Sunday, December 28, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Please Join the Campaign: MP's Awareness
CSIS/RCMP - NO ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HARASSMENT AND TORTURE
Help put a copy of Dark Days in the hands of every MP
See author Kerry Phither's Blog at
http://kerrypither.com/2008/12/help-put-a-copy-of-dark-days-in-the-hands-of-every-mp/
"Some Dark Days readers have initiated a creative campaign to help build awareness among politicians about Canadian complicity in torture and the need for action. These readers believe that every one of Canada’s 308 Members of Parliament should have a copy of the book, and they’ve kick-started the project by contributing 50 copies. I’m contributing another 20 books, so we have 228 copies to go.
Once we’ve gathered enough books, the leaders of each political party will be invited to accept them on behalf of their caucuses at a reception on Parliament Hill. I’ll be there, along with two or three of the men at the heart of this story, and representatives of the human rights and civil liberties organizations which have been pushing for answers, accountability and redress for the men.
As the book has not yet been published in French, we are having an excerpt translated to insert into the copies we are presenting to members of the Bloc Québécois.
Books for this project can be purchased through Octopus Books in Ottawa. They’ve offered to handle the logistics by keeping track of numbers and storing the books bought until we present them. Octopus is also offering the “Books for MPs” project a discounted price of $30.
Please consider contributing one or more copies of Dark Days for MPs by logging on to Octopus’ web site or by giving them a call at 613.233.2589 to arrange to pay over the phone or by mail.
Contributions will be accepted up to and including February 7, 2009. The books will be presented to the party leaders soon afterward.
I’ll be posting regular updates on our progress
Friday, December 12, 2008
Arar v. Ashcroft - December 9, 2008 - Maher Arar's attorneys returned to US Court of Appeals - Watch the session -click here
Maher Arar is challenging his rendition by the U.S. government to Syria., where he was tortured and released after one year without being charged.
Maher Arar, a Syrian-born, Canadian citizen was detained during a layover at the J.F.K. Airport in New York City in September 2002 on his way home to Canada. He was held in solitary confinement for nearly two weeks. At the time, CSIS and RCMP provided information to the U.S. government labelling Arar as a member of al-Qaeda.
Mr. Arar's suit charges that his Fifth Amendment due process rights were violated when he was confined without access to an attorney, both domestically and in Syria. He is seeking civil damages from a number of federal officials including former Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
December 9, 2008 Demand Action: Maher Arar’s attorneys return to the U.S. Court of Appeals
Demand action by the U.S. government on December 9, 2008, when Maher Arar’s attorneys return to the U.S. Court of Appeals seeking justice for his rendition to torture.
More info at:
http://www.unitedforpeace.
While the black cloud of George W. Bush is finally lifting, the crimes perpetuated by his administration will not be undone or erased in January. Join us to hold high levels of the Bush administration—former Attorney General John Ashcroft, former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, and FBI Director Robert Mueller, as well as numerous
THIS IS A MOVEMENT THAT CAN CERTAINLY REVEAL MORE ABOUT THE CANADIAN (CSIS/RCMP and others) COMPLICTY IN TORTURE!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Canadian Torture - a Real Account by Torture Survivor Abdullah Almalki
- The Participation in torture by :
- RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and
- CSIS (Canadian Secret Inteligence Service)
(Designed Torture, KUBARK Manual)
Speakers: Abdullah Almalki, Canadian Engineer tortured in Syria & Kerry Pither, author of "Dark Days: the story four Canadians Tortured in the name of Fighting Terror"
(Ahmad El Maati, Abdullah Almalki, Maher Arar and Muayyed Nureddi)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
A MUST READ - "Enhanced Tecniques" Documented - Drugs and the "Nuts & Bolts" of the American Torture (click here)
The "Chart of Coercion" - What are these techniques? (details at: http://valtinsblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/nuts-bolts-how-us-organized-their.html)
1. Isolation: This deprives the prisoner of all social support and "ability to resist". While turning the prisoner upon his own resources, it "makes victim dependent upon interrogator" (quotes are from the SERE version). Furthermore, isolation can be complete, semi, or "group isolation".
2. Monopolisation of Perception: This means again "physical isolation. Darkness or bright light. Barren environment. Restricted movement. Monotonous food." The goal? To fixate the prisoner upon his "immediate predicament", the technique also "eliminates stimuli competing with those controlled by captor," frustrating all action "not consistent with compliance."
3. Induced Debilitation and Exhaustion: This is what it seems to be, i.e., a method to weaken a prisoners' "mental and physical ability to resist." Techniques include: "Semi-starvation. Exposure. Exploitation of wounds. Induced illness. Sleep deprivation. Prolonged constraint. Prolonged interrogation" and "over-exertion", among other practices (tortures!)
4. Threats: Which "cultivates anxiety and despair", including threats of death, non return, "endless interrogation and isolation", threats against family, and "mysterious changes of treatment".
5. Occasional indulgences: To provide positive motivation for compliance, it also has the effect of hindering "adjustment to deprivation."
6. Demonstrating "Omnipotence" and "Omniscience": The purpose of this is said to suggest to the prisoner the "futility of resistance". How is this done? By "demonstrating complete control over victim's fate". (And this, by the way, is a crucial way that the ban on habeas corpus for these prisoners, recently overturned by the Supreme Court, fed into the military's torture program, by demonstrating that there was no appeal to anyone.)
7. Degradation: This is where one finds the prevention of personal hygiene, the insults, taunts, "demeaning punishments" and "denial of privacy". The goal was to damage prisoner self esteem, making "capitulation" a lesser evil. It also "reduces the prisoner to 'animal level' concerns."
8. Enforcing Trivial Demands: Again the point is to develop compliance in the captive, and takes place through "enforcement of minute rules."
