From bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca Tue Dec 5 11:26:36 2006 From: bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca (bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca) Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 11:26:36 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] mercredi/wednesday: prochaine reunion de BLEM/next meeting Message-ID: allo tout le monde -- juste un rappel que la prochaine r?union de Bloquez l'empire-Montr?al sera MERCREDI (le 6 d?cembre) ? GRIP-Concordia (1500 de Maisonneuve Ouest, #204). Nous allons commencer avec un bilan de notre pertubation de la conf?rence de presse de Stephen Harper entre 18h ? 19h, et puis continuer avec notre r?union reguli?re (avec des discussions concernants des actions ? venir contre la guerre et l'imp?rialisme). ? mercredi! hi everyone -- just a reminder that the next meeting of Block the Empire-Montreal will be this WEDNESDAY (December 6) at QPIRG-Concordia (1500 de Maisonneuve Ouest, #204). We will being the meeting at 6pm with a debrief of our recent disruption of Stephen Harper's press conference between 6-7pm, and then continue with our regular meeting (with discussions about upcoming actions against war and imperialism) from 7pm onwards. hope to see you there! From bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca Tue Dec 5 18:59:23 2006 From: bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca (bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca) Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 18:59:23 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] Photo-reportage :: Anti-war protesters briefly occupy armed forces recruiting station :: Des manifestant-e-s anti-guerre occupent une station de recrutement des forces armees Message-ID: [fran?ais ci-dessous] MONTREAL ANTI-WAR PROTESTERS BRIEFLY OCCUPY ARMED FORCES RECRUITING STATION MONTREAL, DECEMBER 1, 2006 -- At least 100 anti-war protesters gathered in the freezing rain this past Friday for a "manif-action" against war and Canadian imperialism. The action was organized by the Comit? des sans-emploi-Montreal Centre -- an anti-poverty group -- and was supported by Block the Empire-Montreal, an anti-war, anti-imperialist direct action collective. The demonstrators were followed by at least 12 police vehicules during a march thru downtown streets, but still managed enter into the main Canadian armed forces recruiting station in downtown Montreal. The recruiting station was occupied for about 20 minutes until protesters were expelled by police. There were no arrests. --> A photo-report about the action is linked at: http://gallery.cmaq.net/manifaction Other recent photo-reports: --> Disruption and Picket of Steven Harper's Press Conference (November 24, 2006): http://gallery.cmaq.net/harper-mtl -> Canada Out of Afghanistan! Block the Empire Anti-Imperialist Contingent (October 28, 2006): http://gallery.cmaq.net/anti-imperialistcontingent -> Picket against Afghan Puppet Hamid Karzai (September 23, 2006): http://gallery.cmaq.net/out-of-afghanistan Block the Empire-Montreal 514-848-7583 ? bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca :::::::::: :::::::::: DES MANIFESTANT-E-S ANTI GUERRE OCCUPENT BRI?VEMENT UNE STATION DE RECRUTEMENT DES FORCES ARM?ES MONTREAL, 1er D?CEMBRE 2006 -- Vendredi pass?, au moins 100 manifestant-e-s anti guerre se sont rassembl?-e-s sous la pluie vergla?ante pour une manif-action contre la guerre et l'imp?rialisme canadien. L'action a ?t? organis?e par le Comit? des sans-emploi Montr?al Centre - un groupe anti-pauvret? actif depuis de nombreuses ann?es - avec l'appui de Bloquez l'empire Montr?al, un collectif d'action directe anti guerre et anti imp?rialisme. Les manifestant-e-s ont ?t? suivi-e-s par au moins 12 v?hicules de la police au cours d'une marche qui a travers? le centre-ville. Ils et elles ont toutefois r?ussi ? entrer dans la principale station de recrutement des forces arm?es situ?e au centre-ville de Montr?al. La station de recrutement a ?t? occupp?e pendant environ 20 minutes jusqu'? ce que les agent-e-s de police expulsent les manifestant-e-s. Personne n'a ?t? arr?t?. --> Un photo reportage de l'action est disponible ici: http://gallery.cmaq.net/manifaction Le texte de l'appel initial pour la manif-action est joint ? ce message. D'autres photo reportages: --> Perturbation et piquetage de la conf?rence de presse de Stephen Harper (24 novembre 2006): http://gallery.cmaq.net/harper-mtl --> Canada, crisse ton camp de l'Afghanistan! Le contingent anti imp?rialiste de Bloquez l'empire (28 octobre 2006): http://gallery.cmaq.net/anti-imperialistcontingent --> Piquetage contre la marionnette afghane Hamid Karzai (23 septembre 2006): http://gallery.cmaq.net/out-of-afghanistan [Le texte de l'appel initial ...] Les derniers mois nous ont donn? l'occasion de voir le vrai visage du gouvernement Harper : Tout dans la guerre, la s?curit?, l'armement, la loi et l'ordre au d?triment des politiques sociales, des besoins de la population et de l'environnement. Bien s?r, cette d?rive vers la politique guerri?re et cet enlignement tout droit sur Georges W. Bush ne sont pas nouveau. La diff?rence avec les gouvernements pr?c?dents en est une de degr? plut?t que de nature. Nous pensons que c'est le syst?me ?conomique capitaliste tout entier et non seulement la couleur du gouvernement en place qui est en cause dans l'agression de L'Afghanistan et la mont?e de la droite. Il est temps d'offrir autre chose que des larmes et de lampions en guise de solidarit? aux peuples victimes de la guerre made in Canada et ? notre propre exploitation par la bourgeoisie et les riches. Il faut hausser d'un cran l'affirmation publique de notre col?re. Aux coups de force de Harper, r?pondons par un autre coup de force: Le 1e d?cembre, rendez-vous pour une manif-action ! Une initiative du Comit? des sans-emploi Montr?al-centre. Endoss? par Bloquez l'Empire-Montr?al. Bloquez l'empire Montr?al 514-848-7583 ? bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca From aaron at resist.ca Wed Dec 6 21:15:31 2006 From: aaron at resist.ca (aaron at resist.ca) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 21:15:31 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] Indian Affairs minister shouted down and frozen out by angry native crowd] Message-ID: <61322.132.216.18.137.1165468531.squirrel@mail.resist.ca> Indian Affairs minister shouted down and frozen out by angry native crowd By Sue Bailey OTTAWA (CP) - Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice was booed and jeered Tuesday as he tried to speak to about 400 native protesters on Parliament Hill. Organizers of the rally say anger over perceived Conservative backtracking on First Nations rights has reached the boiling point. Over shouts of "Liar!" and "Shame!" Prentice tried to explain that his department was not responsible for cutting $160 million meant to preserve native languages. That cash was recently eliminated by Canadian Heritage and replaced with $5 million a year for seven years. The Tories say they'll use the money to craft more effective programs to keep about 50 fading languages from dying. But Prentice, the only federal minister to brave the placard-waving crowd as it huddled in a -5 C breeze, bore the full brunt of its frustration. He was almost drowned out by catcalls. The Conservatives, he said, have earmarked more money for native issues than previous regimes. "This government is trying to do real work to improve the living circumstances of aboriginal Canadians," he offered over a protester who countered: "Kelowna does that!" The national $5-billion Kelowna Accord reached a year ago to improve native education, housing and economic conditions was scrapped. Canada's long-standing support for a United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, which first wavered under the Liberals, was pulled back under the Tories over concerns it would run counter to the constitution, defence laws and existing land deals. Assembly of First Nations national chief Phil Fontaine says the Tory government has broken promises while making progress in very few specific areas. Prentice is being disingenuous when he includes in federal spending the $2.2-billion settlement to compensate former students of native residential schools, he said. "It's not a program or a service," Fontaine told chiefs from across Canada who began a three-day meeting here Tuesday. The Conservative budget actually committed just $450 million in new spending for 630 First Nations, Fontaine said. He reached that figure after subtracting the residential schools settlement along with $600 million promised for off-reserve and northern housing. "Our people are frustrated and angry," he said. "And they have a right to be. "We feel betrayed and we simply can't be silent about this betrayal." Fontaine said he'll keep trying to negotiate with federal politicians of all stripes. Another prominent leader said polite talks "have gotten us nowhere," and issued an urgent call to action. "This government has done nothing but lie, break promises and distort the truth at the international level," said Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. Aboriginal people across the country must set aside political differences and mobilize to exert united political pressure, he said. "For too long we've been too nice." Taking it all in was a 16-year-old girl from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory just east of Belleville, Ont. Her name, Kenhnonnianions, means "she who makes patterns," a Mohawk reference to buckskin and leather adornments. She is an immersion student who hopes to one day speak her native language fluently. People in her community are tired of being passed over and ignored, she said. "I just think it's time for them to listen," she said of the government. _______________________________________________ six_nations_info mailing list six_nations_info at masses.tao.ca https://masses.tao.ca/lists/listinfo/six_nations_info _______________________________________________ IPSM-l mailing list IPSM-l at lists.resist.ca https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ipsm-l -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jaggi at resist.ca Thu Dec 7 09:52:21 2006 From: jaggi at resist.ca (Jaggi Singh) Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2006 09:52:21 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] Update from Kanonhstaton December 7, 2006 Message-ID: below is an update from Hazel Hill at Six Nations ... jbs. ----- Original Message ----- From: Hazel E. Hill Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 9:34 AM Subject: Update from Kanonhstaton December 7, 2006 Good Morning from Grand River. I know everyone has been wondering what is happening with negotiations and our land reclamation of Kanonhstaton. Since I last wrote after our November 14th Lands Side Table, there has been no meetings so nothing really to report. Unfortunately, we had another death in one of our Clanmothers family's and so our meetings that were scheduled for the end of November were cancelled. They have been re-scheduled to December 13th and 14th and we will see then how the Crown responds to our presentation of our documents and historical evidence as provided through our Wampum and Oral History at our last meeting. Clearly the Crown has found itself in a dilemma since we have presented the TRUTH. They know for a FACT that the title for Plank Road (also known as Argyle Street and formerly #6 Highway) itself still rests with the Six Nations/Haudenesonne, they cannot contest this. They also know that the so-called land surrender that they are resting their entire case on is merely minutes of a council meeting with no order in council to support it, and no legal grounds to support it. they also know that the Indian agent at the time who was drafting these fraudulent surrenders, was also the individual who was translating them to the Six Nations, and who clearly was telling the Chiefs one thing, and then recording it as something else. This is not a new practice. Our Chiefs pointed out several times in history how this was done, including the Nanfan Treaty, the Simcoe Deed, many areas that the Crown, when realizing that they still were'nt satisified with our generosity and good-will, needed to not only take more of our lands, but to create their own patents so that they could take ownership of them. This is no more valid then as it would be today, and yet the Crowns Legal Advisors have told them that they have a valid surrender. Most of their principal negotiators continue to mislead the people of Caledonia telling them that they have a presented a bill of sale for the lands and that the Six Nations will not get it back. The politicians of today are speaking with the same forked tongue as the Indian agents back then did. They do not know how to speak the truth. They cannot look their people in the eye and tell them that their ancestors lied cheated and stole to get what they have today, and they cannot tell them that their True Landlords are the very people who have been treated with such disrespect, racial descrimination and have been the victim of many hate crimes and antagonistic behaviours since the land reclamation began in February. You know, one of the things I forgot to tell you about from our last meeting was one of the most significant events since we've begun. Our people decided to see what the crown representatives would do when put in the same situation our people were in during the 1800's. Jock had put together a document written in the Cayuga Language that outlined our presentation that day. He stood and read this document to the Crown representatives in the traditional language, and then he translated it into english for them. He also asked them to sign this document to verify that they had heard this presentation today. None of the Crown representatives would sign. At that point Jock then thanked them for proving our point. Our ancestors were faced with this throughout our history, with Crown representatives being the ones who not only drafted the documents, but also translated it, having the opportunity to give false information to our people. The difference being is our people trusted the Crown, and this is where we went wrong. They were continually being scammed and mislead, and the evidence was clearly represented that day because what was written and what was handed down orally through our history was not the same thing. After he thanked them for proving that point, Federal Representative Ron Doering put "His X Mark" on the paper. While again, he did so only after being shown that this was how they frauded our people. It would be very easy for anyone to put an "X" mark there, and for us to write down who it was and what their role was. As a matter of fact, that is what we intended to do to show them how we can see through the veil of deception of the past. Jock told them, we were going to get you to put your "X" mark therer and we would give you an Indian Name to describe who you are. He also told them that we could have written that you just signed all of Canada back to our people, and you have no way of knowing because it is not your language of understanding. Just as it wasn't our ancestors language of understanding and again, our ancestors trusted your people. Today we know better. This is one of the reasons why I've always said, and quoted Pope John Paul II, its not the LAW, it's only paper. Today, we are faced with having to deal with all of this. However, many things have progressed and continue to progress. At last Chiefs Council meeting there were at least six development companies that have come to our Traditional Council in hopes of finding a way to begin consulting with the Landowners as opposed to the Crown. Interestingly enough, each of those developers have stated that the Crown representatives continue to mislead them. In this case every single one of them mentioned that the lead provincial negotiator Jane Stewart continues to tell them that they need only to consult with the band council. I guess the Crown hasn't clearly understood what is happening in our community as well as across the country and the world with respect to the Onkwehonweh. The PEOPLE have said they have had enough. We are no longer going to tolerate the Crowns interference in our governance. The band council does not represent the people. Please understand that it is not the individual people within that system who are at fault, they have been mislead into believing this is the government because this is what the Crown, and its corporation of Canada has set up. It is the system itself that has been developed to do exactly what it has done, to undermine the authority of our traditional government, our people, for one thing; but also to assimilate our people into canadian society so that the crown will never have to answer to its crimes. This is why the people have stood and will not back down. It is not a personal attack against the Elected Chief, or the elected councillors, nor is it an attack against any of our other brothers and sisters who have been forced into a system to try and help their people. It was a set up. It was part of the genocidal practice of the Crown. Well, again, our people have turned that negative into a positive. The Chiefs Council has invited representatives from across Canada to join us for a meeting on December 9th. All of the Chiefs of Ontario as well as the AFN have been invited to come to meet with the Traditional Council. All of our territories and people are invited to attend. The purpose of this meeting is to explain the very same wampum and history as was explained to the Crown. Only in this instance, to show how that relationship worked with the other Nations, how they fall under the shelter of that Great Tree, and how today that can be worked out so that the Haudenesonne Council, the Original League of Nations, will have its rightful place again, and carry the voice and concerns of the Onkwehonweh to the Crown. This is the way it was, and this is the way it should be. We had an opportunity to look at minutes of the council meeting from 1870. Many of our people travelled to Six Nations at that time to counsel. There were representatives there from Rama, St. Francis, Muncey, Alderville, Chippewas of the Thames, Oneidas of Muncey, Sarnia, Lake of Two Mountains, St. Regis, Caughnawanga, Saugeen, Cape Croker, Walpole Island, Rice Lake, Sauble, Kettle Point, Bay of Quinte, Snake Island, Mississauga of the New Credit, Moravians of Thames as well as Six Nations. What is happening today is exactly why the Crown brought in the Indian Act in the first place. To prevent the Haudenesonne from doing its job. So, this meeting on December 9th, 2006 is like a continuance of our counsel from June 10th 1870. We've been slightly interrupted for over a hundred and fifty years, but again, as was pointed out to the Crown, our Traditional Council has continued, uninterrupted, and nothing the Crown has done, nor can do, will ever cancel that out. This is something that was given to us by the Creator, and this is what the people continue to uphold. I guess, while there are going to be many who say that our Confederacy Council cannot work with the band council, it is this very issue of governance that our people must begin to put their minds to. To figure out how we can help our people who have been taken outside of that circle, and bring them back in. Again, we can say that they have done so willingly, and that they have no voice. From my perspective, just like when our children were stolen and put in residential schools, or when our children were beaten and strapped for speaking their own language, or how we were forced into their education and religions, and how today when our people are criminalized for trying to defend the future of our people and our homelands. It was all part of the over-all plan to get rid of the "Indian Problem". When the Peacemaker came and reminded us of the Great Law, he also gave us the mechanism to work together in Unity & Peace. This was the Five Nations Confederacy. The Original League of Nations. It is very much alive today, as it was the day it was given. Anything we are faced with can be resolved through the Great Law, and through the Confederacy Council. We need only take up our responsiblity to it and uphold what was given to us. This is how we can bring the other councils in, they can come under the Confederacy and support the Confederacy in carrying the voice of all of the Onkwehonweh to the Crown. We must stand United and we must stand Strong. This is all part of the prophecies and it is also what the Crown has been trying to prevent from happening for many generations. This is also why they continue to use tactics such as instigators like Gary McHale to come in and hopefully create a situation that will divert the people from our path. Last weekend they had the nerve to use the Canadian Troops as an excuse to try and create such a situation. They claim they wanted to hang ribbons and flags up in support of the troops in Afganistan. They had the television media there even before they got there with their flags, waiting in anticipation and hoping our people from the site would come out and try to stop them or fight with them. They did not anticipate that we would simply inform the OPP to deal with their people, and that again, we have been respectful. we have our flags flying on the site and in front of the site. we could go into the town of Caledonia and fly them, because as i've said, we've proven that the road itself is still ours, and that most of the town is still ours too, but we have respected the people and have maintained our presence on and near the reclamation site. We only ask that the same respect be shown in return. We do not have a problem with them hanging their flags anywhere outside the proximity of the site, it was being veiwed as it was intended, to try and instigate a fight. When the OPP prevented them from hanging the flags across the road from the site there was much anger at the fact that they should be able to hang their canadian flag on canadian soil. I understand and respect this. However, it is questionable whether there is any land within Turtle Island that they can claim as Canadian soil, and in this particular case, again, the road itself we have already proven is within the Six Nations jurisdiction and we were within our rights to ask them to respect that. Interestingly enough, when they did go down just past 6th line to hang their flags in support of the troops, (still in our jurisdiction but we gave them permisison to hang them there) the television camermen didn't follow them. Again, they were there only to make sure they caught on tv any violence that they were hoping would erupt. Shame on those who used the troops in that way! There are many things going through my mind and things I would like to share, but at this point, I will close with one last message. I want all of you to keep in mind December 17th 2006. It appears that since the Crown has been put in the position of having to address the issue of the theft of our lands and resources, at having been put in the position of answering to the crimes they have committed, we are going to be faced with continued attempts of instigation and potential violence. Gary McHale is again planning another rally. I've been told he has the help of a woman (sorry I don't know her name off hand), but she is like the president of a white supremist group. Again they are hoping to bring violence to our people at Kanonhstaton. I would like all of you to bring your minds to PEACE on that day, and offer your sacred tobacco or medicine to help support us in upholding the LAWS OF CREATION. According to the star map, December 17th is directly under the Temple of Taurus, and Orions Belt which is representive of the Peacemaker. The Temple of Taurus is our Rosetta Stone. It is our Great Law. It is who we are and how we connect to the Peacemaker. These are things our people have forgotten, but it is how our ancestors knew when to do things, just like they know when to begin the midwinter ceremonies and our other ceremonies. Through the Stars. It IS OUR MAP in Creation. But, the Crown has learned this too. Throughout history the Crown has used the stars just as our ancestors did, to sanction their continued use and abuse of our people and the Great Law. This is how they have been able to keep our people down and under their thumb for so long. They have kept us in spirtual bondage. They use our own people and our medicines to do this. This is what the People have been fighting and this is what the Women and Clanmothers stopped the day they went onto our lands to stop development, and this is what the Men have been standing and protecting. And this is what today, we have to continue to stop. Today, we need to bring all of our minds together to do this. All of the Onkwehonweh must stand before the Creator and acknowledge the Law that was given to us, we need to acknowledge our responsibilities to Creation, and acknoweldge our duty to uphold and protect the Law that He provided. That is what I would like each of you to do everyday, and specifically on December 17th. We need only to let Creation know we are standing strong and doing our best, and Creation will respond. That's all I have to say for now. Nya Weh! In Love, Light and Peace, Hazel From mfoster at web.net Sat Dec 9 17:06:52 2006 From: mfoster at web.net (mary foster) Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2006 20:06:52 -0500 Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] Canada signals plans to arm newMALE UAVs Message-ID: <054e01c71bf7$b3663340$0d3bcdcd@CPQ18145226471> a new weapon in the pipeline, co designed by canadian and Israeli companies..... *"The two primary contenders for the project are General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc, teamed with General Dynamics Land Systems Canada and offering the MQ-9 Predator B; and Montreal-based MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), teamed with Israel Aircraft Industries, CAE, and Pratt and Whitney Canada to offer a modified IAI Eagle."* http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2006/11/17/Navigation/177/210615/Canada +signals+plans+to+arm+new+MALE+UAVs.html Canada signals plans to arm new MALE UAVs By Peter La Franchi The Canadian defence force wants to arm its planned medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV systems. A final requirements statement recommending a weapons capability is due to be signed off within the defence headquarters late this month ahead of formal applications for government funding approvals. If it is granted, a competition launch for up to nine MALE systems is planned for almost immediate release with a contract signature by mid 2007, says project director LtCol Wade Williams, Royal Canadian Air Force. The joint UAV surveillance targeting acquisition system (JUSTAS) project is forecast to cost C$500 million ($446 million) with an initial operational capability targeted for February 2009. Speaking 9 November at the Unmanned Vehicle Systems Canada 2006 conference in Montebello, Quebec, Williams said that weaponisation had been deemed a mandatory requirement for the project: "We are looking to provide a weapons capability for the folks in theatre". No details on the proposed weapons mix were discussed. The new UAVs would carry a mixture of electro-optic, infra-red and synthetic aperture radar payloads with persistence of capability being a key programme aim. "The longer this thing can stay up the better. The lessons learned that we are learning today in Afghanistan are critical," says Williams. The system is required to be globally deployable he said, in all weather conditions: "Basically anywhere in the world that the Canadian Forces should be ready to go". Williams said that while Canadian joint capability requirements board approvals are imminent, the overall JUSTAS project "has not been Governmentally approved yet. This is us in the Department at the staff level trying to work this programme through as quick as we can. We all know the government is very limited in resources. Is this going to be a government-approved policy? We will all find out as the policy people and the Prime Minister and the minister decide really where Canada's treasury is going to be spent. "But this is very much our aim and this is what we are focusing towards but by no means guaranteed.. He said that the project is "moving at a great rate of knots through the Department of National Defence right now" to try and achieve the service entry target: "We are now in the statement of requirements and working the problematics through the system. We are looking to go on contract for sometime in the Summer of 2007?To make the IOC by February 2009 there is no other way around it". The JUSTAS project is intended to acquire MALE and HALE classes of aircraft. The project was substantially restructured in August this year to separate the two requirements into a two phase acquisition effort. The current phase one is intended to provide a near term Canadian Forces overland surveillance capability that will support both domestic and expeditionary operations based on nine UAVs. Phase two will introduce a maritime surveillance capability comprising up to six HALE aircraft and an additional three MALEs by 2025. The phase two capability will also incorporate a northern surveillance role in the Canadian Artic territories. Williams described "the purely maritime capable UAV" as being "still several years out. Many of our allies that we deal with quite a bit, the Americans and the Australians, are looking at 2010-2015 and I honestly don't believe that Canada is looking at being first in that crowd. We plan on leveraging off our friends." The two classes of UAV system would share payloads between them Williams said. "The idea is that we are not going to be acquiring a vehicle that is completely locked down ? we need some flexibility to try to move sensors and do other things." Restructuring of the project has also seen the separation of the UAV system purchase from the development of the Canadian Forces joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance processing architecture as a result of the August project restructuring. Williams described that decision has having been a "significant achievement in understanding our [project] aim". Instead, that "ISR backbone" will be developed as part of the separate but closely related joint service intelligence command and control system project. The nominal project spend pattern would see initial outlays of C$5 million in the current financial year; C$80 million 2007-2008; C$100 million in 2008-2009; C$120 million in each of 2009-2010 and 2010-2011; and C$75 million in 2011-2012. *The two primary contenders for the project are General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc, teamed with General Dynamics Land Systems Canada and offering the MQ-9 Predator B; and Montreal-based MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), teamed with Israel Aircraft Industries, CAE, and Pratt and Whitney Canada to offer a modified IAI Eagle.* The MDA team is also proposing the IAI I-View 50 small tactical, Bird Eye 400 mini- and Mosquito micro-UAVs for expected Canadian Army tactical UAV competitions, with all four UAV types to operate within a common ground architecture as a fully integrated family of systems. Williams told the conference that Canada was seeking to achieve certification for the new UAVs. He said: "We are not looking to buy something that is truly a test vehicle; we want something that is somewhat proven or recognised by another nation." From nooneisillegal at gmail.com Tue Dec 12 17:50:39 2006 From: nooneisillegal at gmail.com (No One Is Illegal Montreal) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 20:50:39 -0500 Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] Free Trevor Miller (Six Nations political prisoner) & Justice for Mohamed Anas Bennis (killed by the Montreal police) :: No One Is Illegal Radio (December 2006) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: No One Is Illegal-Montreal Radio part of CKUT's Open Conspiracy for Social Change :::::::::: Free Trevor Miller! ::: political prisoner from Six Nations Justice for Mohamed Anas Bennis! ::: Killed by the Montreal police :::::::::: Listen to our December 2006 show online at: --> http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=20889 MONTREAL, December 12, 2006 -- Yesterday, TREVOR MILLER, 31, of Six Nations was again denied release at a bail review hearing. He has been in custody since August, for his participation in the Land Reclamation on the Grand River Territory in Ontario. Trevor Miller is an indigenous political prisoner who remains steadfast in his refusal to accept the authority of colonial Canadian courts, and demands to be released to his own people. Meanwhile, December 1, 2006 marked the first anniversary of the police killing of MOHAMED ANAS BENNIS, 25, at the corner of Cote-des-Neiges and Kent in Montreal. Despite strong community mobilization, the Bennis family has not been provided any information about why Mohamed Anas was shot and killed outside a mosque, and many in the community speculate about a racially motivated police killing that is being covered-up. On this month's edition of No One Is Illegal Radio, we hear directly from the voices of supporters fighting against injustice on behalf of their family members. --> We speak with both TRUDY MILLER and ANGEL SMITH, mother and cousin of indigenous political prisoner Trevor Miller. Trevor has been in preventive custody for more than four months, since August when he was arrested at a blockade at Grassy Narrows. Trevor is being charged in relation to incidents at the Six Nation Land Reclamation, when he along with others defended the site against a US border patrol/ATF vehicle that appeared on the site. Trevor has been referred to as the "Forgotten Warrior" because his situation was not publicly known for several months, until a letter he wrote his mother was published in a local Six Nations newspaper. In these interviews, Trudy and Angel speak about Trevor's situation, as well as providing an analysis of the broader issues concerning indigenous sovereignty, the Great Law and the two-row wampum, the Haldimand Tract treaty, as well as the continued resistance of the women and men of Six Nations. --> We also speak with KHADIJA BENNIS, the twin sister of Mohamed Anas Bennis who was killed by Montreal police last December 2005. Mohamed Anas Bennis left a neighbourhood mosque, just minutes from his home, after early morning prayers on December 1, 2005. He was shot by Montreal police who were assisting Surete du Quebec investigators carrying out a search warrant in a fraud case nearby, totally unrelated to Bennis. Still, inexplicably, Bennis is alleged to have tried to stab a cop and was shot twice and killed. Bennis' family is adamant that the allegations against Mohamed are ludicrous. In the words of one sister: "The idea of Mohamed Anas walking around with a kitchen knife as he left mosque on the morning on December 1, there is no way we're going to swallow a story like that. We'd do better to believe in Santa Claus!" Now more than one-year after the killing, the death of Mohamed Anas Bennis remains shrouded in mystery. The police and outside prosecutor have provided no written report to corroborate any of the claims the police have made. The special prosecutor has absolved the police of any responsibility for the killing, saying they acted in self-defense. There is still no independent proof that the police version of events is true. Even video footage from a nearby building has not been handed over, and might have even been destroyed. The circumstances surrounding the killing of Mohamed Anas Bennis have been buried, and the family treated with arrogance and disrespect. The mystery and secrecy surrounding this case reinforces the belief by many in the Montreal community that Mohamed Anas Bennis was killed by police in a case of racial profiling. Listen to our December 2006 show online at: --> http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=20889 ::: No One Is Illegal Radio December 2006 Interview Excerpts ::: "They're making an example out of [Trevor]. They're doing him an injustice. ... I want it out there: I'm very proud of my son." -- Trudy Miller (mother of Trevor Miller, indigenous political prisoner). "[O]ur people in this day and age are more educated, we understand your system that much more. We're still being who we are as Onkwehonweh people. And this time around that education is going to help enforce our sovereignty. And ya, they have our young warrior, but [he's] what you would call a political prisoner." -- Angel Smith (Mohawk activist and cousin of Trevor Miller). "We have the feeling that we're being lied to and something is being hidden from us ... It's hard to believe that willingly the system will give us the truth. We're being insulted and our intelligence is being insulted. There was an injustice and we're looking for justice." -- Khadija Bennis (twin sister of Mohamed Anas Bennis who was killed by Montreal police). --> For more information about SIX NATIONS, please consult the resource site by Autonomy and Solidarity for background and more links: http://auto_sol.tao.ca/node/view/2012 --> For information about the MOHAMED ANAS BENNIS case, please refer to this backgrounder by the Collective Opposed to Police Brutality in Montreal: http://www.cmaq.net/en/node/26143?PHPSESSID=8fac57736293fa2aae7d39b4d135ed95 --> PHOTOS from the recent vigils for Mohamed Anas Bennis (December 1, 2006) are available at: http://gallery.cmaq.net/bennisvigils --> LISTEN to our December 2006 show online at: http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=20889 --> To GET INVOLVED with Six Nations political prisoner support work, or in support of justice for the Bennis family in the Montreal-area, please contact No One Is Illegal-Montreal at 514-848-7583 or noii-montreal at resist.ca ----- No One Is Illegal Radio is a monthly news and current affairs show on CKUT community radio in Montreal, produced and hosted by members of the No One Is Illegal collective. No One Is Illegal-Montreal is part of a worldwide movement of resistance, fighting for justice and dignity, and the right to self-determination for migrants, refugees and indigenous people. Our campaign is in public confrontation with the Canadian state, denouncing and taking action to combat racial profiling, police brutality, detentions and deportations, exploitation and wage-slave conditions, as well as opposing the displacement and genocide of indigenous peoples on Turtle Island. 514-848-7583 -- noii-montreal at resist.ca -- www.ckut.ca [No One Is Illegal-Montreal website will be on the net soon!] --> The next No One Is Illegal-Montreal Radio show will be on the air live on Tuesday, January 9, 2007 from 5-6pm. Listen online at www.ckut.ca, or in Montreal tune-in at 90.3fm. Contact us for links to our previous shows! From sophie at resist.ca Thu Dec 14 07:44:39 2006 From: sophie at resist.ca (sophie schoen) Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2006 10:44:39 -0500 Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] prochaine reunion de bloquez l'empire || next block the empire meeting Message-ID: <45817167.2010202@resist.ca> Bonjour! La prochaine r?union de Bloquez l'empire aura lieu ce LUNDI 18 D?CEMBRE ? 18h30 au GRIP-Concordia (1500 de Maisonneuve Ouest, bureau 204, m?tro Guy-Concordia). Nous allons faire une derni?re mise ? jour de nos projets avant les vacances d'hiver ... ? lundi! --------------------- Allo! Just a reminder that the next Block the Empire meeting is scheduled for this MONDAY DECEMBER 18TH at QPIRG-Concordia (1500 de Maisonneuve W, #204, metro Guy-Concordia). We'll be checking-in on the various projects that BLEM has taken on for the next few months... See you Monday! From bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca Sat Dec 16 09:42:30 2006 From: bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca (bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca) Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2006 09:42:30 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] Manif-Action-Artistique pour OAXACA Solidarity Action (MONTREAL, 22 decembre, 4pm, metro Jean-Talon) Message-ID: [English below ...] Suite ? l'appel ? la mobilisation nationale et internationale de la Otra Campa?a (initiative politique de l'Arm?e Zapatiste de Lib?ration Nationale (EZLN) pour constituer un plan de lutte national). :::::::::: Manif-Action-Artistique avec th??tre mobile. Il s'agit d'une activit? pacifique et familiale pour informer la population. :::::::::: Vendredi le 22 d?cembre 2006 Coin Ch?teaubriand et Jean-Talon, m?tro Jean-Talon, ? 16h00 Depuis le 27 octobre, des milliers d'effectifs de la police militaire (PFP) et de l'arm?e mexicaine continuent d'occuper et terroriser Oaxaca, voulant taire ainsi la volont? du peuple organis? ? travers l'Assembl?e Populaire des Peuples d'Oaxaca (APPO) regroupant 400 organisations populaires. Ce n'est pas par le meurtre, le viol, la torture, l'enl?vement, la r?pression polici?re ainsi que la propagande mensong?re des m?dias commerciaux que le gouvernement pourra r?soudre les exigences du peuple d'Oaxaca. Nous exigeons: La sortie imm?diate de la PFP d'Oaxaca ; La d?mission imm?diate du Gouverneur d'Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz ; La lib?ration des prisonnier-?res politiques et la pr?sentation en vie des disparu(e)s ; Le ch?timent des responsables des assassinats et de la r?pression ; Le respect ? la volont? du peuple d'Oaxaca, qui se base, entre autres, sur la Convention 169 de l'OIT relative aux peuples indig?nes et tribaux. Vive la APPO. Vive Ricardo Flores Magon, Emiliano Zapata et les milliers d'h?ros anonymes de cette longue lutte. - Collectif La Otra ? Montr?al ici_lasexta at yahoo.ca - Soci?t? Bolivarienne du Qu?bec www.sbqc.org - Bloquez L'Empire bloquezlempire.resist.ca Pour plus d'information : www.cmaq.net www.vientos.info/cml www.asambleapopulardeoaxaca.com www.enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx :::::::::: :::::::::: [Translated from the French] In response to a call for national and international mobilizations by the Otra Campana (a political initiative of the the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN)) ... :::::::::: Artistic-Demo-Action, with moving street theatre. A child-friendly event to inform the general public. :::::::::: Friday, December 22, 2006 Corner of Chateaubriand and Jean-Talon metro Jean-Talon AT 4PM Since October 27, thousands of federal police and the Mexican army continue to occupy and terrorize Oaxaca, aiming to shut down a people's uprising organized within the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO), which brings together 400 grassroots groups. It is not by murder, rape, torture, kidnapping, police repression as well as propaganda lies of the mass media that the government will be able to meet the demands of the people of Oaxaca. We demand: The immediate withdrawal of the federal police from Oaxaca; The immediate resignation of the Governor of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz; The immediate release of all political prisoners, and the re-appearance of all the disappeared; The punishment of those responsible for the killings and the repression; The respect of the will of the people of Oaxaca, which is based, among other things, on Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) relating to indigenous and tribal peoples. Vive la APPO. Vive Ricardo Flores Magon, Emiliano Zapata and the thousands of anonymous heros of this long struggle. - The La Otra Collective of Montreal: ici_lasexta at yahoo.ca - The Bolivarian Society of Quebec: www.sbqc.org - Block the Empire-Montreal: bloquezlempire.resist.ca For more information: www.cmaq.net www.vientos.info/cml www.asambleapopulardeoaxaca.com www.enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx INFO: 514-848-7583 bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca From bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca Tue Dec 19 19:30:53 2006 From: bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca (bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca) Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 19:30:53 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] Vendredi/Friday :: Manif-Action-Artistique pour OAXACA Solidarity Action (22 decembre, 4pm, metro Jean-Talon) Message-ID: [English below ...] Suite ? l'appel ? la mobilisation nationale et internationale de la Otra Campa?a (initiative politique de l'Arm?e Zapatiste de Lib?ration Nationale (EZLN) pour constituer un plan de lutte national). :::::::::: Manif-Action-Artistique avec th??tre mobile. Il s'agit d'une activit? pacifique et familiale pour informer la population. :::::::::: Vendredi le 22 d?cembre 2006 Coin Ch?teaubriand et Jean-Talon, m?tro Jean-Talon, ? 16h00 Depuis le 27 octobre, des milliers d'effectifs de la police militaire (PFP) et de l'arm?e mexicaine continuent d'occuper et terroriser Oaxaca, voulant taire ainsi la volont? du peuple organis? ? travers l'Assembl?e Populaire des Peuples d'Oaxaca (APPO) regroupant 400 organisations populaires. Ce n'est pas par le meurtre, le viol, la torture, l'enl?vement, la r?pression polici?re ainsi que la propagande mensong?re des m?dias commerciaux que le gouvernement pourra r?soudre les exigences du peuple d'Oaxaca. Nous exigeons: La sortie imm?diate de la PFP d'Oaxaca ; La d?mission imm?diate du Gouverneur d'Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz ; La lib?ration des prisonnier-?res politiques et la pr?sentation en vie des disparu(e)s ; Le ch?timent des responsables des assassinats et de la r?pression ; Le respect ? la volont? du peuple d'Oaxaca, qui se base, entre autres, sur la Convention 169 de l'OIT relative aux peuples indig?nes et tribaux. Vive la APPO. Vive Ricardo Flores Magon, Emiliano Zapata et les milliers d'h?ros anonymes de cette longue lutte. - Collectif La Otra ? Montr?al ici_lasexta at yahoo.ca - Soci?t? Bolivarienne du Qu?bec www.sbqc.org - Bloquez L'Empire bloquezlempire.resist.ca Pour plus d'information : www.cmaq.net www.vientos.info/cml www.asambleapopulardeoaxaca.com www.enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx :::::::::: :::::::::: [Translated from the French] In response to a call for national and international mobilizations by the Otra Campana (a political initiative of the the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN)) ... :::::::::: Artistic-Demo-Action, with moving street theatre. A child-friendly event to inform the general public. :::::::::: Friday, December 22, 2006 Corner of Chateaubriand and Jean-Talon metro Jean-Talon AT 4PM Since October 27, thousands of federal police and the Mexican army continue to occupy and terrorize Oaxaca, aiming to shut down a people's uprising organized within the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO), which brings together 400 grassroots groups. It is not by murder, rape, torture, kidnapping, police repression as well as propaganda lies of the mass media that the government will be able to meet the demands of the people of Oaxaca. We demand: The immediate withdrawal of the federal police from Oaxaca; The immediate resignation of the Governor of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz; The immediate release of all political prisoners, and the re-appearance of all the disappeared; The punishment of those responsible for the killings and the repression; The respect of the will of the people of Oaxaca, which is based, among other things, on Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) relating to indigenous and tribal peoples. Vive la APPO. Vive Ricardo Flores Magon, Emiliano Zapata and the thousands of anonymous heros of this long struggle. - The La Otra Collective of Montreal: ici_lasexta at yahoo.ca - The Bolivarian Society of Quebec: www.sbqc.org - Block the Empire-Montreal: bloquezlempire.resist.ca For more information: www.cmaq.net www.vientos.info/cml www.asambleapopulardeoaxaca.com www.enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx INFO: 514-848-7583 bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca From sansfrontieres at resist.ca Tue Dec 19 20:36:49 2006 From: sansfrontieres at resist.ca (sans frontieres!) Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:36:49 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] Guantanamo Nord/North :: Hunger strike by security certificate detainees :: Greve de la faim par les detenus des proces secrets Message-ID: [Engilsh below ...] APPEL DE LA CAMPAGNE POUR LA FIN DES PROC?S SECRETS AU CANADA et de la COALITION JUSTICE POUR ADIL CHARKAOUI 18 decembre 2006 Les d?tenus des proc?s secrets en gr?ve de la faim ? Guantanamo Nord (Kingston, Ontario) : L'acc?s ? un traitement m?dical et la s?curit? personnelle en jeu. Pour la deuxi?me fois cette ann?e, trois hommes d?tenus au Centre de surveillance de l'immigration de Kingston (CSIK) - une installation de 3,2 millions de dollars ? l'int?rieur du p?nitencier de Millhaven construite sp?cialement pour les d?tenus des certificats de s?curit? - font une gr?ve de la faim afin de protester contre leurs conditions de d?tention. Au moment d'?crire ces lignes, Mohammad Mahjoub en est ? 23 jours sans nourriture alors que Hassam Almrei et Mahmoud Jaballah en sont ? 12 jours. La plus urgente des demandes est que M. Mahjoub puisse imm?diatement recevoir un traitement m?dical pour soigner son h?patite C et sa haute pression, ce qui lui est refus? depuis septembre. Les hommes demandent ?galement qu'un superviseur (pas un gardien) les escorte entre ?l'unit? de s?jour? et l'immeuble administratif (o? ils re?oivent leurs visiteurs et font leur l'exercice). Ils sont pr?occup?s par le potentiel de mauvais traitement entre les mains de certains (pas tous) gardiens, ainsi que par le fait que de fausses all?gations ont ?t? faites contre eux par certains (mais pas tous) gardiens. La pr?sence d'un superviseur est la seule fa?on de garantir leur s?curit? et il n'y a aucune raison pour qu'il n'y en ait pas de disponible pendant le jour (la prison, dans laquelle sont d?tenus trois hommes, poss?de largement le personnel n?cessaire : 2 directeurs, 2 secr?taires, 7 superviseurs et 12 gardiens). Les d?tenus ont aussi le sentiment que le remplacement des gardiens du Service correctionnel du Canada par des employ?s de l'Agence des services frontaliers pourrait aider ? mettre fin ? la fa?on n?gative dont ils sont souvent trait?s. AUTRES DEMANDES 1.Que les hommes aient acc?s aux m?dias, comme c'?tait le cas lorsqu'ils ?taient d?tenus ? Toronto. Actuellement, tous les m?dias doivent avoir une approbation et les entrevues ne peuvent pas ?tre faites en priv?e. Ils demandent aussi ? ce que plus de temps soit allou? aux entrevues avec les m?dias. Actuellement, des blocs d'une heure sont allou?s, mais les d?lais pour passer la s?curit? et pour installer les cam?ras font qu'au bout du compte, il ne reste que tr?s peu de temps. 2.Qu'une instance ind?pendante ou un m?diateur neutre soit nomm? pour s'occuper des probl?mes qui ont cours au CSIK. Un traducteur devrait aussi ?tre pr?sent ? chaque rencontre o? les plaintes sont discut?es et pour aider ? remplir la documentation ?crite concernant les plaintes. 3.Que les comptages (head counts) quotidiens soient ?limin?s. Comme il y a seulement trois hommes dans cette petite unit? et qu'ils sont constamment surveill?s, ceux-ci consid?rent que cette proc?dure est humiliante et inutile. 4.Que les hommes puissent utiliser des cartes d'appel pour appeler leur famille ? l'?tranger. Actuellement, les hommes doivent se servir des services d'appels les plus dispendieux pour appeler leur famille canadienne (qui sont toutes sur l'aide sociale). 5.Que les hommes puissent b?n?ficier des m?mes droits que les autres d?tenus f?d?raux : acc?s ? une biblioth?que, ? des programmes d'?ducation et ? des visites en roulottes avec leur famille o? ils peuvent rester ensemble trois jours par mois. 6.Que les hommes puissent quitter leur cellule avant l'aube pour se laver et prier comme l'exige leur pratique religieuse. 7.Les hommes n'ont pas le droit de choisir ce qui est offert dans leur cantine et les prix sont le triple de ce qu'ils sont ? l'ext?rieur de la prison. Dans la prison f?d?rale ? c?t? du CSIK, les d?tenus peuvent choisir ce qui est offert ? leur cantine et les prix sont plus bas. VOTRE APPUI 1. Veuillez envoyer des lettres pressant l'Agence des services frontaliers du Canada d'entamer de bonne foi des n?gociations s?rieuses, en pr?sence d'un traducteur d'une d'une tierce partie ind?pendante, afin de satisfaire ces demandes (voir l'exemple de lettre plus bas). Stockwell Day, Ministre de la Securit? publique* Chambre des Communes Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6 T?l.: (613) 995-1702 Fax : (613) 995-1154 *Day est ministre responsable de l'Agence des services frontaliers du Canada (qui dirige le CSIK). Claudette Desch?nes Vice-pr?sidente, ex?cution de la loi, ASFC claudette.deschenes at cbsa-asfc.gc.ca T?l.: (613) 952-2531 Fax : (613) 952-2622 2.Envoyez une carte d'appui aux d?tenus (si vous en envoyez une, faites-nous le savoir ? tasc at web.ca pour que nous puissions v?rifier que le courrier se rend bien) : Mohammad Mahjoub, Mahmoud Jaballah et Hassan Almrei : Centre de surveillance de l'immigration de Kingston a/s CSC RHQ Ontario Region 440 King Street West PO Box 1174 Kingston, Ontario, K7L 4Y8 EXEMPLES DE LETTRES AUX SERVICES FRONTALIERS Stockwell Day Cher M. Day, Je vous ?crit afin de vous demander d'intervenir imm?diatement afin de satisfaire les demandes raisonnables des d?tenus des certificats de s?curit? qui sont une fois de plus en gr?ve de la faim au Centre de surveillance de l'immigration de Kingston. Comme vous vous en souvenez peut-?tre, le pr?c?dent gouvernement avait forc? deux des d?tenus, Mohammad Mahjoub et Hassan Almrei, ? faire une gr?ve de la faim dangereusement longue en 2005 (respectivement 79 et 73 jours) avant qu'une quelconque mesure soit prise afin de satisfaire ce qui ?taient, et qui le sont aujourd'hui, des demandes raisonnables. L'?t? dernier, d'autres gr?ves de la faim ont eu lieu, signe que les conditions continuent de se d?t?riorer. Les gens ne se privent pas de nourriture sans qu'il y ait de bonnes raisons. Il est ?vident que ces hommes n'ont d'autres choix que d'utiliser ce moyen extr?me pour arriver ? vous convaincre de n?gocier avec eux en toute bonne foi. Nier ? M. Mahoub l'acc?s ? un traitement m?dical est scandaleux. Il a besoin de recevoir imm?diatement sa m?dication pour traiter l'h?patite C et la haute pression, que ce soit ? l'int?rieur de l'unit? de s?jour ou, s'il doit se rendre dans un autre ?difice, qu'il soit accompagn? d'un superviseur. Avec 23 employ?s pour les trois d?tenus, il n'y a aucune raison que cela ne puisse ?tre possible. L'agence dont vous ?tes responsable pr?tendait que dans ses nouvelles installations, les hommes b?n?ficieraient de meilleures conditions, ce qui n'est tout simplement pas le cas. Je vous r?it?re donc ma demande d'intervenir imm?diatement et de prendre les mesures n?cessaires afin d'emp?cher que la sant? des d?tenus ne se d?t?riore davantage. Il est clair ?galement qu'une tierce partie ind?pendante doit ?tre nomm?e afin de s'occuper des probl?mes quotidiens qui ont court au CSIK. De plus, un traducteur doit ?tre pr?sent lors des rencontres avec les employ?s du CSIK et les d?tenus. Dans l'attente d'une intervention imm?diate de votre part afin de r?soudre cette crise. Nom, adresse **************** Claudette Desch?nes Vice-pr?sidente, ex?cution de la loi Agence des services frontaliers du Canada Ch?re Mme Desch?nes, Je vous ?cris afin de vous faire part de mon appui aux demandes des d?tenus pr?sentement en gr?ve de la faim au Centre de surveillance de l'immigration de Kingston. Comme vous devez le savoir, les hommes ont re?u la promesse que leurs conditions seraient meilleures que celles qu'ils avaient au Centre de d?tention Metro West, mais ces promesses ne se sont pas concr?tis?es. Comme vous vous en souvenez peut-?tre, le pr?c?dent gouvernement avait forc? deux des d?tenus, Mohammad Mahjoub et Hassan Almrei, ? faire une gr?ve de la faim dangereusement longue en 2005 (respectivement 79 et 73 jours) avant qu'une quelconque mesure soit prise afin de satisfaire ce qui ?taient, et qui le sont aujourd'hui, des demandes raisonnables. L'?t? dernier, d'autres gr?ves de la faim ont eu lieu, signe que les conditions continuent de se d?t?riorer. Je vous demande de prendre les mesures n?cessaires afin de satisfaire les demandes tr?s raisonnables de ces hommes de fa?on mettre un terme ? la gr?ve de la faim qu'ils ont entreprise, mena?ante pour leur sant?. Les demandes de MM. Jaballah, Mahjoub et Almrei sont des plus raisonnables. Le refus d'offrir un traitement m?dical est ill?gal et immoral, et ce peut importe les raisons. L'acc?s ? des soins m?dicaux ne peut ?tre r?duit ? une question de conformit? aux r?glements insignifiants de la prison. M. Mahjoub a besoin de recevoir imm?diatement sa m?dication pour traiter l'h?patite C et la haute pression qui l'affligent, que ce soit ? l'int?rieur de l'unit? de s?jour ou, s'il doit se rendre dans un autre ?difice, qu'il soit accompagn? d'un superviseur. Avec 23 employ?s pour les trois d?tenus, il n'y a aucune raison que cela ne puisse ?tre possible. Il est clair ?galement qu'une tierce partie ind?pendante doit ?tre nomm?e afin de s'occuper des probl?mes quotidiens qui ont cours au CSIK. De plus, un traducteur doit ?tre pr?sent lors des rencontres avec les employ?s du CSIK et les d?tenus. Dans l'attente d'une r?solution imm?diate de ce probl?me. Nom, adresse :::::::::: :::::::::: :::::::::: APPEAL FROM CAMPAIGN TO STOP SECRET TRIALS IN CANADA and JUSTICE FOR ADIL 15 December 2006 Canada's Secret Trial Detainees on HUNGER STRIKE at Guantanamo Bay North, Kingston, Ontario: Denial of Medical Treatment, Lack of Personal Safety Among Key Issues For the second time this year, three men held at the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre (KIHC) -- a $3.2 million facility within Millhaven Penitentiary for security certificate detainees -- have gone on hunger strike to protest their conditions of detention. As of today, December 15, Mohammad Mahjoub has been without food for 20 days, and Hassan Almrei and Mahmoud Jaballah for nine days. Most pressing among many demands is immediate medical treatment for Mr. Mahjoub, who has been denied access to medical care for hepatitis C and high blood pressure since September. The men are also demanding that a supervisor (not a guard) escort them between the "living unit" and the administration building (where they receive visitors and exercise). The men are concerned about the potential for mistreatment at the hands of some (not all) guards at the facility, as well as about the fact that false allegations have been made against the men by some (but not all) guards at the facility. The presence of a supervisor is the only way they have to guarantee their safety, and there is no reason why one cannot be available during daylight hours (the facility, which imprisons three men, is top-heavy with staff: two directors, two secretaries, seven supervisors, 12 guards). The detainees also feel that one way of ending the negative way in which they are often treated is to replace Corrections Service Canada guards with individuals from the Canadian Border Services Agency. KIHC officials claim Mr. Mahjoub can get his medication if he goes to the administration building, but he refuses to go without a supervisory escort. Medical personnel often come to the "living unit," but they are not bringing his medication there. Because Mr. Mahjoub fears for his safety and refuses to go to the administration building without an escort, he is being punished, and his health is subsequently impaired. Such bureaucratic pettiness at KIHC is something out of a Soviet Gulag, not a 21st century democracy. OTHER DEMANDS 1. That the men have access to media, as they did when detained in Toronto. Currently, all media need to have prior approval, and interviews cannot be conducted in private. The men are justifiably uncomfortable having guards sit-in on interviews. They are also demanding that more time be granted to media interviews. Currently, one-hour blocs are available, but by the time media go through security and set up cameras, there is very little time to conduct proper interviews. 2. That an independent body or neutral mediator be appointed to deal with the many problems that continue to plague the KIHC. A translator must also be provided for any meeting where complaints are discussed and to assist with the documentation of written complaints. Currently, the men must submit lengthy written complaints (and all have limited written and spoken English) that are almost always dismissed by staff at KIHC, with no route of appeal. The men currently have no one to appeal to who would play the role of independent ombudsperson. 3. Eliminate daily head counts. Given that there are only three men in the tiny unit, and they are constantly monitored, the men find that being told to stop throughout the day to stand and be counted is humiliating and unnecessary. 4. That the men be allowed to use phone cards to call family overseas. The KIHC is proposing that the men call through the most expensive plan available, which would be billed to their Canadian family (all of whom are on social assistance). Since calls are monitored, it makes no sense why a far less expensive calling card cannot be used. 5. That the men be granted the same rights as other federal inmates: access to a library, educational programs, and trailer visits with loved ones where they can stay together for three days every month. 6. That the men be permitted to leave their cells before dawn to bathe and pray, as required by their faith. 7. The men are not given a choice about what to have in their canteen, and the prices are triple what they are outside the facility. In the federal jail next door to KIHC, inmates choose what is in their canteen, and prices are lower. ACTIONS TO TAKE 1. Please send letters urging that Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) officials enter into serious, good faith negotiations, with a translator and neutral third party present, to meet these demands (sample letters below). Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety* House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 Phone: (613) 995-1702 Fax: (613) 995.1154 Email: day.s at parl.gc.ca communications at psepc.gc.ca *Day is responsible for CBSA, which manages the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre. Claudette Deschenes VP, Enforcement, CBSA claudette.deschenes at cbsa-asfc.gc.ca Phone (613) 952-2531 Fax (613) 952-2622 2. Write a support card to the detainees (let us know at tasc at web.ca if you have so we can monitor if mail is getting through): Mohammad Mahjoub, Mahmoud Jaballah, and Hassan Almrei can be reached: Kingston Immigration Holding Centre c/o CSC RHQ Ontario Region 440 King Street West PO Box 1174 Kingston, Ontario K7L 4Y8 SAMPLE LETTERS TO CBSA Stockwell Day Ministre de la securit? publique Dear Mr. Day, I am writing to demand that you intervene immediately to meet the reasonable demands of Canada's secret trial detainees who are once again on hunger strike at the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre. As you may recall, the previous government forced two of the detainees, Mohammad Mahjoub and Hassan Almrei, to hunger strike dangerously long periods in 2005 (79 and 73 days, respectively) before any action was taken to meet what were, then as now, reasonable requests. This past summer, a number of hunger strikes occurred as well, a sign that conditions continue to deteriorate. People do not forgo food unless there are good reasons to do so, and these men obviously have cause to go to these extreme lengths to get you to negotiate with them in good faith. The denial of medical treatment to Mr. Mahjoub is outrageous; he needs immediate access to his Hepatitis C and blood pressure medication either in the living unit or, if he is forced to go to another building to receive it, with the accompaniment of a supervisor. With 23 staff for the three detainees, there is no reason why this cannot occur. Your agency has claimed the new facility will present better conditions for the detainees, yet this is simply not the case. I again urge you to intervene immediately and take steps necessary to prevent a further deterioration in the health of the detainees and, by extension, that of their loved ones, whose stress during this time remains extremely high. It is clear as well that an independent third party needs to be appointed to deal with the daily problems that arise at the KIHC. In addition, a translator needs to be present during meetings between KIHC staff and the detainees. I look forward to your immediate action to resolve this crisis. Name, address *********** Claudette Deschenes VP, Enforcement, Canadian Border Services Agency Dear Ms. Deschenes, I am writing to support the demands of the detainees currently on hunger strike at the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre . As you must know, the men were promised superior conditions to those they faced at the Metro West Detention Centre, but those promises have yet to become a reality. As you may recall, the previous government forced two of the detainees, Mohammad Mahjoub and Hassan Almrei, to hunger strike dangerously long periods in 2005 (79 and 73 days, respectively) before any action was taken to meet what were, then as now, reasonable requests. This past summer, a number of hunger strikes occurred as well, a sign that conditions continue to deteriorate. I'm asking that you take the steps necessary to meet the very reasonable demands of these gentlemen so that the health-threatening hunger strike which they have undertaken may be brought to an end. The requests of Mssrs. Jaballah, Mahjoub, and Almrei are eminently reasonable. Denial of medical treatment for whatever reason is illegal and immoral. To reduce access to medical care to an issue of compliance with petty prison rules is a scary reminder of the Soviet-era gulag. Mr. Mahjoub needs immediate access to his Hepatitis C and blood pressure medication either in the living unit or, if he is forced to go to another building to receive it, with the accompaniment of a supervisor. With 23 staff for the three detainees, there is no reason why this cannot occur. It is clear as well that an independent third party needs to be appointed to deal with the daily problems that arise at the KIHC. In addition, a translator needs to be present during meetings between KIHC staff and the detainees. I look forward to the immediate resolution of this problem. Name, address From jaggi at resist.ca Wed Dec 20 20:54:36 2006 From: jaggi at resist.ca (Jaggi Singh) Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 20:54:36 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] Iraq: The Hidden War ... Message-ID: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13420.htm From christoff at resist.ca Wed Dec 20 23:21:44 2006 From: christoff at resist.ca (Stefan Christoff) Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 23:21:44 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] Audio Report: Montrealers Denounce Israeli Apartheid Message-ID: Audio Report: Montrealers Denounce Israeli Apartheid http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6285.shtml On Saturday, December 16th, 2006 Palestinian solidarity activists gathered on St. Catherine street in downtown Montreal to draw attention to a 2005 appeal from over 170 Palestinian civil-society organizations to, "Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel Until it Complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights." Distributing information to curious Montrealers strolling downtown Montreal, members of the International Solidarity Movement [ISM] and Tadamon! appealed to curious onlookers to support the Palestinian call to boycott Israel. * Palestine BDS Campaign, Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Against Israel. http://www.bds-palestine.net [This audio report was produced by Stefan Christoff of Tadmaon! for broadcast on CKUT Radio, 90.3fm in Montreal & Internet distribution through Electronic Intifada.] ----------------------- From bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca Fri Dec 22 03:36:38 2006 From: bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca (bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca) Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2006 03:36:38 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] Aujourd'hui/Today :: Manif-Action-Artistique pour OAXACA Solidarity Action (22 decembre, 4pm, metro Jean-Talon) Message-ID: [English below ...] Suite ? l'appel ? la mobilisation nationale et internationale de la Otra Campa?a (initiative politique de l'Arm?e Zapatiste de Lib?ration Nationale (EZLN) pour constituer un plan de lutte national). :::::::::: Manif-Action-Artistique avec th??tre mobile. Il s'agit d'une activit? pacifique et familiale pour informer la population. :::::::::: Vendredi le 22 d?cembre 2006 Coin Ch?teaubriand et Jean-Talon, m?tro Jean-Talon, ? 16h00 Depuis le 27 octobre, des milliers d'effectifs de la police militaire (PFP) et de l'arm?e mexicaine continuent d'occuper et terroriser Oaxaca, voulant taire ainsi la volont? du peuple organis? ? travers l'Assembl?e Populaire des Peuples d'Oaxaca (APPO) regroupant 400 organisations populaires. Ce n'est pas par le meurtre, le viol, la torture, l'enl?vement, la r?pression polici?re ainsi que la propagande mensong?re des m?dias commerciaux que le gouvernement pourra r?soudre les exigences du peuple d'Oaxaca. Nous exigeons: La sortie imm?diate de la PFP d'Oaxaca ; La d?mission imm?diate du Gouverneur d'Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz ; La lib?ration des prisonnier-?res politiques et la pr?sentation en vie des disparu(e)s ; Le ch?timent des responsables des assassinats et de la r?pression ; Le respect ? la volont? du peuple d'Oaxaca, qui se base, entre autres, sur la Convention 169 de l'OIT relative aux peuples indig?nes et tribaux. Vive la APPO. Vive Ricardo Flores Magon, Emiliano Zapata et les milliers d'h?ros anonymes de cette longue lutte. - Collectif La Otra ? Montr?al ici_lasexta at yahoo.ca - Soci?t? Bolivarienne du Qu?bec www.sbqc.org - Bloquez L'Empire bloquezlempire.resist.ca Pour plus d'information : www.cmaq.net www.vientos.info/cml www.asambleapopulardeoaxaca.com www.enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx :::::::::: :::::::::: [Translated from the French] In response to a call for national and international mobilizations by the Otra Campana (a political initiative of the the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN)) ... :::::::::: Artistic-Demo-Action, with moving street theatre. A child-friendly event to inform the general public. :::::::::: Friday, December 22, 2006 Corner of Chateaubriand and Jean-Talon metro Jean-Talon AT 4PM Since October 27, thousands of federal police and the Mexican army continue to occupy and terrorize Oaxaca, aiming to shut down a people's uprising organized within the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO), which brings together 400 grassroots groups. It is not by murder, rape, torture, kidnapping, police repression as well as propaganda lies of the mass media that the government will be able to meet the demands of the people of Oaxaca. We demand: The immediate withdrawal of the federal police from Oaxaca; The immediate resignation of the Governor of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz; The immediate release of all political prisoners, and the re-appearance of all the disappeared; The punishment of those responsible for the killings and the repression; The respect of the will of the people of Oaxaca, which is based, among other things, on Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) relating to indigenous and tribal peoples. Vive la APPO. Vive Ricardo Flores Magon, Emiliano Zapata and the thousands of anonymous heros of this long struggle. - The La Otra Collective of Montreal: ici_lasexta at yahoo.ca - The Bolivarian Society of Quebec: www.sbqc.org - Block the Empire-Montreal: bloquezlempire.resist.ca For more information: www.cmaq.net www.vientos.info/cml www.asambleapopulardeoaxaca.com www.enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx INFO: 514-848-7583 bloquezlempiremontreal at resist.ca From mfoster at web.net Fri Dec 22 07:45:19 2006 From: mfoster at web.net (mary foster) Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2006 10:45:19 -0500 Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] SAMEDI / SATURDAY : Piquetage de boycott devant Indigo // Boycott picket in front of Indigo Message-ID: <013b01c725e0$346402a0$8c33cdcd@CPQ18145226471> (Please distribute widely - English below French) Manifestations ? Montr?al et ? Toronto pour d?noncer les actionnaires majoritaires de ? Indigo Books ? et leur appui aux forces de d?fenses isra?liennes. Quoi ? : Lancement d'une campagne de boycottage, contre les librairies Indigo et Chapters (Corporation oeuvrant sous le nom ? Indigo Books & Music inc. ?) et ses filiales ? SmithBooks ?, ? Coles ?, ? The Book Company ?, ? Indigo Spirit ? et ? World Biggest Bookstore ?. Quand ? : Samedi, le 23 d?cembre 2006 ? 12 h O? ? : MONTR?AL - Devant la librairie Indigo, 1500 rue McGill College (Entr?e sur Sainte-Catherine ? l'ouest de la rue McGill College). TORONTO - Devant la librairie Indigo, 55 Bloor St. W (Bay and Bloor). Qui ? : Cette manifestation est initi?e par la Coalition contre l'apartheid isra?lien (CAIA) et appuy?e par Pas en notre nom ! Juifs contre les guerres d'Isra?l (?Not In Our Name : Jews Against Israel's Wars?). Pourquoi ? : ? Gaza et en Cisjordanie, l'arm?e isra?lienne a d?moli 12 000 maisons depuis 1967, laissant 70 000 Palestiniens sans demeures. B'Tselem, une organisation isra?lienne de d?fenses des droits humains a enregistr? que l'arm?e isra?lienne a tu? 1 496 Palestiniens depuis 2004, dont la majorit? est constitu?e de civils. Le taux de ch?mage atteint les 70 % dans certaines r?gions de Gaza et en Cisjordanie. La population palestinienne vit une crise sanitaire majeure et une situation de pauvret? sans pr?c?dent en raison des pratiques de privation appliqu?es par Isra?l. Durant la guerre du mois de juillet dernier, les forces isra?liennes ont tu? 1100 Libanais et en ont bless?s ou mutil?s des milliers d'autres par le bombardement d?lib?r? des villages, des routes et des infrastructures. Des maisons, des ?coles, des h?pitaux, des centrales ?lectriques ont ?t? d?truits. Les forces isra?liennes ont largu? pr?s d'un million de bombes antipersonnel sur le Liban. Quatre-vingt-dix pour cent de ces bombes l'ont ?t? dans les 72 heures pr?c?dant la mise en place d'une r?solution au conflit. Plus de 100 000 de ces bombes n'ont pas explos? et continuent ? ce jour de blesser et de mutiler les civils libanais quotidiennement. ? Ces faits font partie des raisons qui justifient la mise en place d'une campagne nationale de boycottage contre les librairies Indigo et Chapters. La campagne veut d?noncer l'appui des actionnaires majoritaires, Heather Reisman et Gerry Schwartz aux militaries isra?liens, explique Naomi Binder Eall, porte-parole de la Coalition contre l'apartheid isra?lien. Heather Reisman est la fondatrice et P.D.G. de ? Indigo Books and Music Inc. ? tandis que Gerry Schwartz est P.D.G. d'Onex Corporation. Ensemble, ils sont propri?taires ou d?tiennent le contr?le de 68 % des actions de ? Indigo Books et Music inc. ? Ces deux personnes ont cr?? la fondation des "soldats solitaires" (? HESEG: Foundation for Lone Soldiers ?) afin de soutenir financi?rement les personnes n'ayant pas de famille en Isra?l, mais souhaitant joindre l'arm?e isra?lienne. Selon les informations obtenues sur le site internet d'HESEG (www.lonesoldiers.org.il), ? le couple Schwartz et Reisman ont fond? HESEG pour exprimer leur gratitude et fournir de l'aide aux milliers de v?t?rans des soldats solitaires qui servent annuellement dans les forces arm?es isra?liennes.? Selon Naomi Binder Wall, ? en tant que "soldats solitaires", ces individus jouent un r?le actif dans une arm?e qui met en place des barrages en vue de contr?ler la population, en restreignant leur libert? de mouvement, en renfor?ant l'occupation des terres palestiniennes, en d?tenant de fa?on arbitraire des centaines de Palestiniens chaque ann?e. Les violations des droits humains par l'Arm?e isra?lienne sont une histoire tr?s bien d?taill?e et document?e. ? Par le biais d'HESEG, Gerry Schwartz et Heather Reisman contribuent ? donner annuellement trois millions de dollars ? l'effort arm? en Isra?l. Le conseil d'administration de la Fondation des "soldats solitaires" est compos? de militaires et de personnel de haut niveau actifs ou retrait?s de l'Arm?e isra?lienne. Le lieutenant-colonel Mike Hartmen est membre de ce conseil d'administration. Il a joint les forces de d?fenses isra?liennes en tant que "soldat solitaire". Il dirige encore aujourd'hui ? la section des tireurs d'?lite des forces de d?fenses isra?liennes. ? Le major g?n?ral (Res.) Doron Almog ?tait ? la t?te du commandement sud des forces de d?fenses isra?liennes de 2000 ? 2003. En 2005, un mandat d'arrestation a ?t? lanc? contre lui pour crimes de guerre et pour violation de la Convention de Gen?ve en ayant ordonn? la demolition d'habitations ? Rafah et ? Gaza. Moshe Ronen, copr?sident du comit? Canada-Isra?l, si?ge aussi au conseil d'administration d'HESEG Le boycottage national ?d'Indigo Books? et de ses filiales fait partie d'une campagne internationale de boycottage, de d?sinvestissements et de sanctions contre l'?tat apartheid, Isra?l. ? Cette campagne de boycottage ?d'Indigo Books? qui est lanc?e, de fa?on presque d?lib?r?e, en pleine p?riode d'achats des f?tes de No?l, va se poursuivre jusqu'? ce que Heather Reismen et Gerry Schwartz coupent publiquement leurs liens avec la fondation HESEG pour les "soldats solitaires" de meme qu'avec les forces de d?fenses isra?liennes qui servent ? renforcer de fa?on brutale l'apartheid isra?lien contre le peuple palestinien?, affirme Naomi Binder Wall. - 30 - Contact ? Montr?al : Ehab Lotayef (514) 941-9792 Contact ? Toronto: Naomi Binder Wall (647) 831-5516 ---------------------------------------------------------------- (English starts here) Information Pickets in Toronto and Montreal to Protest Indigo Books' Majority Shareholder Support for the Israeli Defense Forces What: Information pickets will be held in Toronto and Montreal to launch a boycott of Indigo & Chapters bookstores (officially operating under the corporate name Indigo Books & Music Inc.) and its subsidiaries, SmithBooks, Coles, The Book Company, Indigospirit and Worlds Biggest Bookstore. . Date: Saturday, December 23, 2006 Time: 12:00PM Where: TORONTO - The Indigo Books at 55 Bloor St. W (Bay and Bloor). MONTREAL - The Indigo Books at 1500 McGill College (the entrance on St. Catherine, west of McGill College) Who: The information picket has been called by the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) and endorsed by Not In Our Name: Jews Against Israel's Wars. Why: In Gaza and the West Bank, the Israeli military has demolished 12,000 houses since 1967, leaving 70,000 Palestinians homeless. B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, has documented that the Israeli military has killed 1,496 Palestinians since 2004.The vast majority of these are civilian deaths. Unemployment levels have reached up to 70% in some areas of the West Bank and Gaza. There is a massive health crisis and widespread poverty as a result of Israel's deliberate starvation of the Palestinian population. During the July war, Israeli forces killed 1100 Lebanese through the deliberate bombing of villages, roads and infrastructure. Tens of thousands of Lebanese were wounded and maimed during these attacks, and homes, schools, power plants, hospitals, ports and roads were targeted and destroyed. Israeli forces dropped up to one million cluster bomblets on Lebanon--90% in the last 72 hours when a resolution was imminent. Over 100,000 of these bomblets remain unexploded and Lebanese civilians continue to be killed and maimed on a daily basis. "These are among the reasons that a national boycott of Indigo/Chapters is being launched to protest majority shareholders Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz's support for the Israeli military," states Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid spokesperson Naomi Binderwall. Reisman is the Founder and CEO of Indigo Books and Music Inc., while Schwartz is the CEO of Onex Corp. Together they own or control over 68% of the shares in Indigo Books and Music Inc. Schwartz and Reisman founded HESEG: Foundation for Lone Soldiers to provide financial support to individuals who have no family in Israel but decide to join the Israeli military. According to HESEG website (www.lonesoldiers.org.il), "Canadian couple Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman established HESEG to express gratitude and provide support to the thousands of Former Lone Soldiers who serve annually in the Israel Defense Forces". Binderwall explains that "As 'Lone Soldiers,' these individuals play an active role in a military that operates checkpoints that restrict Palestinians' freedom of movement, enforces the occupation of Palestinian lands, arbitrarily detains hundreds of Palestinians each year, and has a documented history of human rights violations." Through Heseg, Schwartz and Reisman provide 3 million dollars a year to Israel's military effort. The Board of Directors of the Foundation for Lone Soldiers is made up of high-ranking active and retired Israeli military personel. Board member Lt. Colonel Mike Hartmen joined the IDF as a lone soldier and is now "head of the marksmanship and sharpshooters section of the IDF." Board member Major General (Res.) Doron Almog was Commander of the IDF's Southern Command from 2000-2003. In 2005, a warrant was issued for his arrest on allegations of war crimes - violating of the Geneva Conventions by ordering the demolition of homes in Rafah, Gaza. Moshe Ronen, Co-Chair of the Canada-Israel Committee, also sits on Heseg's Board of Directors. The national boycott of Indigo Books and affiliates is part of an international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against the apartheid state of Israel. "The boycott of Indigo Books, which is quite deliberately being launched at the height of holiday shopping season, will continue until Reisman and Schwartz publicly cut ties to Heseg Foundation for Lone Soldiers and thus with the Israel Defense Forces that serve to enforce Israeli apartheid by means of brutality" says Binderwall. - 30 - Media Contact: Naomi Binder Wall (Toronto): (647) 831-5516 Ehab Lotayef (Montreal): (514) 941-9792 From aaron at resist.ca Sun Dec 24 07:50:38 2006 From: aaron at resist.ca (aaron at resist.ca) Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2006 07:50:38 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] 4 articles: Haiti et Afghanistan Message-ID: Nouvelles: 1. Une dizaine de morts et de nombreux bless?s lors d'une op?ration conjointe MINUSTAH/PNH ? Cit? Soleil 2. Alert: Cite Soleil Christmas Massacre! 3. Al Jazeera: Five killed in Haiti slum raid 4. Hillier on Christmas visit to troops in Afghanistan 1. http://www.radiokiskeya.com/spip.php?article2943 Une dizaine de morts et de nombreux bless?s lors d.une op?ration conjointe MINUSTAH/PNH ? Cit? Soleil Un blind? l?ger onusien incendi? et une mitrailleuse M-50 confisqu?e par les gangs de Bois-Neuf vendredi 22 d?cembre 2006, Radio Kiskeya Au moins une dizaine de personnes ont ?t? tu?es et de nombreuses autres bless?es par balle dont certaines gri?vement, au cours d.une op?ration conjointe de la Mission de stabilisation de l.ONU (MINUSTAH) et de la Police Nationale lanc?e dans la nuit de jeudi ? vendredi ? Cit? Soleil (banlieue nord de Port-au-Prince) o? des casques bleus tentaient de r?cup?rer un blind? l?ger myst?rieusement tomb? aux mains des bandes arm?es de Bois-Neuf, a appris Radio Kiskeya. Des bless?s sont arriv?s dans un ?tat critique ? l.H?pital Sainte Catherine Labour?, administr? par M?decins Sans Fronti?res (MSF), alors que la Croix-Rouge Ha?tienne se trouvait dans l.impossibilit? d.?vacuer d.autres victimes. Des tirs nourris ?taient entendus vendredi ? la mi-journ?e ? Bois-Neuf, un quartier surarm? du plus grand et plus dangereux bidonville de la capitale ha?tienne. Contact?e par Radio Kiskeya, la porte-parole de la force internationale de paix, Sophie Boutaud de la Combe, a confirm? qu.une "importante op?ration" avait ?t? lanc?e ? 4h30 locales (09H30 GMT), sans toutefois donner de bilan. Des bandits se sont empar?s jeudi en d?but de soir?e d.une mitrailleuse M-50, une arme de guerre extr?mement redoutable, et de plusieurs bo?tes de munitions. Des hommes fid?les au commandant autoproclam? B?lony, ainsi connu, se sont m?me vant?s d.avoir pu confisquer des grenades ? fragmentation. Ils ont affirm? sur les ondes que "ces nouvelles armes ?taient d?sormais au service de la population de Bois-Neuf". Selon les informations disponibles, apr?s un d?but d.affrontement qui aurait fait cinq ou six bless?s par balle dans le camp adverse, quatre membres du bataillon uruguayen avaient abandonn? le blind? l?ger. Apr?s "?tre tomb? dans un pi?ge", le v?hicule militaire, dont les quatre pneus auraient ?t? crev?s, s.?tait immobilis?. Cependant, des t?moins rapportent avoir vu les casques bleus laisser tranquillement le blind? sans rien r?cup?rer pour repartir avec des coll?gues venus les chercher. Les bandits se sont alors mis ? d?monter la fameuse mitrailleuse M-50 avant d.incendier l.engin qui la transportait. La masse m?tallique a r?sist? au feu et seuls les pneus auraient ?t? consum?s. La perte du blind? onusien a co?ncid? avec les d?clarations faites le m?me jour par le chef civil de la MINUSTAH, Edmond Mulet, annon?ant le d?but, avec le feu vert du gouvernement Pr?val/Alexis, d.op?rations ? hauts risques contre les bandes arm?es auxquelles seront associ?es des unit?s sp?cialis?es de la Police Nationale. Le diplomate guat?malt?que, qui a s?v?rement condamn? les enl?vements suivis de tortures dont ont ?t? victimes de nombreux citoyens, a qualifi? leurs auteurs de "l?ches qui m?ritent d.?tre trait?s en tant que tels". Parall?lement, d.intenses rumeurs faisaient ?tat d.affrontements imminents entre "l.arm?e du commandant Evens" et les troupes rivales de B?lony. Un fr?re de ce dernier aurait ?t? tu? vendredi au cours des affrontements avec les forces de l.ordre. De sources dignes de foi, Radio Kiskeya a appris que les gangs de Bois-Neuf auraient pris une part active ? la s?rie d.enl?vements contre ran?on qui a terroris? la population de Port-au-Prince ces derni?res semaines. A l.impasse Chavannes, base principale des kidnappeurs de ce quartier, les otages seraient si nombreux que leurs ravisseurs pourraient se permettre d.en lib?rer trois par jour jusqu.? la fin de l.ann?e. Les r?seaux de kidnappeurs ont r?alis? en d?cembre une v?ritable razzia ayant vis? en particulier de jeunes ?coliers et touch? au c.ur toutes les familles. Des parlementaires ont appel? ? l.instauration de l.?tat d.urgence et au r?tablissement de la peine de mort en Ha?ti en vue de combattre le crime organis?. Mais, le gouvernement, tr?s critiqu? pour sa complaisance envers les hors-la-loi, n.a pas suivi ces recommandations. spp/RK 2. ALERT: CIT? SOLEIL CHRISTMAS MASSACRE! Berkeley, Ca. 12/22/06 Tom Luce More than twenty (20) people were killed by MINUSTAH TROOPS in the Drouillard-Bois Neuf section of Cit? Soleil on Friday morning, Dec. 22, 2006 according to our Community Human Rights Council (CHRC) reps on the ground in Cit? Soleil. In addition the private middle school, Diecee, owned by Mr. Perancy LAURISTAL, a spokesperson for our CHRC, was completely demolished during this military operation. The school was vacant for the holidays. We have the names of some of those killed, Ti Bos, Johnny, Gerald, Kesnel, Ti Rasta and Vieux Tirus. St. Catherine hospital, operated by Doctors Without Borders, has been overwhelmed by the victims brought there. Atty. Evel Fanfan has issued a call to the international community for help in this latest incursion into this poor neighborhood by MINUSTAH troops. Radio Kiskeya, a source I have found to have a bias against poor neighborhoods, has reported that the MINUSTAH troops were jointly with the Haitian National Police carrying out a major military operation against alleged kidnappers, members of armed gangs in the area. Sophie Boutard, spokesperson for MINUSTAH confirmed this news. In the course of this action, which began Thursday afternoon, a MINUSTAH armored car containing heavy weapons including a 50 M machine gun was confiscated by the armed gangs. According to Radio Kiskeya B?lony, a self-proclaimed commandant, boasted also of taking some grenades with projectiles which his group was now going to put to use for the Bois Neuf community. According to Radio Kiskeya this incident happened at the same time as Edmond Mulet, chief of MINUSTAH, announced a high risk operation against armed groups by both MINUSTAH troops and special Haitian National Police personnel with the approval of the Pr?val/Alexis government. Mulet had severely condemned the kidnappings which were followed by torture, saying these "cowards...merited being treated as such." Again according to Radio Kiskeya there was another armed group led by Commandant Evens which was fighting B?lony's group. On a dead end street named Chavannes, Radio Kiskeya reported this as the main base for the kidnappers of this neighborhood. Kiskeya said that the kidnappers had taken dozens of victims and reported that some members of parliament had called for a state of emergency and the re-establishment of the death penalty because of this rash of crimes. Radio Kiskeya editorializes at the end of its report by saying that the Pr?val/Alexis government. always criticized for being too accommodating with outlaws, had not heeded these calls. AUMOHD has consistently decried the use of this type of high powered assaults by MINUSTAH in poor neighborhoods . Atty Fanfan has called for peaceful negotiations and for avoiding the killing of civilians and destruction of private property, operations that would not be tolerated in upper class neighborhoods. "Today's operation seems to be yet another of these unwise moves, a trend like calling for the restoration of the death penalty and the army, that is meant to destabilize the government and unfairly affect the poor", says Atty. Fanfan. Atty. Fanfan also reported that certain lawmakers have been making reference to certain human rights groups who aid bandits as another instance of threatening his work with the poor. You can help AUMOHD with tax-deductible donations Hurah, Inc. c/o Joan Rae, Treasurer, P.O. 418, Fayston, Vt. 05673 or online at http://www.hurah.revolt.org AUMOHD offers free legal services to the poor and uses these donations for transporting victims, arranging meetings, and maintaining communications. AUMOHD has no government, quasi government or UN funding and depends on voluntary donations. December 23, 2006 - 4:01 AM Nine killed in Haitian slum raid By Joseph Guyler Delva PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) - At least nine people were killed in Haiti's largest slum on Friday during a raid by security forces targeting armed gangs blamed for a recent surge in kidnappings and other crimes in the capital Port-au-Prince. It was one of the worst outbreaks of violence in the chaotic Caribbean country in more than a year and came hours after the U.N. chief envoy to Haiti, Edmond Mulet, said the government had given the go-ahead for a crackdown on areas controlled by gangs. About 400 U.N. soldiers in armoured vehicles, backed by Haitian police forces, stormed a district called Bwa Nef in the volatile slum of Cite Soleil in a move to dislodge heavily armed gang members led by a young man known as Belony. A Reuters photographer counted nine bodies from the clashes that ensued and eyewitnesses counted four others dead. As many as 30 people were wounded, humanitarian aid workers said. All of the casualties were believed to be civilians. "The foreigners came shooting for hours without interruption and killed 10 people," Johnny Claircidor, a resident of Bwa Nef, told Reuters. "Then Belony's gang members started to exchange fire with them", he said. "I personally counted 10 bodies," Claircidor said. The spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti, Sophie De la Combe, declined to provide a toll. "No one was killed or injured on our side, but it's difficult for us to know for now how many bandits could have been killed or wounded," said De la Combe. The U.N. operation, conducted jointly with the Haitian police, was launched at about 3 a.m. and was led by Brazilian peacekeepers. "The operation was conducted to address the current insecurity caused by the recent wave of kidnappings in the capital Port-au-Prince," said Jean Saint-Fleur, the director of Haiti's Administrative Police. He too said he was unable to give an official death toll from the Cite Soleil fighting. "They came here to terrorise the population," Rose Martel, a slum dweller, told Reuters, referring to the police and U.N. troops. "I don't think they really killed the bandits, unless they consider all of us as bandits," she said. Reuters (IDS) 3. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5321BEEC-F501-4535-BE8E-EB6EDCFD5A3A.htm Five killed in Haiti slum raid The UN has maintained a presence in the Haitian capital [AP] At least five people have been killed in Haiti's largest slum during a raid by security forces targeting armed gangs in the capital Port-au-Prince. The raid came hours after Edmond Mulet, the UN's chief envoy to Haiti, said the government had given the go-ahead for a crackdown on areas controlled by gangs. About 400 UN soldiers, led by Brazilian peacekeepers and backed by Haitian police forces, entered the Bwa Nef district in the slum of Cite Soleil at 3am local time on Saturday. As many as 30 people, were wounded in the raid, humanitarian aid workers said. All were believed to be civilians. Shootout "The foreigners came shooting for hours without interruption and killed 10 people," said Johnny Claircidor, a resident of Bwa Nef. "Then Belony's gang members started to exchange fire with them ... I personally counted 10 bodies." In past gun battles in Haiti's crowded, maze-like slums, people have been struck by crossfire from both sides so it was not possible to immediately confirm who was responsible for the killings. Sophie De la Combe, the spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, declined to provide a toll. "No one was killed or injured on our side, but it's difficult for us to know for now how many bandits could have been killed or wounded," he said. Insecurity Jean Saint-Fleur, the director of Haiti's administrative police, said: "The operation was conducted to address the current insecurity caused by the recent wave of kidnappings in the capital Port-au-Prince." He also said he was unable to give an official death toll from the Cite Soleil fighting. "They came here to terrorise the population," said Rose Martel, a slum dweller, referring to the police and UN troops. "I don't think they really killed the bandits, unless they consider all of us as bandits." 4. http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/12/24/hillier-afghanistan.html Hillier on Christmas visit to troops in Afghanistan Canada's top-ranking soldier, Gen. Rick Hillier, arrived at the Kandahar military base in Afghanistan on Sunday, in time to spend Christmas Eve with some of the more than 2,000 Canadian troops on the mission. The chief of the defence staff will be serving up Christmas dinner, handing out gifts from home and spreading a little holiday cheer in the war zone. Hillier's main goal will be to boost the morale of troops who are in the middle of a new NATO mission in the Panjwaii district west of the city of Kandahar. Operation Falcon's Summit, a campaign involving Canadian, U.S., British and Afghan troops, was launched last week in a bid to drive away Taliban fighters and persuade local people, who fled weeks ago, to return to their homes. Hillier said he celebrated Christmas with his family a week earlier so he could spend the time with soldiers, sailors and air personnel in and around Afghanistan. Before flying to Kandahar, he spent Friday aboard the patrol frigate HMCS Ottawa in the Persian Gulf. Continue Article The holiday season is far from the minds of soldiers working in the field, according to the CBC's Laurie Graham, who says they're focused on the job at hand. Back at the base, however, there are Christmas decorations in the main eating area. Some soldiers said their families held early Christmas gatherings before they left for Afghanistan in November. One soldier who is heading home in February told Graham his family members planned to keep their tree up until then. From aaron at resist.ca Mon Dec 25 16:14:05 2006 From: aaron at resist.ca (aaron at resist.ca) Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2006 16:14:05 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] action alert from the Haiti Action Committee Message-ID: <2184.206.123.36.18.1167092045.squirrel@mail.resist.ca> Urgent action alert from the Haiti Action Committee - December 24, 2006 The UN?s Christmas present to Haiti -- A pre-dawn, heavy-caliber assault on the men, women and children of Cite Soleil In the early morning of Friday, December 22nd, starting at approximately 3 a.m., 400 Brazilian-led UN occupation troops in armored vehicles carried out a massive assault on the people of Cite Soleil, laying siege yet again to the impoverished community. Eyewitness reports said a wave of indiscriminate gunfire from heavy weapons began about 5 a.m. and continued for much of the day Friday -- an operation on the scale of the July 6, 2005 UN massacre in Cite Soleil. Detonations could be heard for miles, AHP reported. Initial press accounts reported at least 40 casualties, all civilians. According to community testimony, UN forces flew overhead in helicopters and fired down into houses while other troops attacked from the ground with Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs). People were killed in their homes. UN troops from Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia took part in the all-day siege, backed by Haitian police. UN soldiers once again targeted the Bois Neuf and Drouillard districts of Cite Soleil -- scene of the July 6th massacre. While reports are still coming in, this is what we do know right now: * A Reuters photographer "counted 9 bodies, and eyewitnesses counted 4 others dead. As many as 30 people were wounded, humanitarian workers said. All of the casualties are believed to be civilians." (Reuters) * One Haitian human rights observer personally counted at least 17 dead bodies on the ground. This eyewitness also reported: + A woman 6-months pregnant was shot in the stomach, killing the unborn child. + A man and his 8-year-old boy were in their beds when a helicopter rained bullets into their house, wounding both. + A man named Jacquelin Olivier was killed in his bed when bullets pierced the walls. He leaves a wife and 3-year old boy. * "The foreigners came shooting for hours without interruption and killed 10 people," said Bois Neuf resident Johnny Claircidor, quoted by Reuters. "They came here to terrorize the population," Cite Soleil resident Rose Martel told Reuters, referring to UN troops and police. "I don't think they really killed any bandits, unless they consider all of us as bandits." * Agence Haitienne de Presse (AHP) said Cite Soleil "residents report very serious property damage and there are concerns that a critical water shortage may now develop because water cisterns and pipes were punctured by the gunfire." * "Local residents say the victims were ordinary citizens whose only crime was that they live in the targeted neighborhood." (AHP) UN soldiers block Red Cross vehicles from coming to aid the wounded -- According to Pierre Alexis, the Haitian Red Cross coordinator for Cite Soleil, the UN soldiers prevented the Haitian Red Cross from treating children injured during the assault. Alexis said that many children were suffering serious injuries, but that UN soldiers blocked Red Cross vehicles from entering Cite Soleil. AHP reported that "residents were outraged that [UN] soldiers refused to allow medical care...for people they had injured." Despite this, St. Catherine's Hospital in Cite Soleil reported receiving many wounded. Why this latest assault on the people of Cite Soleil? -- UN occupation authorities in Haiti claim it is part of their fight against "bandits" and "kidnappers," scapegoating the 300,000 residents of Cite Soleil. However, it is widely known throughout Port-au-Prince that kidnappers are coming from all sectors, including corrupt police officials and the wealthy. Does the UN lead military assaults on affluent neighborhoods where kidnappers are known to operate? Of course not. A more plausible explanation comes from grassroots activists in Cite Soleil. They argue that this is "punishment" for their ongoing protests demanding an end to the UN occupation, restoration of full democracy, return of President Aristide, and the release of political prisoners. Additionally, the people of Cite Soleil have been vigorously protesting the December 3rd municipal elections, in which there were widespread allegations of fraud and many from the popular neighborhoods were prevented from voting. Just recently, on December 16th, the people of Cite Soleil led a massive protest throughout Port-au-Prince marking the anniversary of Jean-Bertrand Aristide?s first election as president in 1990. [They marched despite the UN shooting up the district the night before, in what was widely viewed as a UN attempt to intimidate the populace on the eve of the march.] In the week following the march, tensions continued to escalate, culminating in the December 22nd assault by UN forces under Brazilian command. Enough is enough! Join us in denouncing the ongoing UN terror attacks on the Haitian people! Now is the time for people in the US and throughout the world to step up our solidarity efforts with the people of Haiti. Our protests, calls and letters after the UN massacre in Cite Soleil on July 6th, 2005 -- and the many UN attacks since then -- need to be updated, expanded, intensified. Demand an end to the UN?s repeated, brutal assaults on this besieged community. Email or fax the UN official below. Keep it brief. *** Denounce the massive, heavy-caliber assault on the citizens of Cite Soleil by UN occupation forces on Dec. 22, 2006. *** Demand reparations for the victims and their families. *** Demand prosecution of the UN officials, commanders and soldiers responsible for this latest UN atrocity in Haiti. TO: Edmond Mulet, UN Special Representative in Haiti -- mulet at un.org fax 011-509-244-3512 cc to: Thierry Fagart, UN Human Rights chief in Haiti -- fagart at un.org fax 011-509-244-9366 cc to: Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights -- ngochr at ohchr.org fax 011-41-22-917-9011 For more information: 510 483 7481 or email haitiaction at yahoo.com www.haitiaction.net and www.haitisolidarity.net _________________________________________________________________ Download now! Visit http://www.telusmobility.com/msnxbox/ to enter and see how cool it is to get Messenger with you on your cell phone. http://www.telusmobility.com/msnxbox/ From abolissons at gmail.com Thu Dec 28 12:05:20 2006 From: abolissons at gmail.com (Commission populaire) Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2006 15:05:20 -0500 Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] =?iso-8859-1?q?Guantanamo_nord_et_sud_=3A_Ap?= =?iso-8859-1?q?pel_=E0_l=27action_=3A=3A=3A=3A=3A=3A=3A_Guantanamo?= =?iso-8859-1?q?_North_and_South=3A_Call_to_action?= Message-ID: <7094833a0612281205h12896c0bpe013b0fc140238a9@mail.gmail.com> La Gr?ve de la faim ? Guantanamo nord est toujours en train : maintenant 33 jours pour Mohammad Mahjoub. ?i-dessous vous pouvez trouver 1. un appel ? l'action contre le Guantanamo nord et guantanamo sud (11 ? 15 janvier) ; et 2. 'appel urgent' pour appuyer les gr?vistes. Aussi, svp veuillez noter qu'une Manifestation aura lieu ? Montr?al le 17 f?vrier pour demander la fermature du Guantanamo nord (l'annonce va ?tre diffuser bient?t). *** The hungerstrike at Guantanamo North is continuing: it has now been 33 days for Mohammad Mahjoub. Below you can find 1. a call to action against Guantanamo North and South (11 to 15 January); and 2. an urgent appeal to fax and call the authorities to support the hunger-strikers. Also, please note that a Rally to Close Guantanamo North will take place in Montreal on 17 February (call out coming soon). ------------------------------------ Participez aux journ?es d'action propos?es plus bas, o? que vous soyez. Faites circuler ce message et contactez tasc at web.ca si vous organisez quelque chose... Fermez Guantanamo Nord et Sud ! Arr?tez la d?tention ind?finie et la d?portation vers la torture, du Canada ? Cuba. Appel pour des actions pan-canadiennes du 11 au 15 janvier 2007 Le 11 janvier marque les cinq ans d'ouverture officielle de Guantanamo Bay, un centre de d?tention et de torture dirig? par les ?tats-Unis ? Cuba, v?ritable trou noir l?gal pour un nombre infini de personnes happ?es par la ?guerre au terrorisme?. Alors que plusieurs ont ?t? lib?r?s (apr?s y avoir pass? jusqu'? quatre ans ou plus sans accusations ou sans subir de proc?s), des centaines d'autres croupissent en d?tention ill?gale dans des conditions inhumaines, compl?tement coup?s du monde ext?rieur. Le Canada poss?de son propre Guantanamo Bay, situ? au p?nitencier de Millhaven, ? Kingston. Ici, trois victimes des certificats de s?curit? sont d?tenues, dont une depuis sept ans, en vertu de preuves secr?tes, sans accusations, sous la menace constante d'une d?portation vers la torture. Ces trois prisonniers font pr?sentement une gr?ve de la faim pour protester contre leurs conditions de d?tention, dont le fait de se voir refuser l'acc?s ? des traitements m?dicaux. Deux autres hommes, ?galement d?tenus pendant une p?riode de deux ? quatre ans, sont ?libre? avec des restrictions parmi les s?v?res que le Canada ait connues pour des cas de libert? conditionnelle. Ces restrictions limitent la libert? de leur famille tout enti?re, qui vivent elles aussi sous la menace d'une d?portation vers la torture. Des groupes de d?fense des droits humains aux ?tats-Unis lancent un appel international ? l'action le 11 janvier afin d'exiger la fermeture de l'inf?me prison Guantanamo Bay ? Cuba. Nous nous joignons ? cet appel, ajoutant notre propre revendication pour la fermeture de Guantanamo Nord, ici m?me au Canada. Le 15 janvier correspond ? la Journ?e Martin Luther King, une opportunit? de se rappeler l'esprit radical du mouvement pour les droits civiques qui demandaient le respect des droits humains pour tous et toutes. Nous demandons aux groupes ? travers le Canada de choisir la date qui leur convient le mieux entre le 11 et le 15 janvier 2007 afin d'organiser une vigile ou tout autre ?v?nement public en appui ? la fermeture des Guantanamo Nord et Sud. Les bureaux de d?put?s, les ?difices du gouvernement f?d?ral, les bureaux du SCRS ou de la GRC ou de l'Agence des services frontaliers du Canada sont tous d'excellents lieux d'expression publique! Si vous d?sirez partager vos id?es ou aider ? pr?parer un tract, contactez la Campagne pour la fin des proc?s secrets au Canada au tasc at web.ca ou (416) 651-5800. Tenez-nous au courant de ce que vous pr?parer pour que nous puissions coordonner un communiqu? de presse national. Joignez-vous ? nous pour exiger que le gouvernement canadien : 1. Ferme imm?diatement son ?Centre de surveillance de l'immigration de Kingston? (Guantanamo Nord); 2. Rel?che imm?diatement les d?tenus des certificats de s?curit? ou qu'il leur donne droit ? un proc?s juste et ?quitable; 3. Arr?te toutes les proc?dures de d?portation contre les ?cinq proc?s secrets? (Mahmoud Jaballah, Mohammad Mahjoub, Hassan Almrei, Mohamed Harkat, Adil Charkaoui); 4. Abolisse les certificats de s?curit? et les d?portations vers la torture; et 5. Condamne imm?diatement la prison ill?gale Guantanamo Bay ? Cuba. Un appel de : Campagne pour la fin des proc?s secrets au Canada, le Comit? Justice pour Mohamed Harkat et la Coalition Justice pour Adil Charkaoui. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Please consider joining the days of action proposed below, wherever you may be. Feel free to forward this email far and wide and contact tasc at web.ca if you can organize something... Close Guantanamo North and South End Indefinite Detention and Deportation to Torture, from Canada to U.S.-Occupied Cuba A Call for Cross-Canada actions, January 11-15, 2007 January 11, 2007 marks 5 years since the official opening of Guantanamo Bay, a detention and torture centre run by the United States in Cuba that has been a legal black hole for countless people swept up in the terror of war. While many have been released (after spending upwards of four or more years without being charged or given a trial), hundreds of others languish under illegal detention, facing inhumane conditions without access to the outside world. Canada has its own Guantanamo Bay, located in Millhaven Penitentiary, Kingston. Here, three "security certificate" detainees who have been held upwards of seven years without charge on secret evidence, are fighting deportation to torture. All are currently on hunger strike protesting their conditions of detention, including denial of medical treatment. Two other men, also held between two and four years, are currently "out" on some of the most severe restrictions on human liberty ever imposed in a Canadian bail release. These draconian restrictions also curtail the freedoms of their entire families. They too continue to live under the threat of deportation to torture. Human rights groups in the U.S. are calling for international actions on January 11 for the closure of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. We join in that call, adding our own demand for the closure of Guantanamo Bay North, right here in Canada. January 15 is Martin Luther King Day, an opportunity to remember the radical spirit of the civil rights movement that demanded full human rights for ALL people. We are asking that groups across Canada choose a date that works best for them between January 11 and January 15, 2007, to organize a vigil or some other public show of support for the demand to close Guantanamo Bay, North and South. Offices of Members of Parliament, federal government buildings, offices of CSIS or the RCMP or Canadian Border Services Agency, make excellent places for such public expressions. If you would like to discuss other ideas or need help preparing a flyer, feel free to contact the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada at tasc at web.ca or (416) 651-5800. Please let us know of your plans so we can coordinate a national press release. Join us to demand that the Canadian government: 1. Immediately close Kingston Immigration Holding Centre (Guantanamo Bay North) 2. Immediately release Canada's secret trial "security certificate" detainees or provide them with a fair, transparent, open trial. 3. End all proceedings to deport the Secret Trial Five (Mahmoud Jaballah, Mohammad Mahjoub, Hassan Almrei, Mohamed Harkat, Adil Charkaoui) 4. Abolish security certificates and end deportation to torture 5. Immediately condemn the illegal Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. Callout from: Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada, Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee, Justice for Adil ==================================== ==================================== (English BELOW. For immediate response and circulation.) APPEL : D?tenus des certificats de securit? en gr?ve de la faim ? Guantanamo Nord 18 decembre 2006 Les d?tenus des certificats de securit? en gr?ve de la faim ? Guantanamo Nord (Kingston, Ontario) : L'acc?s ? un traitement m?dical et la s?curit? personnelle en jeu. Pour la deuxi?me fois cette ann?e, trois hommes d?tenus au Centre de surveillance de l'immigration de Kingston (CSIK) - une installation de 3,2 millions de dollars ? l'int?rieur du p?nitencier de Millhaven construite sp?cialement pour les d?tenus des certificats de s?curit? - font une gr?ve de la faim afin de protester contre leurs conditions de d?tention. Au moment d'?crire ces lignes, Mohammad Mahjoub en est ? 23 jours sans nourriture alors que Hassam Almrei et Mahmoud Jaballah en sont ? 12 jours. La plus urgente des demandes est que M. Mahjoub puisse imm?diatement recevoir un traitement m?dical pour soigner son h?patite C et sa haute pression, ce qui lui est refus? depuis septembre. Les hommes demandent ?galement qu'un superviseur (pas un gardien) les escorte entre ?l'unit? de s?jour? et l'immeuble administratif (o? ils re?oivent leurs visiteurs et font leur l'exercice). Ils sont pr?occup?s par le potentiel de mauvais traitement entre les mains de certains (pas tous) gardiens, ainsi que par le fait que de fausses all?gations ont ?t? faites contre eux par certains (mais pas tous) gardiens. La pr?sence d'un superviseur est la seule fa?on de garantir leur s?curit? et il n'y a aucune raison pour qu'il n'y en ait pas de disponible pendant le jour (la prison, dans laquelle sont d?tenus trois hommes, poss?de largement le personnel n?cessaire : 2 directeurs, 2 secr?taires, 7 superviseurs et 12 gardiens). Les d?tenus ont aussi le sentiment que le remplacement des gardiens du Service correctionnel du Canada par des employ?s de l'Agence des services frontaliers pourrait aider ? mettre fin ? la fa?on n?gative dont ils sont souvent trait?s. AUTRES DEMANDES 1.Que les hommes aient acc?s aux m?dias, comme c'?tait le cas lorsqu'ils ?taient d?tenus ? Toronto. Actuellement, tous les m?dias doivent avoir une approbation et les entrevues ne peuvent pas ?tre faites en priv?e. Ils demandent aussi ? ce que plus de temps soit allou? aux entrevues avec les m?dias. Actuellement, des blocs d'une heure sont allou?s, mais les d?lais pour passer la s?curit? et pour installer les cam?ras font qu'au bout du compte, il ne reste que tr?s peu de temps. 2.Qu'une instance ind?pendante ou un m?diateur neutre soit nomm? pour s'occuper des probl?mes qui ont cours au CSIK. Un traducteur devrait aussi ?tre pr?sent ? chaque rencontre o? les plaintes sont discut?es et pour aider ? remplir la documentation ?crite concernant les plaintes. 3.Que les comptages (head counts) quotidiens soient ?limin?s. Comme il y a seulement trois hommes dans cette petite unit? et qu'ils sont constamment surveill?s, ceux-ci consid?rent que cette proc?dure est humiliante et inutile. 4.Que les hommes puissent utiliser des cartes d'appel pour appeler leur famille ? l'?tranger. Actuellement, les hommes doivent se servir des services d'appels les plus dispendieux pour appeler leur famille canadienne (qui sont toutes sur l'aide sociale). 5.Que les hommes puissent b?n?ficier des m?mes droits que les autres d?tenus f?d?raux : acc?s ? une biblioth?que, ? des programmes d'?ducation et ? des visites en roulottes avec leur famille o? ils peuvent rester ensemble trois jours par mois. 6.Que les hommes puissent quitter leur cellule avant l'aube pour se laver et prier comme l'exige leur pratique religieuse. 7.Les hommes n'ont pas le droit de choisir ce qui est offert dans leur cantine et les prix sont le triple de ce qu'ils sont ? l'ext?rieur de la prison. Dans la prison f?d?rale ? c?t? du CSIK, les d?tenus peuvent choisir ce qui est offert ? leur cantine et les prix sont plus bas. VOTRE APPUI 1. Veuillez envoyer des lettres pressant l'Agence des services frontaliers du Canada d'entamer de bonne foi des n?gociations s?rieuses, en pr?sence d'un traducteur d'une d'une tierce partie ind?pendante, afin de satisfaire ces demandes (voir l'exemple de lettre plus bas). Stockwell Day, Ministre de la Securit? publique* Chambre des Communes Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6 T?l.: (613) 995-1702 Fax : (613) 995-1154 *Day est ministre responsable de l'Agence des services frontaliers du Canada (qui dirige le CSIK). Claudette Desch?nes Vice-pr?sidente, ex?cution de la loi, ASFC claudette.deschenes at cbsa-asfc.gc.ca T?l.: (613) 952-2531 Fax : (613) 952-2622 2.Envoyez une carte d'appui aux d?tenus (si vous en envoyez une, faites-nous le savoir ? tasc at web.ca pour que nous puissions v?rifier que le courrier se rend bien) : Mohammad Mahjoub, Mahmoud Jaballah et Hassan Almrei : Centre de surveillance de l'immigration de Kingston a/s CSC RHQ Ontario Region 440 King Street West PO Box 1174 Kingston, Ontario, K7L 4Y8 EXEMPLES DE LETTRES AUX SERVICES FRONTALIERS Stockwell Day Cher M. Day, Je vous ?crit afin de vous demander d'intervenir imm?diatement afin de satisfaire les demandes raisonnables des d?tenus des certificats de s?curit? qui sont une fois de plus en gr?ve de la faim au Centre de surveillance de l'immigration de Kingston. Comme vous vous en souvenez peut-?tre, le pr?c?dent gouvernement avait forc? deux des d?tenus, Mohammad Mahjoub et Hassan Almrei, ? faire une gr?ve de la faim dangereusement longue en 2005 (respectivement 79 et 73 jours) avant qu'une quelconque mesure soit prise afin de satisfaire ce qui ?taient, et qui le sont aujourd'hui, des demandes raisonnables. L'?t? dernier, d'autres gr?ves de la faim ont eu lieu, signe que les conditions continuent de se d?t?riorer. Les gens ne se privent pas de nourriture sans qu'il y ait de bonnes raisons. Il est ?vident que ces hommes n'ont d'autres choix que d'utiliser ce moyen extr?me pour arriver ? vous convaincre de n?gocier avec eux en toute bonne foi. Nier ? M. Mahoub l'acc?s ? un traitement m?dical est scandaleux. Il a besoin de recevoir imm?diatement sa m?dication pour traiter l'h?patite C et la haute pression, que ce soit ? l'int?rieur de l'unit? de s?jour ou, s'il doit se rendre dans un autre ?difice, qu'il soit accompagn? d'un superviseur. Avec 23 employ?s pour les trois d?tenus, il n'y a aucune raison que cela ne puisse ?tre possible. L'agence dont vous ?tes responsable pr?tendait que dans ses nouvelles installations, les hommes b?n?ficieraient de meilleures conditions, ce qui n'est tout simplement pas le cas. Je vous r?it?re donc ma demande d'intervenir imm?diatement et de prendre les mesures n?cessaires afin d'emp?cher que la sant? des d?tenus ne se d?t?riore davantage. Il est clair ?galement qu'une tierce partie ind?pendante doit ?tre nomm?e afin de s'occuper des probl?mes quotidiens qui ont court au CSIK. De plus, un traducteur doit ?tre pr?sent lors des rencontres avec les employ?s du CSIK et les d?tenus. Dans l'attente d'une intervention imm?diate de votre part afin de r?soudre cette crise. Nom, adresse **************** Claudette Desch?nes Vice-pr?sidente, ex?cution de la loi Agence des services frontaliers du Canada Ch?re Mme Desch?nes, Je vous ?cris afin de vous faire part de mon appui aux demandes des d?tenus pr?sentement en gr?ve de la faim au Centre de surveillance de l'immigration de Kingston. Comme vous devez le savoir, les hommes ont re?u la promesse que leurs conditions seraient meilleures que celles qu'ils avaient au Centre de d?tention Metro West, mais ces promesses ne se sont pas concr?tis?es. Comme vous vous en souvenez peut-?tre, le pr?c?dent gouvernement avait forc? deux des d?tenus, Mohammad Mahjoub et Hassan Almrei, ? faire une gr?ve de la faim dangereusement longue en 2005 (respectivement 79 et 73 jours) avant qu'une quelconque mesure soit prise afin de satisfaire ce qui ?taient, et qui le sont aujourd'hui, des demandes raisonnables. L'?t? dernier, d'autres gr?ves de la faim ont eu lieu, signe que les conditions continuent de se d?t?riorer. Je vous demande de prendre les mesures n?cessaires afin de satisfaire les demandes tr?s raisonnables de ces hommes de fa?on mettre un terme ? la gr?ve de la faim qu'ils ont entreprise, mena?ante pour leur sant?. Les demandes de MM. Jaballah, Mahjoub et Almrei sont des plus raisonnables. Le refus d'offrir un traitement m?dical est ill?gal et immoral, et ce peut importe les raisons. L'acc?s ? des soins m?dicaux ne peut ?tre r?duit ? une question de conformit? aux r?glements insignifiants de la prison. M. Mahjoub a besoin de recevoir imm?diatement sa m?dication pour traiter l'h?patite C et la haute pression qui l'affligent, que ce soit ? l'int?rieur de l'unit? de s?jour ou, s'il doit se rendre dans un autre ?difice, qu'il soit accompagn? d'un superviseur. Avec 23 employ?s pour les trois d?tenus, il n'y a aucune raison que cela ne puisse ?tre possible. Il est clair ?galement qu'une tierce partie ind?pendante doit ?tre nomm?e afin de s'occuper des probl?mes quotidiens qui ont cours au CSIK. De plus, un traducteur doit ?tre pr?sent lors des rencontres avec les employ?s du CSIK et les d?tenus. Dans l'attente d'une r?solution imm?diate de ce probl?me. Nom, adresse :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::: APPEAL: Security Certificate Detainees on Hungerstrike at Guantanamo North 15 December 2006 Canada's Secuirty Certificate Detainees on HUNGER STRIKE at Guantanamo North, Kingston, Ontario: Denial of Medical Treatment, Lack of Personal Safety Among Key Issues For the second time this year, three men held at the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre (KIHC) -- a $3.2 million facility within Millhaven Penitentiary for security certificate detainees -- have gone on hunger strike to protest their conditions of detention. As of today, December 15, Mohammad Mahjoub has been without food for 20 days, and Hassan Almrei and Mahmoud Jaballah for nine days. Most pressing among many demands is immediate medical treatment for Mr. Mahjoub, who has been denied access to medical care for hepatitis C and high blood pressure since September. The men are also demanding that a supervisor (not a guard) escort them between the "living unit" and the administration building (where they receive visitors and exercise). The men are concerned about the potential for mistreatment at the hands of some (not all) guards at the facility, as well as about the fact that false allegations have been made against the men by some (but not all) guards at the facility. The presence of a supervisor is the only way they have to guarantee their safety, and there is no reason why one cannot be available during daylight hours (the facility, which imprisons three men, is top-heavy with staff: two directors, two secretaries, seven supervisors, 12 guards). The detainees also feel that one way of ending the negative way in which they are often treated is to replace Corrections Service Canada guards with individuals from the Canadian Border Services Agency. KIHC officials claim Mr. Mahjoub can get his medication if he goes to the administration building, but he refuses to go without a supervisory escort. Medical personnel often come to the "living unit," but they are not bringing his medication there. Because Mr. Mahjoub fears for his safety and refuses to go to the administration building without an escort, he is being punished, and his health is subsequently impaired. Such bureaucratic pettiness at KIHC is something out of a Soviet Gulag, not a 21st century democracy. OTHER DEMANDS 1. That the men have access to media, as they did when detained in Toronto. Currently, all media need to have prior approval, and interviews cannot be conducted in private. The men are justifiably uncomfortable having guards sit-in on interviews. They are also demanding that more time be granted to media interviews. Currently, one-hour blocs are available, but by the time media go through security and set up cameras, there is very little time to conduct proper interviews. 2. That an independent body or neutral mediator be appointed to deal with the many problems that continue to plague the KIHC. A translator must also be provided for any meeting where complaints are discussed and to assist with the documentation of written complaints. Currently, the men must submit lengthy written complaints (and all have limited written and spoken English) that are almost always dismissed by staff at KIHC, with no route of appeal. The men currently have no one to appeal to who would play the role of independent ombudsperson. 3. Eliminate daily head counts. Given that there are only three men in the tiny unit, and they are constantly monitored, the men find that being told to stop throughout the day to stand and be counted is humiliating and unnecessary. 4. That the men be allowed to use phone cards to call family overseas. The KIHC is proposing that the men call through the most expensive plan available, which would be billed to their Canadian family (all of whom are on social assistance). Since calls are monitored, it makes no sense why a far less expensive calling card cannot be used. 5. That the men be granted the same rights as other federal inmates: access to a library, educational programs, and trailer visits with loved ones where they can stay together for three days every month. 6. That the men be permitted to leave their cells before dawn to bathe and pray, as required by their faith. 7. The men are not given a choice about what to have in their canteen, and the prices are triple what they are outside the facility. In the federal jail next door to KIHC, inmates choose what is in their canteen, and prices are lower. ACTIONS TO TAKE 1. Please send letters urging that Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) officials enter into serious, good faith negotiations, with a translator and neutral third party present, to meet these demands (sample letters below). Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety* House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 Phone: (613) 995-1702 Fax: (613) 995.1154 Email: day.s at parl.gc.ca communications at psepc.gc.ca *Day is responsible for CBSA, which manages the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre. Claudette Deschenes VP, Enforcement, CBSA claudette.deschenes at cbsa-asfc.gc.ca Phone (613) 952-2531 Fax (613) 952-2622 2. Write a support card to the detainees (let us know at tasc at web.ca if you have so we can monitor if mail is getting through): Mohammad Mahjoub, Mahmoud Jaballah, and Hassan Almrei can be reached: Kingston Immigration Holding Centre c/o CSC RHQ Ontario Region 440 King Street West PO Box 1174 Kingston, Ontario K7L 4Y8 SAMPLE LETTERS TO CBSA Stockwell Day Ministre de la securit? publique Dear Mr. Day, I am writing to demand that you intervene immediately to meet the reasonable demands of Canada's secret trial detainees who are once again on hunger strike at the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre. As you may recall, the previous government forced two of the detainees, Mohammad Mahjoub and Hassan Almrei, to hunger strike dangerously long periods in 2005 (79 and 73 days, respectively) before any action was taken to meet what were, then as now, reasonable requests. This past summer, a number of hunger strikes occurred as well, a sign that conditions continue to deteriorate. People do not forgo food unless there are good reasons to do so, and these men obviously have cause to go to these extreme lengths to get you to negotiate with them in good faith. The denial of medical treatment to Mr. Mahjoub is outrageous; he needs immediate access to his Hepatitis C and blood pressure medication either in the living unit or, if he is forced to go to another building to receive it, with the accompaniment of a supervisor. With 23 staff for the three detainees, there is no reason why this cannot occur. Your agency has claimed the new facility will present better conditions for the detainees, yet this is simply not the case. I again urge you to intervene immediately and take steps necessary to prevent a further deterioration in the health of the detainees and, by extension, that of their loved ones, whose stress during this time remains extremely high. It is clear as well that an independent third party needs to be appointed to deal with the daily problems that arise at the KIHC. In addition, a translator needs to be present during meetings between KIHC staff and the detainees. I look forward to your immediate action to resolve this crisis. Name, address *********** Claudette Deschenes VP, Enforcement, Canadian Border Services Agency Dear Ms. Deschenes, I am writing to support the demands of the detainees currently on hunger strike at the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre . As you must know, the men were promised superior conditions to those they faced at the Metro West Detention Centre, but those promises have yet to become a reality. As you may recall, the previous government forced two of the detainees, Mohammad Mahjoub and Hassan Almrei, to hunger strike dangerously long periods in 2005 (79 and 73 days, respectively) before any action was taken to meet what were, then as now, reasonable requests. This past summer, a number of hunger strikes occurred as well, a sign that conditions continue to deteriorate. I'm asking that you take the steps necessary to meet the very reasonable demands of these gentlemen so that the health-threatening hunger strike which they have undertaken may be brought to an end. The requests of Mssrs. Jaballah, Mahjoub, and Almrei are eminently reasonable. Denial of medical treatment for whatever reason is illegal and immoral. To reduce access to medical care to an issue of compliance with petty prison rules is a scary reminder of the Soviet-era gulag. Mr. Mahjoub needs immediate access to his Hepatitis C and blood pressure medication either in the living unit or, if he is forced to go to another building to receive it, with the accompaniment of a supervisor. With 23 staff for the three detainees, there is no reason why this cannot occur. It is clear as well that an independent third party needs to be appointed to deal with the daily problems that arise at the KIHC. In addition, a translator needs to be present during meetings between KIHC staff and the detainees. I look forward to the immediate resolution of this problem. Name, address From aaron at resist.ca Wed Dec 27 18:02:24 2006 From: aaron at resist.ca (aaron at resist.ca) Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 18:02:24 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] urgent alert: free haitian political detainee in windsor!!! Message-ID: <62911.132.216.18.137.1167271344.squirrel@mail.resist.ca> please find below an urgent action alert concerning Haitian pro-democracy organizer and refugee claimant jean candio, currently being detained by the canadian government on trumped-up and politicized charges (see action items at the bottom of this email)... JEAN CANDIO - A POLITICAL PRISONER OF THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT Canada Haiti Action Network / Jean Candio Defense Committee Jean Candio has been imprisoned in Windsor, Ontario since December 13, 2006. He left Haiti in March, 2004, following the Coup d'etat which culminated in the kidnapping of democratically elected Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He left as a result of persecution brought about against the Lavalas movement and Party by the U.S./Canadian and French installed interim government which brought back to power many criminal forces from the previous periods of dictatorship in Haiti. In May of 2000 Mr. Candio was elected deputy in the Haitian Parliament. He represented the 2nd region of Aquin. He was elected with 91% of the vote. Prior to the 1991 coup d'etat, Mr. Candio was a Vice-Delegate in the first Aristide government, under Prime Minister Rene Preval, responsible for education and community programs in the region of Aquin from March 2, 1991 until September 30, 1991. After the 1991 coup, Mr. Candio was forced into exile - along with most of the Aristide government - until 1994. The 2004 coup, like the 1991 coup, was orchestrated and financed by foreign powers, specifically, in the most recent case by the governments of the U.S., Canada and France. Canada, along with the U.S. sent its troops to Haiti prior to the Coup, which eventually participated in the kidnapping of Haitian President Aristide. Canadian Forces secured the airport from which Aristide was taken out of the country by U.S. marines. Mr. Candio was an outspoken critic of foreign interference in Haiti's affairs, particularly of U.S. interference in Haitian politics. As a result, following the coup, his family was threatened, some of them murdered. His house was burned to the ground, while his sister was still in it. He fled Haiti initially to the Dominican Republic and then to the United States in March of 2004. He was living in the U.S., with his wife, from that time. From March 2006 to April 2006 he was detained in the U.S. by INS. He was released after negotiating a voluntary departure. On December 13 he crossed the Canada U.S. border at Windsor, leaving his wife and newborn child in the U.S. while he sought refugee status in Canada, where, if successful they would follow. At the border he immediately requested political asylum in Canada. He was detained from that time until today at the Brock Street Prison in Windsor, Ontario. >From the time of his detention Windsor activists affiliated with the Canada Haiti Action Network, and NDP Member of Parliament Joe Comartin's office, became informed of his presence and began visiting him and corresponding with his friends in the U.S. The Canadian government's justification for imprisoning Jean Candio and seeking to deport him is based not only on allegations against him as an individual. Canada is arguing that Mr. Candio was a "senior official" in a government that "engages or has engaged in terrorism, systematic or gross human rights violations, or genocide..." Canada is therefore taking its brutal, anti-democratic policy in Haiti to a new level by criminalizing Lavalas - the massively popular movement that has dominated Haitian elections since 1990. Mr. Candio can easily refute the allegations against him. He has documents (updated to September, 2006) that show he has no police record in Haiti - notwithstanding wild allegations that have been made on anti-Lavalas websites. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL'S ROLE Though Amnesty has not accused Mr. Candio of wrongdoing, it reported, in April, 2001, one of the minor accusations that had been made against him by NCHR (now RNDDH) - a thoroughly discredited and partisan Haitian human rights group. Canada has cited this Amnesty report as evidence against Mr. Candio. Appeals were immediately made to Amnesty asking them to state the obvious about NCHR (RMDDH) and to defend Mr. Candio's rights. [see http://www.canadahaitiaction.ca/article.php?id=222] THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS CASE If Canada criminalizes Mr. Candio's association with Lavalas it will have criminalized Haiti's poor majority. In every election since 1990 it is the Lavalas movement that has prevailed - not through violence - but through the overwhelming support of the Haiti's poor. Their opponents, on the other hand, have shot their way into power twice since 1990. It is Lavalas opponents - not the beseiged Lavalas governments - who have committed gross and systemic human rights abuses; yet Mr, Candio sits in jail as this is written - not the dictator Gerard Latortue, nor his Canadian allies - Paul Martrin and Pierre Pettigrew. Those who have trampled on the rights of the poor - like Gerard Latortue - are welcomed as statesmen by the Canadian government. The audacity of what the Canadian government is attempting to do through this case speaks volumes about the failure of progressive to oppose what Canada has done in Haiti. Canadians owe it to Jean Candio, his family, and the thousands murdered, raped and driven into hiding since the coup to finally put a stop to Canada's criminal policy in Haiti. Do not allow Canada to criminalize the victims of its policy. WRITE TO THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT Steven Harper pm at pm.gc.ca including members of the opposition Jack Layton laytoj at parl.gc.ca Alexa McDonough mcdonough.a at parl.gc.ca Gilles Duceppe Duceppe.G at parl.gc.ca St?phane Dion Dion.S at parl.gc.ca Please tell them you oppose any efforts by Canada to criminalize association with Lavalas movement or past Aristide governments. Ask them to free Mr. Candio and ensure that he is granted an open and fair refugee hearing. WRITE TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL amnestyis at amnesty.org Info at amnesty.ca Ask them to state the obvious about NCHR (RNDDH) and express concern for Jean Candio's rights. Ask them to publicly oppose any efforts by Canada to criminalize association with Lavalas or former Haitian President Aristide. WRITE TO THE CANADIAN MEDIA Ask them to give this story the careful, honest and detailed attention it deserves. Please write to write to editors and columnists in the local and national press. Below are some people you may consider: Linda McQuaig lmcquaig at sympatico.ca Rick Salutin rsalutin at globeandmail.ca Naomi Klein media at nologo.org Ed Greenspon egreenspon at globeandmail.ca Bill Schiller bschiller at thestar.ca Marina Jimenez mjimenez at globeandmail.com PLEASE COPY YOUR LETTERS TO jemersberger at aol.com if you wish them to be posted on the CHAN website TO DONATE TO MR. CANDIO'S LEGAL DEFENCE Send an email with your pledge to jemersberger at aol.com You will then be advised where to mail your donation. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aaron at resist.ca Wed Dec 27 18:39:29 2006 From: aaron at resist.ca (aaron at resist.ca) Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 18:39:29 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] CKUT: Haiti - A Rough 2007 Message-ID: <63068.132.216.18.137.1167273569.squirrel@mail.resist.ca> http://aaron.resist.ca/node/105 CKUT Radio: Haiti - A Rough 2007 Patrick Elie comments on the latest UN massacre Listen to an interview with Patrick Elie, a long-time human rights activist based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Here, he comments on the latest UN massacre of December 22, 2006, and gives an overview of the current Haitian political landscape. -->To download or listen to this report, visit: http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=21076 In the early morning of Friday, December 22nd, 2006, starting at approximately 3 a.m., 400 Brazilian-led UN occupation troops in armored vehicles carried out a massive assault on the people of Cite Soleil, Port-au-Prince, laying siege yet again to the impoverished community. Initial reports have put the body count as high as 40, mostly civilians, or in the UN's terms, "collateral damage". I spoke on the phone with Patrick Elie at his home in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Elie comments on this most recent massacre in the slum of Cite Soleil, but also on what he calls a "new coup d'etat". In Elie's words, even though the popular president Rene Preval came to power this year, the outside forces (ie. Canada, France, and the USA) that sponsored the violent overthrow of Jean-Bertrand Aristide nearly 3 years ago are preventing the Haitian people's agenda from being put into place. As a result, key popular demands have still not been met: Aristide remains in exile in South Africa, political prisoners remain behind bars, and the UN continues to lay seige to Haiti's poorest communities. Elie says that if Preval doesn't start to build a security force FOR the people and not AGAINST the people, 2007 will be a rough year for Haiti. For more information on the latest events in Cite Soleil, and for other news and updates from Haiti, see: http://haitiaction.net/News/HAC/12_25_6.html www.haitisolidarity.net www.canadahaitiaction.ca www.ckut.ca From aaron at resist.ca Fri Dec 29 12:46:43 2006 From: aaron at resist.ca (aaron at resist.ca) Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:46:43 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] Democracy Now: Another Massacre in Cite Soleil? Message-ID: <2037.74.13.209.205.1167425203.squirrel@mail.resist.ca> http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/29/1446230 Another Massacre in Cite Soleil? Haitian Human Rights Activist Accuses UN of Killing Dozens in Recent Attack on Port Au Prince Neighborhood In Haiti, more than 1000 people marched through the streets of Port Au Prince Thursday to protest the presence of UN forces in the country, and to call for the return to power of the democratically elected former President Jean Bertrand Aristide. Aristide lives in exile in South Africa after his ouster in a US-backed coup nearly three years ago. Thursday's march followed the deaths of as many as seventeen civilians who were shot by UN troops in the capital city's impoverished Cite Soleil neighborhood last week. Demonstrators expressed outrage at what witnesses called indiscriminate firing by UN forces. Many suggested that the UN's intention was to suppress popular support of Aristide and his Lavalas political party. The UN has denied charges that it fired indiscriminately, saying that it was targeting armed gangs involved in recent kidnappings in the city. Under control of the UN force, Cite Soleil has been plagued by kidnappings and crime. Well, to discuss the situation, we are joined by Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine and Kim Ives. Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine is a Haitian Human Rights Activist and head of the September 30th Foundation - an advocacy group for coup d'etat victims -- And Kim Ives is an independent journalist who specializes in Haiti. we welcome you both to Democracy Now! AMY GOODMAN: Well, to discuss the situation, we are joined by Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine and Kim Ives. Lovinsky, is a Haitian human rights activist and Head of the September 30th Foundation, an advocacy group for coup d'etat victims. Kim Ives is an independent journalist who specializes in Haiti and he?ll also be translating for Lovinsky. We thank you both for joining us. Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, what happened? Were you in Haiti at the time or were you here when this happened last week? LOVINSKY PIERRE-ANTOINE: Yes, I was in Haiti. AMY GOODMAN: You were in Haiti. Tell us what happened. LOVINSKY PIERRE-ANTOINE: Yes. I?m going to speak Creole KIM IVES:Yes, go ahead. LOVINSKY PIERRE-ANTOINE: [TRANSLATED]What happened in Haiti is a continuation of a war of genocide against the poor population. And that is an expression in fact of the class struggle in Haiti. What happens is that the United Nations by what is called the MINUSTAH (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) is an accomplice of this war against the poor in Haiti. We can see what happened in Cit?-Soleil on the 6th of July of 2005--what happens every day in Cit?-Soleil where soldiers kill the poor for nothing, and what happened this past 21st, 22nd of December of this year. This campaign against the poor in Haiti where they give them some kind of pejorative name. The way that the United Nations soldiers were trying to resolve the insecurity problem in the country, even if this is a real problem, the way they resolve it is not appropriate. JUAN GONZALEZ: I'd like to ask, in all my years as a journalist in terms of seeing how the United Nations operates in peacekeeping missions, I've never seen such periodic reports of the UN troops involved in aggressive, violent actions against populations as there has been in Haiti over the last few years. Do you--any sense of, on your part, why the UN is playing such a role in Haiti, so different from what it's done around the world? LOVINSKY PIERRE-ANTOINE: The problem is that the United Nations is supposed to maintain peace, it?s supposed to be a force of stabilization. In fact, the presence of the United Nations forces is just an expression of the continuation of the 2004 coup d' etat. Because all the people who were doing crimes at the end of 2003 and all the former military, they don't have any problem. They are just circulating freely in the country. But the people who are victims today of the United Nations forces, are compatriots who are in Cit?-Soleil and the other popular quarters who stood up to Guy Philippe. The MINUSTAH cannot play the role of peacekeeper because they?re not neutral. AMY GOODMAN: MINUSTAH being the UN Forces? KIM IVES: Yes, it?s the mission to stabilize Haiti. LOVINSKY PIERRE-ANTOINE: And we feel in the situation there's too much influence from the U.S. Embassy, and the Special Representative of the United Nations Edmond Mullet. And to our mind the United Nations represents an occupation force, which is pursuing repression against the population and weakening institutions of state?s such as the police and justice--and putting the country under tutelage. AMY GOODMAN: The BBC just did an expose on the rape and abuse of kids in Haiti by the UN Forces. Before that we did the Wayne State University report on the massive number of rapes in Haiti and specifically looking at UN forces. Now the UN forces say they went into Cit?-Soleil in this last shooting because of the gangs there and the kidnappings. Your response? LOVINSKY PIERRE-ANTOINE: It is not that they were looking for gangs in Cit?-Soleil doing kidnappings. The phenomenon of security and kidnapping in the country is purely a political phenomenon. One of the last acts of kidnapping in the country was a guy?a Senator called Andris Riche, and this was a complete piece of theater. And they did this precisely so that they could target Cit?-Soleil, to give the impression that they were trying to fight against insecurity. But in other areas where there's insecurities, such as in Carrefour-Feuilles where you have the Little Machete Army, neither the National Police, or the minister soldiers did anything to stop that. JUAN GONZALEZ: Can't the, what power does the legal elected government of Haiti have now to -- can't they just request that the UN troops leave? Why haven't they? LOVINSKY PIERRE-ANTOINE: Presently there?s a campaign that we've undertaken, which will go between the first and15th of February to demand that the Security Council remove the UN Troops from Haiti. And where the Haitian government has not taken the responsibility to stop the genocide there, we in the population, in the democratic sector, have taken on the responsibility. AMY GOODMAN: I'm looking at the press release from the United Nations, and they say they are working with the security forces of Haiti, and in their press release that was released last Friday after the killings in Cit?-Soleil, they say the operations have resulted in the arrests of 24 kidnap suspects and the liberation of six victims, a number of weapons were also seized. Final comment? LOVINSKY PIERRE-ANTOINE: Last killing that was done in Cit?-Soleil, the people who died were not people with guns in their hands. They were pregnant women and children among them. According to journalists on the ground, there were between 30 and 40 people who died. But we think it's between 60 and 80 people because the people when they run, they take the people who fell to run with them. AMY GOODMAN: We want to thank you very much for being with us. Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, the Haitian human rights activist and Head of the September 30th Foundation, who just came back from Haiti, and Kim Ives. Thank you very much for joining us. That does it for today?s broadcast, the last of the year. We want to thank all of you because you are at the heart of this broadcast, the largest public media collaboration in this country as it continues to grow in this country and around the world. I am Amy Goodman with Juan Gonzalez. We wish you a very happy new year. From jaggi at resist.ca Fri Dec 29 20:58:14 2006 From: jaggi at resist.ca (Jaggi Singh) Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2006 20:58:14 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Bloquez l'empire!] MONDAY/LUNDI 2007 ::: ! LA RAGE DU PEUPLE ! 12 hours of Special New Year's Day Programming on CKUT 90.3FM MONTREAL (updated info) Message-ID: [Updated schedule of programming below ...] ! LA RAGE DU PEUPLE ! NEW YEAR'S DAY ON CKUT 90.3FM 12 hours of Special Programming MONDAY, JANUARY 1, 2007, 8am-8pm (E.s.t) --> Listen in MONTREAL at 90.3FM --> Listen EVERYWHERE online at www.ckut.ca LA RAGE DU PEUPLE is a look back at the resistance of local and global social justice movements ... and a look ahead to the struggles to come in 2007. --> Includes a special 2-hour edition of RADIO SANCTUARY (6-8pm), with Kader Belaouni, live from the St-Gabriel's Church in Point St-Charles where Kader has been in sanctuary, defying a deportation order, since January 2006. --> A live in-studio perfomance by Iqi Balam of LA BANDA DE GAZA (at 2pm). The LA RAGE DU PEUPLE New Year's Day Special will include interviews, reports and reflections from organizers involved in social justice struggles in Montreal and around the world. We will hear voices from the frontlines. We will reflect on current movements against war and for migrant justice, as well as ongoing popular rebellions and grassroots resistance movements. From Montreal, we will also speak with local organizers and activists as they reflect on the past year, and look ahead to 2007. :::::::::::::::::::: Some of the scheduled programming on LA RAGE DU PEUPLE, in English and French, includes: --> Interviews from around the planet including: Hazel Hill from Six Nations, Turtle Island; Jamal Jumaa from Occupied Palestine; Patrick Elie from Port-au-Prince,Haiti; Biplab Halim from Kolkata, India; Racha Moumneh from Beirut, Lebanon; Andres Garcia & Barucha Calamity Peller from Mexico. --> More interviews and audio with: Arnoldo Garcia, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (Oakland); Sonali Kolhatkar, on Canada's role in Afghanistan; Aarti Shahani of Families for Freedom (New York City); Jean St-Vil of the Canada Haiti Action Network (Ottawa); Rafeef Ziadah, from the Boycotting Israeli Apartheid Conference (Toronto); --> In-studio conversations and discussions with Montreal-based organizers and activists: Andrea Gozales, La Otra Campana; Anita Schoepp, Head & Hands; Hadi Qaderi, L'Observatoire de l'Asie Centrale et du Moyen-Orient; Jose Rodriguez, Radio Sabotaje (Mexico City) & La Otra Campana; Leila Ali, Tadamon! Montreal; Sarita Ahooja, Migrant Workers Support Center & No One Is Illegal; Tatiana Gomez, Solidarity Across Borders & the People's Commission into Immigration Security Measures; Tess Tesalona, Center for Philippine Concerns. --> From Amandla!: the Justice for Sankara campaign; the victory of the San people of Botswana; and more. --> From Prison Radio: an interview with Peter Collins, a life-term prisoner at the Bath Penitentiary (Ontario).* * --> From En Profondeur: l'affaire Mohamed Anas Bennis; le casino ? Pointe-St-Charles et sa mort; le dernier baillon ?hont? de Jean Charest; tout sur le transport en commun; et plus. --> AND, as much music from the Block the Empire anti-imperialist bloc benefit CD that we can fit in, including: Keny Arkana, Asian Dub Foundation, B?rurier Noir, Blackstar, Cavaliers Noir, Damien Saez, D'bi Young, Muzion, Nina Simone, Propagandhi, Rhythm Activism, Sniper, Submission Hold ... [[[ The promo ad for our New Year's Day special, with Keny Arkana's "La rage du peuple", is available to listen at: http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=20956 ; check out her video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92o_Bn4Uw-w ]]] :::::::::::::::::::: Tune-in to LA RAGE DU PEUPLE between 8am-8pm (E.s.t.) on JANUARY 1, 2007. --> Listen in MONTREAL at 90.3FM --> Listen EVERYWHERE online at www.ckut.ca Hosted and produced by members of the CKUT Community News Collective. INFO: news at ckut.ca / 514-448-4041 x6788 http://ckutnews.wordpress.com