Canada

Ottawa under fire over use of security certificates

posted on January 28, 2006 | in Category Canada | PermaLink

Original author: Jim Bronskill (CP)
Source: The Globe and Mail
URL: [link]
Date: January 28, 2006


OTTAWA -- A United Nations working group says it is "gravely concerned" about Canada's use of special security certificates and calls on Ottawa to reconsider the tool for cracking down on suspected terrorists.

The UN working group on arbitrary detention says elements of the certificate regime jeopardize a person's rights to a fair hearing, to challenge the evidence used against them, and to ensure judicial review of their incarceration.

"This procedure allows the government to detain aliens for years on the suspicion that they pose a security threat, without raising criminal charges," says the body's report, made public yesterday.

The group, set up by the UN Commission on Human Rights, toured Canada during the first half of June at the invitation of the government. It visited detention facilities, including police stations, jails, and pre-trial and immigration holding centres in several cities.

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CIA flights - Canada's role needs greater scrutiny

posted on January 27, 2006 | in Category Canada | PermaLink

Original author: PRESS RELEASE Source: Amesty Internation Canada URL: [link] Date: January 26, 2006 Amnesty Canada: CIA flights - Canada's role needs greater scrutiny Action Resources Letter Writing Tips "Rendition" and secret detention: Additional Information Letters to Canadian Government Request for Canada: CIA flights - Canada's role needs greater scrutiny Posted: 20 January 2006

[PHOTO: Condaleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State, issues statement denying the U.S. uses CIA flights to transport terror suspects to other countries for torture, 5 December 2005, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland.] In October 2002, a Gulfstream III with the registration number N829MG (later re-registered as N259SK), was used to fly dual Syrian-Canadian citizen Maher Arar from the US to Jordan en route to Syria. After a year of detention without charge - during which time he was tortured - he was finally released and returned to Canada.

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Anne McLellan defeated in Edmonton Centre

posted on January 25, 2006 | in Category Canada | PermaLink

Original author: CBC New Staff Source: CBC News - Calgary URL: [link] Date: January 24, 2006 Lone Liberal MP ousted

Anne McLellan, former deputy prime minister, finally lost her always tenuous grip on the Liberal's lone seat in the province. Landslide Annie, so-called because of her four narrow victories in Edmonton Centre, lost to Conservative Laurie Hawn Monday night by more than 3,500 votes. "The people of Canada have spoken and they have told us they want change," McLellan told a crowd of supporters. "Although, I think they've also told us they're not exactly sure what kind of change they want."

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Conservatives Win Canadian Election (Jan 2006)

posted on January 25, 2006 | in Category Canada | PermaLink

Original author: Beth Duff-Brown (AP) Source: ABC News URL: [link] Date: January 24, 2006

Conservatives Win Canadian Election and Vow to Move Quickly on Tax Cuts, Better Ties With U.S.

OTTAWA - Conservative Stephen Harper pledged to quickly carry out his campaign promises to cut taxes, get tough on crime and repair strained ties with Washington after his party won national elections and ended 13 years of Liberal Party rule in Canada. That may be easier said than done. The Conservatives' winning margin was too narrow to rule with a majority, a situation that will make it hard for them to get legislation through the divided House of Commons. Monday's vote showed that Canadians are weary of the Liberal Party's broken promises and corruption scandals. They were willing to give Harper a chance to govern despite concerns that some of his social views are extreme.

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Ottawa can eavesdrop on Canadians under law

posted on December 20, 2005 | in Category Canada | PermaLink

Original author: Estanislao Oziewicz
Source: The Globe and Mail
URL: [link]
December 19, 2005


Canada's anti-terrorism law opened the door to secret eavesdropping on Canadians and others inside Canada, the same kind of activity that is causing a furor in the United States, intelligence and legal experts say.

U.S. President George W. Bush is under fire after revelations that he authorized the National Security Agency to monitor international telephone calls and e-mail messages of Americans and others to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants usually required for domestic spying.

Both Republican and Democratic party legislators say Mr. Bush may have violated the 1978 U.S. law that makes it illegal to spy on U.S. citizens without court approval and have called on Congress to investigate.

In Canada, the Criminal Code maintained an absolute prohibition against intercepting "private communications," meaning any communication that originated or terminated in Canada, without specific court-ordered warrants.

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Where do party leaders stand on torture issue?

posted on December 18, 2005 | in Category Canada | PermaLink

Original author: Thomas Walkom Source: The Toronto Star URL: [link] Date: December 10, 2005 Government's role worth discussion

Here's another issue no party leader is talking about in this election campaign: Should Canada's federal government aid and abet torture? Unfortunately, this isn't an academic question. I wish it were. But there have been too many disturbing reports that indicate this country is complicit in torturing people that one government or another thinks are terrorists. The controversy over the use of Canadian airports by CIA-leased planes is the most recent. Europe is in an uproar over reports that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is shipping terror suspects to torture centres in countries such as Poland. Now, it seems that some of these planes stopped off to refuel in Canada before heading across the Atlantic.

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Photos - Parliament Hill protest December 10, 2005

posted on December 11, 2005 | in Category Canada | PermaLink

Date: December 10, 2005 PHOTO REPORT OTTAWA - Human Rights Day, December 10, 2005. [link] Protest on Parliament Hill against Secret Trials in Canada and on behalf of Christian Peacemaker Teams members held captive in Iraq. Ottawa - December 10 2005
Photo by YayaCanada --

Free hostages, Canadian detainees urge

posted on December 09, 2005 | in Category Canada | PermaLink

Original author: Carrie Kristal-Schroder Source: The Ottawa Citizen, with files from The Vancouver Province URL: [link] Date: December 04, 2005 Open letter pleads for Iraqi kidnappers to free hostages as 'righteous Muslims'

A group claiming to represent three Arab men detained on secret security certificates in Canada is calling on the kidnappers of four aid workers in Iraq to release their hostages. In an open letter released to Canadian media yesterday, the group says that one of the Canadians being held, James Loney, 41, of Toronto, has worked to try to free three Arab men now being held in Canada on anti-terrorism security certificates. "It pains our heart to know that a person of this calibre is being held captive," the letter says. "We care about his freedom more than we do our own. If you love Allah, if you have goodness in your heart, please deal with this matter as righteous Muslims and not let these kind, caring, compassionate and innocent people suffer."

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Muslim detainees in Canada call for release of CPT members held in Iraq

posted on December 05, 2005 | in Category Canada | PermaLink

Original author: TASC Communique
Source: forwarded to Montreal Muslim News
URL: [link]

Date: December 3, 2005


For immediate Release December 3, 2005

MUSLIM DETAINEES IN CANADA CALL FOR RELEASE OF JIM LONEY AND OTHER CPT MEMBERS HELD IN IRAQ

The following open letter has been written by the secret trial detainees held in Toronto, and is being sent to Arab media outlets around the world in the hope that it will add to the millions of voices calling for the release of Toronto's Jim Loney and other Christian Peacemaker Team members currently held in Iraq:

To the people holding James Loney and the other Christian Peacemaker Team Members in Iraq,

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious and Merciful,

Our names are Mahmoud Jaballah, Mohammad Mahjoub and Hassan Almrei, and we have been detained without charge for between four and five and a half years. Some of us have spent as many as four years in solitary confinement as well. We are being held captive under security certificates because the government of Canada alleges we are linked to terrorist organizations and that we pose a threat to the national security of Canada. Allah is witness to our innocence of these allegations.

We are suffering a great injustice here in Canada because the government stereotypes Muslims and because of our strong faith and daily attendance to mosque. We have been suffering innocently.

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Canada and Algeria in discussions to introduce air service between both countries

posted on November 23, 2005 | in Category Canada | PermaLink

Original author: PRESS RELEASE Source: DFAIT Website
URL: [link] Date: November 23, 2005 Transport Minister Jean-C. Lapierre, along with International Trade Minister Jim Peterson and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierre Pettigrew, today announced that the Government of Canada is prepared to discuss with Algeria the possibility of direct air service between Algeria and Canada. "Direct air services between Canada and Algeria would benefit both Canadian and Algerian travellers" said Mr. Lapierre. "They would facilitate more convenient travel and provide more travel options while meeting our safety and security requirements." "Algeria is Canada's largest trading partner in Africa and the Middle East-North African region" said Minister Peterson. "A direct air link would help strengthen Canada's commercial ties with Algeria and the Maghreb region."

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