Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Iacobucci Report, Chapter 3, paragraph 77 - "caveats are down" ... A look at CSIS/RCMP and other Canadian agencies close, very close "friends"-CIA/FBI
The O’Connor judicial Inquiry on Maher Arar's kidnapping to torture, like the Iacobucci Inquiry into the actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Abdullah Almali, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin unveils a small fraction of the close relationship the Canadian agencies have with the CIA and other cases American agencies.
This fully documented video is about The History of the terrorism conducted by the CIA, since the end of the World War II . In the so called "war on terror", Canada has closely associated itself with the CIA/FBI.
This is the story of the Terrorism of the CIA - a History of Torture, kidnapping, rape, assassinations and more where "Anything Goes"...
This fully documented video is about The History of the terrorism conducted by the CIA, since the end of the World War II . In the so called "war on terror", Canada has closely associated itself with the CIA/FBI.
This is the story of the Terrorism of the CIA - a History of Torture, kidnapping, rape, assassinations and more where "Anything Goes"...
CSIS/RCMP cover-up's worse than the crimes?
"We feel there are worse secrets being held from the public than were even revealed in the Arar inquiry. On this point the government no doubt agrees with us as well, which is why an iron curtain of secrecy has enshrouded this inquiry."
"But we cannot be fearful of damaging the reputation of CSIS, the RCMP, and other Canadian agencies ..."
From "Decisons made in the shadows"- Ottawa Citizen :
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=cfba4363-17d6-4aaf-9d69-39caae605f1c&p=2 )
Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin:subjects of the Iacobucci Inquiry.
"But we cannot be fearful of damaging the reputation of CSIS, the RCMP, and other Canadian agencies ..."
From "Decisons made in the shadows"- Ottawa Citizen :
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=cfba4363-17d6-4aaf-9d69-39caae605f1c&p=2 )
Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin:subjects of the Iacobucci Inquiry.
"DIRECTED SOUND TO GET IN YOUR HEAD" - An Interesting Article
Advertisers using 'directed sound' to get in your head
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/19/08
WATERTOWN, Mass. — If you hear mysterious voices in your head the next time you stroll down the street, they may be trying to sell you something.
That was the case recently in New York when people walking beneath a billboard for the A&E show "Paranormal State" suddenly heard a woman's disembodied voice whisper: "Who's there? Who's there?" and "It's not your imagination."
The creepy effect was caused by technology called Audio Spotlight that projects sound in a focused beam so only people in a certain spot can hear it. That "directed sound" system is the work of Joseph Pompei, an engineer who founded Holosonic Research Labs Inc. in Watertown.
"There is an interesting perception of the sound being inside your head," Pompei said.
Thanks to the spread of digital video signs and pressure on advertisers to reach consumers in new ways, the business of directed sound has begun to take off for a handful of companies.
"The idea of directing sound was a real uphill battle when we first started, but all of a sudden people are coming to us saying, 'We have to have directional sound. We don't want all this noise in our store,' " said Woody Norris, founder of American Technology Corp. in San Diego.
Norris sells the HyperSonic Sound system, which uses the same principles as the Holosonic product.
Norris said he has sold many units for use with video screens in checkout lines in Kroger- and Meijer-owned grocery stores so audio can reach waiting customers without constantly bombarding store workers.
Court TV used Audio Spotlight in 2006 in Manhattan bookstores and a few Atlanta locations to promote a murder mystery show.
Customers who tripped a motion sensor would suddenly hear a voice whispering a 30-second message. Part of it said: "Don't turn around. Do you ever think about murder? Committing the ultimate crime? I do. All the time."
Full article at:
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/business/stories/2008/02/18/sound_0219.html
Monday, January 26, 2009
Help put a copy o Dark Days in the hands of all Canada's 308 Members of Parliament
All the books - 308 needed - must be in their hands by mid-February, when Members of Parliament will be discussing the findings of the Iacobucci Inquiry in Parliament.This is a campaign to bring awareness. Please spread the word.
More information at Kerry Pither's Blog at:
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6514274233420745263
The book has a special price of $30 total(GST included) and can be bought at:
http://www.octopusbooks.ca/content/dark-days-members-parliament
or by giving them a call at 613.233.2589 to arrange to pay over the phone or by mail.
For those in Ottawa,
Saturday, January 31 at the Library and Archives Canada - an event called "The age of persecution: Perspectives on an atrocity of our time."
hosted by CBC radio's Adrian Harewood, Kerry Pither ll be speaking along with authors Monia Mazigh and Alan Cumyn.
It starts at 7:00 p.m. and admission is free.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
SECRETE SYSTEM : TRIALS AND TORTURE- CSIS/RCMP Keeping their Hands "Clean"
Rendition, torture and the allies...And Canada?
Fictions and Facts about the "Rendition Program". (click here)
As General Hayden pointed out in March 2008, thousands of intelligence reports obtained from detainees "rendered" to foreign countries, were passed to allies.
"America’s closest allies, including most NATO members, were fully informed that a program of covert rendition was in use."
Also, in most cases, CIA officials were not to be present when the most brutal "enhanced techniques" were being used to protect them from legal liability.
But this is not a new approach. The CIA has expertise in running these activities, teaching and spreading.
Some History About torture, kidnappings,secret services, lies and cover-ups.. ..somewhere else....NOT in Canada !!
In Argentina, from 1976 to 1982, the Secret Services and the Armed Forces main alleged focus was on eradicating TERRORIST. A "Secret System" was created.
It is estimated that during this period, more than thirty thousand "terrorist" were tortured and/or disappeared.The official government number is 8,960.
Bellow, some information regarding SECRET TRIAL, TORTURE,KIDNAPPING that occurred in the past ...In Argentina , Not In Canada..
In that period, USA goverment had different plans for the region other than the plans the people in the region wanted. Operation Condor was created in which several countries were "collaborators" in the torture , "extraordinary rendition" and assassination of the so called "terrorists". Most of them were dissents.
Julia was a young physician and mother-to-be kidnapped and tortured to death. She had no connection to any political movement.
Quotes from the Book: "I Remember Julia: Voices of the Disappeared by Eric Stener Carlson -
But all ARGENTINA...NOT IN CANADA...
-An Argentina Army officer speaks about the fight against terrorism/subversion, to Emilio Fermin Mignone, President of the Centre for Legal Studies; author of several books concerning the military, violence and democracy :
"We are not going to commit the same mistake as Franco or as Pinochet of shooting people publicly in the street, because the Pope himself is going to ask us not to shoot them." .
By that time, "the Argentine people were misinformed. All they knew was some neighbor, some relative, a friend, had disappeared, but they didn't know that it was a system."
"In their cowardice and ineptitude, they wanted to develop a system. General Camps said that the Argentines had discovered the correct method to put an end to the subversion...The idea was to do it secretly."
This secret activity was, above all, the work of the intelligence services. Here, in Argentina, there was an excess, an overabundance of intelligence services. The intelligence services were the ones that conceived the system. The intelligence services, all of them, all of the military, have a very partial view of reality. They believed that they could invent this plan and make it work. The STATE approved it and it was applied. They created the so called "fuerzas de tarea" groups that worked with great quantity of officials and sub officials.
The military and the secret services acted with cowardice. That is to say, they used a system, they made themselves into subversives, into guerrillas.
"They used illegal methods in making people disappear."
"More than arrogance, it was stupidity. There was arrogance as well, to believe that they were the owners of other peoples' destinies, that they could manipulate the entire society, fool the entire world"....One of the aspirations of my life...is to see the Armed Forces recognize that their situation was illegitimate and to see that they do so publicly"
Without this...we are always going to think that everyone in the secret services is a torturer and a murderer, even though he/she is not....
Some of the above are the extracts from the views of Emilio Fermin Mignone, President of the Centre for Legal Studies; author of several books concerning the military, violence, and democracy (Voices of the Disappeared by Eric Stener Carlson)
The official version by that time was that:
"There were no political prisoners, there was no repression, and of course,there were no disappearances."
But this is all Argentina.....NOT CANADA !!! Or has Canada perfected the "system" ?
The Iacobucci Report mentions "indirect torture"...INDIRECT...
And there are the cases like that of ABOUSFIAN ABDELRAZIK in which documents tell a lot about the Canadian Secret Service (CSIS) in one of its officials statement regarding his torture :
"We judge it unlikely that, should Abdelrazik's detention in Sudan become public knowledge, there would be the same sort of outcry that surrounded Maher Arar's arrest and deportation from the USA"..
Has "perfection" been reached in Canada?
Or simply "There were no political prisoners, there was no repression, and of course,there were no disappearances, no torture."?
More on Argentinian "non-perfect yet" System of Fighting "TERRORISM":
THE DISAPPEARED - by Peter Sands
"The Disappeared" relives the horrors of Argentina's Dirty War (1976-83) through the experience of Horacio Pietragalla, a young man raised by the maid of the officer who kidnapped him after the military brutally murdered his parents, labelled as "TERRORISTS" by the government. The film follows Horacio as he reconstructs the cause for which his real parents gave their lives, and, through this search, reclaims his true identity. This personal journey internalizes the tragedy that ravaged the country for seven years and exposes polarized views on state-driven terrorism in groundbreaking interviews with top officials and military figures.
Fictions and Facts about the "Rendition Program". (click here)
As General Hayden pointed out in March 2008, thousands of intelligence reports obtained from detainees "rendered" to foreign countries, were passed to allies.
"America’s closest allies, including most NATO members, were fully informed that a program of covert rendition was in use."
Also, in most cases, CIA officials were not to be present when the most brutal "enhanced techniques" were being used to protect them from legal liability.
But this is not a new approach. The CIA has expertise in running these activities, teaching and spreading.
Some History About torture, kidnappings,secret services, lies and cover-ups.. ..somewhere else....NOT in Canada !!
In Argentina, from 1976 to 1982, the Secret Services and the Armed Forces main alleged focus was on eradicating TERRORIST. A "Secret System" was created.
It is estimated that during this period, more than thirty thousand "terrorist" were tortured and/or disappeared.The official government number is 8,960.
Bellow, some information regarding SECRET TRIAL, TORTURE,KIDNAPPING that occurred in the past ...In Argentina , Not In Canada..
In that period, USA goverment had different plans for the region other than the plans the people in the region wanted. Operation Condor was created in which several countries were "collaborators" in the torture , "extraordinary rendition" and assassination of the so called "terrorists". Most of them were dissents.
Julia was a young physician and mother-to-be kidnapped and tortured to death. She had no connection to any political movement.
Quotes from the Book: "I Remember Julia: Voices of the Disappeared by Eric Stener Carlson -
But all ARGENTINA...NOT IN CANADA...
-An Argentina Army officer speaks about the fight against terrorism/subversion, to Emilio Fermin Mignone, President of the Centre for Legal Studies; author of several books concerning the military, violence and democracy :
"We are not going to commit the same mistake as Franco or as Pinochet of shooting people publicly in the street, because the Pope himself is going to ask us not to shoot them." .
By that time, "the Argentine people were misinformed. All they knew was some neighbor, some relative, a friend, had disappeared, but they didn't know that it was a system."
"In their cowardice and ineptitude, they wanted to develop a system. General Camps said that the Argentines had discovered the correct method to put an end to the subversion...The idea was to do it secretly."
This secret activity was, above all, the work of the intelligence services. Here, in Argentina, there was an excess, an overabundance of intelligence services. The intelligence services were the ones that conceived the system. The intelligence services, all of them, all of the military, have a very partial view of reality. They believed that they could invent this plan and make it work. The STATE approved it and it was applied. They created the so called "fuerzas de tarea" groups that worked with great quantity of officials and sub officials.
The military and the secret services acted with cowardice. That is to say, they used a system, they made themselves into subversives, into guerrillas.
"They used illegal methods in making people disappear."
"More than arrogance, it was stupidity. There was arrogance as well, to believe that they were the owners of other peoples' destinies, that they could manipulate the entire society, fool the entire world"....One of the aspirations of my life...is to see the Armed Forces recognize that their situation was illegitimate and to see that they do so publicly"
Without this...we are always going to think that everyone in the secret services is a torturer and a murderer, even though he/she is not....
Some of the above are the extracts from the views of Emilio Fermin Mignone, President of the Centre for Legal Studies; author of several books concerning the military, violence, and democracy (Voices of the Disappeared by Eric Stener Carlson)
The official version by that time was that:
"There were no political prisoners, there was no repression, and of course,there were no disappearances."
But this is all Argentina.....NOT CANADA !!! Or has Canada perfected the "system" ?
The Iacobucci Report mentions "indirect torture"...INDIRECT...
And there are the cases like that of ABOUSFIAN ABDELRAZIK in which documents tell a lot about the Canadian Secret Service (CSIS) in one of its officials statement regarding his torture :
"We judge it unlikely that, should Abdelrazik's detention in Sudan become public knowledge, there would be the same sort of outcry that surrounded Maher Arar's arrest and deportation from the USA"..
Has "perfection" been reached in Canada?
Or simply "There were no political prisoners, there was no repression, and of course,there were no disappearances, no torture."?
More on Argentinian "non-perfect yet" System of Fighting "TERRORISM":
THE DISAPPEARED - by Peter Sands
"The Disappeared" relives the horrors of Argentina's Dirty War (1976-83) through the experience of Horacio Pietragalla, a young man raised by the maid of the officer who kidnapped him after the military brutally murdered his parents, labelled as "TERRORISTS" by the government. The film follows Horacio as he reconstructs the cause for which his real parents gave their lives, and, through this search, reclaims his true identity. This personal journey internalizes the tragedy that ravaged the country for seven years and exposes polarized views on state-driven terrorism in groundbreaking interviews with top officials and military figures.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Guantanamo prosecutor Darrel Vandeveld - His Shame for His Complicity in Torture
GUANTANAMO BAY CHILD SOLDIERS - TORTURE and the Canadian Complicity.
...OH, Canada...!!!
Full article can be read at:
http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/2009/01/22/the-shame-of-a-guantanamo-prosecutor/
"I Was Slow to Recognize the Stain of Guantanamo"
By Darrel J. Vandeveld
Washington Post -
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Prosecutor Vandeveld was the prosecutor for one of the two "child-soldiers" being tortured in Guantanamo - a young Afghan named Mohammed Jawad, who was 16 when sent to that prison.
The other is Omar Khadr. Khadr was 15 when he was taken into American custody. As Jawad, he was also at Bagram, and BEFORE THE ABOVE "INTERVIEW" he was put in the "frequent flier" torture program, (sleep deprivation) being prepared for the visit of CSIS OFFICIALS...He is the only Western left in Guantanamo...
"From June 2007 through September 2008, I worked as a prosecutor for the Office of Military Commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. .....The chief military prosecutor, Col. Morris Davis...eventually resigned..."
"My experience with the Jawad case led me to file a declaration in federal court this week stating that it is impossible to prepare a fair prosecution against detainees at Guantanamo Bay. I had concluded that the system of handling evidence is a haphazard farce."
"Evidence from U.S. Army criminal investigators — taken in the course of investigating homicide charges at Bagram air base — showed that while in U.S. custody in Afghanistan, Jawad had been hooded, slapped repeatedly across the face and then thrown down at least one flight of stairs. Detainee records show that once at Guantanamo, he was subjected to a sleep deprivation regime during which he was moved to different cells 112 times over a 14-day period — an average of every 2 1/2 hours. It was called the frequent flier program."
"Eventually I learned of evidence from field reports suggesting that he was innocent. The reports indicated that he had been recruited by terrorists who drugged him and lied to him."
" I tried to negotiate an agreement to have Jawad rehabilitated and sent back to Afghanistan, where he could be reunited with his family."
"Later that month, I made my final appearance before the military commissions at Guantanamo, not as a gung-ho prosecutor, but as a reluctant but determined witness for the defense."
"I am ashamed that it took me so long to recognize the stain of Guantanamo, not simply on America’s standing in the world, but as part, now, of a history we cannot undo. We have kept human beings in solitary confinement for as long as seven years, even though they have never been charged with any crime. In other places, we have beaten hooded, shackled prisoners, at least two of whom died as a result."
PS: This is the very SAME torture method of sleep deprivation dubbed "frequent flyer program" that was used to "prepare" Omar Khadr for the visit of the Canadian Officials"...This is the same Guantanamo "JUSTICE" to which a Canadian child was "delivered to"...
Omar Khadr will probably "be returned" to Canada...Will his torture in Guantanamo be denied? Will Canada take responsibility for the complicity in torture of a child?
Or will Canada call him "just another terrorist"? Still to be seen since Canada is still in the BUSH ERA
...OH, Canada...!!!
The Canadian Complicty in Torture is even worse - it is denied, covered-up and the "terrorist label" justifies it...
Americans are getting ashamed ...
...OH, Canada...!!!
Full article can be read at:
http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/2009/01/22/the-shame-of-a-guantanamo-prosecutor/
"I Was Slow to Recognize the Stain of Guantanamo"
By Darrel J. Vandeveld
Washington Post -
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Prosecutor Vandeveld was the prosecutor for one of the two "child-soldiers" being tortured in Guantanamo - a young Afghan named Mohammed Jawad, who was 16 when sent to that prison.
The other is Omar Khadr. Khadr was 15 when he was taken into American custody. As Jawad, he was also at Bagram, and BEFORE THE ABOVE "INTERVIEW" he was put in the "frequent flier" torture program, (sleep deprivation) being prepared for the visit of CSIS OFFICIALS...He is the only Western left in Guantanamo...
"From June 2007 through September 2008, I worked as a prosecutor for the Office of Military Commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. .....The chief military prosecutor, Col. Morris Davis...eventually resigned..."
"My experience with the Jawad case led me to file a declaration in federal court this week stating that it is impossible to prepare a fair prosecution against detainees at Guantanamo Bay. I had concluded that the system of handling evidence is a haphazard farce."
"Evidence from U.S. Army criminal investigators — taken in the course of investigating homicide charges at Bagram air base — showed that while in U.S. custody in Afghanistan, Jawad had been hooded, slapped repeatedly across the face and then thrown down at least one flight of stairs. Detainee records show that once at Guantanamo, he was subjected to a sleep deprivation regime during which he was moved to different cells 112 times over a 14-day period — an average of every 2 1/2 hours. It was called the frequent flier program."
"Eventually I learned of evidence from field reports suggesting that he was innocent. The reports indicated that he had been recruited by terrorists who drugged him and lied to him."
" I tried to negotiate an agreement to have Jawad rehabilitated and sent back to Afghanistan, where he could be reunited with his family."
"Later that month, I made my final appearance before the military commissions at Guantanamo, not as a gung-ho prosecutor, but as a reluctant but determined witness for the defense."
"I am ashamed that it took me so long to recognize the stain of Guantanamo, not simply on America’s standing in the world, but as part, now, of a history we cannot undo. We have kept human beings in solitary confinement for as long as seven years, even though they have never been charged with any crime. In other places, we have beaten hooded, shackled prisoners, at least two of whom died as a result."
PS: This is the very SAME torture method of sleep deprivation dubbed "frequent flyer program" that was used to "prepare" Omar Khadr for the visit of the Canadian Officials"...This is the same Guantanamo "JUSTICE" to which a Canadian child was "delivered to"...
Omar Khadr will probably "be returned" to Canada...Will his torture in Guantanamo be denied? Will Canada take responsibility for the complicity in torture of a child?
Or will Canada call him "just another terrorist"? Still to be seen since Canada is still in the BUSH ERA
...OH, Canada...!!!
The Canadian Complicty in Torture is even worse - it is denied, covered-up and the "terrorist label" justifies it...
Americans are getting ashamed ...
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The over-vigilant RCMP - How utterly groundless confessions came to be "robust actionable INTELLIGENCE"
More chaos and Lies in the case of Maher Arar, Omar Khadr and others...
Some more light in these cases is documented in the article written by Andy Worthington, journalist and historian, author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison
Andy Worthington has been accurately and relentlessly reporting on Who is in Guantanamo, the developments there and in the wider “War on Terror.”
The full article can be read at:
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2009/01/22/chaos-and-lies-why-obama-was-right-to-halt-the-guantanamo-trials/
The Canadian complicity here:
"Canadian Security Intelligence Services agent in the video grills Khadr"...
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/help-me-by-digby-this-makes-me-feel-so.html
More on Khadr's "confessions" at:
http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx?articlepath=APNews\Top-Headlines\20080715\Canada-Guantanamo-Detainee.xml&cat=topheadlines&subcat=&pageid=1
Some extracts from Andy Worthington's article:
1 - About 15-year-old Omar Khadr’s confessions under torture and its circumstances:
"In Khadr’s case, these techniques included prolonged isolation in a freezing cold cell, beatings, and being short-shackled in painful positions until he urinated on himself. On one particularly humiliating occasion, he reported that the guards “poured a pine-scented cleaning fluid over him and used him as a ‘human mop’ to clean up the mess.”
2 - CHAOS AND LIES:
"Now, of course, it appeared that they had sent Arar to Syria because of what Omar Khadr had told an FBI interrogator"...
"before Arar’s compensation was paid, Stockwell Day, the Canadian public safety minister, “was apparently shown the entire Arar file” by the US government, and “later asserted there was no reason in his view that Arar should remain on a watch list.” Waldman added that if Day “was told he was shown the whole file, either we have a major problem if he wasn’t shown this, or he was shown it and he attached no credibility to it.”
All this should get us thinking about who are those accused by CSIS and RCMP ...
CSIS/RCMP and others have been "close allies" of the FBI/CIA and others in charge of the now exposed American torture Program...
Gradually , the lies that were turned into "robust actionable intelligence" are been exposed.
It looks like that the "very close relationship" between RCMP/CSIS and others with FBI/CIA and others is a reason of pride only for those who maybe benefit from it personally.
(By the way, San Diego-California, I have learned, is a very nice place to visit, and after this "close relationship" , Canada has straight flights to the "small" San Diego - just a quick note...)
Back to the "Canadian complicity"....
The facts have been pointing to the fact that Canadians in general are more vulnerable than ever ...vulnearble to terrorism coming from all sides..
This web built to "fight the War on Terror" has clearly turned into a web of false confessions, cover-ups, lies, torture by proxy or not, kidnappings ("rendition"?) ...you name it...
But maybe I am wrong. Maybe Canada is different from the country where I grew-up under an American sponsored dictatorship.
There, the members of the Secret Services, (the equivalents of RCMP/CSIS etc...) were also proud friends of the CIA and others. And like in Pinochet's Chile, they were entitled to "honorable" lives regardless their lies, rapes, involvement in torture...
They were also protected under the veil of secrecy because of "national security". But this was there, far away from Canada...NOT HERE!not here...
Some more light in these cases is documented in the article written by Andy Worthington, journalist and historian, author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison
Andy Worthington has been accurately and relentlessly reporting on Who is in Guantanamo, the developments there and in the wider “War on Terror.”
The full article can be read at:
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2009/01/22/chaos-and-lies-why-obama-was-right-to-halt-the-guantanamo-trials/
The Canadian complicity here:
"Canadian Security Intelligence Services agent in the video grills Khadr"...
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/help-me-by-digby-this-makes-me-feel-so.html
More on Khadr's "confessions" at:
http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx?articlepath=APNews\Top-Headlines\20080715\Canada-Guantanamo-Detainee.xml&cat=topheadlines&subcat=&pageid=1
Some extracts from Andy Worthington's article:
1 - About 15-year-old Omar Khadr’s confessions under torture and its circumstances:
"In Khadr’s case, these techniques included prolonged isolation in a freezing cold cell, beatings, and being short-shackled in painful positions until he urinated on himself. On one particularly humiliating occasion, he reported that the guards “poured a pine-scented cleaning fluid over him and used him as a ‘human mop’ to clean up the mess.”
2 - CHAOS AND LIES:
"Now, of course, it appeared that they had sent Arar to Syria because of what Omar Khadr had told an FBI interrogator"...
"before Arar’s compensation was paid, Stockwell Day, the Canadian public safety minister, “was apparently shown the entire Arar file” by the US government, and “later asserted there was no reason in his view that Arar should remain on a watch list.” Waldman added that if Day “was told he was shown the whole file, either we have a major problem if he wasn’t shown this, or he was shown it and he attached no credibility to it.”
All this should get us thinking about who are those accused by CSIS and RCMP ...
CSIS/RCMP and others have been "close allies" of the FBI/CIA and others in charge of the now exposed American torture Program...
Gradually , the lies that were turned into "robust actionable intelligence" are been exposed.
It looks like that the "very close relationship" between RCMP/CSIS and others with FBI/CIA and others is a reason of pride only for those who maybe benefit from it personally.
(By the way, San Diego-California, I have learned, is a very nice place to visit, and after this "close relationship" , Canada has straight flights to the "small" San Diego - just a quick note...)
Back to the "Canadian complicity"....
The facts have been pointing to the fact that Canadians in general are more vulnerable than ever ...vulnearble to terrorism coming from all sides..
This web built to "fight the War on Terror" has clearly turned into a web of false confessions, cover-ups, lies, torture by proxy or not, kidnappings ("rendition"?) ...you name it...
But maybe I am wrong. Maybe Canada is different from the country where I grew-up under an American sponsored dictatorship.
There, the members of the Secret Services, (the equivalents of RCMP/CSIS etc...) were also proud friends of the CIA and others. And like in Pinochet's Chile, they were entitled to "honorable" lives regardless their lies, rapes, involvement in torture...
They were also protected under the veil of secrecy because of "national security". But this was there, far away from Canada...NOT HERE!not here...
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
TALK !!! Making Omar Khadr TALK...Who wouldn't ? For Bagran Interrogation-watch video posted Jan 20-"TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE"
Extracts from the article: "The Tale of Two Tortured Teenagers (in Bagram and Guantánamo)" - by Andy Worthington
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2009/01/21/the-tale-of-two-tortured-teenagers-in-bagram-and-guantanamo/
..." Similar problems afflict the case of Omar Khadr, who was tortured from the moment he was taken into custody at Bagram, despite being severely wounded after the firefight that led to his capture. Amongst other cruelties, Khadr was refused any medication for his wounds, was hung from his wrists for long periods of time, and, as an article in Rolling Stone explained, was “ordered to clean floors on his hands and knees while his wounds were still wet.”
In Guantánamo his torture continued, when he was subjected to the reverse engineered SERE techniques. He told his lawyers that he was “short-shackled by his hands and feet to a bolt in the floor and left for five to six hours,” and that “occasionally a US officer would enter the room to laugh at him.” He also said that he was “kept in extremely cold rooms,” “lifted up by the neck while shackled, and then dropped to the floor,” and “beaten by guards.” In one particularly notorious incident, the guards left him short-shackled until he urinated on himself, and then “poured a pine-scented cleaning fluid over him and used him as a ‘human mop’ to clean up the mess.”
All this abuse took place even though, like Mohamed Jawad, Khadr was almost certainly not responsible for the main crime for which he was charged: killing a US soldier with a hand grenade. In Khadr’s case, it was not until November 2007 that it became apparent that the prosecution had suppressed or even altered evidence that conflicted with the story that the Commissions were trying to sell: that Khadr was not a teenager but a terrorist."...
And for those who believe in "coercive interrogations", the testimony of Damien Corsetti, a former US interrogator at Bagram follows:
"On Monday, as Corsetti arrived at Guantánamo to testify about what happened to Khadr at Bagram, where he was one of the few guards to befriend him, he explained to Michelle Shephard of the Toronto Star, “I firmly believe it was torture and unfortunately I took part in it … I was a believer at one time, I was. I guess this is just me trying to make it a little bit right. You know? Maybe get some closure to it. We’ll see.”
(for the full text click on title)
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
AFTER The Iacobucci Report : A Memory "refresher" on the Canadian Complicity in Torture - Hearing on “Rendition to Torture:The Case of Maher Arar.”
AFTER The Iacobucci Report , this hearing gives us a "memory refresher" on the false allegations against Abdullah Almalki that were used to "justify" Maher Arar's kidnapping to torture in Syria - reminds us of RCMP/CSIS conduct...
The Iacobucci Inquiry’s report details how Canadian agencies’-CSIS and the RCMP - allegations against Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin were
”inaccurate,” “inflammatory,” and “without investigative foundation,” and the many ways in which these agencies were complicit in their torture.
The hearing was on October 18, 2007 and on January 19, 2009, the FBI continues to bring "stories" to the table - statements extracted from 15-year-old Omar Khadr in custody of Americans engaged in the same Torture Program that rendered Maher Arar to Syria.
In this hearing,US Representatives Dana Rohrabacher and Trent Franks talk about the Canadian officials participation in the American "kidnapping to torture" program, also referred as "Rendition Program". They talk about Canadian participation in the kidnapping to torture of Maher Arar and on the basis to the decision.
The hearing follows with the statements of American Representatives Dana Rohrabacher and Trent Franks about Canadian Intelligence.
We should not forget that Omar Khadr was submitted to sleep deprivation, to "soften" him prior to his interrogation by Canadian officials who went to Guantanamo to "question" him. Just a reminder...
The Iacobucci Inquiry’s report details how Canadian agencies’-CSIS and the RCMP - allegations against Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin were
”inaccurate,” “inflammatory,” and “without investigative foundation,” and the many ways in which these agencies were complicit in their torture.
The hearing was on October 18, 2007 and on January 19, 2009, the FBI continues to bring "stories" to the table - statements extracted from 15-year-old Omar Khadr in custody of Americans engaged in the same Torture Program that rendered Maher Arar to Syria.
In this hearing,US Representatives Dana Rohrabacher and Trent Franks talk about the Canadian officials participation in the American "kidnapping to torture" program, also referred as "Rendition Program". They talk about Canadian participation in the kidnapping to torture of Maher Arar and on the basis to the decision.
The hearing follows with the statements of American Representatives Dana Rohrabacher and Trent Franks about Canadian Intelligence.
We should not forget that Omar Khadr was submitted to sleep deprivation, to "soften" him prior to his interrogation by Canadian officials who went to Guantanamo to "question" him. Just a reminder...
Omar Khadr's Chief "Interrogator" in Bagran- Sgt.Joshua Claus-Court-Martialled...Something about TORTURE IN BAGRAN where Omar was "interrogated"
OMAR Khadr’s CHIEF INTERROGATOR in Bagram was Sgt. Joshua Claus.
Sgt. Joshua Claus was court-martialled after an innocent 22-year-old Afghan taxi driver - Delawar - was beaten to death.
Sgt. Claus was the one who "got started" with 15-year-old Canadian Omar Khadr. The CHIEF INTERROGATOR of Omar in Bagran.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2008/03/18/5041486.html
Dilawar abuse and death under torture is described in the 2007 Oscar winning DOCUMENTARY “Taxi to the Dark Side”, by American filmmaker Alex Gibney.
Again...At the age of 15,in Bagran, Omar Khadr's chief "interrogator" was this very same Sgt. Joshua Claus...
What kind of "information" did he extract or prepared to be extracted from Omar Khadr? The documentary sheds some light on the American Torture Program, confessions, death and should demand some reflection on the Canadian complicity in torture...
A Trailer of the documentary:
(more can be seen on www.youtube.com - just search "TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE"
Sgt. Joshua Claus was court-martialled after an innocent 22-year-old Afghan taxi driver - Delawar - was beaten to death.
Sgt. Claus was the one who "got started" with 15-year-old Canadian Omar Khadr. The CHIEF INTERROGATOR of Omar in Bagran.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2008/03/18/5041486.html
Dilawar abuse and death under torture is described in the 2007 Oscar winning DOCUMENTARY “Taxi to the Dark Side”, by American filmmaker Alex Gibney.
Again...At the age of 15,in Bagran, Omar Khadr's chief "interrogator" was this very same Sgt. Joshua Claus...
What kind of "information" did he extract or prepared to be extracted from Omar Khadr? The documentary sheds some light on the American Torture Program, confessions, death and should demand some reflection on the Canadian complicity in torture...
A Trailer of the documentary:
(more can be seen on www.youtube.com - just search "TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE"
KHADR'S CHIEF INTERROGATOR COURT-MARTIALLED after an Afghan innocent prisoner was tortured and beaten to DEATH
WHO WAS one of Khadr's CHIEF INTERROGATOR? Who started "softening" Khadr?
WHEN STATEMENTS MADE BY A CHILD UNDER TORTURE MAKES NEWS IN CANADA we need to know more not just pieces ...
DILAWAR was a 22 year-old innocent Afghanistan taxi driver.
United States Army documentation ruled that his death was due to the torture he was submitted to in the hands of his interrogators - AMONG THEM , OMAR KHADR'S CHIEF and INTERROGATOR AT BAGRAM.
That is it: One of KHADR'S first "interrogators" pleaded guilty in March 2008 to charges related to the mistreatment that resulted in the death of an innocent man - Dilawar.
(http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/03/guantanamo-detainee-khadr-accuses-us.php)
It was in the hands of this very same "interrogator" that Omar Khadr's ordeal began.
Isn't it worth asking some questions?
- Were "SELECTED" interrogators brought to testify in Khadr's case? Were are the other interrogators? Where is one of the first who "extracted information" from Khadr?
By now, it already looks like that there is no doubt that Khadr's "confessions" were extracted under torture of this 15-YEAR-OLD.
- Are confessions under torture now turning into acceptable as long as they SMEAR MAHER ARAR or any other victim of the Canadian Complicity with the American Torture Program ?
From the sensational coverage about Khadr's statements that he saw Mr. Arar in a Kabul guesthouse run by a suspected al-Qaeda, it looks like that we have a Media that turns statements extracted UNDER TORTURE into NEWS.
By the way, at that time, Mr. Khadr would have been six or seven years old.
Something to think about...
As a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union said:
“Instead of admitting the outrageous mishandling of Khadr's case, the government is even ready to tarnish the name of an innocent man like Maher Arar who was tortured at the behest of the U.S. government to justify this broken and tainted system,”
What about Canada?
Why is that that the torture endured by a 15-year-old is not clearly mentioned but a statement obtained under torture of a 15-year-old BECOMES BIG NEWS to once more swipe at Maher Arar's reputation ?
The Canadian officials who leaked the confession Mr. Arar gave under torture in Syria, which suggested he attended a training camp for several months in 1993 were never identified and now Mr.Khadr's statements extracted under torture are acceptable..
Something to think about - torture flights, Canadian complicity, lies and cover-ups and a Canadian Inquiry where Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor concluded in 2006 that:
“There is no evidence to indicate that Mr. Arar has committed any offence or that his activities constitute a threat to the security of Canada."
(for more on Khadr's torture, click in the title. It will redirectt to Canadian coverage)
Finally, some statements from an Army Interrogator - witness of the "interrogation program" - TORTURE AS IT REALLY IS:
WHEN STATEMENTS MADE BY A CHILD UNDER TORTURE MAKES NEWS IN CANADA we need to know more not just pieces ...
DILAWAR was a 22 year-old innocent Afghanistan taxi driver.
United States Army documentation ruled that his death was due to the torture he was submitted to in the hands of his interrogators - AMONG THEM , OMAR KHADR'S CHIEF and INTERROGATOR AT BAGRAM.
That is it: One of KHADR'S first "interrogators" pleaded guilty in March 2008 to charges related to the mistreatment that resulted in the death of an innocent man - Dilawar.
(http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/03/guantanamo-detainee-khadr-accuses-us.php)
It was in the hands of this very same "interrogator" that Omar Khadr's ordeal began.
Isn't it worth asking some questions?
- Were "SELECTED" interrogators brought to testify in Khadr's case? Were are the other interrogators? Where is one of the first who "extracted information" from Khadr?
By now, it already looks like that there is no doubt that Khadr's "confessions" were extracted under torture of this 15-YEAR-OLD.
- Are confessions under torture now turning into acceptable as long as they SMEAR MAHER ARAR or any other victim of the Canadian Complicity with the American Torture Program ?
From the sensational coverage about Khadr's statements that he saw Mr. Arar in a Kabul guesthouse run by a suspected al-Qaeda, it looks like that we have a Media that turns statements extracted UNDER TORTURE into NEWS.
By the way, at that time, Mr. Khadr would have been six or seven years old.
Something to think about...
As a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union said:
“Instead of admitting the outrageous mishandling of Khadr's case, the government is even ready to tarnish the name of an innocent man like Maher Arar who was tortured at the behest of the U.S. government to justify this broken and tainted system,”
What about Canada?
Why is that that the torture endured by a 15-year-old is not clearly mentioned but a statement obtained under torture of a 15-year-old BECOMES BIG NEWS to once more swipe at Maher Arar's reputation ?
The Canadian officials who leaked the confession Mr. Arar gave under torture in Syria, which suggested he attended a training camp for several months in 1993 were never identified and now Mr.Khadr's statements extracted under torture are acceptable..
Something to think about - torture flights, Canadian complicity, lies and cover-ups and a Canadian Inquiry where Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor concluded in 2006 that:
“There is no evidence to indicate that Mr. Arar has committed any offence or that his activities constitute a threat to the security of Canada."
(for more on Khadr's torture, click in the title. It will redirectt to Canadian coverage)
Finally, some statements from an Army Interrogator - witness of the "interrogation program" - TORTURE AS IT REALLY IS:
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Jewish MP denounces ISRAEL as War Criminals , "ISRAEL WAS BORN OUT OF JEWISH TERRORISM"
Not a CANADIAN MP...
It was Sir Gerald Kaufmann, A Righteous Among The Jews, Member of British parliament
" They’re not simply war criminals, they’re fools!"
He also talks about who is Tzipi Livni- Israel's FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER:
SHE IS THE DAUGHTER OF Eitan Livni - CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER OF THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATION IRGUN, that bombed the King David Hotel, which housed the Mandate Secretariat and the British military headquarters.
THE TERRORIST BOMBING COORDENATED BY ISRAEL'S CURRENT FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER TZIPI LIVNI' FATHER , killed 91 people including 17 Jews.Most of the people killed were staff of the hotel or Secretariat: 21 were first-rank government officials; 49 were second-rank clerks, typists and messengers, junior members of the Secretariat, employees of the hotel and canteen workers; 13 were soldiers; 3 policemen; and 5 were members of the public.
It was Sir Gerald Kaufmann, A Righteous Among The Jews, Member of British parliament
" They’re not simply war criminals, they’re fools!"
He also talks about who is Tzipi Livni- Israel's FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER:
SHE IS THE DAUGHTER OF Eitan Livni - CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER OF THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATION IRGUN, that bombed the King David Hotel, which housed the Mandate Secretariat and the British military headquarters.
THE TERRORIST BOMBING COORDENATED BY ISRAEL'S CURRENT FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER TZIPI LIVNI' FATHER , killed 91 people including 17 Jews.Most of the people killed were staff of the hotel or Secretariat: 21 were first-rank government officials; 49 were second-rank clerks, typists and messengers, junior members of the Secretariat, employees of the hotel and canteen workers; 13 were soldiers; 3 policemen; and 5 were members of the public.
Beth Guthrie and Wendy Goldsmith - Peace Activists Occupy Conservative MP’s Ed Holder’s Office in London, Ontario
Beth Guthrie and Wendy Goldsmith, Caravan members, were arrested after occupying a Conservative MP's office and released without charges.
FREEDOM FOR GAZA! Friday, January 16,2009
Also check the Web Site:
Council of Canadians - London:
http://councilofcanadianslondon.wordpress.com/
From Wendy: "there are no words...only mourning...and then the mobilization of our collective will to say to our complicit government...NOT IN MY NAME"
Friday, January 16, 2009
THE SLAUGHTER OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN BY ISRAEL (for more photos, click here)
TODAY JANUARY 16, 2009 -
In 21 days 1133 Palestinians killed by Israel: 346 children & 105 women, 5200 injured.
UPDATES: Http://apps.facebook.com/supportgaza
I heard once, from a person I used to work with in an insurance broker in Toronto, something about the Palestinian people that I could never understand that much. This man had some sort of a "theory" on why Canada should be "determined" against "those terrorists". And he told me:
"- They come to this country to BREED TERRORISTS. They are "breeding terrorists" in Gaza.."
When I saw these photos, his words came back to my mind. I could never forget that strange, to say the least, "message" .
In horror and pain, I post these photos maybe FOR HIM:
- Here are your "terrorists", Sir...Have a beer to celebrate...They are been killed by the dozens as these photos are being posted..Your "world" , as per your views, must be safer now...
I do apologize for this personal comment and for posting something out of the main purpose of this Blog, but I had to find a way of getting it out of my "system"...
It looks like that I couldn't "keep it to myself"...
At the end of the day, I believe it is always very painful to be, Face-to-Face, with those who endorse CRIME, TORTURE, RACISM and who can hide and take no responsibility for their choices, have no accountability for their crimes. Good clothes, good jobs maybe, gives these "non-ordinary people" the privilege of impunity...Back to the photos:
To GARY, RICHARD etc..and their friends ...
THE SLAUGHTER OF THOSE WHOSE CRIME WAS TO BE BORN IN GAZA-PHOTOS: January 2009
In 21 days 1133 Palestinians killed by Israel: 346 children & 105 women, 5200 injured.
UPDATES: Http://apps.facebook.com/supportgaza
I heard once, from a person I used to work with in an insurance broker in Toronto, something about the Palestinian people that I could never understand that much. This man had some sort of a "theory" on why Canada should be "determined" against "those terrorists". And he told me:
"- They come to this country to BREED TERRORISTS. They are "breeding terrorists" in Gaza.."
When I saw these photos, his words came back to my mind. I could never forget that strange, to say the least, "message" .
In horror and pain, I post these photos maybe FOR HIM:
- Here are your "terrorists", Sir...Have a beer to celebrate...They are been killed by the dozens as these photos are being posted..Your "world" , as per your views, must be safer now...
I do apologize for this personal comment and for posting something out of the main purpose of this Blog, but I had to find a way of getting it out of my "system"...
It looks like that I couldn't "keep it to myself"...
At the end of the day, I believe it is always very painful to be, Face-to-Face, with those who endorse CRIME, TORTURE, RACISM and who can hide and take no responsibility for their choices, have no accountability for their crimes. Good clothes, good jobs maybe, gives these "non-ordinary people" the privilege of impunity...Back to the photos:
To GARY, RICHARD etc..and their friends ...
THE SLAUGHTER OF THOSE WHOSE CRIME WAS TO BE BORN IN GAZA-PHOTOS: January 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Abuses and excesses of the Bush Administration - USA House Judiciary Committee Report
DELAHUNT POSTS JUDICIARY REPORT ON BUSH ABUSES
USA Congressman Delahunt was the one who apologized to Maher Arar considering the fact that George Bush refuses to do so.
WASHINGTON, DC – On January 14, 2009, Congressman Delahunt posted to his web site a nearly-500 page report prepared by the House Judiciary Committee documenting numerous abuses and excesses of the Bush Administration. The report is titled, “Reining in the Imperial Presidency: Lessons and Recommendations Relating to the Presidency of George W. Bush.”
The Report can be seen at:
"Delahunt Posts Report Documenting Bush Abuses (01-14-09)"
http://www.house.gov/delahunt/
Watch the video:
Maher Arar's hearing - Congressman Delahunt:
USA Congressman Delahunt was the one who apologized to Maher Arar considering the fact that George Bush refuses to do so.
WASHINGTON, DC – On January 14, 2009, Congressman Delahunt posted to his web site a nearly-500 page report prepared by the House Judiciary Committee documenting numerous abuses and excesses of the Bush Administration. The report is titled, “Reining in the Imperial Presidency: Lessons and Recommendations Relating to the Presidency of George W. Bush.”
The Report can be seen at:
"Delahunt Posts Report Documenting Bush Abuses (01-14-09)"
http://www.house.gov/delahunt/
Watch the video:
Maher Arar's hearing - Congressman Delahunt:
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Israel Testing Experimental Weapons in Gaza - Two Norwegian doctors :Dr. Mads Gilbert and Dr.Erik Fosse Speak Out - They kill and cause cancer
Dense Inert Metal Explosives, or DIME are being used in Gaza. They kill and, on the long run, cause cancer. This is a nuclear weapon that was developed by the AMERICA MILITARY in 2006.
Two Norwegian doctors who have just returned from Gaza have accused Israel of testing a new experimental weapon known as Dense Inert Metal Explosives, or DIME. The weapon causes the tissue to be torn from the flesh. Dr. Mads Gilbert said, “We have seen a number of very brutal amputations…without shrapnel injuries, which we strongly suspect must have been caused by the DIME weapons.” Dr. Erik Fosse said, “I have seen and treated a lot of different injuries for the last thirty years in different war zones, and this looks completely different.”
The targets are CIVILIANS:
Two Norwegian doctors who have just returned from Gaza have accused Israel of testing a new experimental weapon known as Dense Inert Metal Explosives, or DIME. The weapon causes the tissue to be torn from the flesh. Dr. Mads Gilbert said, “We have seen a number of very brutal amputations…without shrapnel injuries, which we strongly suspect must have been caused by the DIME weapons.” Dr. Erik Fosse said, “I have seen and treated a lot of different injuries for the last thirty years in different war zones, and this looks completely different.”
The targets are CIVILIANS:
Israeli intelligence agency cracks down on Israeli protesters
The violence of Israel's Intelligence Agency
Israelis Soldiers refuse to serve in Gaza - Who are we supporting?
Israelis Soldiers refuse to serve in Gaza - Israelis protest against the war in Gaza, Tel Aviv January 8th 2009.
הטלוויזיה החברתית מציגה:
סרבנות עזה 2009
הפגנת חיילי מילואים נגד המלחמה בעזה, ראיונות עם מפגינים המעידים כי יסרבו להתגייס למלחמה בעזה. ההפגנה התקיימה מול הקריה ב - 8/1/2009.
הטלוויזיה החברתית מציגה:
סרבנות עזה 2009
הפגנת חיילי מילואים נגד המלחמה בעזה, ראיונות עם מפגינים המעידים כי יסרבו להתגייס למלחמה בעזה. ההפגנה התקיימה מול הקריה ב - 8/1/2009.
Is this child Hamas? THIS IS GAZA, January 2009
The photos in this album are horrific - but they tell the truth of the Zionist attack on Gaza. Inhumane, brutal treatment of civilians, use of weapons such as white phosphorous and depleted uranium, destruction of civilian infrastructure, bombing schools, police stations, places of refuge, killing parmedics, Red Cross and United Nations humanitarian workers and supply convoys
Monday, January 12, 2009
Lawyers: Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is not self-defence – it’s a war crime !
January 12th, 2009
The Sunday Times (London) has published a letter signed by an international group of lawyers and law professors. Juan Cole has suggested that all bloggers who agree post it. Here it is:
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is not self-defence – it’s a war crime
ISRAEL has sought to justify its military attacks on Gaza by stating that it amounts to an act of “self-defence” as recognised by Article 51, United Nations Charter. We categorically reject this contention.
The rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas deplorable as they are, do not, in terms of scale and effect amount to an armed attack entitling Israel to rely on self-defence. Under international law self-defence is an act of last resort and is subject to the customary rules of proportionality and necessity.
The killing of almost 800 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and more than 3,000 injuries, accompanied by the destruction of schools, mosques, houses, UN compounds and government buildings, which Israel has a responsibility to protect under the Fourth Geneva Convention, is not commensurate to the deaths caused by Hamas rocket fire.
For 18 months Israel had imposed an unlawful blockade on the coastal strip that brought Gazan society to the brink of collapse. In the three years after Israel’s redeployment from Gaza, 11 Israelis were killed by rocket fire. And yet in 2005-8, according to the UN, the Israeli army killed about 1,250 Palestinians in Gaza, including 222 children. Throughout this time the Gaza Strip remained occupied territory under international law because Israel maintained effective control over it.
Israel’s actions amount to aggression, not self-defence, not least because its assault on Gaza was unnecessary. Israel could have agreed to renew the truce with Hamas. Instead it killed 225 Palestinians on the first day of its attack. As things stand, its invasion and bombardment of Gaza amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s 1.5m inhabitants contrary to international humanitarian and human rights law. In addition, the blockade of humanitarian relief, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and preventing access to basic necessities such as food and fuel, are prima facie war crimes.
We condemn the firing of rockets by Hamas into Israel and suicide bombings which are also contrary to international humanitarian law and are war crimes. Israel has a right to take reasonable and proportionate means to protect its civilian population from such attacks. However, the manner and scale of its operations in Gaza amount to an act of aggression and is contrary to international law, notwithstanding the rocket attacks by Hamas.
Ian Brownlie QC, Blackstone Chambers
Mark Muller QC, Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales
Michael Mansfield QC and Joel Bennathan QC, Tooks Chambers
Sir Geoffrey Bindman, University College, London
Professor Richard Falk, Princeton University
Professor M Cherif Bassiouni, DePaul University, Chicago
Professor Christine Chinkin, LSE
Professor John B Quigley, Ohio State University
Professor Iain Scobbie and Victor Kattan, School of Oriental and African Studies
Professor Vera Gowlland-Debbas, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
Professor Said Mahmoudi, Stockholm University
Professor Max du Plessis, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
Professor Bill Bowring, Birkbeck College
Professor Joshua Castellino, Middlesex University
Professor Thomas Skouteris and Professor Michael Kagan, American University of Cairo
Professor Javaid Rehman, Brunel University
Daniel Machover, Chairman, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights
Dr Phoebe Okawa, Queen Mary University
John Strawson, University of East London
Dr Nisrine Abiad, British Institute of International and Comparative Law
Dr Michael Kearney, University of York
Dr Shane Darcy, National University of Ireland, Galway
Dr Michelle Burgis, University of St Andrews
Dr Niaz Shah, University of Hull
Liz Davies, Chair, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyer
Prof Michael Lynk, The University of Western Ontario
Steve Kamlish QC and Michael Topolski QC, Tooks Chambers
The Sunday Times (London) has published a letter signed by an international group of lawyers and law professors. Juan Cole has suggested that all bloggers who agree post it. Here it is:
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is not self-defence – it’s a war crime
ISRAEL has sought to justify its military attacks on Gaza by stating that it amounts to an act of “self-defence” as recognised by Article 51, United Nations Charter. We categorically reject this contention.
The rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas deplorable as they are, do not, in terms of scale and effect amount to an armed attack entitling Israel to rely on self-defence. Under international law self-defence is an act of last resort and is subject to the customary rules of proportionality and necessity.
The killing of almost 800 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and more than 3,000 injuries, accompanied by the destruction of schools, mosques, houses, UN compounds and government buildings, which Israel has a responsibility to protect under the Fourth Geneva Convention, is not commensurate to the deaths caused by Hamas rocket fire.
For 18 months Israel had imposed an unlawful blockade on the coastal strip that brought Gazan society to the brink of collapse. In the three years after Israel’s redeployment from Gaza, 11 Israelis were killed by rocket fire. And yet in 2005-8, according to the UN, the Israeli army killed about 1,250 Palestinians in Gaza, including 222 children. Throughout this time the Gaza Strip remained occupied territory under international law because Israel maintained effective control over it.
Israel’s actions amount to aggression, not self-defence, not least because its assault on Gaza was unnecessary. Israel could have agreed to renew the truce with Hamas. Instead it killed 225 Palestinians on the first day of its attack. As things stand, its invasion and bombardment of Gaza amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s 1.5m inhabitants contrary to international humanitarian and human rights law. In addition, the blockade of humanitarian relief, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and preventing access to basic necessities such as food and fuel, are prima facie war crimes.
We condemn the firing of rockets by Hamas into Israel and suicide bombings which are also contrary to international humanitarian law and are war crimes. Israel has a right to take reasonable and proportionate means to protect its civilian population from such attacks. However, the manner and scale of its operations in Gaza amount to an act of aggression and is contrary to international law, notwithstanding the rocket attacks by Hamas.
Ian Brownlie QC, Blackstone Chambers
Mark Muller QC, Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales
Michael Mansfield QC and Joel Bennathan QC, Tooks Chambers
Sir Geoffrey Bindman, University College, London
Professor Richard Falk, Princeton University
Professor M Cherif Bassiouni, DePaul University, Chicago
Professor Christine Chinkin, LSE
Professor John B Quigley, Ohio State University
Professor Iain Scobbie and Victor Kattan, School of Oriental and African Studies
Professor Vera Gowlland-Debbas, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
Professor Said Mahmoudi, Stockholm University
Professor Max du Plessis, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
Professor Bill Bowring, Birkbeck College
Professor Joshua Castellino, Middlesex University
Professor Thomas Skouteris and Professor Michael Kagan, American University of Cairo
Professor Javaid Rehman, Brunel University
Daniel Machover, Chairman, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights
Dr Phoebe Okawa, Queen Mary University
John Strawson, University of East London
Dr Nisrine Abiad, British Institute of International and Comparative Law
Dr Michael Kearney, University of York
Dr Shane Darcy, National University of Ireland, Galway
Dr Michelle Burgis, University of St Andrews
Dr Niaz Shah, University of Hull
Liz Davies, Chair, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyer
Prof Michael Lynk, The University of Western Ontario
Steve Kamlish QC and Michael Topolski QC, Tooks Chambers
SOME FEED RACISM and islamophobia but some dare speak out! Worth reading : "Outrage in Gaza: No More Apologies ! by Rabbi Brant Rosen
Rabbi Brant Rosen SPEAKS OUT against the bloodshed in Gaza. He bravely wrote a piece in his Blog:
http://rabbibrant.com/2008/12/28/outrage-in-gaza-no-more-apologies/
Also - THE ONE SIDED NEWS:
On The Daily Show's January 5 "Strip Maul" segment, Jon Stewart did what few American television personalities have dared to do: he criticized Israel's campaign against Gaza, making it clear that bombing will not bring peace for Israelis or Palestinians. He mocked the one-sided response of U.S. politicians by calling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the "Mobius strip of issues because there's only one side!"
He's sure to get thousands of complaints, so send Jon a letter of appreciation and then ask all your friends to watch this segment.
To send a thank you note in support:
http://www.thankyoujonstewart.com/
Watch the video at:(just cut and paste this link in case the video below doesn't work)
http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/full-episodes/january-5-2009/#clip125995
(The clip is the John Stuart on January 5, 2008 - part I)
http://rabbibrant.com/2008/12/28/outrage-in-gaza-no-more-apologies/
Also - THE ONE SIDED NEWS:
On The Daily Show's January 5 "Strip Maul" segment, Jon Stewart did what few American television personalities have dared to do: he criticized Israel's campaign against Gaza, making it clear that bombing will not bring peace for Israelis or Palestinians. He mocked the one-sided response of U.S. politicians by calling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the "Mobius strip of issues because there's only one side!"
He's sure to get thousands of complaints, so send Jon a letter of appreciation and then ask all your friends to watch this segment.
To send a thank you note in support:
http://www.thankyoujonstewart.com/
Watch the video at:(just cut and paste this link in case the video below doesn't work)
http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/full-episodes/january-5-2009/#clip125995
(The clip is the John Stuart on January 5, 2008 - part I)
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Non "white" non Jew? Shut up or you will be labeled "anti-semitic!-constitutional law & civil rights litigator, Glen Greenwald's article-click here...
And are the so called "non-whites" and the "non-jews" still considered Human Beings after the world division in "Either with us or against us"? Is a racist culture of genocide and hate becoming the acceptable norm?
CREATING A WORLD OF HATE: "Either you are with US or against US"..and don't mention Israel War Crimes or you will be labeled "anti-semitic"...
CREATING A WORLD OF HATE: "Either you are with US or against US"..and don't mention Israel War Crimes or you will be labeled "anti-semitic"...
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Canada - The complicity in torture at Guantanamo - What happens inside Guantanamo?
Canadian CSIS officials in Guantanamo ...Is this "indirect torture"?
The case of Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen sent to Guantanamo at the age of 15
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7508777.stm
The release of the above video follows intelligence reports made public on July 2008 showing that Omar Khadr was subjected to weeks of sleep deprivation by US military officials before being interviewed by Canadian officials, and that the Canadians were aware of the sleep deprivation.
By clicking on the title of this post, you can see a BBC interview with a former guard at the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay-Chris Arendt. He describes the brutality he witnessed to inmates.
Chris Arendt told the BBC what he saw amounted to ''torture'' and that some of his fellow guards were so violent as to be ''psychotic.''
What about Canadian official? Is this an endosement of torture, "indirect torture", not torture, democratic and legal procedures...?
The case of Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen sent to Guantanamo at the age of 15
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7508777.stm
The release of the above video follows intelligence reports made public on July 2008 showing that Omar Khadr was subjected to weeks of sleep deprivation by US military officials before being interviewed by Canadian officials, and that the Canadians were aware of the sleep deprivation.
By clicking on the title of this post, you can see a BBC interview with a former guard at the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay-Chris Arendt. He describes the brutality he witnessed to inmates.
Chris Arendt told the BBC what he saw amounted to ''torture'' and that some of his fellow guards were so violent as to be ''psychotic.''
What about Canadian official? Is this an endosement of torture, "indirect torture", not torture, democratic and legal procedures...?
Friday, January 9, 2009
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