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So very sad. With the Bushie gone, the Harperites stand alone in the "big net" paranoia and "war on terror".
hell Harper wants people sued for sending this man money for his plane fare!
While the Federal Court did not find the government had acted in bad faith, it did use some fairly strong language about the situation. Interestingly, the Court ordered Foreign Affairs to accompany Mr. Abdelrazik on the flight back to Canada to ensure that he doesn't "disappear" (my words, not the Court's) on the way home.
Also, the Court remained seized of the matter until Mr. Abdelrazik is standing before the Court in Canada.
Some noteworthy aspects of the decision:
[1] He is as much a victim of international terrorism as the innocent persons whose lives have been taken by
recent barbaric acts of terrorists.
[166] It is further required, in the Court's opinion that the respondents, at Canada's expense, provide an escort from Foreign Affairs to accompany Mr. Abdelrazik on his flight from Khartoum to Montreal, unless he waives the requirement for an escort. In my view, this is required to ensure that Mr. Abdelrazik is not stopped or delayed in his return to Canada while in transit or when laying-over at a foreign airport. The escort is to use his very best efforts to ensure that Mr. Abdelrazik returns to Canada unimpeded. To use the words of Foreign Affairs earlier - this is their contribution to ensure that he does return to Canada.
[167] It is further required, in the Court's judgment that the Court satisfy itself that Mr. Abdelrazik has in fact returned to Canada. Accordingly, in fulfilment of this judicial process, the Court requires that Mr. Abdelrazik attend before it at the time and date specified in the Judgment.
CALL FOR URGENT ACTION: ENSURE THE GOVERNMENT COMPLIES WITH COURT ORDER
TO BRING ABOUSFIAN ABDELRAZIK HOME
*Act now, before the government comes up with any more excuses*
Family members, lawyers and supporters of Abousfian Abdelrazik are
delighted with today's Federal Court order directing the Federal
government to issue Mr. Abdelrazik an emergency passport and to arrange
transportation for his return to Montreal within thirty days.
The ruling found that Mr. Abdelrazik's Charter right to enter Canada
had been breached. The full decision can be found here:
www.peoplescommission.org/abdelrazik.php
However, Project Fly Home strongly agrees with the judge's remark that
the breach "was done in bad faith".
To prepare against the possibility of more of the same bad faith,
Project Fly Home is calling on all organizations and individual
supporters to TAKE ACTION NOW to hold the government to the court order
- before they have time to come up with more excuses.
As you know, the ticket that over 100 people from across Canada bought
for Abousfian has been re-scheduled for 12 June. We suggest that this
might be the easiest means for the government to bring Abousfian home
promptly, in compliance with the court order. (However, if the
government choses to bring Abousfian home more quickly than that, it is
certainly welcome to do so!) At the same time, the civil society
delegation slated to leave Montreal for Khartoum on Monday, June 8th to
escort Abousfian home on June 12th has been postponed, but remains on
standby.
PLEASE IMMEDIATELY:
1) Write to Minister Lawrence Cannon, copying Stephen Harper and your
MP, asking him to comply with the court order to bring Abousfian
Abdelrazik back to Montreal and suggesting that the government make use
of the ticket that Abousfian already has for 12 June.
Lawrence Cannon
Telephone: (613) 992-5516
Fax: (613) 992-6802
Email: CannoL@parl.gc.ca
Stephen Harper
Telephone: (613) 992-4211
Fax: (613) 941-6900
Email: HarpeS@parl.gc.ca
Contact details of MPs via www.parl.gc.ca (click on "Members of
Parliament (Current)").
2) If you are an organization, make this letter/statement available to
your media contacts and post it on your website.
3) If you are in Montreal, please come out to the Kite Rally on 10 June
at noon, Peel and Ste-Catherine's, to call on Lawrence Cannon to
bow to popular opinion, the will of Parliament, the Federal Court of
Canada, and basic justice and humanity and let Abousfian come home on
12 June. (Outside Montreal: check the events section of our website for
events in other cities or get in touch with the local contact in your
area, www.peoplescommission.org/abdelrazik.php.)
4) Please circulate this appeal in your networks. You can refer people
to www.peoplescommission.org/abdelrazik.php for background information
and updates.
-----------------
SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS OF THE DECISION:
[156] I have found that Canada has engaged in a course of conduct and
specific acts that constitute a breach of Mr. Abdelrazik's right to
enter Canada. Specifically, I find:
(i) That CSIS was complicit in the detention of Mr. Abdelrazik by the
Sudanese authorities in 2003;
(ii) That by mid 2004 Canadian authorities had determined that they
would not take any active steps to assist Mr. Abdelrazik to return to
Canada and, in spite of its numerous assurances to the contrary, would
consider refusing him an emergency passport if that was required in
order to ensure that he could not return to Canada;
(iii) That there is no impediment from the UN Resolution to Mr.
Abdelrazik being repatriated to Canada - no permission of a foreign
government is required to transit through its airspace - and the
respondents' assertion to the contrary is a part of the conduct engaged
in to ensure that Mr. Abdelrazik could not return to Canada; and
(iv) That Canada's denial of an emergency passport on April 3, 2009,
after all of the preconditions for the issuance of an emergency
passport previously set by Canada had been met, is a breach of his
Charter right to enter Canada, and it has not been shown to be saved
under section 1 of the Charter.
_______________
THE COURT'S ORDER:
THIS COURT ORDERS AND ADJUDGES that:
1. This application is allowed;
2. The applicant's right to enter Canada has been breached contrary to
subsection 6(1) of the Charter;
3. The respondents are directed to issue the applicant an emergency
passport in order that he may return to and enter Canada;
4. The respondents, after consultation with the applicant, are to
arrange transportation for the applicant from Khartoum to Montreal,
Canada such that he arrives in Canada no later than 30 days from the
date hereof;
5. Should such travel arrangements not be in place within 15 days of
the date hereof, the parties shall advise the Court and an immediate
hearing shall be held at which time the Court reserves the right to
issue such further Orders as are deemed necessary in order to ensure
the transportation to and safe arrival of the applicant in Canada
within 30 days of this Judgment, or such longer period as this Court
then finds to be necessary in the circumstances;
6. In fulfilment of this judicial process, the applicant is ordered to
appear before me at 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon on Tuesday, July 7,
2009 at the Federal Court at 30 McGill Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
or, at the option of the applicant on five days advance notice to
the Court and respondents, at 90 Sparks Street Ottawa, Ontario, or at
such other location as is subsequently fixed by the Court, subject to
an extension of that date on application by either party and upon the
Court being satisfied that through no fault of the respondents it is
not possible or practicable for the applicant to appear at the date and
time set.
Project Fly Home
projectflyhome@gmail.com
www.peoplescommission.org/abdelrazik.php
The following organizations support the public campaign to bring
Abousfian
Abdelrazik home:
Canadian Labour Congress
No one is illegal Ottawa
International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
PeaceWorks, Sarnia, Ontario
Peaceworks, Midland, Ontario
People for Peace, London
Council of Canadians | London
Educators for Justice - Waterloo Region Catholic School Board
Camp Micah: Leadership for Peace and Justice
Polaris Institute
Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War
Boundary Peace Initiative
Peace Alliance Winnipeg
Canadian Peace Alliance
Bengali Students Association of the University of Waterloo
Fredericton Peace Coalition
Advocacy Collective, Fredericton
Rassemblement Outaouais contre la guerre (ROCG)
Tikkun Toronto
Canadian Union of Postal Workers
Nowar-Paix
Bathurst United Church, Toronto
The Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee
Toronto Action for Social Change
People's Commission Network
Rights Action
Ontario Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (OCHRP)
Apatrides Anonymes
No One Is Illegal Toronto
OPIRG-Carleton
Windsor Peace Coalition
Paradigm Shift Environmental Alliance
Exile Infoshop
The Voice of Women (Ontario), Letter Writing Group
Student Coalition Against War, Ottawa U
Solidarity Across Borders
No One Is Illegal-Montreal
Ottawa Raging Grannies
Canadian Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN)
Group for Research and Initiative for the Liberation of Africa
Ligue des droits et libertés
Tadamon! Montreal
Anti-War@Laurier (AW@L)
Unitarian Universalists Windsor Region
Muslim Students Association of the University of Victoria
Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW)
Canadian Islamic Congress
South Asian Women's Community Centre (SAWCC)
Immigrant Workers Center
Hamilton Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Montreal Chapter of the Council of Canadians
Le DIRA
Ici la Otra campaña - Montreal
La Pointe Libertaire
No one is illegal Vancouver
Windsor District Labour Council
OPIRG-Ottawa
Council of Canadians - Peterborough and Kawarthas chapter
Muslim Council of Montreal
Conseil Central de Montréal Métropolitain - CSN
Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU)
Comité Justice sociale des Soeurs Auxiliatrices
PINAY
Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT)
Collectif Échec à la guerre
Présence Musulmane Montréal
Nonviolent Resource Centre
Council of Canadians - Grand River chapter
Canadian Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
Green Party of Canada
QPIRG Concordia
Astrolabe
2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy
Student Christian Movement of Canada
Canadian Arab Federation
Council of Canadians
Les Artistes pour la paix
Christian Peacemaker Teams Canada
Martin,
Thanks for a great post. I was away for a few days and this thread drifted down to the 2nd or 3rd page on Babble active posts, so I missed it until now. Is apathy a culture than is growing on the Canadiam mosaic?
I don't know how many of you have ever written or e-mailed a politician, but in my experience, they almost always answer. They read every email and letter they receive. You have an influence; these people live and die (get and stay elected) on public opinion.
Please email Harper, Ignatieff et. al. and ask a question or give 'em your opinion.
There are a lot of media stories on this topic now. I think this is one of the best:
Government should listen to the courts, The Star Phoenix (Saskatoon), June 11, 2009
"All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
Gov't won't appeal order to bring Abdelrazik home
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090618/Abdelrazik_Ruling_090618/20090618?hub=TopStories
It's good to see the Harper government is finally doing the right thing and not appealing the case. (It seems t be their norm in policy recently.) Let's hope that he is indeed back in Canada in the next couple weeks.
Martin thinks that all organizations listed above are lockstep with his opinions.
To bad Marty.
You know, I really don't see what ktown adds to this discussion forum. Go find a place better suited to your interests, ktown.
Now that Harper has decided to comply with the court order concerning Mr. Abdelrazik, let's hope he either loses or drops his appeal of the court ruling ordering him to repatriate Mr. Omar Khadr.
Now that Harper has decided to comply with the court order concerning Mr. Abdelrazik, let's hope he either loses or drops his appeal of the court ruling ordering him to repatriate Mr. Omar Khadr.
See post #6 above - the government is not appealing.
benjamin, he is refering to Omar Khadr
benjamin, he is refering to Omar Khadr
Thanks Remind - apparently I had not had enough coffee...or maybe too much coffee. Sloppy reading on my part.
Glen Pearson (Liberal MP) salutes Paul Dewar:
But the one person who stuck on this file and deserves full praise for the victory yesterday was the NDP’s Paul Dewar. Simply put, I found him indefatigable in the cause of justice for Abdelrazik. And I speak from personal experience, as we both sit on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Against all odds, Dewar exhausted every parliamentarian option, time after time, not just in an attempt to exonerate an innocent citizen, but to prove that the Canadian parliament could be relevant in such a case. I watched as the government members of the committee fought him vociferously. But he worked the system - very well. In key votes on the case, the three opposition parties worked together and won by one vote each time, Paul’s example being the key cause. I witnessed the discouragement on his face every time as the government refused to abide by the will of the committee on this. I would even text him on his Blackberry during committee in an attempt to keep him assured. The hardest day came only three weeks ago, when the Foreign Affairs Minister pointed his finger in anger at Dewar over the issue, in a manner that was beneath the conduct of someone in such an exalted position.
http://www2.macleans.ca/tag/paul-dewar/
You gentlemen are heroes!