[Bloquez l'empire!] Mahjoub's Update Sept 21

[Mary Foster]

> Day 77 of Hunger Strike - Mahjoub Still in Prison Cell
>
> Below:
> 1.Mohammad Mahjoub Current situation
> 2.Mohammad's demands
> 3.Keep Up the pressure - what to do
> 4.Reports from Monday demos in Montreal Toronto Ottawa Edmonton
> 5.Inerview with Mona Elfouli
> 6.Media reports
>
> 1. Mahjoub- Current Situation
>
> On Day 76 (sept 20) of his hunger strike, secret trial detainee Mohammad
> Mahjoub was
> taken to the hospital in Toronto after pressure on government authorities
> from friends,
> family and supporters across Canada.
>
> Mohammad's family and supporters were relieved he would finally get the
> lifesaving care he needs. Mahjoub, in very poor health, was visited by an
> independent physician, Dr. Jane Pritchard, on Sunday (sept 18)  who
> recommended that Mahjoub be hospitalized to monitor his vital signs given
> the risk of a  sudden deterioration of body function which could send him
> into a coma.
>
> Mahjoub and his family also hoped that while he was hospitalized, health
care
> authorities would be able to properly investigate the conditions which
have
> led to his hunger strike, including his Hepatitis C, and his knee injury.
>
> Instead Mohammad had a few tests and was taken back to the prison. He was
> told he did not need to be hospitalized for another two weeks. Contrary to
> Dr. Pritchard's report which states he needs to be hooked up to a heart
> monitor machine because there is a high risk of cardiac arrhythmia and
> there are signs he may already have kidney damage, which will worsen if
> the hunger strike continues.
> ======================================
> 2. Mohammad Mahjoub's demands:
>
> 1.To have one hour a month contact visits with his two young children.
> 2. Access to proper medical attention including
>       -    A liver biopsy for Hepatitis C with which he was
>            diagnosed in prison
>       -    care for a leg injury sustained at the jail
>       -    filling a long neglected prescription for eye glasses
> ==========================================================
>
> 3. PLEASE KEEP UP THE PRESSURE
> Demand that Mohammad be hospitalized and properly monitored in a medical
> setting.
> Call McGuinty's office: Premier Dalton McGuinty
> PHONE: (416) 325-1941
> FAX: (416) 325-3745
> dalton.mcguinty at premier.gov.on.ca
>
> BE CREATIVE:
> In Ontario, call your local MPP
> Anywhere in Canada, call your MP
> Get in touch with journalists or other media people you know
> Post the story on Indy media websites
> Or anything else you think might work.
>
> ====================================================
> 4. Reports from Monday demos in Montreal Toronto Ottawa Edmonton
>
> About thirty people gathered outside the Montreal offices of Prime
>  Minister  Paul Martin, in a building which also houses Montreal offices
of
> Canadian
>  Border Services Agency (CBSA). People gathered were shaken by the news
>  that  the  Ontario government was refusing to hospitalize Mahjoub, today
on
> his 75th
>  day of hunger strike. After over five years of detention without charge
>  under a security certificate, facing deportation to torture, Mahjoub is
>  only  demanding monthly touch visits with his children, and prescribed
> medical
>  care, particularly a liver biopsy for his Hepatitis C.
>
>  Janet Weinroth spoke spontaneously, expressing her deep concern that
there
>  had been so little public attention  to the appalling situation. A small
> delegation of friends of Mona
>  Elfouli's,  including Janet and two health professionals, then entered
the
> building,
>  hoping to follow up with two officials who had already met with
supporters
>  of Mahjoub in past weeks: Mme. Santaro, a representative of Paul Martin's
>  office, who met with a delegation of doctors and nurses on 2 September
and
>  has not followed up with the health professionals; and Mr. Raymond
>  Archambault, a representative from the CBSA, who did follow up with
>  friends  of Mona's on Friday to confirm that he had delivered letters
about
> the
>  situation from Human Rights Watch, Ligue  des droits and CCR to officials
> in the federal CBSA office, but who had
>  not  at that time followed through on  his promise to Mona to pass on a
> message directly from her that she would
>  be  holding them and other Canadian and Ontario officials responsible for
> the
>  death of her husband. Neither official, nor anyone else from the two
>  offices, was available to meet with friends of Mahjoub's today.
>
> In Toronto, Mona Elfouli, accompanied by an NDP MPP and Campaign
>  to  Stop Secret Trials in Canada, was able to meet with an official in
the
>  office of Monte Kwinter (Ontario Minister of Community Safety). Mona was
>  told that she should persuade her husband to come off hunger-strike, that
>  normal policies with respect to touch visits, medical care and immediate
>  hospitalization would not be altered, though the official was no doubt
>  aware  that five years without charge in a short-term detention centre is
> not an
>  ordinary situation. Outside Mona also ran into Monte Kwinter (making his
>  way  to his car); when asked whether he would take the responsibility for
> the
>  death of her husband, Kwinter replied that everything was under control
>  and  he didn't have the mandate to speak to them about the case.
>
> In Ottawa, supporters of Mahjoub picketed outside of MPP Richard Patten's
> office. They informed passers-by  Mohammad Mahjoub was in an urgent
> medical crisis, and that he was in the
> care and custody of the Government of Ontario.  They urged people to
demand
> that MPP Richard Patten and Premier Dalton McGuinty intervene in the
prison
> system in order that Mohammed's  demands be met.
> Following a good 40 minutes of leafletting and chanting, a
> delegation (of two) went up into the second floor of the office building
to
> meet briefly with Patten's constituency staff, where they
> explained the purpose of  the gathering and the demands.
>
> In Edmonton, Anne McLellan's riding, a chain fast in support of Mahjoub
> continues
>
>
> ==============================================
> 5. ONLINE INTERVIEW WITH MONA ELFOULI
> http://s40.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1X56MX0ZXEQZW3KGD1QNSQ8JWZ
> ==================================
>
> 6. Media Reports
>
> September 19, 2005 - 16:36
>
> Detained terrorist suspect will die without political help, supporters say
>
> JEN HORSEY
>
> TORONTO (CP) - Supporters of an Egyptian refugee who has been in prison in
> Canada for more than five years under the suspicion of terrorist links are
> accusing Canadian authorities of putting the man's life at risk.
>
> They say Mohammad Mahjoub will die in jail unless there is immediate
> intervention by the federal and provincial governments. "I am here today
> holding the government of Canada responsible... if anything happens to my
> husband," his wife Mona Elfouli said Monday, choking back tears.
>
>
> Mahjoub is on the 75th day of a hunger strike in protest of conditions at
> the Metro West Detention Centre, where has been kept in solitary
> confinement for two years. He is calling for humane treatment during his
> detainment, including contact visits with his wife and children.
>
> Elfouli said Monday that the last time she spoke to her husband by
> telephone, he was so weak she could barely hear his voice. He isn't
> walking, his blood pressure is critically high and his supporters say he
is
> being refused treatment for the Hepatitis C he contracted in jail. A
doctor
> told Elfouli this weekend that Mahjoub should be in hospital.
>
> "My husband's health is very, very, very bad," she said.
>
> About 40 people descended Monday on the Ontario legislature in hopes of
> convincing Premier Dalton McGuinty to take action. The group met in front
> of the offices of Ontario Correctional Services Minister Monte Kwinter and
> marched in somber silence to nearby Queen's Park where Elfouli was denied
a
> meeting with the premier.
>
> "(Mahjoub) has said, 'I'm happy to wait for these decisions, but provide
me
> with livable living conditions in the meantime.' You wouldn't treat a dog
> like this, nor should you," said social justice activist Matthew Behrens,
> one of the man's most vocal advocates.
>
> "We don't know how much longer he can last."
>
> Mahjoub is one of five men being held as a suspected terrorist under
> federal security certificates. The certificates - which can be employed
> against immigrants and refugees but not against Canadian citizens - have
> become a red flag to Muslim groups because of the way they've been used in
> anti-terrorist cases.
>
> The accused risk being deported without ever learning the full extent of
> the evidence against them.
>
> Instead, a judge hears details of the case behind closed doors and
provides
> only a bare-bones summary to defence lawyers, who are often left groping
in
> the dark as they try to challenge claims based on secret intelligence.
>
> Because the people aren't charged under the federal criminal code, they
are
> typically held in provincial facilities that are designed to accommodate
> prisoners on a more temporary basis, raising questions about the
conditions
> of their detainment.
>
> The cases of Mahjoub and the four others - Mohamed Harkat, Moroccan Adil
> Charkaoui, Syrian-born Hassan Almrei, and Egyptian national Mahmoud
> Jaballah - have received increasing public support in recent months.
>
> "People are starting to realize there are things we do to non-citizens
that
> we would not do to citizens," said Kent Roach, an expert on terrorism at
> the University of Toronto. "I think some people are questioning the
> fairness of that."
>
> Among the high-profile backers is Sasha Trudeau, the son of former prime
> minister Pierre Trudeau. The younger Trudeau is making a documentary film
> about Harkat's case.
>
> Although there were few in attendance at the Toronto protest on Monday,
> Elfouli said she has received nothing but a growing sense of support since
> she launched her battle five years ago.
>
> *********
>
> > Wife of jailed Egyptian terror suspect fears for his life, protests at
> > Queen's Park
> > Man on hunger strike in critical condition, diagnosis by independent
> > physician shows
> >
> >  By MARINA JIMÉNEZ
> > Tuesday, September 20, 2005 Page A9
> >
> > Mona Elfouli is terrified her husband Mohammad Mahjoub will die in jail.
> And
> > if he dies, she vows to hold the government of Canada responsible.
> >
> > Mr. Mahjoub, a terrorism suspect held on a security certificate, is on
the
> > 76th day of a hunger strike to protest against the conditions of his
> > incarceration in the Metro West Detention Centre in Toronto.
> >
> > "The prison is taking an unnecessarily punitive approach," Ms. Elfouli
> said.
> > "They are refusing his medical treatment for security reasons. They're
> > killing him slowly."
> >
> > She and 40 supporters held a protest at the Ontario Legislature
yesterday
> > and tried unsuccessfully to meet with Premier Dalton McGuinty.
> >
> > Ms. Elfouli said her husband is refusing all food (except water and
orange
> > juice) to fight for the right to have eyeglasses, be treated for a knee
> > injury and for hepatitis C, which he contracted in jail, and to see his
> > children without a Plexiglas barrier separating them.
> >
> > At 140 pounds with high blood pressure, he is too weak to stand and his
> wife
> > worries he could fall into a coma in the middle of the night and die.
> >
> > The 45-year-old Egyptian native could save his own life by ending his
> hunger
> > strike; however, Ms. Elfouli said that would not resolve the question of
> why
> > prison officials have so far not dealt with his health issues, or
allowed
> > him to have a liver biopsy, as recommended by a doctor in 2004, to
> determine
> > a course of treatment for hepatitis C.
> >
> > On Sunday, Jane Pritchard, an independent physician, examined Mr.
Mahjoub,
> > found his condition to be critical and recommended he be transferred to
> > hospital within the next two or three days so that his heart could be
> > monitored, according to Mr. Mahjoub's lawyer, Barbara Jackman. Dr.
> Pritchard
> > also found his health was not being monitored frequently enough at the
> jail,
> > where he is being held in solitary confinement for his own protection,
she
> > said.
> >
> > "Within the space of 10 minutes he could have a heart collapse," Ms.
> Jackman
> > said. "He is at imminent risk of death or severe, permanent impairment.
He
> > is too weak to stand, has shooting pains in the abdomen, pain in his
> > kidneys, shortness of breath, chest pains, and his eyesight is failing."
> >
> > Mr. Mahjoub, who has been imprisoned for five years, has asked to be
> > hospitalized and will accept an IV.
> >
> > Prison officials referred all calls yesterday to Julia Noonan, a
> spokeswoman
> > for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
According
> to
> > Ms. Noonan, health officials do monitor hunger-striking inmates on a
daily
> > basis.
> >
> > "We have no medical direction to transfer any inmate to the hospital
now,"
> > she said. "He is seen every day by health care and if a doctor directed
us
> > to transfer an inmate to hospital, then that is what we would do."
> >
> > Mr. Mahjoub is one of five Muslim non-citizens being held on a security
> > certificate, a controversial legal process that allows Canada to detain
> and
> > deport terrorism suspects considered a threat to national security based
> on
> > detailed intelligence that remains secret.
> >
> > All five are fighting deportation, arguing they will be tortured or
killed
> > if sent to their homelands, and the Supreme Court will ultimately decide
> the
> > constitutionality of these cases.
> >
> > In Sudan, Mr. Mahjoub worked on a farm owned by Osama bin Laden. He is
> > alleged to be a member of al-Jihad, a terrorist organization in Egypt,
> where
> > he was tried in absentia. Ms. Jackman said her client denies any
> involvement
> > in terrorism. He fears he will be tortured if sent home, and a federal
> court
> > judge has agreed that he "could suffer ill treatment and human rights
> > abuses" if deported.
> >
> > Ms. Jackman argues her client -- as an immigration detainee -- should be
> > held in an immigration facility, or federal facility, which provides
more
> > freedom, allows for prison programs and regular family visits.
Provincial
> > facilities are designed to accommodate prisoners for short-term stays.
> >
> > Mr. Mahjoub has also applied for bail. Adil Charkaoui, a Montreal
resident
> > being held on a security certificate, was released on bail earlier this
> > year. The three men in the other security certificate cases remain in
> > prison, including Hassan Almrei, who recently ended a hunger strike to
win
> > the right to be allowed out of his cell to exercise for an hour a day.
>
>
>
>
>
>