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STOP THE ILLEGAL DEPORTATION OF HASSAN ALMREITuesday, November 25, 2003 - 08:30 a.m.from the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials: Urgent Action Message from the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in CanadaStop the Illegal Deportation of Hassan AlmreiAlmrei To Face Same Torture as Maher Arar if Canadian Government Has Its Way and Deports Him to Syria Within Two WeeksRefugee Has Spent Over Two Years in Solitary Confinement in Toronto Prison on "Secret "Evidence" Neither He nor his Lawyer is Allowed to See* Come to Court and Support a Motion for a Stay of Deportation Wednesday, November 26, 9 am, Court 7-2, 361 University Ave.* Contact Minister of Immigration Denis Coderre (info. below)In a sign that the Canadian government has learned absolutely nothing from the horrid kidnapping and torture experienced by Canadian Maher Arar in the dungeons of Syria, the federal government is now fast-tracking plans to deport refugee Hassan Almrei to Syria within two weeks. A motion to stay the deportation will be heard in Federal Court, 361 University Ave., Courtroom 7-2, on Wednesday morning, November 26 at 9am sharp. Supporters are urged to attend this crucial hearing. The fast-tracking of deportation against Almrei is typical behaviour for Canadian immigration authorities, who have also targetted members of Montreal's various "non-status" Algerians, Pakistanis and Palestinians when those communities have organized themselves to stop these deportations. Almrei, who has won international attention to his case and the wretched conditions in solitary confinement at Metro West Detention Centre with his recent 39-day hunger strike, would surely face torture and, possibly, execution, if he were returned to Syria. That's the well-founded opinion of three experts on the region as well as Amnesty International, all of which has been ignored by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). CIC has prepared travel documents, received clearance from Syria to "receive" Almrei, and is looking now to charter a private jet to return Almrei to an unspeakable future sometime within the next two weeks. They seem determined to keep him from having his bail hearing, where it will be obvious that he has an extensive community of support in Toronto which is more than willing to take him in if he's released from prison. The fact that a secret trial security certificate against Hassan was upheld in the sham hearing in 2001 will certainly not endear him to Syrian authorities, who have been condemned as among the worst human rights violators on the planet. The CIC decision notes that "the general conditions in Syria shows that the human rights record of Syria is poor and that detention and torture are not uncommon. I see no reason not to accept this evidence." Yet the decision somehow manages to distort reality and claim Hassan is NOT at risk if sent there, despite the fact that he was granted refugee status in Canada in 2000 when he was found to be "in need of protection against persecution" by the Convention Refugee Determination Division of CIC. In an apparent homage to the capacity of bureaucrats to exist in some parallel universe wholly unrelated to ours, the decision regarding Hassan's future comes up with this startling conclusion, one which flies in the face of the past month's shocking headlines about the Arar case: "Mr. Almrei submits that his risk is increased because he has now been publicly identified as a refugee claimant and linked to a terrorist organization. Mr. Almrei notes that other persons suspected of involvement in terrorist organizations and returned to Syria -- particularly Mr. Maher Arar -- are alleged to have been tortured, killed, or have been detained indefinitely without charge. The totality of the evidence before me, however, is inconclusive as to Syria's treatment of persons suspected of involvement in terrorism." (It should be noted here that there has NEVER been any proof that Almrei is involved in what has been deemed "association" with "terrorism.". But in the security certificate process, CSIS need not prove any facts that someone might be associated with an organization whose activities would make one inadmissible to Canada. Rather, they only need to find that there are "reasonable grounds to believe" someone MIGHT be connected to such an organization in the past, present, or future. Upon a judge concluding the "reasonableness" of this potential association -- with secret "evidence" neither the individual nor the lawyer can see, much less challenge, because it is presented to a judge in secret -- the decision is then bumped up to be read as "conclusive" proof. Any reasonable person would conclude that a person tarred with this brush would face torture of the kind seen by Arar as well as other Canadians held overseas and tortured, such as Mssrs. Almalki and El-Maati (held in Syria and Egypt, respectively). The deportation decision extensively relies on Almrei's association with Nabil Al-Marabh, someone tarred in newspapers post 9/11 as a terrorist kingpin, but who now sits in a U.S. jail on nothing more than a minor immigration violation, ALL allegations of terrorist association dismissed by a U.S. court. There are numerous other allegations which would take up a fair bit of space to explain here, but they really don't matter at this point. What matters is that the Canadian government is prepared to send a sweet young man who has never been charged with, much less convicted of, a crime here in Canada back to Syria where he is certain to face torture and worse. The document says that Hassan meets the "extraordinary circumstances" of the Supreme Court's Suresh decision, which said only in the most exceptional of circumstances can someone be returned to torture. But extraordinary circumstances would mean people who have actively committed genocidal acts and other horrors; Hassan'sbiggest "crime," for which he has never been charged, seems to be helping someone get a fake passport. As the immigration document concludes, "even were Mr. Almrei to be at substantial risk [of torture] if he is returned to Syria, the extraordinary danger he poses to the security of Canada requires that he not be allowed to remain in Canada." This triumph of paranoia and racism, if allowed to go forward, will further deepen the stain of blood on the hands of Canadian officials, already in trouble over the Arar case and their refusal to bring home Canadian Abdulrahman Kadr, the 21-year-old released from the U.S.-run concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay in late October but repeatedly refused re-entry to Canada. Stay in touch, come to court, and write letters to and call Coderre's office and call for an end to this murderous deportation order. Denis Coderre, Minister Citizenship and Immigration Canada Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1L1 Phone: (613) 957-0312 Fax: (613) 957-2688 Minister@cic.gc.ca Coderre.D@parl.gc.ca Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada P.O Box 73620, 509 St. Clair Ave. West Toronto, ON M6C 1C0 (416) 651-5800, tasc@web.ca, www.homesnotbombs.ca top Calling all bands who careSunday, November 16, 2003 - 02:18 p.m.Free Tibet, Glendon Amnesty International, Glendon Students for Social Justice, and other groups will be holding a HUMAN RIGHTS concert on January 29 (Thursday). The concert will be headlined by bands for a free Tibet and will be used to raise awareness about the human rights situation in Tibet, as well as other places. A small admission fee will be charged, which will go to raising money for the AIDS crisis in Africa. Through UNICEF this money will directly be paying for the prescription drugs that prevents AIDS affected victims from dying from HIV. The AIDS crisis in Africa has to be one of the most important human rights and social issues of our time. This preventable Holocaust is killing 8,000 a day, thanks to our indifference. All bands are welcome to participate in this concert. Further details will be available later. We seek everyone's help to make this the best concert ever. If you have ideas, you can contact Juan Charlos at lavirtualo@msn.com We hope to see you there. Matt top Shocking images shame US forcesMonday, November 10, 2003 - 02:17 p.m.from Aljazeera.net: A series of shocking pictures revealing US soldiers tying up Iraqi women and children in their own home has provoked international outrage. see the pictures. C.top news from the Gerrard St. squatSunday, November 9, 2003 - 02:41 p.m.yesterday, five members of Glendon Students for Social Justice took part in the OCAP squat action, to liberate abandoned housing on Gerrard St. The action was a success, as hundreds of people lined the streets, starting at Dundas and Sherbourne, and marched proudly to the secret location of the squat. After people got inside, the police blocked all the entrances, but then after a short time they disengaged from the building. Some accounts say it was because they were overwhelmed by the crowd, but that really isnt true at all. I heard the order come over the police radio that they had no authority on that property, and so they pulled back. They needed proper authorization to attack, and sure enough, after we left, that looked like it was going to happen. The cops surrounded the building and said they were going to raid it. Then, the strangest thing happened... Check out these links for updates and pictures: first update OCAP Squat Leads to housing Victory -- photos of the action This page goes down frequently, but it has some more pics of the action. more even more pictures On Monday at 7PM in OCAPs office people are going to meet up to visit the winner of the mayoral election to wish him/her good luck and to remind them of the city's housing crisis. Scarborough squat. C.top HASSAN ENDS HUNGER STRIKESunday, November 9, 2003 - 02:34 p.m.yes it is true: Hassan Almrei ended his hunger strike for heat in his cell on day 39. He has finally been given and guaranteed adequate heat in his cell, and five prison guards testified on his behalf about the conditions in his cell. From the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials: "Hassan wishes to thank everyone who wrote letters, called, demonstrated, and spoke up. In the meantime, plan to attend his bail hearing beginning Monday, November 24 in Toronto! A more detailed update on the hearing and other news will appear here shortly." What a relief! Now he no longer has to worry about that, he only needs to focus on the fact that he should not even be imprisoned in the first place. Even though he is out of danger in one way, there is still lots to be done. C.top Protest Otto Vass Verdict -- tomorrow 5PMWednesday, November 5, 2003 - 11:24 p.m.The four cops who beat Otto Vass to death were acquitted of all charges today. No surprise there. There is going to be a protest tomorrow November 6, 5PM at the 7-11 where Vass was killed three years ago, COLLEGE and LANSDOWNE. Also from OCAP re: November 8 Action: They need as much support as possible for the Saturday Squat Action. There is strong evidence to suggest that the cops are going to be out in full force to try to stop this; they have already been in the general area, intimidating the locals into not participating. They also want people to bring blankets, hats, gloves, coats, sleeping bags, socks, coffee and food, if you have any extras. A small contingent representing Glendon Students for Social Justice will be meeting at the Lawrence Subway Station platform at around 11.20AM. Please come if you can, and make sure to dress accordingly for the weather and possible police repression. See you there. C.top Hassan back in court on WednesdayMonday, November 3, 2003 - 12:33 p.m.Hey everyone, i just recieved an email from Matthew from Homes Not Bombs/Campaign to Stop Secret Trials who reminded me that Hassan will be back in court on Wednesday November 5, at 10 AM, 361 University Avenue, across the street from the infamous US Consulate. If you can, lets go to show him that we care. I am going to bring the cutesy little banner with peoples signatures on it to the courtroom. If you are willing and able to go, then send a message to gssjnow (at) yahoo.ca. C.top Yeah, we're coolSunday, November 2, 2003 - 03:49 p.m.Thank you to everyone who took the time to attend the vigil on Friday. We apologize that it ended up starting late, but there were a few difficulties stemming from the town hall meeting, and that ended up going later than expected. The good news is that the vigil did not stop until around 7PM, so it was about 5 hours long! Sweet! The bad news: the night before the vigil, at least one unidentified person removed our kick-ass banners that we had put up in the caf. When Matt from Amnesty went to the caf in the morning, they were gone. This treachery must not go unpunished: if anyone has information about what happened to our beloved banners, please email us. if we get nothing on this, then we are just going to have to scapegoat someone, then shave and sterilize them. just kidding... So yes, the vigil was a success, we did raise some awareness and get some signatures; but time is running out for Hassan. Vigils and petitions are not going to save him now. What we need to do is apply direct pressure to the government and media, and not let up until they comply. Now i want to know if there is any interest in doing something along those lines. If so (and perhaps if not as well), then I will approach some people in the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials and ask if they are interested in upping the pressure at all. See, we cant just go and do something unilaterally without consulting others. No way, that would be wrong.... *ahem* Oh yeah, the reason why we are cool: we have another ally, and they are in the non-York community! Check out the Forum for details, but we welcome Justice For Mohamed Harkat to the fold. Mohamed Harkat, like Hassan, is one of five Muslim men held in prison on no charges or evidence. Its great that we are beginning to link together with other groups in the city, so that we dont feel so atomized and isolated. As for the town hall meeting, well, that will be quite a mouthful, and i covered the event for ProTem, so i will post the report later. C. (stands for Chris)top REMINDER -- TOWN HALL MEETING and HASSAN ALMREI VIGIL, OCT 30thWednesday, October 29, 2003 - 08:56 p.m.merely a reminder of the town hall meeting with the GCSU tomorrow at noon in the creepy Senate Chamber. WE have a right to know why the clubs did not recieve any money this year (so far), what has happened to said money, why, and why students were not consulted. We have a right to know if individuals in the GCSU have used the union as their own personal piggy bank; and we have the right to seek redress and retribution if any wrongdoing and/or incompetence comes to light. also a reminder of the Hassan Almrei solidarity vigil happening in the caf tomorrow at 1PM. We ask that you remove your shoes for the duration of the vigil, as Hassan has been denied his own, among other more fundamental things (like justice, adequate shelter, fair trial, freedom, etc). The vigil is going to go as long as it can, menaing that if necessary, i will sit there alone perhaps until the candle i am holding burns out. speaking of candles, if you are reading this try to bring candle holders if you can, as we have nearly none of them. The vigil is organized by us (GSSJ), Amnesty International Glendon, and the Free Tibet Club, and i would like to thank Natalie (or is there an 'h'?) on behalf of the GSSJ for presenting this idea to the clubs. Thats exactly what we want to be about:: members contributing as much as possible, with much solidarity between a number of groups. Hope to see you tomorrow at BOTH events. End communication.top Project Threadbare -- Stop Arbitrary DetentionsWednesday, October 29, 2003 - 03:23 p.m.Project Threadbare is a Toronto-based group dedicated to ending the arbitrary detention of twenty Pakistani and one Indian man on August 2003. They are holding a demonstration on NOVEMBER 1st, 12PM, at the corner of Bay and Dundas, to march to the Liberal Party HQ to demand and end to the deportations. Two of the men have been deported already. We have to stop them from deporting the rest before its too late. Please come out and show your support for them.top up to 15,000 killed in Iraq invasionWednesday, October 29, 2003 - 12:21 p.m.an independent thinktank has produced a study that reveals just how brutal the Iraq invasion actually was. the total dead is only from March 19 to April 20, a single month. add this to the number of dead since April 20th, and you have a massive campaign of murder perpetrated by the fascist US government. Disgusting. top OCAP Street PartyTuesday, October 28, 2003 - 01:34 p.m.from ontario.indymedia.org: OCAP STREET PARTY - Prepare to squat... Saturday, November 1st, 2003 2pm Queen and Sherbourne Music, food, talk. Find out more about OCAP's squatting campaign and about the Nov. 8 squatting action. ====================******UPDATE: John Clarke was cleared of all charges today!!!! hooray! go to this indymedia story for more info. this is great news! top Hassan Almrei vigil -- Thursday October 30thMonday, October 27, 2003 - 03:26 p.m.This is to remind everyone of the vigil of solidarity for Hassan Almrei, 29 year old Syrian refugee detained in solitary confinement for over two years on secret (probably nonexistent) "evidence" neither he or his lawyer is allowed to see. Hassan has been on hunger strike for 29 days (as of today) to call attention to the barbaric conditions faced by detainees in the Metro West Detention Centre, and also to the racist and totalitarian policy of detention based on flimsy CSIS security certificates. He has lost over 100 pounds and needs our support. The vigil will be held on THURSDAY OCTOBER 30TH, 1PM in the cafeteria on the stage. Candles will be provided, as well as food and drink for those who are not participating in Ramadan. We ask that if possible bring your own blankets and candle holders (unless you enjoy the feeling of hot wax running over your hands). A petition, to be presented to Monte Kwinter, Minister of "Community Safety" as well as to other members of the government, will be circulated during the vigil. If you support human rights for all then please come out to the vigil to show solidarity with Hassan and countless other detainees in jail. Peace. C.top GCSU Town Hall Meeting -- new infoSunday, October 26, 2003 - 01:10 a.m.This is just to remind people about the GCSU Town Hall meeting taking place on Thursday October 30th at noon in the senate chamber. We really want to grill certain members of the Union about financial accountability and responsibility. This meeting will be held the same day of the vigil for Hassan in the caf, but it is going ahead as planned: so make sure you have your vigil clothes ready for the end of the meeting. Recently more information has come to light about the meeting and some of the Union members. Thank you to certain anonymous people inside and outside of the Union bureaucracy for this:
That is some stuff to keep in mind during the meeting. On a related note, some questions and demands, as suggested by NO ONE IN PARTICULAR (does it matter?):
i hear whisperings of the word impeachment floating around, even from some members of the GCSU. we would need to get widespread student support for the action, then council votes on it. i personally think that method is dubious, since the council itself does not represent the students, but its all we have to go for right now. I hope to see all of you (thats right, all three of you) at the meeting and the vigil on thursday. C. top Stolen idea from Amnesty already..Saturday, October 25, 2003 - 08:07 p.m.we now have a forum that you can use to discuss things, like "Rhode Island is neither a road nor an island. Discuss." Well, you can discuss other things too, like if you would enjoy eating cheese if it came from humans. C.top Amnesty Glendon's web pageSaturday, October 25, 2003 - 07:14 p.m.I just recieved an email from Matthew Henzel of Amnesty Glendon informing me that they now have a website as well. Weird. They must have decided to make one the same time as this. Make sure to visit them often to keep up to date about Amnesty events. ====================== Just a short note to urge anyone reading this to attend the Amnesty Glendon meeting on Wendesday October 29, there will be more info pertaining to the vigil to be held the following day. We will also be using the meeting as an opportunity to make banners and signs for the vigil and to inform people about the upcoming town hall meeting with the GCSU. In fact, you might as well consider the Amnesty meeting to also be a GSSJ meeting, if thats okay with you, Matt! C.top Cuba in the Cross-hairsFriday, October 24, 2003 - 02:12 p.m.From Znet: "In his new book, Hegemony or Survival, America's Quest for Global Dominance, Noam Chomsky continues his powerful analysis of state violence and state terror, reminding us that "terror" isn't primarily what small stateless bands of fanatics deliver to large and powerful states. Rather, as Chomsky argues, history is, in a sense, a history of state terror and the United States has long been a practitioner of the form. One of the United States' favorite targets has been Cuba, which for nearly half a century has been the victim of an unrelenting campaign of U.S. state terrorism." And here is another interesting story headlined "Global Trade Keeps A Billion Children in Poverty, says Unicef". C.top emergency demo for HassanFriday, October 24, 2003 - 12:33 p.m.this is from the homes not bombs page. I think it is something that we could attend, or failing that, we could do this on campus somewhere. I dont have class, so I am going for certain. C. ========= Emergency Vigil, Monday, October 27, 11:45 am Ministry of "Community Safety and Correctional Services" 25 Grosvenor, two blocks north of College, half block west of YongeJoin us as we mark the unhappy occasion of the one-month mark in Hassan Almrei's hunger strike for heat, shoes, and a jacket. Almrei has spent the past two years in solitary confinement, without charge or bail, on secret evidence neither he nor his lawyer is allowed to see, at what one Federal Court judge describes as Canada's own Guantanamo Bay.Please bring a pair of running shoes At one point during the demo, we will ask you to join us (this is of course optional) in taking off our shoes and standing in our stocking feet on the cold, concrete sidewalk in a symbolic act of solidarity with Hassan and other solitary prisoners facing the cold at Metro West. On Monday, it will have been 29 days since Hassan last ate any food. After three days of court hearings to compel the ministry to provide Hassan with his three demands -- shoes, a jacket, and a guarantee of heat -- the government is refusing to budge. The judge was forced to adjourn to November 5 to continue the hearing, and urged the parties to work something out. Hassan has vowed to continue his hunger strike at least until Nov. 5. Ministry spokesperson Julia Noonan, in an interview with the Mississauga News, was caught in yet another lie this week. Noonan has maintained that there are no problems with the temperature in solitary, yet when asked whether the ministry would guarantee to keep the solitary cells warm this winter, she replied, "we'll see what happens in court." We will also publicly announce the beginning of our Ramadan Fast of Solidarity with all detainees held in the so-called war against terror. KEEP CALLS AND FAXES GOING TO THE MINISTER RESPONSIBLE, MONTE KWINTER. He has been receiving quite a few, and his office needs to continually hear the protesting voices which will hopefully get a solution imposed long before November 5. Monte Kwinter Minister of "Community Safety" 25 Grosvenor St., 18th Flr., Toronto, ON M7A 1Y6 (416) 325-0408, fax: (416) 325-6067 please cc us at tasc@web.ca if you can ***If you cannot make it to this demo, please consider removing your shoes for the noon hour in a symbolic act of solidarity. When friends, co-workers, fellow students, and others ask you why you are walking around in your socks, explain that this is the condition faced by Hassan Almrei and all other prisoners who walk the cold concrete floors of their cells in solitary confinement. If you plan to do this, please let us know, and we can announce this at the rally. For info: (416) 651-5800, tasc@web.ca, www.homesnotbombs.ca top Minutes from Oct. 23, 2003Friday, October 24, 2003 - 02:34 a.m.Groups present: Amnesty International Glendon, Free Tibet, Glendon Students for Social Justice Comrades present: Karen, Matt, Lucy, Vasha, Greg, Mandy, Edison, Naomi Topics Covered
Take Back the GCSU Chris Chin (director of Clubs + Services) proposed a 'town hall' style meeting between Glendon Students and the GCSU to clear up issues regarding the Union's use of student money, money that has not been delivered to any Clubs. WHEN: Thursday October 30th, 12 NOON, SENATE CHAMBER we need to make people aware of this meeting, as it deals with making the GCSU more accountable and transparent. We need a good grasp of the background of the issue -- can we find people in the GCSU who can give us info? WE must demand that the GCSU tell us what happened to the money, do not accept evasive answers. Question the answers. We will demand that the GCSU supply students with a comprehensive breakdown of their financial doings. We should give them a deadline? Then if they dont comply, what next? Impeachment is an option. Chris looked up a basic breakdown of student supp. fees which total over 0. does any of that go to GCSU? so far we have turned up nothing. Chris forwarded info to Matt, who was to make a poster publicising the event -- "Do You Know How Your Money Is Being Spent?" something to that effect. Questions we could ask:
Hassan Almrei vigil decided that we would hold it next Thursday (30th) at noon in the cafeteria. but that now conflicts with the town hall meeting. should we reschedule, or hold it after the meeting? candles, signs, info, banners, signs, tea, coffee, mate (Karen), food? Materials
we will make the banners and signs during the next Amnesty meeting -- Oct. 29th, 5PM, Salon Garigue. Matt and Chris got clearance from Shannon Kampf to have FIRE in the cafeteria. Club Gathering Matts idea to have a day in which all interested groups and clubs could come together for a day of action, on issues of their choosing. groups focus on something pertaining to their niche, in a positive and supportive envrionment. We see that we will have to join together this year in order to even survive as groups. WHEN: second week of November -- Thursday evening -- tentative date -- pending approval by other clubs. Adjourned (even though the word was never actually used). C. from GSSJ (*yawn* im sleepy)top WelcomeFriday, October 24, 2003 - 12:46 a.m.Welcome to the Glendon Students for Social Justice updates page! As a member of the GSSJ, you will be able to access this page to keep up to date with GSSJ happenings and social justice-related events and news. You will also be able to post items yourself if you so desire. All you need are some instructions and a password and you can start posting. Don't fprget to add this page to your favourites :) Thanks for showing interest in destroying the GCSU (just kidding).top |