By Ivan Eland, Consortium News
Source: AlterNet Website
URL: [link]
Date: July 24, 2008


After having begun a series of investigative stories criticizing the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in May 2008, CNN reporter Drew Griffin reports being placed with more than a million other names on TSA's swollen terrorism watch list.

Although TSA insists Griffin 's name is not on the list and pooh-poohs any possibility of retaliation for Griffin 's negative reporting, the reporter has been hassled by various airlines on 11 flights since May. The airlines insist that Griffin 's name is on the list.

Congress has asked TSA to look into the tribulations of this prominent passenger.

In a recent op-ed in the Washington Post, probably responding to the controversy over Griffin, Leonard Boyle, the director of the Terrorist Screening Center, defended the watch list, claiming that because terrorists have multiple aliases, the names on the list boiled down to only about 400,000 actual people.

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by Matthew Behrens Source: email fwd URL: N/A Date: July 1, 2008 A Letter to Toronto Star re: [link]

To the editor: While I agree with the Star's editorial supporting the Supreme Court's decision requiring CSIS to share ALL of its information in "security certificate" cases, your editorial nonetheless engages in the very kind of stereotyping that throws out the presumption of innocence and unfairly brands people. Specifically, you state that the court's ruling "reinforces the credibility of Canadian justice in dealing with those who hold our society in contempt." Why would you assume that those targetted by CSIS hold Canada in contempt, when in fact, it would appear that CSIS practices, such as destroying evidence or using information gleaned from torture, hold the values of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in contempt?

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by Press Release Source: Amnesty International URL: [link] Date: June 27, 2008

Amnesty International welcomes the decision by the Slovak Constitutional Court on 26 June 2008 in the case of Mustapha Labsi, which reaffirms the absolute duty on the authorities not to send any person to any place where they face a real risk of torture or other ill-treatment, and underscores the obligation of Slovakia not to rely on diplomatic assurances. More details here.

Source: URL: Date: June 15, 2008 **** PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY **** Abolition Beyond Borders Open Stage Fundraiser to Send Sophie Harkat to England July 3, The Clocktower Brew Pub, Ottawa

Acoustic Performers Slam-poets Live Music Enthusiasts All Are Welcome Join us for a night of music! All proceeds generated from the benefit will help send Sophie Harkat to speak about the impacts of Canada’s security certificate regime at the 12th International Conference on Penal Abolition ([link]) in London, England, this July. Sponsored by: The Journal of Prisoners on Prisons ( [link] ) Justice for Mohamed Harkat ( [link] ) The Colloquium on the Universal Carceral ( [link] ) Host and Contact: Justin Piché ([link] ). To learn more, advance purchase tickets, or make a donation to help us to bring Sophie to England, contact Justin at [email], or 613-850-5878. When: Thursday, July 3 2008 Doors Open: 8:30pm Music: 9:00pm – 1:00am Where: The Clocktower Brew Pub 575 Bank Street (Glebe), Ottawa Tickets: $5 at the door Advance ticket purchasers will receive a free copy of the Journal of Prisoners on Prisons

by Laura Czekaj, Sun Media Source: The Ottawa Sun URL: [link] Date: June 21, 2008 Legal aid pay inadequate for case, say advisers

Ottawa terror suspect Mohamed Harkat has chosen a new team of lawyers. But whether or not Ottawa defence lawyers Matthew Webber and Norman Boxall will represent Harkat will be contingent on the outcome of a funding application going before the Federal Court on July 2 and 3, which attempts to have the federal government assume responsibility for paying their wages. Currently, the defence lawyers representing the Alergian national would be paid through the Ontario legal aid plan at a maximum rate of $92 an hour. Those who have been appointed to special advocate status receive about $275 an hour from the federal government.

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by Thomas Walkom
Source: The Toronto Star
URL: [link]
Date: June 24, 2008


Ottawa computer software developer Momin Khawaja is not the first to face trial under Canada's anti-terror legislation. That dubious honour belongs to a youth who cannot be named, currently on trial in Brampton for his part in the so-called Toronto 18 plot.

A verdict in the Brampton trial could come as early as next month. The Khawaja case, which has already absorbed four years of court time in pre-trial motions and which began in earnest yesterday, is not expected to end quite so soon.

But for a government desperate to show that Canada's post-9/11 laws work, Khawaja may well be more important.

There are key similarities between the Khawaja case and that of the Toronto 18. Both involve alleged attempts to blow up buildings and create mayhem in support of Islamist causes. Both involve otherwise unremarkable young Canadians.

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by Isabel Teotonio Source: The Toronto Star URL: [link] Date: June 19, 2008
Police mole accused of lying about so-called terrorist training camp

PHOTO: After testifying on June 18, 2008, Mubin Shaikh gestures as he leaves the Brampton courthouse where he is the Crown's star witness in the trial of a youth accused of belonging to an alleged terror cell dubbed the Toronto 18. In a stunning turn of events, a Crown prosecutor yesterday accused his star witness in the Toronto 18 terror case of fabricating some of the evidence about a so-called terrorist training camp. Police mole Mubin Shaikh was caught off guard by prosecutor John Neander's suggestion that he had lied when he said the youth on trial did not know the true purpose of the camp. Although Shaikh agreed that he considered himself "a protector of the vulnerable" – a reference to the youths who attended the December 2005 camp – he rejected any notion that he had been untruthful on the witness stand.

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Our friend Darren Ell has provided us with five new, quality images of The Harkats HERE. They are the first five images in the top row.

Sophie Harkat. Click to enlarge. Check out our entire Photo Gallery HERE.

Thanks to all who have provided us with these pics over the years.

by Helen Kinsella
Source: The Globe and Mail
URL: N/A
Date: June 12, 2008


LONDON -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown escaped defeat by a hair's breadth in a packed House of Commons yesterday over controversial plans to allow police to detain suspected terrorists for as long as 42 days without charge.

Backing for the Counter-Terrorism Bill, which the government had said was necessary to deal with the increasing complexity and ruthlessness of terrorist plots, will come as some measure of relief to the embattled leader, who has suffered a series of blows in recent months.

Mr. Brown's authority, however, remains in question after he was forced to go into persuasion overdrive and ultimately rely on the support of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party to ensure victory, with the final count at 315 to 306.

With several Labour backbenchers threatening to defy the government over what they saw as an infringement of civil liberties, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith had announced a number of amendments in the lead-up to the vote. They included the requirement for an "exceptional and grave" terrorist threat, and parliamentary authorization within seven days of an application.

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by Stewart Bell Source: The National Post URL: [link] Date: June 10, 2008 Solo terrorists pose new threat: report Intelligence cites 'lone wolves' as emerging trend

A newly declassified Canadian intelligence report is warning about the emerging threat posed by "lone-wolf " Islamist terrorists who operate completely on their own. Terrorists inspired by al-Qaeda have, in the past, tended to work in cells, but the report says they are beginning to use the solo strategy once associated with the militant far right. "Lone wolves motivated by Islamist extremism are a recent development," it says. "Islamist terrorist strategists are now advocating that Muslims take action at a grassroots level, without waiting for instructions."

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