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International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group

Coalition pour la surveillance internationale des libertés civiles

June 7, 2024 - 7 juin 2024

Alarmed groups urge MPs to extend study of troubling new foreign interference bill

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ICLMG 06/06/2024 - To the members of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security:


We are writing to you today to express our deep concerns with the speed with which Bill C-70, the Countering Foreign Interference Act, is currently being studied by the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. A rushed process for a bill of such scope will undermine the ability to hold a full and meaningful study of the bill, risking the adoption of laws that will violate the Charter-protected rights and freedoms of people in Canada.


We recognize the importance of addressing harassment, threats and violence against people, including when enacted by foreign governments in order to repress the exercise of fundamental rights or engagement in democratic processes.


However, the changes proposed by this legislation go much further. If adopted, this bill will bring extensive changes to Canada’s national security, intelligence and criminal justice systems, in addition to creating a foreign influence registry of considerable, albeit uncertain, scope. As a consequence, this bill will have significant impacts on the lives and fundamental rights of people in Canada, including risks of increased surveillance, diminished privacy, limits on freedom of expression and freedom of association, undermining due process in courts through the use of secret evidence, and racial, religious and political profiling. 


Introduced barely a month ago, with the Foreign Interference Inquiry ongoing, the bill is scheduled to fly through committee study within a week. This is faster than even the rushed 2001 study of the first Anti-terrorism Act, which was in committee for a month. The result is that organizations and individuals who would have requested to appear, or would have submitted written briefs, will be unable to on such short timelines. Developing specific amendments to suggest by this Friday’s deadline is nearly impossible.


Rushing the parliamentary process, supported by a state of suspicion and ardent calls to protect national security, can lead to serious, negative and long-lasting consequences. An expedited study also risks missing ways the bill could be improved to better address issues of foreign interference. We urge you to work with your colleagues in the House of Commons to extend this important study in order to ensure a fulsome debate and discussion of its wide-ranging provisions. 


Signed by: Amnesty International Canadian Section (English speaking); BC Civil Liberties Association; British Columbia Gurdwaras Council; Canadian Association of University Teachers; Canadian Civil Liberties Association; Canadian Federation of Students; Canadian Muslim Lawyers’ Association; Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council; Centre for Free Expression; International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group; Ligue des droits et libertés; National Council of Canadian Muslims; OpenMedia; Ontario Gurdwaras Committee Source


NEW ACTION Parliament must extend study of new foreign interference bill to protect rights!


Video: ICLMG warns MPs: New foreign interference bill will violate Charter rights if not heavily amended


Radio interview with ICLMG: Civil society groups urge to not rush the committee study of C-70


Our joint statement in the Canadian Press: Don’t rush committee study of foreign interference bill, civil society groups urge


Notre déclaration conjointe dans La Presse: Loi concernant la lutte contre l’ingérence étrangère: La précipitation est mauvaise conseillère


Liberals blocking access to 1,000-plus documents, says intel-oversight panel reviewing foreign interference


When National Security Concerns Become Unjust: Preventing a Second "Yellow Peril"

What we’ve been up to so far in 2024

ICLMG 31/05/2024 - Thanks to the support of our members and donors, so far in 2024 we have been able to work on the following:


  • Bill C-20, Public Complaints and Review Commission Act - which would FINALLY create an independent watchdog for CBSA
  • Bill C-27, Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022 - which includes the very problematic Artificial Intelligence and Data Act
  • Advocating for the protection of international assistance from anti-terrorism laws after the adoption of Bill C-41
  • Bill C-63: The very concerning Online Harms Act
  • Bill C-70: The new and highly controversial Foreign Interference legislation
  • Parliamentary study on Transparency of the Department of National Defence
  • Biometrics guidance & other privacy issues with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  • Palestine and the right to dissent
  • Combatting Racism & Islamophobia
  • Repatriation of all Canadians detained in Northeastern Syria
  • Justice for Dr Hassan Diab
  • Mohamed Harkat & Security certificates
  • Canada’s 4th Universal Periodic Review
  • Work with the international Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism
  • The UN Counter-terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) Canada assessment
  • The UN Cybersecurity Treaty & the EU AI Convention


What we have planned for the rest of 2024!


  • Pressuring lawmakers and officials to protect our civil liberties from the negative impact of national security as well as opposing the discourse of “countering terrorism” to repress dissent, such as protests and encampments in support of Palestinian rights and lives.
  • Opposing the weaponization of concerns around foreign interference to unnecessarily increase national security powers, which will greatly affect rights and liberties of Canadians, and will most likely lead to more harassment and xenophobia
  • Ensuring that the Canadian government’s proposals on “online harms” do not violate fundamental freedoms, or exacerbate the silencing of racialized and marginalized voices
  • Protecting our privacy from government surveillance, including facial recognition, and from attempts to weaken encryption, along with advocating for good privacy law reform
  • Addressing the lack of regulation on the use of AI in national security, including proposed exemptions for national security agencies
  • Fighting for Justice for Mohamed Harkat, an end to security certificates, and addressing problems in security inadmissibility
  • Ensuring Justice for Hassan Diab and reforming Canada’s extradition law
  • The return of the rest of the Canadian citizens and the non-Canadian mothers of Canadian children indefinitely detained in Syrian camps
  • The end to the CRA’s prejudiced audits of Muslim-led charities
  • Greater accountability and transparency for the Canada Border Services Agency
  • Greater accountability and transparency 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
  • Keeping you and our member organizations informed via the News Digest
  • Publishing a collection of essays written by amazing partners on the work of the ICLMG for our 20th anniversary
  • And much more! Read more - Lire plus

A call for Canadian support for the ICC’s work with respect to Palestine/Israel

ICLMG's National Coordinator, Tim McSorley, is among the 375 signatories.

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Alex Neve's blog 29/05/2024 - I am honoured to be among 375 Canadian law professors, lawyers, legal scholars, academics, civil society, faith and labour movement leaders, and former diplomats and parliamentarians, who have written the following Open Letter to the Prime Minister calling for his government to to issue a clear statement of support for the work of the International Criminal Court with respect to the situation in Palestine.


The letter includes the following key elements:


  • Canada fully respects the ICC, unequivocally embraces the Court’s independence, and unconditionally supports the work of the Court in this matter, including investigations of alleged crimes committed by both Israeli and Hamas officials.
  • Canada will fully cooperate with the ICC in the Palestine situation, in keeping with Canada’s obligations under the Rome Statute, including providing any assistance requested with respect to evidence and witnesses, and executing arrest warrants if any individuals sought by the Court come within Canadian jurisdiction.
  • Canada condemns any threats made against ICC personnel in connection with this situation, or any situations or cases pursued by the Court, and specifically calls on all actors, both at home and abroad, to refrain from imposing or threatening to impose any sanctions or taking any other retaliatory measures against judges and court staff.
  • Canada resolutely agrees that universality is a cardinal principle of international justice. No one should be excluded from accountability for crimes under international law, regardless of their nationality, political status, power and influence, or whether they serve in a democratic, autocratic or dictatorial government, or are part of an armed group.
  • Canada calls on all governments, particularly those of ICC member states, to make similar expressions of unwavering support for and commitment to cooperate fully with the ICC, in relation to this and all matters under investigation or before the court. Read more - Lire plus


Latest Israeli Rafah Attack Kills 45, Injures 110+; How Can World Enforce ICJ’s Ruling to End Assault?


NEW Parliamentary petition demanding sanctions on Israel


NEW Free Palestine Ottawa rally on June 8 at 1pm


NEW June 13th: Day of action for an Arms Embargo on Israel


MSF: Proposal to designate UNRWA as a terrorist organisation an outrageous attack on humanitarian assistance


Israel bombs UNRWA Gaza school housing displaced Palestinians, kills at least 40


UK - Jury acquits Palestine Action activists on defences of Necessity and Protection of Property

Palestine Legal Warns Against Escalating Efforts to Weaponize Terror Laws and Suppress Advocacy for Palestinian Rights

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Palestine Legal 28/05/2024 - In recent weeks, as encampments and other protests on campuses have gained national attention and a seven-month-long US-backed genocide continues unabated in Palestine, anti-Palestinian lawmakers, groups, and institutional actors have intensified their racist and repressive targeting of the Palestine solidarity movement in the US from multiple angles. This is a desperate effort to criminalize and shut down a growing movement calling for Palestinian freedom.


Anti-Palestinian organizations have filed a spate of meritless civil lawsuits attempting to further extend already expansive US anti-terrorism laws against humanitarian organizations, student organizers, and grassroots advocacy groups. These suits make sprawling and unfounded claims, similar to those roundly defeated in a frivolous case against the advocacy group the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. They attempt to smear Palestinian human rights defenders, humanitarian organizations and campus activists by arguing that groups and individuals, through vigorous advocacy for Palestinian rights and freedom, are providing “material support” to organizations designated by the U.S. Government as “terrorist”. 


These lawsuits represent a grave threat to First Amendment-protected political expression and association and to getting desperately needed humanitarian aid to Palestine. They are racist attacks focused on isolating Palestinians by criminalizing advocacy and humanitarian aid, as well as distracting and draining resources away from efforts to end Israel’s US-backed genocide and advance Palestinian freedom. They also rely on dangerously sprawling legal theories that would have sweeping consequences far beyond the Palestine movement for grassroots social justice movements that dissent from the status quo.


At the same time, anti-Palestinian lawmakers and groups are launching an all-out offensive against the movement, using misinformation and smears that project criminality onto protests. Right wing lawmakers are initiating McCarthyite measures, including fishing expeditions against grassroots groups and foundations, and congressional hearings that serve as political theater to browbeat institutional leaders who are all too willing to comply by undermining free speech and academic freedom. A bill was passed through the House of Representatives that would—if signed into law—empower a single government bureaucrat to revoke the non-profit status of any organization he or she deems to be “terror-supporting.” Another bill - similar versions of which have been introduced and failed multiple times - seeks to codify into anti-discrimination law the distorted and politicized IHRA definition of antisemitism, which conflates speech critical of Israel with anti-Jewish bigotry, and is almost exclusively used to censor and punish criticism of Israel. 


These measures are part of Israel and its allies’ concerted efforts to crush the solidarity movement that Palestine Legal has long been documenting. The use of antiterrorism laws against the movement is particularly dangerous given the stigmatizing effect they have, even when the accusations have no merit. As our recent briefing paper demonstrates, these laws have, from their inception, been designed and used to target Palestinian movements, and anti-Palestinian groups are now aiming them at what should be protected First Amendment speech, association, and assembly activities for Palestinian rights.  

As an organization long reporting on and challenging a “Palestine Exception” in the law, we warn that, despite unprecedented popular solidarity with Palestinian rights, anti-Palestinian rhetoric and repression are quickly escalating. This repression will likely have long-standing consequences for all justice movements and constitutional, civil and human rights writ large. This repression and lawfare, together with parallels in attacks on Indigenous, environmental, and racial justice movements, must be defeated if we are to preserve our right to dissent. 


We call on all lawyers and people of conscience to step up and robustly defend Palestinians and their allies who are challenging the deep dehumanization that has taken hold and facilitated this genocide. Our collective rights to organize for justice and prevent a descent into fascism depend on it. Source


Vancouver: The BCCLA denounces the extreme police violence used against peaceful people in acts of civil disobedience


People’s University UBC rejects RCMP C-IRG/CRU-BC at student Palestine solidarity encampment


Police arrest 15, use tear gas on crowd as pro-Palestinian activists occupy McGill University building


Démantèlement d’un campement étudiant à l’UL : La LDL-Qc dénonce la répression du droit de manifester


After clearing campus encampment, York university and Toronto police must apologize and commit to a rights-regarding approach going forward


Protesters at UofT encampment accuse police of surveillance


Amnesty International Canada warns against criminalizing University of Toronto protest encampment


Alex Neve: What makes the uOttawa encampment legal? Human rights


New Report Analyzes Crackdown on Palestine Solidarity in the U.S.


The Assault on Academic Freedom: The violent crackdown on student protests against the Gaza genocide has thrown universities from New York to Amsterdam into a deep crisis


Israel’s Universities: The Crackdown

Citizen Lab: Ottawa wants the power to create secret backdoors in our networks to allow for surveillance

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The Globe and Mail 29/05/2024 - A federal cybersecurity bill, slated to advance through Parliament soon, contains secretive, encryption-breaking powers that the government has been loath to talk about. And they threaten the online security of everyone in Canada.


Bill C-26 empowers government officials to secretly order telecommunications companies to install backdoors inside encrypted elements in Canada’s networks. This could include requiring telcos to alter the 5G encryption standards that protect mobile communications to facilitate government surveillance.


The government’s decision to push the proposed law forward without amending it to remove this encryption-breaking capability has set off alarm bells that these new powers are a feature, not a bug.

There are already many insecurities in today’s networks, reaching down to the infrastructure layers of communication technology. The Signalling System No. 7, developed in 1975 to route phone calls, has become a major source of insecurity for cellphones. In 2017, the CBC demonstrated how hackers only needed a Canadian MP’s cell number to intercept his movements, text messages and phone calls. Little has changed since: A 2023 Citizen Lab report details pervasive vulnerabilities at the heart of the world’s mobile networks.


So it makes no sense that the Canadian government would itself seek the ability to create more holes, rather than patching them. Yet it is pushing for potential new powers that would infect next-generation cybersecurity tools with old diseases.


It’s not as if the government wasn’t warned. Citizen Lab researchers presented the 2023 report’s findings in parliamentary hearings on Bill C-26, and leaders and experts in civil society and in Canada’s telecommunications industry warned that the bill must be narrowed to prevent its broad powers to compel technical changes from being used to compromise the ”confidentiality, integrity, or availability” of telecommunication services. And yet, while government MPs maintained that their intent is not to expand surveillance capabilities, MPs pushed the bill out of committee without this critical amendment last month. In doing so, the government has set itself up to be the sole arbiter of when, and on what conditions, Canadians deserve security for their most confidential communications – personal, business, religious, or otherwise.


The new powers would only make people in Canada more vulnerable to malicious threats to the privacy and security of all network users, including Canada’s most senior officials. Encryption of 5G technology safeguards a web of connection points surrounding mobile communications, and protects users from man-in-the-middle attacks that intercept their text and voice communications or location data. The law would also impact cloud-connected smart devices like cars, home CCTV, or pacemakers, and satellite-based services like Starlink – all of which could be compromised by any new vulnerabilities.


Unfortunately, history is rife with government backdoors exposing individuals to deep levels of cyber-insecurity. Backdoors can be exploited by law enforcement, criminals and foreign rivals alike. For this reason, past heads of the CIA, the NSA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as well as Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and MI5, all oppose measures that would weaken encryption. Interception equipment relied upon by governments has also often been shown to have significant security weaknesses.


The bill’s new spy powers also reveal incoherence in the government’s cybersecurity strategy. In 2022, Canada announced it would be blocking telecom equipment from Huawei and ZTE, citing the “cascading economic and security impacts” that a supply-chain breach would engender. The government cited concerns that the Chinese firms might be “compelled to comply with extrajudicial directions from foreign governments.” And yet, Bill C-26 would quietly provide Canada with the same authority that it publicly condemned. If the bill passes as-is, all telecom providers in Canada would be compellable through secret orders to weaken encryption or network equipment. It doesn’t just contradict Canada’s own pro-encryption policy and expert guidance – authoritarian governments abroad would also be able to point to Canada’s law to justify their own repressive security legislation.


Now, more than ever, there is no such thing as a safe backdoor. The GCHQ reports that the threat from commercial hacking firms will be “transformational on the cyber landscape,” and that cyber mercenaries wield capabilities rivalling that of state cyber-agencies. If the Canadian government compels telcos to undermine security features to accommodate surveillance, it will pave the way for cyberespionage firms and other adversaries to find more ways into people’s communications. A shortcut that provides a narrow advantage for the few at the expense of us all is no way to secure our complex digital ecosystem.


Against this threat landscape, a pivot is crucial. Canada needs cybersecurity laws that explicitly recognize that uncompromised encryption is the backbone of cybersecurity, and it must be mandated and protected by all means possible. Source


EFF: Security, Surveillance, and Government Overreach – the United States Set the Path but Canada Shouldn’t Follow It

Canadian Jack Letts has been illegally detained without charge for 2,582 days in Northeast Syria

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Facebook 01/06/2024 - Canadian Jack Letts has been illegally detained without charge for 2,582 days in Northeast Syria, held under conditions the United Nations calls akin to torture.



Jack's jailers have asked Canada to bring him home, along with 18 other Canadian Muslim men, women and children arbitrarily detained without charge. It's a simple 3-step process: Canada writes a letter requesting repatriation, issues travel documents, and sends a representative for the sign-over. The USA flies everyone home.


Yet Canada refuses.


Amnesty International writes that detainees "are facing systematic violations and dying in large numbers due to inhumane conditions.”


When we began the repatriation campaign there were over 50 Canadians held in Syria. Public and legal pressure has brought home 32 of the detainees. Now we are down to 19 (which includes three moms not born in Canada). We must keep up the pressure until everyone is home.


You can help!


Please call Global Affairs Minister Melanie Joly at 613-992-0983 and urge her to put an end to this humanitarian nightmare for 19 Canadian men, women and children in NE Syria, and finally bring them home. It is the only legally compliant response to this human rights crisis. Source


NEW Pick a Day to Join the Chain Fast to Free the Canadian Captives June 1 to 19, 2024


Iraq repatriates nearly 200 families from Syria ISIS detention camp: Monitor


US-Backed Camps in Northeast Syria Are Holding 29,000 Children in Detention

Canada's war in Afghanistan

CFPI 04/06/2024 - On Talking Foreign Policy: an internationalist perspective on Canadian foreign policyOwen Schalk discusses a recent New York Times article headlined “AMERICA'S MONSTER: How the United States Backed Kidnapping, Torture and Murder” in Afghanistan and a National Post series on Canadian military valour in that country. Author of Canada in Afghanistan: A story of military, diplomatic, political and media failure, 2003-2023, Schalk also talks about that war’s implications for Canadian foreign policy and the prospects for Afghanistan. Source


“America’s Monster”: How a U.S. Ally Kidnapped, Killed & Tortured Hundreds in Afghanistan

Last chance: Sign the parliamentary petition for justice for Hassan Diab before June 10th

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HDSC 16/05/2024 - Whereas:

  • Dr. Hassan Diab (70), a Canadian citizen, was wrongfully extradited to France on 14 November 2014, in a case described by extradition Judge Maranger as “weak” and in which “the prospects of conviction in the context of a fair trial seem unlikely”;
  • Dr. Diab was detained in a Paris prison for over three years, largely in solitary confinement, while France attempted to manufacture a case against him. He was never formally charged or tried throughout that time;
  • Two senior and respected anti-terrorist investigating judges concluded, on 12 January 2018, that there was no evidence to justify a trial and ordered Dr. Diab’s immediate release. He returned to Canada and was reunited with his family in Ottawa on 14 January 2018;
  • An appeal by the French prosecutor resulted in a summary and partisan trial in April 2023. Dr. Diab was convicted in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment, principally on the basis of hearsay ‘evidence’ and secret, anonymous intelligence. Strong alibi and other exculpatory evidence was excluded from consideration by the court; and
  • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear in June 2018 that “what happened to Hassan Diab should never have happened” and said that an ordeal like Hassan’s should never happen again.


We, the undersigned, citizens or residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to formally declare that Canada will neither accept nor agree to any second request from the French Government for the extradition of Dr. Hassan Diab in connection with the 1980 Paris attack. Sign - Signer

Amina Shareef: Dismantle the knowledge systems that enable genocide

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Al Jazeera 30/05/2024 - Terrorism has long been used to describe violence that is pathological in nature instead of political. It is the violence of “psyches gone awry” and “psychological disturbance”.


Reframing political violence as pathological violence, terror talk implies that those who commit what is called terrorism do so out of some innate and ingrained penchant for irrational violence.


In so doing, terror talk creates a racial category: the category of people who have not progressed into the age of the rule of law – and indeed cannot – due to reasons that emerge at the intersection of biology and culture.


For, indeed, with the irrational and uncivilised as its object, terror talk creates an edge to a rules-based order. That is, it establishes the limits of the universal application of the rights enshrined in international humanitarian law — the right to sovereignty, the right to security, and the right to life.


In other words, terror talk suspends the juridical order for those deemed outside of the political and the rule of law — the so-called terrorists, future terrorists (children), terrorist sympathisers (the population), and terrorist reproducers (mothers).


Suspending the guarantee of international political protection, terror talk makes killable life.

We see this in Gaza. Terror talk has made it legitimate to bomb, maim, dice to pieces, snipe, displace, detain, and torture Palestinian life. Terror talk exposes Palestinian life to death and premature death.


Terror talk and the university


The Western university is a key producer and disseminator of terror knowledge and therefore is entangled in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people in ways that move beyond its financial investments in Israeli companies.


Terror knowledge has been given the veneer of scientific and academic respectability under the umbrella term of “terrorism studies”. With 90 percent of its research taking place after the 9/11 attacks, terrorism studies mushroomed into an area study since the war on terror.


Terror knowledge is largely underpinned by a positivist orientation which takes terrorism as an object of knowledge that is knowable, generalisable, and verifiable. Much of the knowledge production of terrorism studies is tied to security governance – that is, to make counterterrorism possible.


It is precisely this relationship to security practice that has led Professor Richard Jackson, scholar of critical terrorism studies, to criticise terror knowledge as “counterinsurgency masquerading as political science”.


Crucially, early and current terror knowledge was and continues to be produced by academics housed in universities. These academics have acted or currently act as advisers to Western governments on counterinsurgency operations or had links as past or current members of institutions such as right-wing think tanks, the government, intelligence and policing agencies, the military, or the private security sector.


What is more, terrorism and counterterrorism studies are now widely taught in universities across the West, offering students the possibility of obtaining master’s and bachelor’s degrees in these areas. King’s College London, University of St Andrews, and Columbia University are just a few universities where this is possible.


Offering embedded expertise to powerful institutions such as the police, military, intelligence agencies, arms manufacturing, and media industries, the overlooked role of the Western university in the “military-industrial-academic complex” is that it creates and sustains the very conditions that enable genocide to happen.


Disclose! Divest! Dismantle!


In his oeuvre, Orientalism, the late Palestinian intellectual Edward Said draws our attention to an important relationship: the empire and the episteme. That is, Said raises critical consciousness of the role academic disciplines play in worlding, of creating a world that then can be militarily and ideologically managed and controlled.


In an age of terrorism, the Western university has given us terrorism and counterterrorism studies and therefore a world full of “terrorists”, “extremists”, the “at risk of radicalisation”, and “jihadi brides” – figures who are then preempted, incapacitated, deradicalised, droned, detained, and denationalised by a range of disciplinary techniques at the disposal of the counterterror state.


As momentum builds and the pro-Palestine student movement on university campuses spreads, we must not forget the role of the university in producing the knowledge that enables the unleashing of state violence in its various forms – including genocide – against Muslim populations. We thus call on the student movement to add another plank to their demands: the dismantling of terrorism discourses.


Gaza has shown us that it is high time we defunded terror academics, dissolved terrorism and counterterrorism studies degrees and courses, and disbanded academic journals and conferences where terror knowledge is circulated. It is not just drones that kill. Disciplines do, too. The new protest chant should now be thus: Disclose! Divest! Dismantle! Read more - Lire plus


Podcast: Revolution Will Always Be Illegal Under International Law

What does the death of a jailed Jesuit priest say about India's democracy under Modi?

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NPR 02/06/2024 - Two days before police finally came to arrest him, the Rev. Stan Swamy recorded a video of himself speaking directly into the camera. "They want to put me out of the way," the ailing 83-year-old Jesuit priest said. His voice sounded frail. But what he was saying was explosive.


The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, was targeting him in retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Indigenous people in Indian jails. A sociologist as well as a Roman Catholic clergyman, Swamy had recently published a study of 3,000 people jailed for being members of banned Maoist groups. He found that 97% of them had no such affiliation and that many of their trials were held without lawyers, in a language they didn't understand. He'd filed a case on their behalf in the state court of Jharkhand, where he lived. All of this had embarrassed the government, he said.


Swamy's office had since been raided several times. Police hauled away a loaner laptop he'd recently started using and then came back for his old desktop computer. They interrogated him for 15 hours over five days, he said, about a terrorism plot he knew nothing about. "Let us hope that some human sense will prevail," he said. "And if it does not, I am ready." That video was recorded on Oct. 6, 2020. Two days later, Swamy was arrested, then imprisoned and repeatedly denied bail. Less than a year later, he was dead.


Born Stanislaus Lourduswamy in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, the priest was one of 16 outspoken Modi critics who were jailed, one by one, in the aftermath of 2018 caste riots in western India. All were charged with terrorism offenses and conspiracy against the state, after police investigating the riots uncovered what they described as a brazen plot to assassinate the prime minister. Swamy's 15 fellow prisoners included professors, lawyers, trade unionists and members of an improv theater troupe that performed skits poking fun at the government. All 16 denied the charges against them.


Swamy was accused of membership in the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), the same faction that some of the Indigenous people he helped were accused of being in. For decades, Maoist guerrillas have recruited from India's Indigenous tribes and waged an insurgency against the Indian state and its representatives — security forces and elected leaders — in tribal areas where Swamy worked.


The evidence appeared to be damning: Letters and minutes of alleged terrorist cell meetings were found on Swamy's and his co-defendants' computers. One of the letters proposed a suicide attack against Modi.

But the suspects, their lawyers and independent experts who've reviewed the evidence in this case say the prisoners were framed. They say someone hacked into the suspects' phones and laptops and planted fake evidence on them.


Digital forensics investigators trace the hack back to Modi's government. Indian police and government officials deny that. But the case has drawn condemnation from Human Rights WatchAmnesty International, Catholic cardinals and bishops, and many other groups — as well as scrutiny from a U.S. government commission and the United Nations.


"There were cases of files being planted, and then like the next day, the arrests went down. You could go your whole career in this industry and never find something that's as obvious," says Tom Hegel, a Washington-based cybersecurity expert who reviewed evidence in this case. "It's a slam-dunk. This is fabricated."


More than six years after the start of this case, the 15 remaining suspects are still awaiting trial. Seven have been granted bail. Eight remain in prison. And Modi is expected to win a third term, when election results come out this week.


Swamy may have been the oldest person ever charged with terrorism in India. What happened to him is emblematic of what is happening to India under a democratically elected leader with autocratic tendencies. Under Modi, India has not only stripped away legal protections for minorities and those who seek to defend them. It has also allegedly used cyberwarfare to attack them and silence them — with impunity.


This story has percolated for more than six years. Most of the digital forensics evidence obtained by NPR and published here has also appeared in Indian media. But despite outrage from human rights groups and criticism from the United Nations, the United States and Catholic Church officials, there has been no reexamination of this case by Indian authorities. Read more - Lire plus


NewsClick case in India: RSF and Guernica 37 Chambers call on the US to sanction Delhi police officers

Iraq Hangs Eight Convicted Of 'Terrorism': Sources

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AFP 31/05/2024 - Iraq executed eight people convicted of "terrorism", a security source and health official said Friday, the third such group put to death in the country in little over a month.


Courts have handed down hundreds of death and life sentences in recent years to Iraqis convicted of "terrorism", in trials that rights groups have denounced as hasty.


Under Iraqi law, terrorism and murder offences are punishable by death, and execution decrees must be signed by the president. A security source said eight Iraqis "convicted of terrorism and of being members of the Islamic State group were executed by hanging" Thursday at Al-Hut prison in the city of Nasiriyah "under the supervision of a justice ministry team".


They were hanged "under Article 4 of the anti-terrorism law", the source told AFP on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. A medical source said the health department had received the bodies of eight executed people. Al-Hut is a notorious prison in Nasiriyah whose Arabic name means "the whale", because Iraqis believe that those jailed there never walk out alive.


"That these executions continue to take place is a clear signal from Iraqi authorities that all calls for halting them are falling on deaf ears," said Amnesty International's Iraq researcher Razaw Salihy. She said executions were happening "despite evidence of years of unfair trials and human rights violations" that landed men on death row. On May 6, Iraq hanged 11 people convicted of "terrorism", security and health sources told AFP. It was the second such group put to death since April 22.


Iraq has been criticised for the trials, with the "terrorism" offence carrying the death penalty regardless of whether the defendant had been an active fighter. Rights groups denounced the proceedings as rushed, warning that confessions were sometimes believed to have been obtained under torture.


Every time, executions "send shudders throughout the country for families whose loved ones have been languishing in death row cells wasting away from the inhumane conditions," Amnesty's Salihy said. While authorities "continue to fail to notify lawyers and families prior to executions," she said, "families now fear turning up for visits only to be told your relative was already executed." Read more - Lire plus

Guantánamo Scandal: Eleven Men Were Set To Be Freed Last October, Until ‘Political Optics’ Shifted After Hamas’ Attack On Israel – OpEd

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eurasiareview 29/05/2024 - Thanks to NBC News, and the four anonymous US government officials who spoke to them, for exposing the latest scandal involving the US prison at Guantánamo Bay — the refusal of the Biden administration to release eleven men, for whom long months of negotiation had secured a safe and viable resettlement option, because of the perceived “political optics” of freeing them after the attacks on Israel by Hamas and other militants on October 7.


Within Guantánamo circles, this scandal was well known, but attorneys for the men had been subjected to a Protective Order issued by the government, preventing them from talking about it, and, as a result, they had all dutifully kept quiet, as had others, like myself, who had got to know about it.


Their silence is, in itself, an indictment of how the US government operates at Guantánamo, as I also recognised when I refused to publicize it, because of the fundamentally lawless situation in which these men are held. It’s crucial to understand that the decisions that were taken to release these men — made unanimously by high-level US government review processes — were purely administrative, and completely outside the US legal system.


If you’re reading this, I hope you recognize quite how grotesque this situation is — that men unanimously approved for release from Guantánamo cannot seek their release through the courts, because the decision to release them rests solely with the executive branch, and that, if senior officials fail to prioritize their release, there is nothing that anyone can do about it; there is no court to appeal to, and no way of even publicly criticizing the government’s inaction, because doing so risks the wrath of the handful of powerful men — President Biden and his senior officials — who hold the keys to the jail.


The predicament the prisoners and their lawyers face disgracefully confirms that, despite having been open for over 22 years, Guantánamo is as fundamentally lawless now as it was when the prison first opened. Read more - Lire plus


Guantanamo prosecutors accused of "outrageous" misconduct for trying to use torture testimony


Guantánamo Bay Has Shattered the Illusion of a 'Fair' Justice System

14 pro-democracy activists convicted, 2 acquitted in Hong Kong's biggest national security case

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The Associated press 30/05/2024 - Fourteen pro-democracy activists were convicted in Hong Kong’s biggest national security case on Thursday by a court that said their plan to effect change through an unofficial primary election would have undermined the government’s authority and created a constitutional crisis.


After a 2019 protest movement that filled the city’s streets with demonstrators, authorities have all but silenced dissent in Hong Kong through reduced public choice in elections, crackdowns on media and the Beijing-imposed security law under which the activists were convicted.


Those found guilty of conspiracy to commit subversion included former lawmakers Leung Kwok-hung, Lam Cheuk-ting, Helena Wong and Raymond Chan, and they could face up to life in prison when sentenced later. The two defendants acquitted were former district councilors Lee Yue-shun and Lawrence Lau. But the prosecution said it intends to appeal against the acquittals.


The activists were among 47 democracy advocates who were prosecuted in 2021 for their involvement in the primary. Prosecutors had accused them of attempting to paralyze Hong Kong’s government and topple the city’s leader by securing the legislative majority necessary to indiscriminately veto budgets. In a summary of the verdict distributed to media, the court said the election participants had declared they would use their legislative power to veto the budgets.


Under the city's mini-constitution, the chief executive can dissolve the legislature if a budget cannot be passed but the leader would have to step down if the budget is again vetoed in the next legislature. In the full, 319-page verdict, the judges approved by the government to oversee the case also said if the plan to veto bills would lead to the dissolution of the legislature, it meant “the implementation of any new government policies would be seriously hampered and essentially put to a halt.”


“The power and authority of both the Government and the Chief Executive would be greatly undermined,” the court said in the verdict. “In our view ... that would create a constitutional crisis for Hong Kong.” As the hearing concluded, some of the convicted defendants waved at their families as they left the courtroom. The court acquitted Lau after it found he had not mentioned vetoing the budget in his election campaign and the court was unable to conclude he had intended to subvert state power. Read more - Lire plus


Amnesty International: Hong Kong: Arrests under new national security law a ‘shameful attempt’ at suppressing peaceful commemoration of Tiananmen crackdown


Hong Kong national security police make 7th arrest under new security law

European Court of Human Rights: Important decision against mass surveillance

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ARTICLE 19 28/05/2024 - ARTICLE 19 welcomes today’s decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Polish human rights activists concerning mass secret surveillance. The decision is an important win for limiting unrestricted police and intelligence agencies’ access to communications data. It delivers a strong statement in support of safeguards for better protection of the rights to freedom of expression and privacy. 


ARTICLE 19 has previously urged the Polish Government to end mass surveillance and ensure transparency and oversight of the work of the secret services and law enforcement agencies. We have also criticised the use of surveillance spyware against former opposition figures and raised concerns about extended statutory powers of the secret services. 


Today, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) found a violation of the European Convention of Human Rights (Article 8, which guarantees respect for the right to private and family life) in respect of the complaints concerning the operational-control regime, the retention of communications data for potential use by the relevant national authorities, and the secret-surveillance regime under the Anti-Terrorism Act.


Barbora Bukovská, ARTICLE 19’s Senior Director for Law and Policy, commented:

Keeping mass surveillance measures in check is a necessary safeguard against abuse by police and intelligence agencies. Unauthorised surveillance can have devastating effects on human rights. 
ARTICLE 19 believes that such secret measures do not only significantly interfere with the right to privacy. As we have seen over and over, they also have a chilling effect on the freedom of expression of journalists, NGOs, activists and lawyers, among others. 
Today’s decision of the European Court solidifies protection against such intrusion. Intrusive, secret surveillance measures, like those in this case, should be subject to authorisation and review by an independent judicial authority.

Background

The case of Pietrzak and Bychawska-Siniarska and Others v. Poland was initiated by a group of Polish human rights NGOs and a criminal defence lawyer. They challenged the lack of effective oversight and remedies available under Polish law for those subjected to secret surveillance by state agencies. They argued the laws enabling secret surveillance breached their right to private and family life and the right to an effective remedy under Articles 8 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights, respectively. 


Under Polish law, a person subjected to covert surveillance, for example in the form of monitoring their communications online, does not have the right to access information about the methods of surveillance used against them. This rule continues to apply even after the cessation of surveillance activities that have not resulted in the identification of any crime. This creates a situation whereby a person may be a victim of interference with their right to privacy by covert surveillance conducted by various government actors without having a recourse to an effective remedy.


Today, the European Court ruled, unanimously, that there had been three violations of Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights which guarantees the right to respect for private and family life. Namely, it found that:

  • The mere existence of the Polish legislation – its secret nature, the wide scope of the measures, and the lack of effective review – in itself constituted an interference with the rights of the applicants. 
  • In light of all the shortcomings in the operational-control regime of the surveillance, Polish legislation did not provide sufficient safeguards against excessive recourse to surveillance and undue interference with individuals’ private life. The absence of sufficient guarantees was not sufficiently counterbalanced by the current mechanism for judicial review. 
  • Polish legislation, which required information and communication technologies providers to retain communications data in a general and indiscriminate manner for possible future use by the relevant national authorities, was not “necessary in a democratic society”. 
  • The secret surveillance provisions in the Anti-Terrorism Act also failed to satisfy the requirements of Article 8 of the Convention. The Court noted that the imposition of secret surveillance and its application in the initial three-month period were not subject to a review by an independent body that did not include employees of the service conducting that surveillance.


In October 2020, ARTICLE 19, together with Privacy International and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, submitted a third-party intervention to the Court in the case. Source

As DHS Implements New AI Technologies, It Must Overcome Old Shortcomings

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Just Security 21/05/2024 - On May 22, the House Committee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing on how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should use artificial intelligence (AI) to “defend and secure the homeland.” The topic is fitting: DHS has promised aggressive adoption of AI and other emerging technologies. Within the last year, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appointed a Chief AI Officer, issued a “roadmap” to pilot the use of AI in investigations, disaster planning, and training immigration officers, and published a departmental policy on AI and another on facial recognition. DHS has launched a hiring surge, bringing on 50 AI experts to form its “DHS AI Corps.” Throughout, Secretary Mayorkas has insisted the Department will respect “individuals’ privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties” and placed the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Privacy Officer in key roles in a DHS task force to review potential uses (and abuses) of AI.


This flurry of announcements would suggest that algorithmic tools and automation are new for the Department, but it has in fact long relied upon them – and struggled to track and implement them properly. In February, the Government Accountability Office found that DHS’s public accounting of how it uses AI is incomplete and suggested the Department lacks a cohesive method for identifying and communicating what programs use AI.


And the Department has regularly rolled out unproven programs that rely on algorithms and risk the rights of the tens of millions of Americans. For instance, as our Brennan Center for Justice colleagues have documented, the screening, vetting, and watchlisting regimes that are supposed to keep tabs on potential terrorism appear never to have been tested. Instead, a recent study has shown a strong bias in the government’s terrorism watchlist, which is composed almost entirely of Muslim names. A recent in-depth review of these operations by the Senate’s homeland security committee found that the program also provides de minimis redress. DHS runs sweeping social media monitoring programs that collect information on Americans’ political views and activities. They too have demonstrated no security value. DHS’s use of facial recognition technology, such as the CBP One application in border security operations, has stifled asylum seekers’ ability to make their claims.


As it expands its use of AI, DHS should leave behind this laissez faire approach. President Joe Biden’s executive order on AI and recent White House guidance on the guardrails federal agencies should adopt when developing and using AI provide the Department with a toolkit to ensure that its use of AI is fair, effective, and safe. Secretary Mayorkas and the Chief AI Officer should apply the guidance fully to achieve these aims. Below, we provide policy recommendations for how to promote the fairness and efficacy of DHS’s AI systems, while enhancing oversight and transparency. 


Fully Implement the White House Guidance Across all DHS Programs

To start, DHS should follow the direction in the White House guidance not to pursue AI tools where their risks to rights and safety outweigh potential benefits. AI should also be off the table if effective mitigation of risks does not exist, or the efficacy of a tool or the augmented program is unproven—or even disproven. For instance, DHS should not further build out its social media surveillance programs with AI because the underlying initiatives regularly harm rights while offering little upside. And screening and vetting programs—untested, unproven, and potentially unprovable as executed today—too should not receive the AI treatment. DHS needs to get these programs right before further powering them with AI.


As has been explained previously in these pages by one of us, the White House has created a two-track system for addressing AI risks. The guidance it has issued thus far does not cover broadly defined “national security systems,” which will be governed by a separate and likely weaker memorandum that the White House is developing in secret. Existing guidance also specifically exempts the agencies that are part of the U.S. Intelligence Community from most requirements.


The White House guidance, however, encourages these agencies to implement the baseline standards it has promulgated—and DHS should do so across its operations. Those standards include commonsense measures such as an assessment of a tool’s benefits and risks and whether the latter can be mitigated, testing and independent evaluation, user training requirements, and consideration of equity, fairness, and input from affected community groups.


Secretary Mayorkas should recognize the broad applicability of these safeguards and issue a policy directive that requires the two parts of DHS that are part of the intelligence community—its controversial Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) and elements of the U.S. Coast Guard—to comply with them. This is particularly important for I&A: Unlike many parts of the intelligence community, this office has a strong domestic bent and broad authorities that are easily abused, as shown by its targeting of protestors and journalists during 2020 racial justice protests.


Moreover, privacy documentation suggests I&A relies on unproven and opaque systems that would benefit from the type of examination and efficacy testing detailed in the White House guidance. In the same vein, the policy directive should require that DHS AI systems that fall under the definition of

national security system abide by these standards. This is particularly important for dual use systems, AI that qualifies as a national security system and is also used for the Department’s various enforcement functions. Those functions impact people’s rights and put them in criminal jeopardy, regardless of where an AI tool is technically housed. Read more - Lire plus


Facial animosity: As Massachusetts lawmakers weigh new facial recognition rules, their own guards shop for AI-enhanced surveillance that privacy advocates call “chilling,” “unlawful,” and “racially biased”


Council of Europe adopts ‘first-ever’ international treaty on AI which does not apply to activities related to national security and defense


Evolving police tech or ‘slippery slope’? Facial recognition partnership in Peel and York has critics concerned


ACTION: Canada: Remove the national security exemptions from Bill C-27!


ACTION: Protect our rights from facial recognition

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OTHER NEWS - AUTRES NOUVELLES

Accountability & redress

Reddition de compte et réparations


How many more inquests – and deaths – before we see change in Ontario’s corrections system?

Attacks on dissent

Attaques contre la dissidence


UN: Brazil: threats, intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders in the context of the Canadian Volta Grande gold mining project

Biometrics

Biométrie


False Promise of Biometrics: Three-country investigation shows digital IDs in Africa failing to deliver promised democratic and development boost, while making fortunes for tech vendors

Freedom of expression

Liberté d'expression


A senior USAID adviser said he was pressured to resign days after the agency censored his presentation on mothers starving in Gaza


Meet the Pro-Ceasefire MP Candidate Banned by U.K. Labour Party for “Liking” Jon Stewart Skit on Israel


Civil society to YouTube: stop helping Russia suppress free speech


Kremlin critic Yashin loses 'foreign agent' appeal


No Country Should be Making Speech Rules for the World

Freedom of the press

Liberté de la presse


Alarming signs for press freedom under Pakistan’s new authorities


International Press Institute demands end to use of spyware against journalists in Europe

Migrant and refugee rights

Droits des migrant.es et des réfugié.es


CCR welcomes the withdrawal of refugee provisions from budget legislation


Amnesty International USA’s Reaction to Biden Administration’s Executive Order on Asylum


“The Case for Open Borders”: Journalist John Washington on New Book & Biden Asylum Ban


Debunking the Myth of the ‘Migrant Crime Wave’


Amnesty International USA: The Digital Border: Migration, Technology and Inequality


Access Now sues U.S. CBP and ICE agencies over migrant data

Privacy and surveillance

Vie privée et surveillance


ACTION Tell your MP: Don't padlock the Internet! UPDATE May 2024: Final vote on Bill S-210 happening soon!


Officials of Bangladesh’s anti-terror police force allegedly sold citizens’ classified personal information on Telegram


Support against digital attacks: how Amnesty International's Security Lab can help


EFF to Court: Electronic Ankle Monitoring Is Bad. Sharing That Data Is Even Worse.


Exiled, then spied on: Civil society in Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland targeted with Pegasus spyware

Miscellaneous

Divers


PBI-Canada: Canada exported military goods and technology to countries where 232 HRDs were killed in 2023/24


Popular protest disrupted and delayed the CANSEC weapons show in Ottawa - 7 arrested


NEW webinar: Foreign Policy and Anti-Racism Today, June 13th, 7PM ET


World ignoring risk of Sudan genocide - UN expert


Craven killing from above in Myanmar


After training African coup leaders, Pentagon blames Russia for African coups

ICLMG ACTIONS DE LA CSILC

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Uphold rights and liberties at protests and encampments across Canada!

Please join us in calling for the following:

  • Officials must stop equating Charter-protected expression and dissent with “support for terrorism,” and refrain from calling for law enforcement to forcibly end or prevent protest activities.
  • Law enforcement agencies must refrain from acting against protesters exercising their Charter-protected rights, including at encampments.
  • The Ontario legislature must immediately reverse the keffiyeh ban.
  • Canada must call for a permanent ceasefire and to halt all arms sales, transfers and military aid to Israel.
ACTION
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Canada: Remove the national security exemptions from Bill C-27!

Bill C-27, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, has been introduced by the federal government with the promise that it would enhance privacy protections, adequately regulate artificial intelligence (AI) and protect human rights. The bill, however, is not up to the task. Please join us in denouncing the dangerous national security related exemptions in the bill.

ACTION
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Canada: Do not purchase armed drones

The ICLMG is a member of the No Armed Drones campaign

In the government's proposal seeking bids for its drone program it laid out disturbing scenarios for Canadian military drone use: One scenario described drones being used to surveil activists protesting a (theoretical) G20 Summit in Quebec, helping the security team intercept and identify the occupants of a vehicle, who are “anti-capitalist radicals” intending to “hang a banner concerning global warming.” Another scenario modeled after US drone strike programs features a drone bombing “Fighting Age Males” in the Middle East after spotting one of them “holding a small radio or cell phone." The initial cost estimate is $5 billion with billions more to operate the drones over their 25-year lifespan.

ACTION
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CSIS isn't above the law!

In recent years, at least three 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 Marco Mendicino demanding that he take immediate action to put an end to this abuse of power and hold those CSIS officers involved accountable, and for parliament to support Bill C-331, An Act to amend the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act (duty of candour). Your message will also be sent to your MP and to Minister of Justice David Lametti.

ACTION

Canada must protect Hassan Diab!

Send an email using ICLMG’s one-click tool and share widely!

Letter in English + Lettre en français


Sign and share the LeadNow petitions to protect Hassan from further injustice

Petition in EnglishPétition en français


For more information on the case of Hassan Diab, read our webcomic, watch our animated version of the comic, or visit justiceforhassandiab.org.

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.

ACTION

Please share on Facebook + Twitter + Instagram

20 years of fighting deportation to torture: Justice for Mohamed Harkat Now!

December 10, 2022 - ironically Human Rights Day - marked the 20th "anniversary" of the arrest of Mohamed Harkat under Canada's rights-violating security certificate regime. For Mr. Harkat, it's been two decades of fighting deportation to torture, 16 years of harassment and intrusive surveillance, arbitrary detention, solitary confinement, secret trials, PTSD: enough is enough! We call for justice for Moe Harkat now! Watch - Visionnez


TAKE ACTION: Stop Moe Harkat's deportation to torture!


ACTION: Arrêtez la déportation vers la torture de Mohamed Harkat!

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Reform Canada's extradition law now!

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!


Version française: Le Canada doit réformer la loi sur l'extradition! + Partagez sur Facebook + Twitter + Instagram


Phone PM Justin Trudeau


TAKE ACTION: Justice for Hassan Diab!


Just Peace Advocates' action: Write a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau: Say “No" to a second extradition of Hassan Diab

ACTION

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

ACTION
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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.

ACTION

July to December 2023 - Juillet à décembre 2023

Thanks to your support, in the second half of 2023, we were able to work on the following issues or with the following entities:


  • Bill C-20, Public Complaints and Review Commission Act
  • Bill C-26, An Act respecting cybersecurity and amending the Telecommunications Act
  • Bill C-27, Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022
  • Bill C-41: International assistance and anti-terrorism laws
  • Canadians detained in Northeastern Syria
  • Justice for Dr Hassan Diab & reform of the Extradition Act
  • Security certificates & inadmissibility
  • Combatting Islamophobia
  • National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA)
  • Prejudiced audits of Muslim charities
  • Federal anti-terrorist financing consultation
  • Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  • Canada’s 4th Universal Periodic Review
  • Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism
  • UN Counter-terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) Canada assessment
  • UN Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights global study on counter-terrorism and civic space


For more details on each item and to see all the media articles we were mentioned in or were interviewed for, click here.


What we have planned for 2024!


Your support, will allow us to continue our work on these issues and much more in the next year:

  • Ensuring that the Canadian government’s proposals on “online harms” do not violate fundamental freedoms, or exacerbate the silencing of racialized and marginalized voices
  • Protecting our privacy from government surveillance, including facial recognition, and from attempts to weaken encryption, along with advocating for good privacy law reform
  • Addressing the lack of regulation on the use of AI in national security, including proposed exemptions for national security agencies
  • Fighting for Justice for Mohamed Harkat, an end to security certificates, and addressing problems in security inadmissibility
  • Ensuring Justice for Hassan Diab and reforming Canada’s extradition law
  • The return of the rest of the Canadian citizens and the non-Canadian mothers of Canadian children indefinitely detained in Syrian camps
  • The end to the CRA’s prejudiced audits of Muslim-led charities
  • Greater accountability and transparency for the Canada Border Services Agency
  • Greater accountability and transparency 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
  • Publishing a collection of essays written by amazing partners on the work of the ICLMG for our 20th anniversary
  • And much more!
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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.

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!