OTO was able to make, namely that the CRA should institute mandatory unconscious bias training for all employees involved in the audit process. While this alone will not resolve the important issues that have been raised, it will clearly make an impact in how audits are carried out. The fact that this has not existed until now is troubling.
The OTO’s review also revealed other concerns within the auditing process, including issues with how “leads” regarding complaints about charities are processed, as well as the lack of safeguards to protect against bias in how RAD selects and proceeds with audits of charities. The report also demonstrates the woeful state of transparency at the CRA, the Charities Directorate and the RAD. This includes public information that is out of date, an inability for the OTO to access information necessary to carry out its mandate, and the complete lack of public information about how RAD operates.
It also includes the degree to which their work remains obscured by national security and other operational considerations, making it impossible to properly evaluate – and address – the problems of systemic bias that have been raised in independent reports. “The fact that a government ombudsperson, assigned by the Minister of National Revenue to review crucial concerns of bias at the country’s federal tax regulator, cannot access the information needed to respond to 2 out of the 3 questions that the Minister mandated them to answer is itself an indictment of the secrecy and utter lack of accountability that currently surrounds this process,” said McSorley. “The government must take immediate action to address this.” Read more - Lire plus
Sarah Mushtaq: Review into Canada Revenue Agency bias has let down Canadian Muslims
Faisal Kutty and Faisal Bhabha: The problem of systemic bias in CRA audits
The CRA’s reliance on biased sources can perpetuate Islamophobia
Nonprofit sector leaders urge federal government to address issues raised by Taxpayer’s Ombudsperson’s investigation into Islamophobia within the CRA swiftly and decisively
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Press release: The Muslim Association of Canada is Challenging the CRA’s Audit Practices Tainted by Systemic Bias and Islamophobia | |
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MAC 03/04/2023 - Toronto, ON – The Muslim Association of Canada’s (MAC) Charter Challenge takes a major step forward today as its hearing begins in the Ontario Superior Court. MAC’s Charter Challenge, which was launched in April 2022, addresses the deeply concerning question of whether the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) audit of MAC and its methods for assessing risks posed by Muslim charities are rooted in Islamophobia and violate Charter rights.
MAC has been the subject of an audit by the CRA’s Review and Analysis Division (RAD) since 2015. MAC’s Charter Challenge aims to demonstrate that the RAD’s audit of the organization violated sections 2(a) (freedom of religion), 2(b) (freedom of expression), 2(d) (freedom of association) and 15 (equality) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
MAC is concerned for the following reasons:
- The RAD’s motivation to conduct the audit was based on systemic bias. The risk analysis used to select MAC for audit unfairly targets Muslim charities. Two extensive independent reports published by the University of Toronto’s Institute of Islamic Studies and the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group found that RAD has implicit systemic biases and practices, and that RAD has unfairly targeted Muslim charities with prejudiced audits.
- The RAD’s audit process reflects systemic bias and Islamophobia. The RAD has perceived and interpreted normal interactions as deceptive, failing to understand Muslim religious practices on their own terms and applying standards that would never have been applied to non-Muslim charities. The RAD has not provided compelling evidence to support its claims, despite having completed an extensive review of MAC. Instead, it has relied on old newspaper articles, blogs, and other unreliable sources that contain Islamophobic writings to support its findings.
“The Muslim Association of Canada firmly believes that every Canadian has the right to practice their faith and express their beliefs without fear of discrimination,” said Mr. Sharaf Sharafeldin, MAC President-Strategy. “That is why we challenged CRA’s audit, which we believe was founded on Islamophobic sources and unfairly violates the rights of Canadian Muslims and the Muslim charity sector.”
“The entire RAD audit of MAC, from starting point through to implementation, has involved systemic bias against Muslims and has had discriminatory effects,” said Geoff Hall, lawyer at McCarthy Tétrault LL. “MAC should not be in any way penalized because the audit has been irreparably tainted by Charter violations.”
In recent years, there have been growing concerns about the CRA’s treatment of Muslim charities and organizations:
- The allegations of systemic Islamophobia practices by the CRA have been validated by several reports and Senate hearings.
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged and promised to rectify systemic discrimination in the CRA.
- The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) recently announced an investigation into RAD and specifically its decision-making practices related to charities.
- Most recently, the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson was unable to complete its review of the CRA and its treatment of registered charities led by racialized communities because the CRA would not provide sufficient information on how it assesses risks and its audit techniques.
The CRA’s prejudice against Muslim charities has unfairly forced MAC (and many other Muslim charities) to spend time and resources defending against CRA audits, diverting important resources away from charitable work services for the communities that rely on them. MAC’s challenge will be a significant step towards addressing institutional Islamophobia in the Government of Canada and ensuring that Muslim Canadians are treated fairly and equitably under the law. MAC looks forward to presenting its case before the Ontario Superior Court and hopes for a fair and just resolution to this matter. Source
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Podcast: Federal government's proposed AI and Data Act deeply flawed | |
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RedEye 02/04/2023 - Leading privacy, technology and civil liberties experts are urging Canadian Members of Parliament to vote against the federal government’s proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act which would regulate AI.
Signatories to an open letter say the proposed legislation is flawed beyond repair. We speak with Tim McSorley, national coordinator of the ICLMG. Source
AI expert Meredith Broussard: ‘Racism, sexism and ableism are systemic problems’
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CBC Listen: Taking a closer look at Canada's spy agency, CSIS, with ICLMG | |
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The Early Edition with Stephen Quinn 27/02/2023 - The flurry of leaked intelligence reports about alleged Chinese state interference in Canada's federal elections has raised some questions about how Canada's spy agency - CSIS - operates. CBC interviews ICLMG's National Coordinator, Tim McSorley. Source
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Chantal Hébert: Think intelligence agencies always get it right? Here’s why you should be skeptical | |
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The Toronto Star 25/03/2023 - Twenty years ago this week, Canada declined to join the United States in its war on Iraq. At the time, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was on the receiving end of a lot of flak for breaking ranks with the U.S. and U.K. on the leading global file of the time. Had Chrétien followed the bulk of the free editorial advice on offer, Canada would have gone to Iraq.
This is one issue where Chrétien led public opinion and the pundits who strive to shape it over to his side, rather than jump in front of a parade of like-minded supporters. Among the matters his critics held against him was the fact that the prime minister was making the call to pass on the Iraq venture against the backdrop of U.S. intelligence findings to the effect that Saddam Hussein’s regime was accumulating weapons of mass destruction. The Conservative official opposition and its then-leader Stephen Harper denounced the decision as a consequential moral failure. The rest, of course, is history. What came to light over the course of the Iraq quagmire was that the rationale for the offensive was based on a massive but nevertheless politically convenient intelligence failure. The purported weapons of mass destruction turned out to be, if not a deliberate fabrication, at least a figment of the collective imagination of the security services of the world’s top superpower.
It was over that same period that Canadian engineer Maher Arar was deported by the United States to a black site in Syria where he was detained and tortured over a number of months. A subsequent inquiry led by Justice Dennis O’Connor would reveal that the RCMP set Arar’s predicament in motion by providing the American security services with inaccurate information. The saga did not stop there. Far from rushing to correct its error once it found that it had misled its allies, the RCMP endeavoured to cover it up. In his final report, O’Connor did not mince words. He concluded: “Canadian officials leaked confidential and sometimes inaccurate information about the case to the media for the purpose of damaging Mr. Arar’s reputation or protecting their self-interest or government interests.” O’Connor also found that the RCMP did not disclose key facts to the Privy Council (and by extension the prime minister of the day) because those facts would have made the force look bad.
This was not the only instance that cast doubts about the value of some of the leading work of the Canadian intelligence community. And its past failings have not been limited to the international scene. Back at the time of the October crisis in 1970, Pierre Trudeau’s government imposed martial law in Quebec based on RCMP reports that the province was on the verge of a general insurrection. The findings that informed the cabinet’s decision to invoke the War Measures Act turned out to be unfounded. At a time when every passing day seems to bring fresh anonymous leaks about instances of Chinese interference in Canadian politics, there are in the above episodes some lessons to keep in mind before rushing to a definitive judgment on any of the protagonists in the stories.
The notion that intelligence reports are meant to be taken to the bank — no questions asked — is a risky one. As the past has demonstrated, they can be based on faulty or partial analysis. And in the case of leaks, they can be manipulated to either suit a source’s personal agenda or — as illustrated by the Arar case — that of an organization. In the not-so-distant past, it turned out it was not even a given the information conveyed to the top levels of the government amounted to an accurate or a full picture of a given situation. As Chrétien’s Iraq War chapter demonstrates, intelligence reports are only part of the puzzle a prime minister needs to consider before making a call. He ended up faring better for dismissing the findings of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as a motive to join what turned out to be an ill-advised war than Pierre Trudeau did by believing intelligence reports that suggested Quebec was on the verse of insurrection.
One should be wary of any aspiring prime minister who committed to blindly follow the intelligence services down whatever path it momentarily favours. In the coming weeks and months, it will be interesting to see if former governor general David Johnston, who has been given access to all the elements in the China interference file or the parliamentarians who sit on a committee vested with the same powers, find that the evidence presented to them matches the allegations provided to various media outlets by anonymous sources. Source
Canadian media is far too trusting of police and spy sources
Security adviser warned PM of public concerns on foreign agent registry: memo
ACTION: An Open Letter to David Johnston, Independent Special Rapporteur, Government of Canada re discussions of foreign interference and national security
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Carters law firm analysis of the humanitarian aid authorization proposed in Bill C-41 | |
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Carters 30/03/2023 - Concluding comments: The lengthy and complicated provisions proposed by Bill C-41 are unnecessary and overly restrictive, especially when compared with the more remedial legislation in other jurisdictions that provides a simplified approach of a blanket exemption for humanitarian aid from their criminal code provisions. For example, legislation in New Zealand clarifies that while providing material support to terrorist groups is an offence, humanitarian aid is not considered to be “material support.”
Material support excludes humanitarian support to satisfy basic needs
(5) For the purposes of this section and of any other legislation that mentions this section, material support excludes, despite paragraphs (a) and (b) of the definition of that term in section 4(1), support that does, or may do, no more than provide support necessary to satisfy basic needs of those to whom, or for whose benefit, it is provided—
(a) in good faith for genuine humanitarian reasons; and
(b) impartially or neutrally as between people who have those needs.
Similarly, US General License No. 19 (which was issued in December 2021), provides a general exemption for NGOs to engage in activities to support humanitarian projects, human rights projects, and education (among other activities) in Afghanistan. These approaches by the US and New Zealand avoid the concerns listed above regarding significant government discretion and very narrow exceptions. They also provide a perspective of alternative ways to achieve the goal of helping Canadian NGOs provide humanitarian aid to those who need it in a timely and efficient manner.
The examples of general exemption protocols adopted in New Zealand and the US have worked very well in those countries and should be seriously considered for adoption in Canada. If that is not possible for whatever reason, then at the very least the overly onerous process and the lack of scope of Bill C-41 referenced above need to be addressed.
All parties involved hope to see legislation adopted in a timely manner that will address the legal challenges faced by NGOs who wish to provide humanitarian aid in Afghanistan without contravening criminal anti-terrorism financing provisions. Nevertheless, it is hoped that Parliament will give serious consideration to the long-term impact of Bill C-41 so that the concerns being raised by some voices in the sector, as well as those raised in this Alert concerning Bill C-41 can be addressed during committee study of the legislation before it is passed in Parliament and receives Royal Assent. Read more - Lire plus
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Canada: Expanding Safe Third Country Agreement a shameful response to Roxham Road crossings | |
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AI Canada 24/03/2023 - Amnesty International Canada condemns the U.S. and Canadian governments’ agreement to expand, rather than rescind, the Safe Third Country Agreement in response to border crossings at Roxham Road.
Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canadian Section (English-Speaking) said: “Closing Roxham Road by extending the Safe Third Country Agreement is an affront to the rights of refugee claimants seeking safety in Canada. People fleeing their home countries, and then risking their lives by crossing irregularly into Canada, would not take such drastic steps if the United States’ immigration and refugee-protection system could be counted on to respect migrants’ rights. It is also unconscionable that the government would take this step while the constitutionality of the Safe Third Country Agreement is under review by the Supreme Court of Canada.”
“Moreover, expanding the Safe Third Country Agreement will not end irregular crossings. Rather, it will push migrants to attempt more dangerous crossings into remote areas of Canada and, in some circumstances, force them to rely on smugglers to make the precarious journey. Instead of punishing people escaping violence and persecution in their home countries, Canada should withdraw from the Safe Third Country Agreement. This would encourage safe, orderly crossings at the Canada-U.S. border and help protect that people’s right to make a refugee claim.”
France-Isabelle Langlois, Executive Director of Amnistie internationale Canada francophone, said: “By reaching this new agreement with the United States, Canada is once again adopting a dehumanizing vision of the treatment of refugee claimants. The complete closing of the border, including Roxham Road, to name just one, is a death sentence, a failure to recognize the humanity of tens of thousands of people. The Safe Third Country Agreement must be rescinded, as the United States is not a safe country for asylum seekers. It is time for Canada to put human rights at the centre of its immigration and refugee-protection system, to welcome people fleeing violence and persecution with dignity.”
“In accordance with its international obligations, Canada must consider all refugee claims received and ensure that front-line services and organizations have the necessary resources to handle these applications. Because of its geographic isolation, Canada receives only a small drop of the ocean of forced migration at the international level and has a duty to respect the right to asylum and not to close its borders to refugees. Canada and provinces like Quebec have the capacity to receive refugee claimants. It is a question of humanity and political will.” Source
Canadian Council for Refugees: Statement on the expansion of the Safe Third Country Agreement
New U.S.-Canada border deal partly to blame for Akwesasne tragedy, asylum groups say
Lloyd Axworthy and Allan Rock: Here’s a better fix for Roxham Road
Expanded border deal ‘unrealistic, unfair, and exclusionary,’ say legal scholars, refugee advocates
ACTION: End the Safe Third Country Agreement
ACTION: Le Canada viole le droit à l'asile!
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RCMP raid of Wet’suwet’en territory a ‘flagrant attack’ on Indigenous rights | |
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Amnesty International Canada 31/03/2023 - The RCMP’s March 29 raid on Wet’suwet’en territory is the latest act in a longstanding “campaign of violence, intimidation and dispossession” against Indigenous land defenders, Amnesty International Canada says. On Wednesday afternoon, more than a dozen RCMP officers encroached upon a Wet’suwet’en village site. They the arrested five land and water defenders opposed to the ongoing construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory. The raid transpired only nine months after prosecutors in B.C. laid criminal-contempt charges against 19 land defenders who had protested the pipeline project.
“The RCMP’s latest raid on Wet’suwet’en territory is a flagrant attack on Indigenous Peoples’ rights,” said Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada’s English-speaking section. “The governments of B.C. and Canada are well aware that Indigenous nations have a right to reserve their free, prior and informed consent to infrastructure projects that affect their territories, as stipulated in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. There is no excuse for the criminalization of Indigenous defenders protecting their lands, waters and rights. This campaign of violence, intimidation and dispossession against Indigenous nations must end, now.”
The raid closely follows the March 2023 visit of Francisco Calí Tzay, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to Canada. In a statement capping off Calí Tzay’s fact-finding mission, he expressed concern with the “ongoing militarization of Indigenous lands and the criminalization of Indigenous human rights defenders resisting the Trans Mountain and Coastal GasLink pipelines in British Columbia.” The abuse of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, as exemplified by the approval of the Coastal GasLink pipeline without the consent of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs, also figures prominently in Canada’s country profile in Amnesty International’s just-released 2022/23 Annual Report. Launched Monday, the report named Canada as one of several states that failed to protect Indigenous rights by “[going] ahead with extractive, agricultural and infrastructure projects without obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples affected.” [...]
France-Isabelle Langlois, Executive Director of Amnesty International Canada’s Francophone section, and Nivyabandi appealed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, B.C Premier David Eby and B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma to stop the criminalization of Indigenous land defenders rightfully protecting their nations’ unceded ancestral territory. “With each new raid on Wet’suwet’en territory, Canada turns back the clock on reconciliation and its commitments to respecting Indigenous rights,” Langlois said. “Abandoning prosecution against all Wet’suwet’en land defenders facing charges and suspending construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline will not erase all the harm Canada has inflicted. However, it would be a show of good faith and a welcome investment in a constructive nation-to-nation dialogue between Canadian governments and the Wet’suwet’en people.” Read more - Lire plus
Gidimt'en Checkpoint media advisory: RCMP C-IRG Raid Wet’suwet’en Village Site, Make 5 Arrests
Azeezah Kanji: Settler Moves to Innocence: A Transnational Legal Glossary
Ottawa protest: Call on the PM to abolish the RCMP C-IRG! April 19, 12pm
ACTION: Canada: Respect Indigenous Rights on Wet'suwet'en territory
ACTION: Abolish C-IRG
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'Canada can no longer stand on the sidelines’: Politicians, Jewish, Muslim groups condemn attack at Al-Aqsa mosque | |
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Yahoo News 05/04/2023 - An attack by Israeli soldiers on Palestinian worshippers at the Al-Aqsa in East Jerusalem this week is being condemned by many Canadians, including politicians and activists. The violent incident on Wednesday at one of Islam’s holiest sites came during Ramadan, a holy time for Muslims. It also fell on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover.
The attacks at the place of worship have left many Canadians stunned and outraged.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed concern over the actions of the Israeli government and called for peace. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly also condemned the acts of violence against Muslim worshippers. Aaron Lakoff is with the Independent Jewish Voices Canada, an organization committed to social justice and universal human rights. He calls the attack heartbreaking but “painfully predictable.”
We’ve seen attacks like this on the Al-Aqsa mosque with Israeli forces attacking Palestinian worshippers for the last three years in a row. We have Passover, which coincides with Ramadan and Easter, and that should be a joyous time when we come together and celebrate all our faiths and heritages but Israeli apartheid makes that impossible by imposing this system of sheer violence on Palestinians.
He urges Canadians to contact their elected representatives and demand that Canada be more forceful in condemning Israel’s actions. “We need our leaders to turn their words into actions,” he says. “One simple thing Canada can do is impose meaningful sanctions on Israel like stopping arms trade with Israel or banning products from illegal settlements.” In a release, the National Council of Canadian Muslims posted a call to action. “We need Canada to recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in this matter so that criminal violations of international law in the region can be appropriately investigated and prosecuted,” it reads. “We cannot pick and choose when we stand up for human rights.” It also called on Canada to take a stand by banning all illegal settlement products from entering the country, while immediately mandating the labelling of those products in the same way the EU does. Read more - Lire plus
ACTION: Stand with Palestinians!
ACTION: Condemn the violence and stop arms exports to Israel
Defend Al-Aqsa, Defend Jerusalem, Defend Palestine! Protests and actions around the world
Why is Canada rejecting evidence of Israeli apartheid against Palestinians?
IJV Statement on the Ongoing Unrest in Israel
Shameful Attack by the German State: Palestinian Prisoners’ Day Demonstrations in Berlin Banned by Police
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Rideau Institute: Afghanistan and war crimes - Australia acts where Canada has not | |
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Ceasefire 14/04/2023 - Ceasefire.ca readers will be familiar with the many times that we have called on Canada to ensure proper accountability for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity by Canadians – both military and civilian – in Afghanistan. Canada’s inaction stands in marked contrast to that of the Australian government which commissioned an inquiry after:
rumours and allegations emerged relating to possible breaches of the Law of Armed Conflict by members of the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan over the period 2005 to 2016.
As stated on the Australian government website detailing the process:
The Inquiry was conducted at arm’s length from the Australian Defence Force (ADF) chain-of-command and Government to ensure the independence and integrity of the process.
Its findings were announced on 19 Nov 2020 and a copy of the report is available in PDF format HERE. As reported on 19 Nov 2020 by Christopher Knaus of the Guardian:
The heavily redacted report found credible evidence to support allegations that 39 Afghan civilians were killed by Australian special forces, which were subsequently covered up by Australian Defence Force personnel (ADF).
The Office of the Special Investigator (OSI) was established in 2020 in the wake of the report and laid its first charges in March 2023. Speaking at the Lowry Institute on 11 April 2023, Australia’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Angus Campbell, commented on the likelihood of further charges:
You won’t see me trying to gloss over these things. And I think that there could be some very, very uncomfortable days coming forward.
Perhaps the most relevant and telling comments by General Campbell – insofar as Canada is concerned – are the following, regarding the issue of damage to the reputation of the Australian military:
I don’t look to the question of ‘how do I protect my reputation or the reputation of the Australian Defence Force?’ Instead I ask the question: what are the correct values and behaviours and purpose to which we should be applying our effort? And reputation emerges.
Whither Canada?
Australia has initiated and completed an independent inquiry into grave breaches of the laws of war in Afghanistan by their armed forces. They are now actively following through with criminal prosecutions and internal military reforms. It is long past time for Canada to do the same. We reiterate our call for the Government of Canada to establish a public inquiry into the multiple allegations of complicity by Canadian military and civilians in the torture of Afghan detainees. Source
How a botched letter from Canada condemned one family to torment in Afghanistan
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Almost half of human rights defenders killed last year were in Colombia | |
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The Guardian 04/04/2023 - Colombia was the deadliest country in the world for human rights defenders in 2022, accounting for 186 killings – or 46% – of the global total registered last year, according to the latest report from the international human rights group Front Line Defenders. Front Line Defenders found that killings of rights defenders across the globe increased in 2022, with a total of 401 deaths across 26 different countries, compared with 358 deaths in 38 countries registered in 2021.
Colombia saw more than three times the number of human rights murders than Ukraine last year, which was the country with the second highest number of rights defenders killed in 2022, with 50 registered cases. In 2021, Colombia also topped Front Line Defenders’ charts registering 138 rights defenders killed. “In a grim milestone, for the first time we saw more than 400 targeted killings of human rights defenders in 2022. While Latin America remained the deadliest region in the world for human rights defenders, we also saw a more dangerous landscape for defenders in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” said Olive Moore, interim director of Front Line Defenders.
Five countries – Colombia (186 killings), Ukraine (50), Mexico (45), Brazil (26) and Honduras (17) – accounted for over 80% of rights defenders’ deaths registered last year. Across the different human rights sectors, defenders working on the protection of land, environmental and Indigenous peoples’ rights were the most frequently targeted. Front Line Defenders registered 194 murders of defenders working on these issues, accounting for 48% of the total global killings. Indigenous rights defenders accounted for 22% of the total global killings across all human rights sectors last year. “These human rights defenders were deliberately targeted and killed because of their human rights work. Because they choose to speak out and challenge injustice, they paid for it with their lives,” Moore said. Read more - Lire plus
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“Terrorism from the Sky”: Burmese Junta Bombs Civilians, Killing 100, Escalating Attack on Resistance | |
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Democracy Now! 12/04/2023 - Burma’s military junta carried out its deadliest attack yet on civilians in rebel-held areas when it bombed a meeting of community leaders Tuesday in the Sagaing region, killing an estimated 100 people, including 30 children.
The military junta has increasingly used airstrikes to crush the resistance since it seized power in 2021, often targeting schools and clinics run by the opposition. The United Nations has warned of worsening humanitarian and human rights crises in Burma, with mass arrests, torture of prisoners, the killing of civilians, and media repression. To discuss this latest attack and the ongoing crisis in Burma, we’re joined by Maung Zarni, a Burmese scholar, dissident and human rights activist. His recent piece is titled “Myanmar Military’s Acts of Terrorism from the Sky & Savage Beheadings on the Ground.” Read more - Lire plus
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Child detainees subjected to flogging, electric shocks and sexual violence in brutal protest crackdown in Iran | |
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Amnesty International 16/03/2023 - During the brutal crackdown in Iran, intelligence and security forces have been committing horrific acts of torture, including beatings, flogging, electric shocks, rape and other sexual violence against child protesters as young as 12 to quell their involvement in nationwide protests, said Amnesty International today.
Marking six months of the unprecedented popular uprising in Iran, sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, Amnesty International reveals the violence meted out to children arrested during and in the aftermath of protests. The research exposes the torture methods that the Revolutionary Guards, the paramilitary Basij, the Public Security Police and other security and intelligence forces used against boys and girls in custody to punish and humiliate them and to extract forced “confessions.”
“Iranian state agents have torn children away from their families and subjected them to unfathomable cruelties. It is abhorrent that officials have wielded such power in a criminal manner over vulnerable and frightened children, inflicting severe pain and anguish upon them and their families and leaving them with severe physical and mental scars. This violence against children exposes a deliberate strategy to crush the vibrant spirit of the country’s youth and stop them from demanding freedom and human rights,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“The authorities must immediately release all children detained solely for peacefully protesting. With no prospect of effective impartial investigations into the torture of children domestically, we call on all states to exercise universal jurisdiction over Iranian officials, including those with command or superior responsibility, reasonably suspected of criminal responsibility for crimes under international law, including the torture of child protesters.”
Since the start of Amnesty International’s investigations into the Iranian authorities’ brutal crackdown on the uprising, the organization has documented the cases of seven children in detail. The organization obtained testimonies from the victims and their families, as well as further testimonies on the widespread commission of torture against scores of children from 19 eyewitnesses, including two lawyers and 17 adult detainees who were held alongside children. The victims and eyewitnesses interviewed were from provinces across Iran including East Azerbaijan, Golestan, Kermanshah, Khorasan-e Razavi, Khuzestan, Lorestan, Mazandaran, Sistan and Baluchestan, Tehran, and Zanjan. Amnesty International has removed any reference to identifying details, such as the ages of the children and the provinces in which they were detained, in order to protect them and their families against reprisals.
Iranian authorities have admitted that the total number of people detained in connection with the protests was above 22,000. While they have not provided a breakdown of how many of those detained were children, state media reported that children comprised a significant portion of protesters. Based on testimonies of dozens of detainees from across the country who witnessed security forces detaining scores of children, coupled with the fact that children and youth have been at the forefront of protests, Amnesty International estimates that thousands of children could have been among those swept up in the wave of arrests. Read more - Lire plus
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The Case Against National Security Law | |
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ISPS Yale U 11/04/2023 - Ben Wizner can summarize the lessons of a year-long class in national security law in a few short sentences.
“The time bomb is always ticking,” he said. “We neither confirm nor deny what you see in plain sight. Or: Heads we win, tails you lose.” Wizner, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, elaborated on these themes in two lectures at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS) late last month, part of the Program on Ethics, Politics, and Economics’ (EP&E) Castle Lecture Series.
Speaking to audiences quick with their questions, Wizner discussed his experiences over two decades with the ACLU, litigating cases involving the treatment of U.S. government detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, warrantless surveillance programs, torture, and targeted killing. He describes a legal regime in which courts have routinely deferred to government officials’ assertions of national security interests and declined to reach decisions on many matters, deeming them non appropriate for judicial consideration.
Can the government carry out extrajudicial executions without notifying a targeted U.S. citizen of any justification? Can individuals taken by U.S. government officials and abused in foreign countries seek any remedy under U.S. law? Can the U.S. government vacuum up all international communications —including web browsing, search histories, and emails to and from U.S. citizens — and search it without any court approval? We don’t know, Wizner said. Because courts have accepted government arguments that to hear such cases in court would reveal state secrets and harm national security. “These outcomes deprive litigants of remedies,” he said. “But of greater significance, by failing to say what the law is, they deprive the nation of a definitive adjudication, allow abuses to continue unchecked, and leave the door open for future misconduct.”
Even as the government has lost cases concerning the treatment of individuals it has labeled enemy combatants in Guantanamo Bay, two decades later the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to rule on whether indefinite detention there without due process is lawful.
“All of this litigation without any substantive outcomes generates a kind of fog of law that conceals what I believe to be the real organizing principal of national security law: impunity for senior officials,” Wizner said. “This regime is robust and malleable and has proven adept across decades at identifying new hosts. It will not be dislodged anytime soon.”
Wizner argued that state secrets can be legitimate, but citizens and courts should not treat the government’s assertions as absolute and limitless, particularly considering documented cases of government deception. He said that public opinion is vital to exposing and curtailing government overreach, even if lawsuits seeking documents and accountability regularly fail. Since 2013, Wizner has served as the principal legal advisor to Edward Snowden, a former NSA subcontractor who leaked highly classified agency documents revealing its warrantless wiretapping program. He said breaking the law, as Snowden did, is the only way to create transparency because the government — including the courts and Congress — are not willing to acknowledge secrets even when they have been leaked and reported in the media. In secrecy disputes, he said, the government always gets the last laugh.
“But the game the government plays in these cases is corrosive and damaging,” Wizner said. “By deploying selective leaks to the press and secrecy claims to the courts, the government can simultaneously manipulate public debate and avoid accountability and oversight." Watch the lectures
Jameel Jaffer: Judging in Secret
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Jurist.org 27/03/2023 - The UN Sunday described the treatment of detainees at Guantánamo Bay as “worrying” and called for the closure of the detention facility “without further delay.” The comments came in a newly released report from the UN Human Rights Council which outlined “systematic shortcomings in medical expertise, equipment, treatment, and accommodations” at Guantánamo Bay.
The report was first transmitted to the UN Human Rights Council on January 11 by a group of independent human rights experts. But the report was not released to the public until this past weekend. The report specifically examined the detention of Abd Al-Hadi Al-Iraqi, also known as Nashwan al-Tamir, who is one of the last prisoners held as a part of the CIA detention program. While in prison, Al-Iraqi suffered from a degenerative spinal condition, which caused him to now rely upon a wheelchair and walker to get around. The UN experts described this as medical mistreatment.
In addition to the report, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights produced a report in January detailing how seven Guantánamo Bay detainees committed suicide between 2002 and 2021. The report also detailed Guantánamo Bay’s “unparalleled notoriety” for the use of “torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatments” against detainees. US President Joe Biden announced in February 2021 press briefing that his administration would close Guantánamo Bay before he left office. Despite the promise, the Biden administration has taken no further action towards closing the facility. Source
Ex-C.I.A. Psychologist Re-enacts Interrogation Techniques for Guantánamo Court
Guantanamo: Yemeni man will remain in prison despite US court ruling he is no threat
Former Guantánamo Prisoners Ask Biden to Let Them Keep Art They Made to “Escape” Inhumane Conditions
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After spying on Standing Rock, TigerSwan shopped anti-protest "counterinsurgency" to other oil companies | |
More than 50,000 pages of documents were recently made public after the company behind the Dakota Access pipeline lost a court case to keep them secret. This is Part 18 of the Oil and Water series which reveal a troubling fusion of private security, public law enforcement, and corporate money in the fight over the Dakota Access pipeline. | |
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The Intercept & Grist 14/04/2023 - To TigerSwan, the emergence of Indigenous-led social movements to keep oil and gas in the ground represented a business opportunity. Reese anticipated new demand from the fossil fuel industry for strategies to undermine the network of activists his company had so carefully gathered information on. In the records, TigerSwan expressed its ambitions to repurpose these detailed records to position themselves as experts in managing pipeline protests. The company created marketing materials pitching work to at least two other energy companies building controversial oil and gas infrastructure, the records show. TigerSwan, which was staffed heavily with former members of military special operations units, branded its tactics as a “counterinsurgency approach,” drawing directly from its leaders’ experiences fighting the so-called war on terror abroad.
TigerSwan did not just work in North Dakota. Energy Transfer hired the company to provide security to its Rover pipeline, in Ohio and West Virginia, the documents confirm. By spring 2017, TigerSwan was also assembling intelligence reports on opponents of Energy Transfer and Sunoco’s Mariner East 2 pipeline in Pennsylvania.
The documents from the North Dakota security board paint a detailed picture of counterinsurgency-style strategies for defeating opponents of oil and gas development, a war-on-terror security firm’s aspirations to replicate its deceptive tactics far beyond the Northern Great Plains, and the cozy relationship between businesses linked to the fossil fuel industry and one of the largest law enforcement trade associations in the U.S. The impetus for spying was not simply to keep people safe but to drum up profits from energy clients and to allow fossil fuels to continue flowing, at the expense of the communities fighting for clean water and a healthy climate. [...]
In January 2017, a TigerSwan deputy program manager emailed a presentation titled “Pipeline Opposition Model” to Reese and others, explaining that it was meant to serve as a business development tool and a “working concept to discuss the problem.” The presentation claimed external forces had helped drive the Standing Rock movement and pointed to outside tribes, climate nonprofits like 350.org, and even billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, who had a “vested interest in DAPL failure” because of their investments in the rail industry.
Water protectors used an elaborate set of social movement theories to advance their cause, another slide hypothesized, including “Lone Wolf terror tactics.” Specifically, TigerSwan speculated that pipeline opponents could be using the “hero cycle” narrative, a storytelling archetype, to recruit new movement members on social media and energize them to take action — a strategy, the presentation said, also used by ISIS recruiters.
Anyone whose work had touched the Standing Rock movement could become a villain in TigerSwan’s sales pitches. One PowerPoint presentation included biographical details about Zahra Hirji, a journalist who worked at the time for Inside Climate News. Another included a photo of a water protector’s former professor and her course list.
As a remedy, the company offered up a suite of “TigerSwan Solutions.” To the security firm, keeping the fossil fuel industry safe didn’t just mean drones, social media monitoring, HUMINT (short for human intelligence, such as from undercover personnel), and liaising with law enforcement officials and agencies — all included on its list — it also meant local community engagement, counter-protesters, building a “pipeline narrative,” and partnering with university oil and gas programs. Read more - Lire plus
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Tasked with stopping terror, Colorado's intel agency monitors students protesting gun violence | |
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The Intercept 05/04/2023 - Students protesting gun violence in Colorado are on the radar of the state’s intelligence command center, which issued a bulletin yesterday notifying authorities of “a planned nationwide school walkout … in protest of gun violence,” according to a copy of the document obtained by The Intercept. Thousands of Colorado students were expected to protest inaction by state lawmakers by walking out of their classes Wednesday.
“The Students Demand Action (SDA) has coordinated a nationwide school walkout amongst students throughout the country with similar trends to those seen in Colorado,” stated the situational awareness bulletin dated April 4, which was issued by the Colorado Information Analysis Center. CIAC’s mission is “preventing acts of terrorism, taking an all-crimes/all-threats approach,” according to the agency’s website. It’s not clear how the student walkouts relate to this mission. Experts have long criticized fusion centers like CIAC for operating with broad authorities and little oversight.
“Sadly, messaging targeting protests happens all too often from fusion centers thanks to expansive mandates and lax rules and accountability,” said Spencer Reynolds, counsel in the Brennan Center for Justice’s liberty and national security program, who previously served as senior intelligence counsel in the office of general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security. “These agencies started as counterterrorism hubs and in early years often singled out American Muslims,” Reynolds added. “They’ve since doubled down, expanding to scrutinize racial justice, environmental, and pro-choice demonstrators.”
Fusion centers like CIAC are state entities that were established in the wake of 9/11 to streamline domestic intelligence-gathering. They provide warnings and analysis to local law enforcement and work in concert with federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security. They have drawn criticism from civil liberties advocates for engaging in sweeping data collection and dissolving the legal boundaries between state and federal power.
“Fusion centers are often run by police and have a practice of tracking protesters who they construe as security threats,” Reynolds said. CIAC’s expansive focus is evident in several other bulletins obtained by The Intercept, which are not public but were shared with state and federal partners, including law enforcement. One bulletin, dated November 29, 2022, warned of “potential threats posed by extremism in gaming,” citing games like Roblox as examples. Another warned of the “social and safety implications of new social media app, Gas,” a social platform designed for high schoolers.
“The planned school walkouts are believed to be in response to several recent school shootings,” the CIAC bulletin states, going on to identify over two dozen Colorado schools where walkouts were expected to take place. Last month, two school administrators were shot and wounded by a 17-year-old in Denver’s East High School. On March 27, six people, including three students, were killed when a former student opened fire at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee. The CIAC bulletin attributes the walkouts to both of these shootings. Source
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Biden Should Reverse Trump’s Designation of Cuba as a “State Sponsor of Terrorism” | |
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Progressive International 11/04/2023 - In January, Havana was the seat of the first high-level talks between Cuba and the United States since 2018, fueling speculation that the Biden administration may be contemplating removing Cuba from the State Department’s list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SST), an easy first step that wouldn’t require congressional approval.
In Washington, everybody knows that Cuba isn’t a state sponsor of terrorism. President Obama understood that when, in April 2015, he removed the island from the SST list (the Trump administration would later reinsert it). Ben Rhodes, one of Obama’s deputy national security advisers, tweeted at the time: “Put simply, POTUS is acting to remove Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism list because Cuba is not a State Sponsor of Terrorism.”
Obama believed it was in the national interest for the US to veer away from its age-old Cuba policy. Stemming from his belief that engagement would serve a greater purpose than isolation, the shift contributed greatly to improving Obama’s standing in Latin America. After the fiasco of last year’s Summit of the Americas, Biden may find this to be an attractive prospect.
If anything, the election of left-of-center governments in several Latin American states means the region is now even more united on the Cuba issue than before. Unsurprisingly, a week before his trip to Washington, President Lula da Silva of Brazil said Cuba was likely to feature in his discussion with the US president, as “Cuba was always on the agenda” in his meetings with Bush and Obama.
It’s also significant that Cuba returned to the SST list for the most dishonest of reasons: Trump’s pandering to the extremist anti-Cuba lobby, including Florida Senator Marco Rubio, then vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee in charge of investigating Trump’s Russia connections. If Trump’s motives were dishonest, the process by which Cuba was put back on the list was even more deceitful. Trump found an opening not in Cuban support for war or terror, but in Cuba’s support for peace: specifically, Colombia’s peace. Read more - Lire plus
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James Risen: The Anti-War Vote That Came 20 Years Late | |
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The Intercept 31/03/2023 - Members of the United States Senate are patting themselves on the back. They officially just voted to end the war in Iraq — sort of. The Senate voted Wednesday to repeal the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force for the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, and the legislation is being praised by its supporters in the Senate as a reassertion of the war-making powers of Congress. “This vote shows that Congress is prepared to call back our constitutional role in deciding how and when a nation goes to war,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee. Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, and Republican Todd Young of Indiana, argued that the vote sent a signal that the American people are still in charge when it comes to deciding when to go to war. But the Senate vote came 20 years too late. It was as if Congress had voted to end the Vietnam War in the 1990s.
It was a symbolic vote, not an act of courage. It was a historical artifact, like endorsing a new monument honoring the war’s dead. It came just days after the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion, and, even if passed by the House and signed into law by President Joe Biden, it will have no impact on any ongoing U.S. military operations in Iraq or anywhere else. American combat operations ended in Iraq years ago, and there are now only about 2,500 U.S. military personnel in the country, acting as trainers and advisers to Iraqi forces; their work in Iraq will continue uninterrupted. U.S. counterterrorism operations around the world, including drone strikes and Special Operations raids, will not be affected, even in Iraq; the broader 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force in the war on terrorism remains intact. As if to underscore the abstract nature of Wednesday’s vote, the Senate threw in a repeal of the authorization for the 1991 Persian Gulf War for good measure. Read more - Lire plus
Jeremy Scahill: The Prosecution of Trump Is a Good First Step. Now Do Bush.
96,000 Iraqis jailed without warrants during US occupation: UN
Two decades after its catastrophic failure on Iraq, the New York Times still can’t get basic facts straight
When questioned, The Atlantic refused to correct a basic error about chemical weapons in Iraq
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Podcast: U.S. Counterterrorism Efforts Destabilizing African Nations | |
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The Intercepted 12/04/2023 - Vice President Kamala Harris wrapped a historic tour of Africa last week, where she positioned the U.S. as a reliable and trustworthy security and economic partner. This week on Intercepted, host Murtaza Hussain is joined by investigative reporter, Nick Turse, to discuss his latest reporting on U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Africa.
Since the war on terror was launched, the U.S. government’s ventures in Africa have been more focused on military aid than economic support. Harris’s trip comes after a decade of China investing in infrastructure and critical resource mining throughout the continent and the administration’s concerns over the growing influence of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group. But America’s 20-plus years of counterterrorism support in the region hasn’t resulted in better security. In that time, terrorist groups have risen and U.S.-trained African officers have attempted at least nine coups, eight of which were successful. Hussain and Turse discuss the impact of U.S. military involvement and the influence of other foreign powers. Read more - Lire plus
Thieves rip off U.S. weapons as shadow war in Syria escalates
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No to spyware: Biden administration bars U.S. federal government from using rights-abusing tech | |
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AccessNow 27/03/2023 - Yesterday, March 27, in a significant victory for human rights, President Biden issued an executive order barring operational use of foreign or domestic commercial spyware by all U.S. federal agencies, unless they meet stringent requirements. This executive order banning the use of dangerous surveillance tech, paired with recent Congressional action, makes it increasingly clear the U.S. government views spyware as a threat to human rights and democracy that requires a robust policy response. Access Now applauds the administration for its deliberative effort and urges states to follow suit and adopt similar restrictions.
The executive order, a product of interagency coordination, prohibits any federal entity from using spyware that presents risks to U.S. national security or has been misused by foreign actors to enable human rights abuses around the world. It details specific, high bars federal agencies must meet to receive a waiver. The order was announced on the same day 45 civil society organizations, including Access Now, urged world leaders and tech investors to protect people from spyware — and just days before the second Summit for Democracy. Targeted surveillance technology is dangerous in any hands — whether totalitarian regimes or democratic governments. This move to ban the use of spyware in U.S. government agencies couldn’t be more timely and sets an example for governments around the world to follow suit. A global moratorium on digital surveillance technology, and an end to its ongoing abuse, must come next.
In December, Congress passed into law various spyware-related provisions aimed at cracking down on the use of this invasive technology. Last year, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence held a public hearing on the threats posed by foreign commercial spyware like NSO Group’s Pegasus. NSO Group was added to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Entity List in November 2021 along with Candiru. Access Now will continue to engage Congress and the U.S. administration to take further action on spyware and ensure the protection of digital rights around the world. Source
A Front Company and a Fake Identity: How the U.S. Came to Use Spyware It Was Trying to Kill.
S.T.O.P. Condemns Secret NSO Contract, Says Biden Spyware Order Is A ‘Sham’
Global: 46 organisations call on states to prioritise protections against spyware during the 2023 Summit for Democracy
India: Government’s pursuit of new surveillance technology heightens human rights concerns
New spyware firm said to have helped hack iPhones around the globe
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Colombia: Misuse of counter-terrorism measures to prosecute protesters threatens human rights, say UN experts | |
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FirstPost 29/03/2023 - UN experts on Wednesday called on Colombia to stop misusing counter-terrorism measures and serious criminal offences, such as terrorism, to prosecute individuals for taking part in protests against government policies.
Urging the authorities to ensure that any charges brought forward comply with international law and human rights standards, experts said that the use of such egregious charges to prosecute violent conduct during protests poses a serious threat to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the legitimacy of international counter-terrorism frameworks and laws.
“It has a chilling effect and encourages vilification campaigns against protest movements in the country,” the rights body said. In February this year, thousands of people took to the streets of Colombia’s major cities to protest social and economic reforms that leftist President Gustavo Petro presented to Congress, policies he says will improve access to health care and protect people’s rights, but which opponents say will aid criminals.
According to the information received by the UN experts, it indicates that 228 individuals who took part in the protests of 2021 have been charged with serious offences, including terrorism and conspiracy to commit crimes, for which some are facing more than 22 years in prison. Read more - Lire plus
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Sri Lanka: Reject New Counterterrorism Bill | |
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Human Rights Watch 07/04/2023 - The government pledged to adopt an improved law following domestic and international criticism of abuses under existing counterterrorism legislation. But instead of addressing the problems, the bill would expand the definition of terrorism to include crimes such as property damage, theft, or robbery, and restrict the rights to freedom of assembly and speech.
“The proposed counterterrorism law would permit the Sri Lankan government to continue to use draconian measures to silence peaceful critics and target minorities,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government’s crackdown on dissent and misuse of existing counterterrorism laws to arbitrarily detain protesters highlights the obvious risk of abuse.”
The Anti-Terrorism Bill, which was published on March 22, 2023, is intended to replace the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which led to widespread torture and arbitrary detentions since its introduction in 1979. While the new bill contains some improvements, it includes provisions that will facilitate abuse. The bill appears designed to give the president, police, and military broad powers to detain people without evidence, to make vaguely defined forms of speech a criminal offense, and to arbitrarily ban gatherings and organizations without meaningful judicial oversight. Read more - Lire plus
International Federation of Journalists: Sri Lanka: Proposed anti-terror bill labelled tyrannical, undemocratic
Sri Lanka: UN body decries violations of civil and political rights
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Canada must repatriate all Canadians detained in NE Syria now! | |
On January 20, 2023, Federal Court Justice Henry Brown ruled that Canada must repatriate Canadians illegally and arbitrarily detained in northeast Syria. On February 6, 2023, the Canadian government filed an appeal and asked that the Brown ruling be set aside and placed on hold while the appeal plays out. This is unacceptable.
Every day the government fails to bring these Canadians home, it places their lives at risk from disease, malnutrition, violence, and ongoing military conflicts, including bombing by Turkey’s military. United Nations officials have even found that the conditions faced by Canadians in prison are akin to torture. Please click below to urge the federal government to repatriate all Canadians illegally & arbitrarily detained in northeast Syria without delay.
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20 years of fighting deportation to torture: Justice for Mohamed Harkat Now! | |
Take Action for Justice for Hassan Diab! | |
Canada must protect encryption! | |
Canada’s extradition system is broken. One leading legal expert calls it “the least fair law in Canada.” It has led to grave harms and rights violations, as we’ve seen in the case of Canadian citizen Dr Hassan Diab. It needs to be reformed now.
Click below to send a message to urge Prime Minister Trudeau, the Minister of Justice and your Member of Parliament to reform the extradition system before it makes more victims. And share on Facebook + Twitter + Instagram. Thank you!
Regardez la vidéo avec les sous-titres en français + Agir
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Protect our rights from facial recognition! | Facial recognition surveillance is invasive and inaccurate. This unregulated tech poses a threat to the fundamental rights of people across Canada. Federal intelligence agencies refuse to disclose whether they use facial recognition technology. The RCMP has admitted (after lying about it) to using facial recognition for 18 years without regulation, let alone a public debate regarding whether it should have been allowed in the first place. Send a message to Prime Minister Trudeau and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair calling for a ban now. | |
OTHER NEWS - AUTRES NOUVELLES | |
July to December 2022 - Juillet à décembre 2022 | |
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In case you missed it, we've published our biannual summary of activities last month. Here are the legislation and issues we worked on from July to December 2022:
- Bill C-20, Public Complaints and Review Commission Act
- Bill C-26, An Act respecting cyber security & amending the Telecommunications Act
- Bill C-27, Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022
- "Online harms" proposal
- Countering terrorist financing & prejudiced audits of Muslim charities
- International Assistance and anti-terrorism laws
- Justice for Dr Hassan Diab & reform of the Extradition Act
- CSIS accountability and duty of candour
- Facial Recognition Technology (FRT)
- Canadians detained in Northeastern Syria
- Justice for Moe Harkat and abolish security certificates
- Canada’s armed drone purchase
- Listing of Iranian Canadians
- Ongoing No Fly List problems
For more details on each issue, click here. And here are the issues we plan to work on in the first half of 2023:
- Advocating for changes to anti-terror laws that prohibit Canadian organizations from providing international assistance in Afghanistan and other regions in need;
- Ensuring that the Canadian government’s proposals on “online harms” do not violate fundamental freedoms, or exacerbate the silencing of racialized and marginalized voices;
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Protecting our privacy from government surveillance, including facial recognition, and from attempts to weaken encryption, along with advocating for privacy law reform;
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Fighting for Justice for Mohamed Harkat, an end to security certificates, and addressing problems in security inadmissibility;
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Ensuring Justice for Hassan Diab and reforming Canada’s extradition law;
- The return of the 40+ Canadian citizens indefinitely detained in Syrian camps, including more than 20 children;
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The end to the CRA’s prejudiced audits of Muslim-led charities;
- Pushing for Canadian government action on behalf of Iranian Canadians negatively and unjustly impacted by the US terror listing of the IRGC;
- Greater accountability and transparency for the Canada Border Services Agency;
- Greater transparency and accountability for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service;
- Advocating for the repeal of the Canadian No Fly List, and for putting a stop to the use of the US No Fly List by air carriers in Canada;
- Pressuring lawmakers to protect our civil liberties from the negative impact of national security and the “war on terror”, as well as keeping you and our member organizations informed via the News Digest;
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And much more! Read more - Lire plus
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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!
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 $10 or more per month (and wanted to be listed) directly in the News Digest. Without all of you, our work wouldn't be possible!
James Deutsch
Bill Ewanick
Kevin Malseed
Brian Murphy
Colin Stuart
Bob Thomson
James Turk
John & Rosemary Williams
Jo Wood
The late Bob Stevenson
Nous tenons à remercier nos organisations membres ainsi que les centaines de personnes qui ont soutenu notre travail à travers les années, y compris sur Patreon! En récompense, nous nommons ci-dessus nos mécènes qui donnent 10$ 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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