[IPSM] No One Is Illegal-Montreal Newswire/Bulletin de Nouvelles (April 10, 2006)
No One Is Illegal Montreal
nooneisillegal at gmail.com
Mon Apr 10 01:42:50 PDT 2006
=====
NO ONE IS ILLEGAL-MONTREAL NEWS AND EVENTS DIGEST
BULLETIN DE NOUVELLES ET D'ÉVÉNEMENTS DE PERSONNE N'EST ILLÉGAL
=====
APRIL 10 -- LE 10 AVRIL 2006 (1.8)
::::: THE RODRIGUEZ FAMILY/LA FAMILLE RODRIGUEZ :::::
1a) Let Brandon and Fernando finish school!' Stop the deportation of
the Rodriguez family!; Please phone and fax; demonstrate on TUESDAY,
April 11 at 7:30am
1b) Laissez Brandon et Fernando finir l'école! Arrêtez la déportation
de la famille Rodriguez! SVP téléphonez et faxez; manifestez MARDI le
11 avril à 7h30
1c) (Le Devoir) Pas de pitié pour les illégaux
::::: SIX NATIONS :::::
2a) Solidarité avec les Six Nations, partout au Canada (Montréal,
Vancouver, Toronto, Saskatoon, Victoria)
2b) Support the Six Nations' Land Reclamation; Stop Canada's Genocide!
Cross-Canada Solidarity with Six Nations (Montreal, Vancouver,
Toronto, Saskatoon, Victoria)
2c) (Hamilton Spectator) Natives build cookhouse on protest site in one day
2d) (Radio-Canada) Des "citoyens" manifestent contre "l'occupation"
::::: EVENTS/ÉVÉNEMENTS :::::
3) April 19: BREAK THE CHAINS! An evening of spoken word, poetry,
music and resistance in defense of child political prisoners in
Palestine (Updated Info)
4a) (21-23 avril) COMMISSION POPULAIRE sur les mesures "sécuritaires"
en immigration
4b) (April 21-23) PEOPLE'S COMMISSION on Immigration "Security" Measures
::::: ANALYSIS/ANALYSES :::::
5) (Arizona Indymedia) Immigration: A Nation of Colonists – and Race Laws
::::: ACTION :::::
6a) STATUS FOR ALL! National Day of Action (Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal)
6b) UN STATUT POUR TOU(TE)S! Journee Nationale d'Action (Vancouver,
Toronto, Montreal)
7) (USA) May 1, 2006: Call to Action! "A day without an immigrant":
Nationwide Immigrant General Strike (Immigrant Solidarity Network)
8) (France) Mobilisation contre une immigration jetable (Alternative Libertaire)
::::: NEWS/NOUVELLES :::::
9) (Presse Canadienne) Les avocats de Charkaoui veulent faire tomber
ses conditions de libération
10) (La Tribune, Algiers) Adoption de la déclaration africaine sur la migration
11) (Montreal Gazette) Charkaoui asks court to ease security restrictions
12) (Counterpunch) Immigration Rights Battle Comes to US Schools: Week
of the Walkouts
13) (New York Daily News) Riding Shotgun on the Border: California
Minutemen Vigilantes
14) (Immigration News Briefs) Immigration Enforcement Pulls Kids Off
Buses in California
15) (BBC) Immigration cells 'like kennels' in UK
-----
The No One Is Illegal News and Events Digest is a bilingual (English
and French) weekly selection of analysis, news and events, compiled by
the No One Is Illegal collective in Montreal. To subscribe or
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rassemble une sélection hebdomadaire et bilingue (anglais - français)
de nouvelles, analyses et événements compilée par le collectif
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-----
(((((1a)))))
-> Let Brandon and Fernando finish school!
-> Stop the deportation of the Rodriguez family!
-> Please phone and fax; demonstrate on April 11 at 7:30am in Montreal
REMINDER:
:::::
Last-Minute Solidarity Demonstration with the Rodriguez Family
TUESDAY, APRIL 11 at 7:30am (sharp)
1010 St-Antoine West (between Peel at de la Cathederale; metro
Bonaventure; St-Antoine exit)
In front of the offices of the Canadian Border Services Agency and
Immigration Canada
:::::
Please arrive at 7:30am sharp.
STATUS FOR ALL! STOP THE DEPORTATIONS!
-----
The Solidarity Across Borders support work committee has been in
contact with the Rodriguez family of Montreal: Jaime, 37, Arguela, 39,
and their three children: Fernando, 15, Brandon, 8, and Steffani, 4.
The Rodriguez family, originally from Guatemala, came to Canada three
years ago from the United States. Their refugee claim was refused and
the family will be deported this coming TUESDAY, APRIL 11 at 8am.
The Rodriguez family is prepared to return to the United States, where
they have lived before and have relatives. But, they have asked the
Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) -- responsible for deportations
and detentions -- to simply postpone their deportation date to the end
of June, so that their school age children, Brandon and Fernando, can
finish the term.
Brandon and Fernando's schoolteachers have even written their
deportation agent requesting a postponement. According to Brandon's
teacher, Ms. Courteau of the Adelard-Desrosiers school in
Montreal-Nord: "Brandon is a very motivated, serious, mature and
hardworking student who is determined to succeed. This little delay
(in the deportation date) can make a great difference in the life of
this child." Likewise, Fernando's teacher has asked the deportation
agent to not ruin his school year.
The Rodriguez family marched during the "No One Is Illegal March on
Ottawa" last June 2005. More recently, in January 2006, Jaime and
Arguela travelled with Brandon and Steffani to Toronto to protest
outside then Immigration Minister Joe Volpe's office to demand a full
and inclusive regularization program for all non-status migrants.
Photos of the family at the Toronto protest are available at:
http://gallery.cmaq.net/volpepicket/53353423_O
http://gallery.cmaq.net/volpepicket/53353412_O
http://gallery.cmaq.net/volpepicket/53353268_O
We are asking supporters of Solidarity Across Borders to do two things:
1) Please fax or telephone both the Canadian Border Services Agency
and the Minister of Immigration Monte Solberg. Demand that the
Rodriguez family be granted status immediately (which the Minister has
the discretion to do) or, at the very least, that the family's
deportation date is postponed until the end of June so that the
children may finish school. Contact info and a sample letter are
below.
2) If you live in the Montreal-area, we ask that you attend a
demonstration outside the offices of the Canadian Border Services
Agency and Immigration Canada (1010 St-Antoine West, near metro
Bonaventure, St-Antoine exit) this TUESDAY, APRIL 11 at 7:30am
(sharp). We will demand, at the last minute, that CBSA officials
exercise their discretionary powers and postpone the deportation of
the Rodriguez family so that the children may finish school. Please
arrive at 7:30am, as the family will be reporting for their removal at
8am.
Please fax and/or phone the relevant officials, and please attend the
solidarity demonstration next Tuesday. Stand in solidarity with the
Rodriguez family.
STATUS FOR ALL! STOP THE DEPORTATIONS!
-- The Solidarity Across Borders Support Work Committee
::::::::::
--> Please write or phone BOTH the following officials at the Canadian
Border Services Agency (CBSA) and ask that the Rodriguez family's
deportation be postponed so that Brandon and Fernando may finish their
school term (you can cite file #5150-4576).
CBSA Deportation Agent Alfred Pichard:
Telephone: 514-283-8236
Fax: 514-496-8814
CBSA Director of Enforcement and Removals René D'Aoust
Telephone: 514-496-1237
Fax: 514-496-1882
--> ALSO, please write or phone Immigration Minister Monte Solberg and
ask that he exercise his power to grant status to the Rodriguez family
(again, cite file
# 5150-4576).
Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 992-4516
Fax: (613) 992-6181
E-Mail: Solberg.M at parl.gc.ca
::::::::::
Sample Letter:
[You can use the following letter as a sample for your letters to CBSA
officials and the Immigration Minister. Please contact
sansfrontieres at resist.ca if you sent a letter.]
Dear Mr. Solberg, Mr. D'Aoust and Mr. Pichard --
I am writing about the upcoming deportation of the Rodriguez family
(file # 5150-4576) who are scheduled for removal this coming April 11,
2006.
I feel that this deportation, of a family well-established in Montreal
for three years, is inhumane. I ask that you use your discretionary
power to grant this hard-working and humble family permanent status in
Canada.
It is my understanding that the family will leave Canada when ordered.
So, if you cannot grant status, I ask that, at the very least, you
postpone the family's deportation date until the end of June, so that
their two school age children, Brandon and Fernando, can finish their
term. Their teachers have written letters asking for a postponement.
Jaime Rodriguez's employer has also written you attesting to his
current employment, which he can keep until the end of June and
thereby avoid social assistance.
It makes absolutely no sense to ruin the school year of these children
over a simple two-month delay. Please use your powers to postpone the
deportation date, and also to grant the family status in Canada.
Sincerely,
::::::::::
--> REMINDER
Last-Minute Solidarity Demonstration with the Rodriguez Family
TUESDAY, APRIL 11 at 7:30am (sharp)
1010 St-Antoine West (between Peel at de la Cathederale; metro
Bonaventure; St-Antoine exit)
In front of the offices of the Canadian Border Services Agency and
Immigration Canada
Please arrive at 7:30am sharp.
STATUS FOR ALL! STOP THE DEPORTATIONS!
INFO: sansfrontieres at resist.ca, 514-848-7583
http://www.solidarityacrossborders.org
-----
(((((1b)))))
--> Laissez Brandon et Fernando finir l'école!
--> Arrêtez la déportation de la famille Rodriguez!
--> SVP téléphonez et faxez; manifestez le 11 avril à 7h30
RAPPEL:::
:::::
Manifestation de dernière minute avec la famille Rodriguez
MARDI LE 11 AVRIL à 7H30 (tapante)
1010 SAINTE-ANTOINE (entre Peel et de la Cathédrale)
métro Bonaventure, sortie Sainte-Antoine
En face de l'Immigration Canada et l'Agence des services frontaliers du Canada.
:::::
UN STATUT POUR TOUS ET TOUTES! ARRETEZ LES DÉPORTATIONS!
-----
Le comité de soutien de Solidarité sans frontières travaille avec la
famille Rodriguez de Montréal: Jaime 37 ans, Arguelia 39 ans, ainsi
que leurs enfants: Fernando 15 ans, Brandon 8 ans et Steffani 4 ans.
La famille Rodriguez, qui est originaire du Guatemala, est venue au
Canada il y a plus de trois ans. Ils sont arrivés des États-Unis ou
ils ont vécus auparavant. Leur demande d'asile politique a été refuser
et la famille va être déporter MARDI LE 11 AVRIL à 8h00 du matin.
La famille Rodriguez est prête à retourner aux États-Unis, ou ils ont
vécues avec des membres de leur famille, mais ils ont demandés aux
agents d`immigrations (l'Agence des services frontaliers du Canada
(ASFC) qui sont responsable de leur déportation) de reporter la date
de déportation à la fin du mois de juin afin que Brandon et Fernando
puissant finir l'école.
Les professeurs de Fernando et Brandon on même écrit une lettre à
l'agent en charge du dossier pour demander de reporter la date afin
que les jeunes puissent finir leur année scolaire et ainsi de pas la
perdre. Selon le professeur de Brandon, Mme. Courteau de l` école
Adelard-Desrosier à Montréal-Nord, "Brandon est un élève extrêmement
motivé, sérieux, mature et travaillant qui semble déterminé à réussir.
Ce petit délai pourrait faire une grande différence dans la vie de cet
enfant."
La famille Rodriguez a marché vers Ottawa en juin dernier dans le
cadre de la marche "Personne n'est illégal". Plus récemment, en
janvier 2006, Jaime et Arguelia ont été à Toronto avec Brandon et
Steffani pour manifester devant le bureau de l`ancien ministre de
l`immigration Joe Volpe.
Les photos de la famille à la manifestation de Toronto sont disponible sur:
http://gallery.cmaq.net/volpepicket/53353423_O
http://gallery.cmaq.net/volpepicket/53353412_O
http://gallery.cmaq.net/volpepicket/53353268_O
Nous demandons aux supporteurs de Solidarité sans frontières deux choses:
1) SVP faxer ou téléphoner l'Agence des services frontaliers du Canada
(ASFC) et au Ministre de l'immigration Monte Solberg. Demandez que la
famille Rodriguez reçoivent leur statut immédiatement ( car le
ministre à le pouvoir discrétionnaire de le faire) ou que au moins la
date de déportation soit retarde pour pouvoir permettre aux enfants de
finir l` école.
2) Si vous vivez dans la région de Montréal nous vous demandons
d'assister à la manifestation qui aura lieu devant les bureaux
d'immigration Canada au 1010 Saint-Antoine ouest (métro Bonaventure,
sortie Saint-Antoine, 7h30 tapante). Nous allons demander, et ce jusqu
à la dernière minute que le ASFC exerce sont pouvoir discrétionnaire
et remette la déportation de la famille Rodriguez afin que les enfants
puissant terminer l`école. SVP soyez là à 7h30 car la famille doit se
rendre pour 8h00.
SVP faxez/téléphonez les agents ainsi que le Ministre de l'immigration
et participez a la manifestation ce mardi prochain. Soyons solidaire
avec la famille Rodriguez.
UN STATUT POUR TOUS ET TOUTES! ARRÊTEZ LES DÉPORTATIONS!
-- Le comité de soutien de Solidarité sans frontières
::::::::::
--> Svp téléphonez et écrivez au deux agents suivant et demander que
la déportation de la famille Rodriguez soit reporte afin que Brandon
et Fernando puissant finir leur école. ( vous pouvez citer le numéro
de dossier:#5150-4576)
ASFC Agent de déportation Alfred Pichard
Téléphone: 514-283-8236
Fax: 514-496-1882
ASFC Directeur des déportations René D'Aoust
téléphone: 514 496- 1237
fax: 514-496-1882
Aussi, SVP, écrivez ou téléphonez au ministre de l'Immigration Monte
Solberg et demandez lui d`exercer son pouvoir pour donner un statut a
la famille Rodriguez:
Monte Solberg,
Ministre de la Citoyenneté et de l'immigration
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Téléphone: (613) 992-4516
Fax: (613) 992-6181
E-mail: Solberg.M at parl.gc.ca
::::::::::
Lettre type:
[Vous pouvez vous inspirez de cette lettre pour envoyer aux agents du
ASFC ainsi qu'au Ministre de l'immigration. SVP contacter
sansfrontieres at resist.ca si vous envoyez une lettre.]
Cher Monsieur Solberg, Monsieur D'Aoust et Monsieur Pichard --
Je vous écrit par rapport à la déportation de la famille Rodriguez
(dossier#5150-4576) qui ont reçu une date de déportation pour le 11
avril 2006.
La déportation de la famille Rodriguez est inhumaine. Je crois que les
enfants devraient pouvoir terminer leur école. Vous devriez évaluez
les traumatismes psycologiques et académiques sur ces enfants.
Selon ma compréhension des choses la famille va quitter le Canada
lorsque demandé. Alors si vous ne pouvez pas leur donner un statut, je
vous demande au moins de leur laisser terminer leur école respective
et de retarder la déportation jusqu'en juin afin qu'il puisse terminer
leur année scolaire. Les professeurs de Brandon et Fernando ont même
écrit une lettre pour demander de les laisser terminer leur année
scolaire. L'employeur de Jaime Rodriguez à également spécifié qu'il
pouvait rallongé le contrat de celui-ci jusqu'en juin afin qu'il soit
pas au crochet de l'état durant cette période.
C'est ridicule de ruiner une année complète d'étude pour deux mois
restant. SVP utilisez votre pouvoir pour reporter cette déportation
votre décision fera une grande différence dans l'avenir de ses
enfants.
Sincèrement,
[XXX]
::::::::::
--> RAPPEL
Manifestation de dernière minute avec la famille Rodriguez
MARDI LE 11 AVRIL à 7H30 (tapante)
1010 SAINTE-ANTOINE (entre Peel et de la Cathédrale)
métro Bonaventure, sortie Sainte-Antoine
En face de l'Immigration Canada et l'Agence des services frontaliers du Canada.
UN STATUT POUR TOUS ET TOUTES! ARRETEZ LES DÉPORTATIONS!
INFO: sansfrontieres at resist.ca, 514-848-7583
http://www.solidaritesansfrontieres.org
-----
(((((1c)))))
Pas de pitié pour les illégaux
Le Devoir
Les samedi 8 et dimanche 9 avril 2006
Claireandrée Cauchy
Les services d'immigration refusent de surseoir à l'expulsion d'une
famille de Guatémaltèques qui demandait un délai pour permettre aux
enfants de terminer leur année scolaire.
Les Rodriguez et leurs trois enfants sont arrivés en Alberta en 2002.
Ils fuyaient alors le Guatemala, après l'assassinat du frère de Jaime
Rodriguez. Leur plus vieux garçon, aujourd'hui âgé de 15ans, a
accumulé plus de trois ans de retard scolaire depuis le départ du
Guatemala.
C'est qu'il a quitté l'école en plein milieu de l'année pour fuir le
pays. Il a ensuite poursuivi ses études dans une class d'accueil en
Alberta, où il a appris l'anglais. Les Rodriguez sont par la suite
déménagés au Québec, et Fernando a passé une autre année à apprendre
le français. L'aventure canadienne des Rodriguez tire maintenant à sa
fin: la Commission de l'immigration et du statut de réfugié n'a pas
cru leur histoire, tous leurs recours sont épuisés et ils seront
expulsés mardi prochain. Fernando et son petit frère Brandon, âgé de
huit ans, perdront donc une autre année scolaire.
"Nous avons présenté des lettres des enseignants, mais on a refusé de
nous donner jusqu'à la fin de juin; on nous dit qu'on ne peut revenir
en arrière, que la décision est déjà prise. Fernando a déjà trois ans
de retard scolaire. Si on s'en va maintenant, il perd une autre
année", explique le père de la famille Rodriguez, Jaime.
Le directeur adjoint de l'école secondaire Henri-Bourassa déplore lui
aussi le refus des services d'immigration. "Quand un élève ne termine
pas l'année, il est ensuite obligé de recommencer à zero. Je ne pense
pas qu'il va pouvoir continuer là où il était rendu", note Kelly
Bellony, précisant que Fernando termine actuellement sa scolarité de
quatrième et cinquième année, alors qu'ils devrait être en troisième
secondaire si on considère son åge.
À l'Agence des services frontaliers, on se contentait hier de dire que
la décision est arrêtée et que les Rodriguez devront partir mardi.
"Une fois que tous les recours son épuisés, pour préserver l'integrité
du système, on doit procéder au renvoi", précise la porte-parole de
l'Agence, Annie Morin.
(Le Devoir)
-----
(((((2a)))))
Solidarité avec les Six Nations
Partout au Canada
Montréal, Vancouver, Toronto, Saskatoon, Victoria
***************************************
MONTREAL
Rally et Piquetage d'information
Mercredi 12 Avril , 14 :30
Immeuble de Revenus Canada
305 Avenue René Lévesque Ouest
Coin De Bleury, Metro Place des Arts
Pour plus d'infos : ipsm at resist.ca
*****************************
Sous la direction des Mères de Clan dans le Territoire des Six
Nations, une série d'actions sont organisées en solidarité avec les
Mères de Clan à Six Nations et en soutien à leurs demandes pour un
arrêt immédiat de toute construction entreprise par les Industries
Henco sur leur territoire et pour la résolution du soulèvement actuel
sur la base de discussions de nation à nation. Jamie Jamieson de la
communauté des Six Nations affirme : « J'espère une résolution. Cela
impliquerait la résolution de toute les questions de titres et de
juridiction, et ferait en sorte que le gouvernement fédéral prenne la
responsabilité de leurs actions vis-à-vis de cette terre. »
L'héritage colonial et raciste de Canada continue de dévaster les
terres et les vies des peoples autochtones. Se poser en solidarité
avec la communauté des Six Nations est une manière tangible d'arrêter
les interventions de l'état colonial dans ses continuelles
expropriation et exploitation illégales des terres et territoires
autochtones.
Afin d'augmenter la pression le 12 Avril, les Mères de Clan de Six
Nations demandent également que les supporters contactent Michaelle
Jean, Gouverneure Générale du Canada, et Michael Bryant, Mandataire
Géneral de l'Ontario, afin d?exprimer leur soutien aux demandes des
Mères de Clan et d'appeler à une résolution du soulèvement par le
biais de moyens politiques, et non par l'utilisation des forces
policières.
* Michaelle Jean, Gouverneure Génerale:
Téléphone: (613) 993-8200: 1-800-465-6890, Fax: (613) 998-1664, Email:
info at gg.ca
* Michael Bryant, Ontario Attorney General
Téléphone: (416) 326-2220 ou (416) 326-2210, 1-800-518-790, Fax: (416) 326-4007
Email: www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/comments.asp
*** Contexte ****
Le 3 Mars 2006, des membres de la nation Rotinoshon'non:we (Iroquois)
ont monté un camp sur le Chemin Haldimand, situé à l'entrée des
Terrains Douglas Creek, un chantier en construction par la compagnie
Henco Industries, sur le territoire de Six Nations.
Cette terre n'a jamais été cédée au Canada, et a été formellement
reconnue par la Couronne comme territoire de Six Nations dans le cadre
de l'Acte Haldimand de 1784. Le « Plank Road Tract » a ensuite été
enregistré comme une revendication de territoire avec le gouvernement
fédéral en 1987.
Le conseil de bande de Six Nations, dans ses soumissions à Ottawa, a
affirmé que la reserve n'a jamais été adéquatement compensée pour la
terre vendue aux Non-Autochtones et que des parcelles de terre ont été
utilisées pour construire la route de Hamilton à Port Dover Plank
Road.
La réserve de Six Nations maintenant couvre moins de 5 % de la
surface originale de six milles de chaque côté de Grand River de la
bouche de la rivière à la source. Entre temps, la province de
l'Ontario a passé une législation autorisant le développement de ce
territoire dans le cadre du projet d'introduction de 4 Million de
colons dans la grande région du Golden Horseshoe.
Henco Industries a réussi à obtenir une injonction de la cour le mois
dernier, demandant une intervention policière (par le biais de la
Police Provinciale Ontarienne) afin d'expulser les membres de Six
Nations en campement sur le territoire.
Une revision de l'injonction prononcée par un Juge de la Cour Suprême
de l'Ontario le 28 Mars affirme que ceux qui refusent de se retirer de
la propriété seront coupables d?offenses criminelles et civiles, et se
verront arêtés sous le coup d'un ordre de probation. En rendant son
jugement, le Juge de la Cour Provinciale David Marshall a dit aux Mère
de Clan : "Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas avec vous ? Pourquoi n'oubliez-vous
pas le passé et refusez-vous de m'écouter ?»
Le jour de l'évacuation prévue par la décision du juge Marshall, il y
avait entre 300 et 500 personnes en ligne le long de la route en
soutien avec les Six Nations.
Les Mères de Clan ont tenu une action pendant laquelle 50 femmes se
sont posées en barrière devant le chantier de construction, empêchant
les travaux de continuer.
Dans un contexte ou la présence policière sur le territoire ne cesse
d'augmenter - incluant deux douzaines de véhicules policiers
stationnés à l'extérieur d'une école primaire utilisée comme poste de
commande, un grand nombre de véhicules de police harpentant la ville
voisine de Caledonia, des records en nombres d'agents en civil dans la
périphérie de la reserve de Six Nations, et une moblisation de l'état
rappelant les évènements qui ont conduit à l'assassinat de Dudley
George par la Police Ontarienne à Ipperwash en 1995, les Mères de Clan
de Six Nations ont demandé la solidarité avec leur lutte pour affirmer
leur droit fondamental à l?autodétermination et à la souveraineté sur
leur terre. « Le Canada doit arrêter d'utiliser les armes pour
résoudre ses conflits légaux avec les peoples Autochtonies.", a dit
Jaqueline House.
Les Mères de Clan ont émis la déclaration suivante :
Les femmes, comme Porteuses de Titres de toutes les terres de l'Ile de
la Tortue, affirmons notre jurisdiction constitutionnelle sur le
Haldimand Tract. Nous n'avons jamais et ne pouvons pas céder notre
terre ou notre souveraineté.
1. Les Six Nations sont des des nations orinigales distinctes. Nous
devons être traîté comme tel, sur la base de discussions de nation à
nation, et ce par la Couronne et toutes les autres nations.
2. La Couronne doit respecter notre relation originale telle que
déterminée par le "Two Row Wampum", notre juridiction telle que
décrite par notre Constitution, la Kaiannereh'ko:wa et telle que
respectée par les Sections 109 et 132 de l'Acte de 1867 et selon les
accords internationaux signés par le Canada.
3. Les discussions doivent être tenues avec nous, de nation à nation,
telle qu'était la coutume avant que le Canada ne se sépare de l?Empire
Britannique. Le respect pour le statut indépendant international de
Six Nations par le Canada a été établi avant que le Canada n'obtienne
sa reconnaissance en tant qu?état ou gagne la capacité de signer des
traits de façon unilatérale. L'identité indépendante internationale de
Six Nations n'a jamais été légalement éliminée.
4. Les conseils de bande ont été établis avec des procédures qui
violent les lois internationales. Ils continuent de fonctionner en
tant qu'institutions colonisatrices. Nous n'avons jamais consenti à
leur établissement ou au fait qu'ils nous représentent de quelque
façon.
5. Le Canada et ses politiciens, fonctionnaires, agents, délégués et
représentants devraient cesser immédiatement leurs démarches visant à
criminaliser et appréhender les membres de nos communautés lorsqu'ils
défendent ce qui est légitimement nôtre, la terre dont nous tenons le
titre. Toute autre action par le Canada, l'Ontario et leurs agents
sera perçue comme une violation du "Two Row Wampum", l'accord
constitutionnel entre les Ratino'shon:ni, le Canada et la loi
internationale.
6. Les revendications stipulant que le Canada et la province de
l'Ontario ont le droit de légiférer pour les Ratino'shon:ni de Six
Nations et d'octroyer des titres privés sur notre terre n'a aucune
fondation légale.
-----
(((((2b))))))
Support the Six Nations' Land Reclamation
Stop Canada's Genocide!
Cross Canada Solidarity With Six Nations:
Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Saskatoon, Victoria
*********************************************************
MONTREAL Rally & Info Picket
Wednesday April 12th, 2:30pm
@ the Revenue Canada Building
305 Rene Levesque West
corner Rue De Bleury, Metro Place des Arts
For Information: ipsm at resist.ca
**********************************************************
Under the direction of the Clan Mothers at the Six Nations Territory,
a series of actions are being organized in solidarity with the with
the Six Nations clan mothers and in support of their demands for an
immediate cessation of all construction by Henco Industries on Six
Nations territory and for resolution to the current standoff to be
conducted on a nation-to-nation basis. Jamie Jamieson from the Six
Nations community states, "I hope for a resolution. It would involve
having the whole issue of title and jurisdiction resolved, and it
would mean for the federal government to take accountability and
responsibility for their actions in regard to this land."
The racist colonial legacy of Canada continues to devastate the lands
and lives of indigenous peoples and standing in support of the Six
Nations community is a tangible way to stop the settler government's
interventions in the continued illegal expropriation and exploitation
of indigenous lands and territories.
To increase the pressure on April 11-12, the Six Nations Clan mothers
are also asking that people contact Michaelle Jean, Governor General
of Canada, and Michael Bryant, Attorney General of Ontario to express
their support of the demands of the clan mothers and call for
resolution to the standoff through political means, rather than
policing.
* Michaelle Jean, Governor General:
Phone: (613) 993-8200, Toll Free: 1-800-465-6890, Fax: (613) 998-1664,
Email: info at gg.ca
* Michael Bryant, Ontario Attorney General
Phone: (416) 326-2220 or (416) 326-2210, Toll Free: 1-800-518-790,
Fax: (416) 326-4007
Email: www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/comments.asp
*** BACKGROUND ****
On March 3rd, 2006, members of Rotinoshon'non:we (Iroquois) people set
up camp on the Haldimand Tract, located at the entrance to Douglas
Creek Estates, a 71-lot subdivision under construction by Henco
Industries Ltd. on Six Nations territory.
This land has at no point been surrendered to Canada, and was formally
recognized by the Crown as Six Nations territory as part of the 1784
Haldimand Deed. The Plank Road Tract was subsequently registered as a
land claim with the federal government in 1987. The Six Nations band
council, in its submissions to Ottawa, claimed the reserve was never
properly compensated for land sold to non-natives and land that was
taken to build the Hamilton to Port Dover Plank Road. The Six Nations
reserve now covers less than 5 per cent of the original tract of six
miles each side of the Grand River from the mouth to the source.
Meanwhile, the province of Ontario passed legislation allowing this
tract of land to be developed as part of a scheme to draw 4 million
settlers into the Golden Horseshoe area.
Henco Industries successfully obtained a court injunction last month
to have members of Six Nations who are camped out on the territory
forcibly removed by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). A revised
injunction issued by an Ontario Supreme Court Judge on March 28th
states that those who refuse to vacate the property are guilty of
criminal and civil contempt, and will be fingerprinted and
photographed as part of a probation order. In delivering his judgment,
Provincial Court Judge David Marshall said this to the Clan Mothers:
"What's the matter with you people? Why don't you forget all about the
past and listen to me?"
On the evacuation deadline date issued by Justice Marshall, there were
roughly 300-500 people lined up at the road in support of the Six
Nations. The Clan Mothers held an action that had 50 women blocking
the construction crews from building. In the face of mounting police
presence at Six Nations - including two dozen marked and unmarked
police vehicles parked outside a nearby elementary school currently
being used as a command post, a number of police cruisers scattered
throughout the neighbouring town of Caledonia, and scores of
undercover officers around the periphery of the Six Nations reserve -
and a mobilization of the state reminiscent of the lead-up to the
murder of Dudley George by the OPP at Ipperwash in 1995, the Clan
Mothers and Six Nations community have requested solidarity in their
struggle to affirm their inherent right to self-determination and
sovereignty on the land. "Canada must stop using guns to resolve its
legal disputes with the indigenous people," states Jacqueline House.
The clan mothers have put forward the following statement:
The Women, being Title Holders to all lands of Turtle Island, assert
our constitutional jurisdiction over the Haldimand Tract. We have
never and cannot ever give up our land or our sovereignty.
1. The Six Nations are distinct original nations. We are to be dealt
with on a nation-to-nation basis by the Crown and all other nations.
2. The Crown must respect our original relationship as set out in the
Two Row Wampum, our jurisdiction as provided in our constitution, the
Kaiannereh'ko:wa, and as respected by Sections 109 and 132 of the BNA
Act, 1867 and according to international covenants that Canada has
signed.
3. We are to be dealt with on a nation-to-nation basis, as was the
custom before Canada separated from the British Empire. Respect for
the independent international status of the Six Nations by Canada was
established before Canada achieved recognition as a state or gained
the ability to sign treaties on its own. The independent
international identity of the Six Nations identity has never been
legally extinguished.
4. The band councils were established with procedures that violated
international law. They continue to function as colonizing
institutions. We have never consented to their establishment nor
their representing us.
5. Canada and all its politicians, bureaucrats, agents, assignees and
appointees should cease and desist immediately their attempt to
criminalize and apprehend our people for defending what is rightfully
ours, the land to which we hold title. Any further action by Canada,
Ontario and their agents shall be viewed as being a direct violation
of the Two Row Wampum, the constitutional accord between the
Ratino'shon:ni and Canada and international law.
6. The claims of Canada and the province of Ontario to have a right to
legislate for the Rotino'shon:ni Six Nations and to grant private
title to our land has no foundation in law.
-----
(((((2c)))))
Natives build cookhouse on protest site in one day
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1144446613916&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1014656511815
Kaz Novak, the Hamilton Spectator
Natives work on their cookhouse and meeting place yesterday at the
housing project which they claim sits on their land.
By Daniel Nolan
The Hamilton SpectatorCALEDONIA (Apr 8, 2006)
Protesters occupying a housing project they claim sits on native land
have built their first structure on the site.
The building arose on the same day Haldimand County Mayor Marie
Trainer and other county officials met with Indian Affairs Minister
Jim Prentice in Ottawa to talk about ways to resolve the five-week
standoff.
Workmen completed the finishing touches last night at about 6 p.m. on
a wooden shelter designed to be a cookhouse and a meeting place. It
will replace a large blue tent.
The cookhouse -- which looks like an enclosed carport -- sits on the
roadway off Argyle Street South into Douglas Creek Estates, and not
directly on one of the 200 lots in the $6-million subdivision, but one
of the protesters warned more wooden structures could rise.
"We'll see how it goes, but we do own the land so we can do anything
we want to the land," said Karen, a member of the Onondaga tribe, who
declined to give her last name.
She said men on the site decided to build the cookhouse because "they
didn't want the women to be in (the tent) anymore because of the rain
and snow."
"They put it up in one day. They just started and then they were finished."
Natives have been staying on the housing site, which is south of town,
in a motorhome, tents and a large teepee. There are about nine or 10
homes in various states of completion, but Karen said they are not
being used. She said that was an agreement struck when the occupation
began Feb. 28.
"Our guys really want something to do and could finish them, but we've
agreed not to touch them," said Karen.
Neecha, a 28-year-old Ojibwa from near Sioux Lookout, has been living
in the teepee for the last week. She said it's been comfortable.
"It's my connection to my ancestors," said Neecha. "There's a fire
inside so it's warm. We're good to go."
The protesters claim the land was never surrendered by Six Nations and
was part of the huge land grant given to Six Nations in 1784 by the
British Crown for services during the American War of Independence.
Canada and Ontario, however, say the land was surrendered in 1841 to
help build the Plank Road (Highway 6).
Trainer said last night the county delegation met with Prentice and
Human Resources Minister Diane Finley, who represents
Haldimand-Norfolk, for two hours. Also at the meeting was Brantford MP
Lloyd St. Amand.
Trainer said she painted a picture of how the standoff is upsetting
the whole town and that some find it "frightening" especially after
one protester said he was prepared to die.
She said Prentice has a few ideas on how to resolve the standoff, but
asked the county not to reveal them to the media. She also said
Prentice is waiting for a report on the situation from a fact-finder.
No time limit was mentioned.
"I thought the discussion was very good and they gave us a fair amount
of time," said Trainer. "I'm hoping something will happen sooner than
later."
-----
(((((2d)))))
Des citoyens manifestent contre l'occupation
Mise à jour le jeudi 6 avril 2006, 9 h 42 .
http://radio-canada.ca/regions/Ontario/2006/04/06/001-manif-caledonia.shtml
Des résidents de Caledonia, au sud de Hamilton, souhaitent
l'intervention des autorités pour mettre fin à l'occupation du terrain
sur lequel doit être construit un projet domiciliaire par des
Amérindiens.
Près de 250 personnes ont manifesté, mercredi, devant le poste de la
Police provinciale de l'Ontario.
Ils demandent aux policiers de faire respecter une injonction
ordonnant aux membres de la réserve des Six Nations de quitter les
lieux. Les citoyens affirment que le terrain n'appartient pas aux
Amérindiens, malgré les affirmations de ceux-ci.
La police répond qu'elle veut d'abord tenter de résoudre le dossier de
façon pacifique, mais prévient qu'elle interviendra pour mettre fin à
l'occupation si aucun progrès n'est enregistré.
Les membres de la communauté autochtone des Six Nations, qui occupent
le site depuis le 28 février, demandent un moratoire sur les travaux
de construction et affirment que le terrain leur appartient, en vertu
d'un traité de 1784.
Les promoteurs immobiliers affirment qu'ils ont tous les documents
pour prouver qu'ils sont propriétaires des lieux.
La construction des 72 maisons est interrompue jusqu'à nouvel ordre.
-----
(((((3)))))
[UPDATE: Break the Chains! will also include a special performance by
Narcicyst of Euphrates, as well as beats by DJ Leila P.
The evening will include solidarity statements by North American
political prisoners read by filmmaker Mary Ellen Davis,
artist/activist Freda Guttman, Bruce Katz and others.]
BREAK THE CHAINS!!!
... an evening of spoken word, poetry, music and resistance
... in defense of child political prisoners in Palestine.
:::::
Wednesday April 19, 2006
@ EL SALON
4388 St-Laurent Boulevard
(between Rachel and Mt-Royal)
$5 or pay what you can.
:::::
---
7pm - Film: STOLEN YOUTH (directed by Saed Andoni)
about child political prisoners in Palestine.
7:30pm - Guest speakers from Palestine:
-> Amjad Al Khatib (recently released child political prisoner)
and
-> Ayed Abu Eqtaish (former political prisoner and currently research
co-ordinator for Defence for Children International in Ramallah)
with
-> Kahentinetha Horn (journalist and elder from Kahnawake of Mohawk
territory, speaking about indigenous resistance)
8:30pm - Spoken Word and Poetry
with
-> Rafeef Ziadah (Toronto/Palestine)
and
-> Ehab Lotayef (Montreal/Egypt)
Featuring solidarity statements from North American political
prisoners: Marilyn Buck, David Gilbert, Jaan Laaman, Russell Maroon
Shoats, Jalil Muntaqim, the Cuban Five and Janet and Janine Africa.
9:30pm - MUSIC!
With Narcicyst of Euphrates (Montreal/Iraq): MC of the Montreal-based
Iraqi hip-hop crew Euphrates, whose recent album 'Stereotypes
Incorporated' made musical waves both locally & internationally.
Euphrates weaves together modern hip-hop innovation, the politics of
grassroots movements and the spirit of the Iraqi Diaspora (and
Palestinan Intifada). For more info: www.iraqisthebomb.com
And DJ Leila P!
---
Organized and sponsored by: Books to Prisoners-Montreal; the Coalition
Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees; Indigenous Peoples
Solidarity Movement (IPSM); International Solidarity Movement
(ISM)-Montreal; Montreal Anarchist Black Cross Federation; No One Is
Illegal-Montreal; Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) at
McGill and Concordia; Twelve Months Political Prisoner/POW Calendar
Project.
National tour organized by SUMOUD: A Political Prisoner Solidarity
Group (http://sumoud.tao.ca)
INFO: ism-montreal at resist.ca or 514-848-7583
-----
(((((4a)))))
***QUATRE MOYENS DE PARTICIPER À LA COMMISSION POPULAIRE***
Les mesures de sécurité en immigration comme les certificats de
sécurité nient aux non-citoyens, qui fuient souvent des situations
d'oppression, leurs droits à un procès juste, à la protection contre
la détention arbitraire et contre la torture. Ces mesures permettent
le profilage racial, les preuves secrètes, les detentions indéfinies,
et la déportation vers la torture. Ces politiques augmentent le
pouvoir que les représentants des gouvernements ont sur les individus
et soulèvent des questions fondamentales quant à l'avenir de notre
société.
Dans la période qui mène à la contestation constitutionnelle des
certificats de sécurité devant la Cour suprême, des organisations
populaires lancent la COMMISSION POPULAIRE sur les mesures "
sécuritaires " en immigration afin d'offrir à nos communautés un forum
alternatif pour réfléchir à ces questions qui nous affectent tous et
toutes, en se basant sur nos propres expériences avec la sécurité.
Neuf Commissaires, choisis sur la base de leurs liens avec nos
communautés, vont guider l'enquête et identifier des façons d'aborder
les problèmes.
Voici comment vous pouvez participer :
==> PARTICIPATION lors des AUDIENCES PUBLIQUES
21 au 23 avril 2006
CÉDA, 2515 rue Delisle, Montréal (métro Lionel-Groulx)
Les témoins et les experts feront leurs présentations lors des
audiences publiques. Les membres du public qui assistent auront la
possibilité d'interroger les témoins et les experts.
Un horaire des présentations d'experts et des témoignages sera
disponible sur notre site Internet, www.peoplescommission.ath.cx.
==> FAIRE UNE PRÉSENTATION lors des Audiences publiques
Les membres du public - groupes ou individus - sont invités à déposer
une demande afin de prendre la parole lors des audiences comme témoin
ou expert. Des arrangements sont possibles afin d'assurer votre
anonymat si nécessaire.
Vous trouverez les détails sur comment faire une demande au
www.peoplescommission.ath.cx/submissions.php ou vous pouvez nous
laisser un message au tél. 514 859 9023.
Toutes les demandes doivent nous être parvenues au plus tard le 10 avril.
==> Remplir notre SONDAGE
Un sondage est disponible sur notre site Internet :
www.peoplescommission.atx.cx. Nous pouvons également vous l'envoyer
directement (laissez-nous un message au 514 859 9023). Vos réponses
seront traitées avec confidentialité.
Les réponses doivent nous parvenir au plus tard le 23 avril.
==> CONTRIBUTION ÉCRITE OU ENREGISTRÉE
Nous invitons tout le monde à soumettre des éléments de preuve à la Commission.
Nous cherchons des témoignages en lien avec les politiques canadiennes
de sécurité en matière d'immigration (détention, déportation, torture,
profilage racial, entrevues de " sécurité ", menace de déportation
vers la torture, preuves secrètes, impact sur la communauté, etc.).
Vos soumissions seront traitées avec confidentialité et l'anonymat
sera respecté.
Les détails sur comment faire une soumission sont disponibles au
www.peoplescommission.ath.cx/submissions.php. Vous pouvez envoyer
votre soumission par courriel, fax ou poste (coordonnées en-dessous).
Toutes les soumissions (écrites ou enregistrées) doivent nous parvenir
avant le 23 avril 2006.
------------------------------------
http://www.peoplescommission.ath.cx
abolissons at gmail.com
tél.: 1 514 859 9023
fax: 514 848 7584
People's Commission c/o QPIRG Concordia
1500 de Maisonneuve W., ste. 204
Montreal QC H3G 1N1
La Commission populaire est une initiative de la Coalition Justice
pour Adil Charkaoui (www.adilinfo.org), GRIP-Concordia, et Solidarité
sans frontières (www.solidarityacrossborders.org).
La Commission populaire est appuyée par : l'Association pour la
défense des droits sociaux (ADDS), la Campagne pour l'arrêt des procès
secrets au Canada, CAIR-CAN, Centre communautaire des femmes
sud-asiatiques de Montréal, Centre justice et foi, le Centre des
travailleurs et travailleuses immigrants (CTI), CKUT 90.3 FM, le
Comité justice pour Mohamed Harkat, Comité chrétien pour les droits
humains en Amérique latine (CCDHAL), Comité des sans-emploi
Montréal-Centre, Communauté Catholique Congolaise de Montréal ,
Concordia Student Union (CSU), le Conseil canadien pour les réfugiés
(CCR), Conseil des canadiens, Conseil musulman de Montréal, Downtown
Legal Services (DLS) Toronto, Fédération canado-arabe (CAF),
Fédération autonome du collégial (FAC), Inter Pares, International
Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG), Jesuit Refugee Service, la
Ligue des Noirs du Québec, Moog Audio, People's Potato, Personne est
illégal-Montréal, Personne est illégal-Toronto, Personne est
illégal-Vancouver, Ontario Coaliton against Poverty (OCAP), Projet
Accompagnement Solidarité Colombie (PASC), Soeurs Auxiliatrices, le
Syndicat des travailleurs et travailleuses des postes du Canada
(STTP), Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes
réfugiées et immigrantes (TCRI), Toronto Action for Social Change
(TASC), United Muslim Students Association (UMSA).
-----
(((((4b)))))
****FOUR WAYS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSION****
The PEOPLE'S COMMISSION on Immigration "Security" Measures is a
popular forum to examine the practices of racial profiling, denial of
fair trials, use of secret evidence, indefinite and arbitrary
detentions, security labelling, and deportations to torture to which
immigrants and refugees, often fleeing situations of oppression, are
being subject in Canada under measures such as the "security
certificate". Such measures have raised broad concerns about expanding
government powers of surveillance and control advancing under cover of
the "war on terror".
In the lead up to the Supreme Court hearing on the constitutionality
of security certificates, the PEOPLE's COMMISSION is being launched by
grassroots organisations to provide an alternative, popular forum for
our communities to consider these issues, as they affect us, from the
starting point of our own experiences of security.
Nine Commissioners, chosen for their roots in our communities, will
oversee the inquiry and make recommendations for action and change.
MAKE YOUR voice heard by participating in the People's Commission!
Here's how:
==> Come out to the PUBLIC HEARINGS
21 to 23 April 2005
CÉDA, 2515 Délisle, metro Lionel Groulx
Three days of witnesses and expert testimony on the issues. The public
will be able to question the experts and witnesses.
A full schedule will soon be available at www.peoplescommission.ath.cx.
==> APPLY TO SPEAK at the PUBLIC HEARINGS
If you have experiences or information to share on the issues, apply
to speak at the Hearings as an expert or witness. Anonymity can be
arranged. Full details at www.peoplescommission.ath.cx/submissions.php
or by contacting us at tel. 514 859 9023.
Applications must be recieved by 10 April.
==> Complete our SURVEY
The survey of experiences and opinions on the issues can be downloaded
from our website, www.peoplescommission.ath.cx, or we can send it to
you directly (leave us a message at 514 859 9023). Confidentiality
will be respected.
Completed surveys must be received by 23 April.
==> MAKE A SUBMISSION
Have you or people you know had experiences of immigration detention,
immigration hearings, racial profiling, security interviews,
deportation or threat of deportation to torture? Do you have
information to share about community impact of immigration policies,
so-called "extraordinary rendition" (state kidnapping and torture)
programmes, lack of due process in immigration proceedings? Related
questions?
Consider making a written or recorded submission. Confidentiality and
anonymity will be respected.
Full details at www.peoplescommission.ath.cx/submissions.php.
Submissions can be faxed, mailed or emailed (see contact details
below).
Submissions must be received by 23 April.
------------------------------------
http://www.peoplescommission.ath.cx
abolissons at gmail.com
tel 1 514 859 9023
fax 514 848 7584
People's Commission c/o QPIRG Concordia
1500 de Maisonneuve W., ste. 204
Montreal QC H3G 1N1
The People's Commission is a project of the Coalition for Justice for
Adil Charkaoui (www.adilinfo.org), QPIRG-Concordia, and Solidarity
Across Borders (www.solidarityacrossborders.org).
The People's Commission has been endorsed or sponsored by:
l'Association pour la défense des droits sociaux (ADDS), Black
Coalition of Québec, CAIR-CAN, Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in
Canada, Canadian Arab Federation (CAF), Canadian Council for Refugees
(CCR), Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), Centre justice et foi,
Comité chrétien pour les droits humains en Amérique latine (CCDHAL),
Comité des sans-emploi Montréal-Centre, CKUT 90.3 FM, Communauté
Catholique Congolaise de Montréal, Concordia Student Union (CSU),
Council of Canadians, Downtown Legal Services (DLS) Toronto,
Fédération autonome du collégial (FAC), Immigrant Workers' Centre
(IWC), Inter Pares, International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
(ICLMG), Jesuit Refugee Service, The Justice for Mohamed Harkat
Committee, Moog Audio, Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM), No One Is
Illegal -Montreal, No One Is Illegal -Vancouver, No One Is Illegal
-Toronto, Ontario Coalition against Poverty (OCAP), Projet
Accompagnement Solidarité Colombie (PASC), People's Potato, Soeurs
Auxiliatrices, South Asian Women's Community Centre (SAWCC), Table de
concertation des organismes au service des personnes réfugiées et
immigrantes (TCRI), Toronto Action for Social Change (TASC), United
Muslim Students Association (UMSA).
-----
(((((5)))))
Immigration: A Nation of Colonists – and Race Laws
by Juan Santos
http://arizona.indymedia.org/news/2006/04/39603.php
You hear it everywhere. Even from Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner,
author of the vicious anti-migrant legislation that has polarized the
US.
"We are a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws," he says.
And like almost everyone else, he's got it wrong.
The original Europeans in what is now the US were not immigrants, but
colonists. And the US is not a nation of immigrants - it is a white
colonial settler state, like South Africa under Apartheid, the former
Rhodesia, Australia and Israel.
And like those states the US has always operated on a sometimes
hidden, sometimes overt system of Apartheid.
Like those places, the US is a nation of colonists – and race laws.
It is a place where white colonists arrived, seized the land, and
dispossessed, exterminated or attempted to exclude the original
"non-white" peoples – all of them.
They did so at the point of a gun - by open terror and genocide, which
was the precursor and the necessary pre-condition of European
"immigration." And, of course, they didn't only use guns and overt
terror. Where "necessary," they operated by "law."
Let me prove the point. It's simple. We all know the facts.
In the US, Native Americans were dispossessed, subjected to mass
murder, and locked on separate, Apartheid-style "reservations." So it
stands today.
Africans were enslaved, and once "freed," they were subjected first to
Jim Crow, then, when that proved no longer advisable, Jim Crow was
transformed into the mass terror of mass incarceration and permanent
Apartheid-style ghetto-ization. So it stands today.
The Indian nation of Mexico was conquered in a racist war of
aggression by the US in 1848. The only debate in the days of "Manifest
Destiny" was not whether to seize Mexican / Indian land, only how much
of it to seize, and what to do to keep the Mexicans out of what had
been stolen.
Two choices were before them. These were the terms of the debate: take
the whole nation and lock the people on reservations, or take as much
land – with as few Mexicans – as possible. Thus the border was
established through a race war, through brute and overtly racist
violence. The border is an Apartheid Wall. So it stands today.
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant law
restricting immigration into the United States.
The Act claimed that "the coming of Chinese laborers to this country
endangers the good order of certain localities within the territory"
of the US – the same racist rhetoric used today against other Brown
people.
Like HR4377, the current notorious immigration bill, the Chinese
Exclusion Act made it illegal for "any Chinese laborer to come, or… to
remain within the United States." So it stands today. Only the
immediate target of the law has changed.
Every group the US has sought to eliminate or exclude has been a
people of color.
The logic is simple.
Allow entry or citizenship for those who can be "assimilated" into the
colonists' culture – those who can become loyal colonists themselves –
and exclude the "Other" - those who are the targets of colonialism –
those whose land, cultures, bodies and souls must be sacrificed for
the colonists to remain dominant and for their system to function.
Immigration law has always been race law in the US.
As far back as 1790 the Federal government ruled that the right to
become a naturalized citizen was reserved to "free white persons."
So it remained until 1952. Until then the Supreme Court repeatedly
determined exactly which migrants might be considered "free" and
"white," as applicants of various ethnic backgrounds sought to become
citizens.
Today, "The Nation of Immigrants" theme is struck to avoid the
historical and cultural truth. Europeans – who could be assimilated to
colonial culture – were allowed entrance en masse.
But there was a "stark division," as Haney Lopez reminds us, based on
skin color.
"This stark division necessarily also carried important connotations
regarding, for example, agency, moral authority, intelligence, and
belonging," he writes. "To be unfit for naturalization--that is, to be
non-White--implied a certain degeneracy of intellect, morals,
self-restraint, and political values; to be suited for citizenship--to
be White--suggested moral maturity, self assurance, personal
independence, and political sophistication."
In other words, those "unfit" for citizenship were the colonized. The
description Lopez offers for the "unfit" matches precisely the
characteristics ascribed to colonized peoples by European imperialists
and settlers for hundreds of years.
It also matches the racist stereotypes offered today of immigrants
from areas south of the US border with Mexico, who Congressman
Sensenbrenner has referred to as degenerate "alien gang members
terrorizing communities."
But the racial subtext around immigration is not a subtext. It is the
text itself.
Before Europe could "immigrate," someone else had to be removed.
Before there was land to settle it must be stolen. Before anyone could
be "free and white" someone else had to be "non-white" – and enslaved.
Before "Americans" could become "Americans," "Latin Americans" – who
are overwhelmingly Original Americans – had to become something else –
"Latinos," "Hispanic," the not-Native – the Alien.
The Illegal Alien.
In a stunning bit of triple think the Natives, who knew no borders,
became "Aliens," while Europeans became "Americans," and "Americans"
became "Natives," while the Original Americans became "foreign"
infiltrators and lawbreakers bent on who-knows-what brand of
"terrorism" against "innocent" colonists, or if you prefer,
"Americans."
Or "Settlers."
Or is it "Afrikaaners."
Take your pick.
The Six Nations Confederation - the Iroquois, or Hau De No Sau Nee -
wrote in their classic Basic Call to Consciousness that colonialism
means "to be controlled from afar," that "colonialism is the process
by which we are systematically confused," and that confusion is "an
agent of control."
Like this.
"We are a nation of immigrants, and laws."
But sometimes someone slips, forgets the double talk, and makes the
agenda clear. They don't mean for us to overhear, but they can't help
themselves.
In his mercilessly racist article Are We Really a Nation of
Immigrants?, Lawrence Auster slips. He writes, "…throughout its
history the United States has been a member of Western civilization—in
religion overwhelmingly Christian… in race… overwhelmingly white, in
language English. Why shouldn't those little historical facts be at
least as important in determining our immigration policy as the
pseudo-fact that we're all 'descended from immigrants?'"
(FrontPagemagazine.com).
Auster, and David Horowitz' Front Page Magazine, want one thing; they
know what it is, and they're willing to tell you. They want a white
nation. They slipped.
The many who write diatribes and hate mail on the theme of "What part
of ILLEGAL don't you UNDERSTAND?!" also slip.
We understand "illegal" perfectly well.
Conquest of territory in wars of aggression is illegal under
international law. The US occupation of most Native land and all of
the occupied sections of Mexico is illegal. The presence of the
conquering people, the usurpation of the land itself is illegal. The
colonists themselves are illegal aliens.
But, for the Right, it's not really about some imaginary adherence to
a just, neutral system of "law."
It's about race law and white privilege.
And race law, codified on paper or not, is deeply codified in white
people's expectations about their place in society, and some of them
are getting dangerously edgy about having "their" land – their turf –
stepped on by Brown people.
On the web site of the anti-Mexican hate group Save Our State, a
correspondent calling themselves "USA Today" writes:
"To be honest we are heading for a Balkinization and a racial cleansing
"I know its not politicly correct to say so but I think lots of folks
see it coming and I'll bet the vast majority of Americans would have
no problem with genocide as a last resort to save this country ,
Usually when you back somebody into a corner they will defend
themselves by any means ........get it ?
"Does this sound like something you would hear the nazis say? sure it
is but I spend lots of time scanning the forums and blogs and its
coming from normal , everyday people that are just about fed up with
the whole mess.
"I know a large number of Germans didn't agree with Hitler but they
didn't exactly act against him either. "Just keep pushing and pretty
soon you'll find the American people in a corner.
"On that day, Beware."
People who think like this are the social, cultural and political base
of politicians like Jim Sensenbrenner. They are classic colonists,
with the colonizer's outlook.
For them, mere "immigration" is impossible. Their "forefathers"
conquered the land, so those coming here must be out to "re-conquer"
the land – to take it back from them.
These are the true inheritors of the American Dream, a dream which,
for the colonized, has been nothing but a nightmare.
They intend to defend that nightmare – no matter what it takes.
That's what "immigration reform" and "immigration control" are really
all about.
Colonialism.
And the race laws that defend it.
http://arizona.indymedia.org/news/2006/04/39603.php
-----
(((((6a)))))
:::::
Stop the Deportations!
STATUS FOR ALL!
Saturday, May 27, 2006
National Day of Action
(Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal ...)
:::::
Across Canada, migrants, refugees and their allies will demonstrate
against the deportation and detention of migrants and refugees, and
for a full, inclusive, unconditional and ongoing regularization
program, meaning STATUS FOR ALL!
Building on ongoing organizing efforts led by migrant communities
across the Canadian state, we are demonstrating because hundreds of
thousands of people live without status, while hundreds of thousands
more are exploited by the arbitrary and racist policies of Immigration
Canada. Thousands of migrants are forced to live in poverty, without
sufficient access to health care or education, and in great fear of
being detained or deported, all the while being the most exploited in
the workplace.
We are demonstrating as part of a struggle for self-determination as
migrants, immigrants and refugees, supported by our allies.
Join us on May 27, in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and elsewhere. We
refuse to be invisible; we refuse to live in fear. We demand STATUS
FOR ALL!
-----
IN VANCOUVER --> Specific details will be confirmed in the coming
weeks. For more information, or to get involved, please phone
778-885-0040.
IN TORONTO --> The Status for All! March will meet at 1pm at O.I.S.E.
(252 Bloor Street West at the St. George subway station). We will
march through the city and end with a community festival. For more
information or to get involved, contact nooneisillegal at riseup.net;
http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org
IN MONTREAL --> The Status for All! March will gather at NOON at
Phillips Square (corner of Ste-Catherine and Union, metro McGill) and
march thru downtown, up into the Plateau and Mile-End, north to Parc
Extension and into Cote-des-Neiges for a community picnic at Kent
Park. For more information or to get involved, contact: 514-859-9023,
sansfrontieres at resist.ca; www.solidarityacrossborders.org
-----
-> To endorse the STATUS FOR ALL National Day of Action (May 27,
2006), please e-mail: sansfrontieres at resist.ca
-> If you are organizing an action or demonstration in your local
community, please get in touch with details: sansfrontieres at resist.ca
NO BORDERS, NO NATIONS, STOP THE DEPORTATIONS!
JUSTICE AND DIGNITY FOR ALL MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES!
-----
(((((6b)))))
[svp diffuser ...]
:::::
Arrêtez les Déportations!
Statut pour tous et toutes!
Samedi 27 Mai 2006
Journée Nationale d'Action
(Vancouver, Toronto, Montréal ...)
:::::
A travers le Canada, des migrant-e-s, des réfugié-e-s et leurs
allié-e-s vont manifester contre la déportation et la détention de
migrant-e-s et de réfugié-e-s, and pour un programme de régularisation
totale, inclusive, inconditionnelle et continue, ce qui signifie
STATUT POUR TOUTES ET TOUS!!
Nous appuyant les efforts continus de la part des communautés
migrantes à travers le Canada, nous manifestons car des centaines de
milliers de personnes vivent sans statut, tandis que des centaines de
milliers d'autres sont exploités par la politique raciste et
arbitraire d'Immigration Canada. Des milliers de migrant-e-s sont
obligés de vivre dans la pauvreté, privés de l'accès minimal aux soins
de santé ou à l'éducation, et dans la peur terrible d'être emprisonnés
ou déportés, tout en étant les plus exploités du marché du travail.
Nous manifestons dans le cadre de la lutte pour l'autodétermination
des migrant-e-s, des immigrant-e-s et des réfugié-e-s, avec le soutien
de nos allié-e-s.
Soyez des nôtres le 27 mai, à Vancouver, Toronto, Montréal et
ailleurs. Nous refusons d'être invisibles; nous refusons de vivre dans
la peur. Nous exigeons le STATUT POUR TOUTES ET TOUS!
----
A VANCOUVER --> Plus de détails seront confirmés dans les semaines qui
viennent. Pour plus d'information, ou pour vous impliquer, appeler le
778-885-0040.
A TORONTO --> La Marche Statut pour Toutes et Tous! commencera à 1pm à
O.I.S.E. (252 Bloor Street West à la station de métro St. George).
Nous marcherons à travers la ville et nous finirons avec un festival
communautaire. Pour plus d'information ou pour vous impliquer,
contacter nooneisillegal at riseup.net; http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org
A MONTREAL --> La Marche Statut pour Toutes et Tous! commencera à MIDI
au Square Phillips (au coin de Ste-Catherine et Union, métro McGill)
et traversera le centre-ville, montera au Plateau et dans le Mile End,
puis montera jusqu'à Parc Extension et Côte-des-Neiges pour un
pique-nique communautaire à Parc Kent. Pour plus d'information ou
pour vous impliquer, contacter le 514-859-9023, ou bien
sansfrontieres at resist.ca; www.solidarityacrossborders.org
-----
-> Pour soutenir la Journée Nationale d'Action STATUT POUR TOUTES ET
TOUS (27 mai 2006), envoyer un e-mail à : sansfrontieres at resist.ca
-> Si vous organisez une action ou une manifestation dans votre
communauté local, contactez-nous à : sansfrontieres at resist.ca
PAS DE FRONTIERES, PAS DE NATIONS, ARRETONS LES DEPORTATIONS!
JUSTICE ET DIGNITE POUR TOUS LES MIGRANT-E-S ET LES REFUGIE-E-S!
-----
(((((7)))))
May 1, 2006: Call to Action!
"El Gran Paro Americano 2006" "The Great American Boycott 2006"
"Un dia sin immigrante" "A day without an immigrant"
Nationwide Immigrant General Strike
http://www.NoHR4437.org
http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
Immigrants contribute 7 billion in social security per year. they earn
240 billion, report 90 billion, and only are reimbursed 5 billion,
"where are the 85 billion?" They also contribute to the U.S. economy
25 billion more than they receive in healthcare, etc., etc., etc.
According to the anti-immigrant politicians and hatemongers,
"immigrants are a drain on society." If this is true, then during the
day on May 1st the stock market will surge, and the economy will boom.
If not, we prove them wrong once and for all. We know what will
happen!
Therefore, the "March 25th Coalition against HR4437 in Los Angeles,"
the organizers of the mega march of almost 2 million on March 25th,
has called for an emergency videoconferenced meeting on April 8th
between Los Angeles and any city that wishes to join the efforts
toward "El Gran Paro Americano 2006." The following meeting will take
place in Chicago on April 22nd, we ask that all that wish to
participate and be a part of a national effort on May 1st and beyond,
to attend by finding facilities in your areas that can hold the
meeting, technologically.
The points of unity are: No Work, No School, No Sales, and No Buying,
and also to have rallies around symbols of economic trade in your
areas (stock exchanges, anti-immigrant corporations, etc.).
Cities across the United States have marched during the week,
therefore, in essence observing a regional boycott, which is only felt
regionally. The March 25th Coalition against HR4437, calls for these
regions to develop a national network that will "connect the dots."
We believe with numbers we have power, the power currently necessary
to keep the pressure on the White House to propose provisions that are
just and fair for all immigrants.
We will settle for nothing less than full amnesty and dignity for the
millions of undocumented workers presently in the U.S. We believe
that increased enforcement is a step in the wrong direction and will
only serve to facilitate more tragedies along the Mexican-U.S. border
in terms of deaths and family separation.
More details to come... Keep your eye on http://www.nohr4437.org
-----
(((((8)))))
Mobilisation contre le projet de loi CESEDA
Contre une immigration jetable : c'est maintenant qu'il faut lutter !
http://alternativelibertaire.org/index.php?&action=accueil&dir=al149&page=149-06.html&n=
On compte maintenant 150 associations, syndicats, collectifs de
sans-papiers, organisations politiques rassemblées dans le collectif "
Uni(e)s contre une immigration jetable ". Son objectif : dénoncer et
bloquer le projet de loi sur l'immigration concocté par Sarkozy 1. 150
pour rappeler que s'attaquer aux droits aux immigrés, c'est s'attaquer
aux droits de toutes et tous. La mobilisation doit encore s'étendre et
se renforcer.
" Comme tous les jours, vous déjeunez avec votre collègue Paola. Elle
a été embauchée pour une durée d'un an non renouvelable, selon une
procédure prévue par la nouvelle loi. Depuis deux mois, vous êtes la
seule personne à qui elle ose parler du cauchemar quotidien qu'elle
vit, en raison du harcèlement sexuel dont elle est victime par son
directeur. Vous lui avez dit que des lois existent pour la protéger.
Comme elle l'a prévenu qu'elle allait porter plainte s'il n'arrêtait
pas, son directeur lui a annoncé, du coup, qu'elle sera licenciée. En
fait, Paola pourrait l'attaquer en justice pour harcèlement, mais le
licenciement met fin à son droit à un titre de séjour depuis la loi de
2006... Elle sera loin avant de voir l'issue du procès, et son
employeur le sait. Vous n'aviez pas réalisé que Paola était à ce point
sur un siège éjectable, et que sa vie en France ne dépendait que du
bon vouloir de ses employeurs… " 2
Politique-fiction ? Pas vraiment, seulement une situation banale
demain si nous laissons faire le gouvernement. En quelques mots, sa
nouvelle loi relative à l'immigration vise à constituer une masse de
travailleur(e)s sans droits dont le séjour est conditionné au contrat
de travail, à restreindre les conditions d'entrée sur le territoire et
à trier les " bons " des " mauvais(es) " immigrant(e)s en fonction des
besoins de l'économie française, à précariser les titres de séjour et
les droits qui leur sont associés, à limiter drastiquement le droit de
vivre en couple et en famille, à condamner les sans-papiers à
l'irrégularité perpétuelle ou à l'expulsion. Toutes choses qui nous
concernent toutes et tous, et très directement : au travail, dans
notre vie amoureuse et amicale, dans nos lieux de vie. Sarkozy veut
une immigration choisie, entendez malléable et corvéable pour le
patronat et rassurante pour l'électeur gavé aux arguments sécuritaires
et xénophobes. Nous refusons de subir la destruction des droits du
travail, des droits sociaux, des droits fondamentaux, et la
désintégration des liens de solidarité à l'échelle nationale comme
internationale que son projet de loi contribue à alimenter. Nous
refusons le projet de société ultralibéral, raciste et sécuritaire que
le gouvernement n'a de cesse d'imposer. Riposter et gagner
Il reste peu de temps pour opposer un front d'ampleur au projet
gouvernemental. La loi devrait être présentée à l'Assemblée au
printemps prochain. Alternative libertaire a rejoint le collectif "
Uni(e)s contre une immigration jetable ", fondé sur l'initiative
d'associations de lutte pour les droits des immigré(e)s. Il s'agit
d'analyser le projet de loi (cf. Alternative libertaire, n° 148,
février 2006) et de sensibiliser largement et au-delà des réseaux
militants sur ses effets, mais aussi de construire une mobilisation à
même de l'empêcher de passer. Des actions ont déjà vu le jour :
pétition, réunion publique d'information le 28 janvier dernier à
Paris, conférences de presse, production de matériel d'information et
de sensibilisation, participation à des manifestations allant de celle
contre le CPE le 7 février comme celle des sans-papiers le 18 février
dernier, interpellation d'élu(e)s et de personnalités… D'autres sont à
venir, localement et hexagonalement, jusqu'à la manifestation prévue
au printemps. Des collectifs locaux sont en cours de constitution,
afin d'organiser des débats, des concerts et autres événements
permettant une sensibilisation. C'est grâce à l'entrecroisement de la
mobilisation locale et d'initiatives nationales que nous pouvons
espérer gagner.
Lier les luttes entre elles
C'est aussi en tissant les liens avec d'autres luttes, celles des
collectifs de sans-papiers et du Réseau éducation sans frontières bien
sûr, mais aussi celles sur l'emploi, celle pour le logement, que la
conscience de l'étendue du désastre de ce projet de loi peut être
renforcée. Attaquant sur tous les fronts, ce gouvernement nous oblige
à nous morceler, et nous pousse à passer d'une urgence à une autre.
C'est en insistant sur la dimension systémique de ces attaques que
nous pourrons résister. À ce titre, l'investissement des syndicats
dans la lutte contre le CESEDA est indispensable, tant pour la faire
aboutir que pour déconstruire les réactions xénophobes qui ont déjà
cours, mais qui ne manqueront pas d'être réactivées, dans le monde du
travail. Quant à nous, libertaires, nous devons opposer aux logiques à
l'œuvre la liberté de circulation et d'installation ancrée dans le
projet fédéraliste, libertaire et égalitaire. Tout en défendant le bon
sens et le réalisme de mesures intermédiaires comme l'abrogation des
lois répressives sur l'immigration adoptées depuis vingt-cinq ans, le
respect du droit d'asile, la régularisation de tous les sans-papiers,
ou encore l'arrêt immédiat des expulsions et la fermeture des centres
de rétention. À l'heure où la France est épinglée sur ses prisons et
ses politiques d'immigration par un rapport du commissaire européen
des droits de l'homme, nous ne demandons pas l'impossible !
Corinne (AL Paris-Est)
1. Voir Alternative libertaire n° 148, février 2006.
2. Extrait du flyer d'information conçu par le collectif " Uni(e)s
contre une immigration jetable ". Pétition en ligne, informations et
analyses sur le projet sont disponibles sur le site
http://www.contreimmigrationjetable.org
-----
(((((9)))))
Les avocats de Charkaoui veulent faire tomber ses conditions de libération
Presse canadienne
Le jeudi 06 avr 2006
Les avocats d'Adil Charkaoui ont demandé jeudi à la Cour fédérale
d'abolir les conditions de libération de leur client.
Dans le cas d'un refus de la cour, les avocats ont fourni le nom de
plusieurs personnes prêtes à superviser l'immigrant reçu du Maroc,
détenu par la police canadienne en vertu d'un certificat de sécurité.
La police soupçonne Charkaoui d'être un agent terroriste.
Parmi ces personnes prêtes à venir en aide à M. Charkaoui, pour des
raisons humanitaires, on note les noms d'Alexandre Trudeau, un fils de
l'ancien premier ministre Pierre Trudeau, et le producteur de films
connu, Martin Duckworth, qui a qualifié jeudi en cour le certificat de
sécurité de premier pas vers les fascisme.
Adil Charkaoui a été arrêté par la GRC en 2003 et il a été libéré en
février 2005, mais avec les conditions qui font l'objet de l'actuelle
contestation en cour. L'homme n'a jamais été accusé formellement et
n'a jamais subi de procès.
M. Duckworth, un producteur de films indépendant âgé de 72 ans,
affirme qu'il s'est intéressé au cas de Charkaoui parce qu'il se
rappelle du sacrifice d'un oncle tué par les Nazis pendant la Deuxième
Guerre mondiale.
«Il est mort dans la défense de la liberté», a-t-il dit, en ajoutant
qu'il lui revenait maintenant d'agir en mémoire de son oncle.
Pour les partisans de M. Charkaoui, les conditions décrétées pour sa
libération imposent des difficultés énormes sur sa famille. L'homme
doit notamment porter un bracelet de localisation électronique,
respecter un couvre-feu et ne pas se déplacer sans être accompagné
d'un membre de sa famille. Ces mesures, disent ses partisans,
empêchent sa famille de vivre normalement et d'accomplir ses
obligations religieuses.
«Je veux que la Cour abolisse toutes ces conditions, a déclaré
Charkaoui à l'extérieur du tribunal, jeudi. Je veux une vie normale,
comme père, et vivre en paix avec ma famille et mes enfants.»
Le Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité soupçonne Adil
Charkaoui d'entretenir des liens avec le réseau terroriste Al-Qaeda.
Les autorités fédérales voudraient bien le renvoyer dans son pays
d'origine, mais ses partisans affirment qu'il serait soumis à la
torture si c'était le cas.
Par ailleurs, la Cour suprême devrait se prononcer en juin sur la
constitutionnalité d'une expulsion fondée sur un certificat de
sécurité. La Cour devra par le fait même statuer sur le cas de deux
autres hommes, qui font également face à la déportation en vertu de
certificats similaires.
Selon la Loi canadienne sur l'immigration, le gouvernement peut
utiliser le prétexte d'un certificat de sécurité pour expulser un
immigrant, qui n'est pas encore citoyen canadien.
-----
(((((10)))))
Adoption de la déclaration africaine sur la migration
La Tribune (Algiers)
ACTUALITÉS
6 Avril 2006
Publié sur le web le 6 Avril 2006
Par Ghada Hamrouche
http://fr.allafrica.com/stories/200604060488.html
Les représentants des 53 pays africains, réunis depuis lundi à Alger
autour de la question de la migration et du développement, sont
parvenus à un consensus sur une vision et une approche globale ouvrant
la voie à une base de négociation avec leurs partenaires, notamment
européens.
Les prochaines réunions des cinq régions d'Afrique permettront de
«ciseler» cette «feuille de route», et doteront les Africains d'un
document de base lors de leur réunion avec leurs partenaires européens
au mois de mai prochain à Vienne, en Autriche. Cette réunion sera
suivie d'une rencontre de plus haute importance au mois de septembre
prochain à New York.
C'est ce qu'a déclaré hier M. Abdelkader Messahel, ministre délégué
aux affaires maghrébines et africaines, au terme de cette réunion de
trois jours. Lors d'un point de presse en marge de ladite réunion,
M.Messahel a mis en exergue «la prise de conscience» africaine de ce
phénomène sensible et la nécessité de parvenir à des solutions
favorisant et protégeant les droits humains. La position africaine
commune, soulignera M. Messahel est «l'expression la plus parfaite de
la solidarité, de l'échange et du partenariat actif que nous voulons
établir entre nous et l'ensemble de nos partenaires, à commencer par
l'Union européenne (UE)». Cette démarche africaine expliquera M.
Messahel, est «la plus conforme à l'esprit du partenariat actif et de
dialogue constructif que nous voulons maintenir notamment avec nos
partenaires européens, et celle qui prend en charge le phénomène
migratoire dans sa globalité et qui privilégie les solutions fondées
sur l'aide au développement».
M. Messahel ne manquera pas de noter qu'en «dehors de ce cadre, toute
autre solution ne peut être qu'éphémère et forcément
contre-productive». Soulignant que l'Algérie ne participera qu'aux
réunions à caractère institutionnel africain, il rappellera
l'engagement du continent «à poursuivre ses efforts inlassables pour
lutter efficacement contre la migration illégale et ses connexions
avec les diverses formes de criminalité».
Concernant la déclaration finale, on apprendra que les experts
africains ont adopté un certain nombre d'actions spécifiques
identifiées au triple plan national, continental et international.
Sur le plan national, il s'agit notamment d'adopter une stratégie de
lutte contre la migration illégale ou irrégulière et de renforcer les
mécanismes de lutte contre les filières du trafic des êtres humains.
Au plan continental il s'agit essentiellement d'adopter le cadre
stratégique pour les politiques de migration en Afrique et
d'introduire des mesures effectives, notamment des cadres juridiques
de lutte contre la migration illégale.
Au plan international, les Africains appellent l'UE à mettre en oeuvre
les engagements pris dans le cadre du plan d'action adopté par la
conférence Afrique-Europe tenue au Caire en avril 2000. Les Européens
sont également invités à assouplir les procédures de délivrance des
visas, mais aussi de mettre en oeuvre leur engagement d'allouer 0.7%
de leur PNB à l'aide publique et au développement.
-----
(((((11)))))
Montreal Gazette
SUE MONTGOMERY
Friday 07 April 2006
* Colour Photo: ALLEN MCINNIS, THE GAZETTE / Adil Charkaoui (left)
arrived at Federal Court yesterdaywith his mother, Latifa, and
daughter, Khawla, where they were greeted by supporters.
Charkaoui asks court to ease security restrictions
Fifteen people offer to become chaperones in effort to lift burden
from suspect's parents and brother-in-law
Adil Charkaoui, the 32-year-old father of three who federal
authorities suspect of having ties to the Al-Qa'ida terrorist network,
was in Federal Court yesterday to seek permission to go out without
his mother or father.
Charkaoui, who was born in Morocco but has been a permanent resident
of Canada for more than 10 years, was arrested in May 2003 on a
security certificate. He was released from prison on bail in February
2005.
He has to obey a curfew, not use a cellphone, the Internet, a pager or
a BlackBerry, and must wear an electronic tracking device at all
times. He also has to be accompanied by either parent or his
brother-in-law if he goes out.
That puts a heavy burden on his family and restricts Charkaoui's
freedom enormously, Charkaoui's supporters told Federal Court
yesterday.
To ease that load, 15 people stepped forward, saying they would be
willing to accompany Charkaoui when he goes to the Universite de
Montreal, where he works as a researcher and is pursuing a master's
degree in literature. He also works as a proofreader in a publishing
firm.
Martin Duckworth, a 73-year-old documentary filmmaker and one of those
offering to shadow Charkaoui, said he wrote to Charkaoui while he was
still in prison.
"I wanted to let him know I thought he was doing something important
in standing up against these fascist laws," Duckworth testified.
The security certificate has been harshly criticized by such advocacy
groups as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, as well as the
Canadian Bar Association, because it allows for non-citizens suspected
of being a threat to national security to be arrested and detained
without charge, and without seeing the evidence against them. Critics
contend the Criminal Code should be used in such cases, not a process
under immigration law.
Charkaoui's motion to change his conditions was to have been heard
yesterday morning. Instead, Federal Court Judge Simon Noel presided
over a hearing in which the government's lawyer questioned two
Canadian Security Intelligence Service employees about Charkaoui, in
the absence of Charkaoui and his lawyer.
"There's a lot of favourable evidence in terms of respecting
conditions and there is unfavourable evidence," the judge told the
hearing in the afternoon, when everyone was allowed in the courtroom.
"There's not a lot I can reveal to you without breaking the principles
of the security certificate."
The 10 people who appeared yesterday as possible chaperones for
Charkaoui were cross-examined by federal government lawyer Luc
Cadieux.
"Do you speak Arab?" he asked each of them, save for one, who was then
asked the question by the judge.
"Are you a member of the Coalition for the Defence of Adil Charkaoui?"
Cadieux asked.
In most cases, the witnesses had just recently met Charkaoui but were
willing to support him on humanitarian grounds.
Charkaoui's constitutional challenge of the security certificate is to
be heard by the Supreme Court in June.
The hearing to amend his conditions resumes today.
-----
(((((12)))))
Immigration Rights Battle Comes to US Schools
Week of the Walkouts
By ALAN MAASS; April 5, 2006 - Counterpunch
http://www.counterpunch.org/maass04052006.html
Student walkouts against anti-immigrant legislation spread across the
country last week, setting a new fighting example in the fast-growing
movement for immigrant rights.
The walkouts caught on quickly from city to city, with little or no
central coordination. Everywhere, students themselves took the lead--a
further sign of the deep-seated anger that has erupted against
proposals by anti-immigrant politicians to brand undocumented workers
as felons and criminalize anyone who assists them.
The desire to take a stand against this racist scapegoating was
evident in mass marches that brought at least 1.5 million people into
the streets across the U.S. last month. Now the school walkouts have
opened a new front in the struggle.
The walkouts began on the Monday after the 1 million-strong march
through Los Angeles. Southern California was the initial center of the
demonstrations.
In LA itself, an estimated 40,000 students left school, marching
through the streets and blocking freeways around the area. Some
schools tried to impose a lockdown to avoid mass walkouts, but
students defied threats of disciplinary action throughout the week.
"[F]or the small group of students who instigated the walkouts, most
of whom hadn't been politically active, but were well-connected on
campus and online, it was a transformative week," the Los Angeles
Times wrote in an analysis.
In San Diego, schools across the city were hit by the walkouts, with
demonstrating students gathering downtown for a rally outside San
Diego Community College. The walkouts were organized as students
arrived for class. Demonstrators marched, chanting, through their
schools, and then through the city to arrive downtown--some taking
miles-long routes though their communities and even alongside
freeways.
After speeches outside the college, plainclothes school district
security guards tried to convince students to board busses and return
to school. Some did, but most sat down on the lawn, chanting "Don't
get on!"
In Escondido, just north of San Diego, high schoolers walked out of
class and rallied in the streets. But this expression of free speech
was met by lines of police who used pepper spray on protesters. At
least 24 students were arrested, and a few suffered abuse at the hands
of the cops.
The walkouts continued through the week across the Southwest. In Las
Vegas, hundreds of students walked out of classes, according to
activists' reports.
By midweek, media attention focused on Texas--the home not only of
George Bush but other right-wing Republicans who are pushing the
vicious Sensenbrenner bill.
In Dallas, students who left schools across the city came
together--traveling by car, truck, bus and train--for a protest at
City Hall. After rallying outside, the students flooded into the
building to disrupt a city council meeting. Spontaneous protests took
place in Fort Worth and other cities across the state.
In the state capital of Austin, students walked out at Del Torre High
School--and then marched 15 miles, down a county highway and into the
city, to rally with other students from a dozen other schools outside
the capitol building.
The wave of walkouts reached beyond the Southwest.
For example, on the other side of the country, in the northern
Virginia suburbs outside Washington, D.C., walkouts snowballed through
the week, culminating March 30 in a march through Arlington, Va., for
a 1,500-strong rally at the county courthouse. Students waved flags
from their countries of origin. Those without flags used markers to
spell the names of countries on their bodies.
Reports from activists said the protests were organized mostly through
word of mouth. In many places, students relied on e-mails, text
messaging and the myspace.com community Web site to spread the word.
"All these politic officials are trying to make their dreams come true
by destroying ours, AND THEY WILL, unless we do something about it!!"
read a call for a walkout in Orange County, Calif., posted on MySpace.
The appeal convinced more than 1,500 students to leave classes at
Garden Grove High School, according to the LA Times.
Another influence pointed out by New York Daily News columnist Juan
Gonzales was an HBO movie called Walkout that premiered last month.
The film depicts the 1968 school walkout by some 20,000 Chicano
students in Los Angeles against discrimination and racism.
The walkouts had an electrifying effect on those who participated. "It
was great to have all of us unified, and fighting for something we
believe in," said Stephanie, a lead organizer of the protests at
Wakefield High School in northern Virginia.
The students drew on their knowledge of past struggles, but also
developed tactics on the spot. In LA, for example, the students who
descended on City Hall March 27 sat in on the front steps of the
building.
They also had to contend with the threatening presence of police.
"Living in a low income neighborhood, you just don't have a really
good image of the police," one student told the Times. "People thought
we were going to get arrested. But I told them: 'No. We are exercising
our right to free speech.'"
In the aftermath of the walkouts, many schools are threatening
students with discipline. In the north Texas town of Ennis, for
example, as many as 130 high school and junior high students were
suspended, which bars them from attending the prom. In Houston, a
principal at a school where 88 percent of students are Latino was
disciplined for flying the Mexican flag below the U.S. and Texas
flags.
And Steven Graham, one of the leaders of the walkout at Stoney Point
High School near Austin, says that police who had escorted them to the
Thursday demonstration outside the capitol building the next day
tackled them, forced them on a bus and returned them to school. Some
students were given $250 citations for truancy.
Nevertheless, the protests have had a huge impact. Everywhere, the
protesters were predominantly Latino, but Ben Miner, a high school
junior in Austin, said he wanted to demonstrate to show solidarity
with his Mexican and Mexican American friends. "It's racism all over
again," he told a reporter.
Like in other cities, several teachers were at the protest in Austin
outside the capitol to support their students. "It's pretty ironic--we
were learning about Gandhi all this week," Lacey Glover, a geography
teacher, told the Austin-American Statesman. "Most of my students
either are from a Latin American country or their parents are, and one
of the things we talk about is the need to support our kids. So that's
why I'm here."
Cindy Beringer, Eugene Chigna, Mike Corwin, Jon Van Camp and Laura
Woodward contributed to this report
-----
(((((13)))))
Riding shotgun on border
BY MICHELLE CARUSO
DAILY NEWS WEST COAST BUREAU CHIEF
Sunday, April 9th, 2006
New York Daily News
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/407396p-344804c.html
CAMPO, Calif. - A wind-whipped American flag rigged to the roof of a
beatup camper marks base camp for the Minutemen volunteers who have
come here to guard the rugged U.S.-Mexico border from intruders.
Three thousand feet high in the mountains, 50 miles southeast of San
Diego, this is four-wheel-drive territory - vast, harsh, uninhabited,
except by rabbits, rattlesnakes and the occasional mountain lion.
But for now, as the battle over illegal immigration rages in Congress
and on city streets across America, this windswept 13-mile stretch
nicknamed "Brokebutt Mountain" is home to a band of self-appointed
border guards who say they only want to enforce the law.
If they spot intruders, the Minutemen say they shine their lights and
call the Border Patrol. They say they don't try to apprehend anyone
themselves.
"Our government is not doing the job. When I saw how bad it was, I
decided to come out here and serve my country again," says T.S.
McMullen, a 50-year-old California-bred ex-Marine with a Rambo-style
physique and accessories.
With a .44-caliber rifle to the left of the steering wheel in his
camouflage-painted Silverado truck and a .45-caliber automatic pistol
strapped to his chest, he says the weapons are "no more than
self-defense."
"No Minuteman has ever shot anyone, but the druggies fired at us near
the Jacumba [Calif.] border post," said McMullen, who has spent the
last six months on the border, living out of his truck with a
one-burner stove and freeze-dried rations.
In his view, the illegal Mexican immigrants who sneak into the United
States to find work are a small fraction of the problem with the
nation's broken and largely unmanned border. Druglords and possible
terrorists can just as easily slip in, he said.
"This is a way in - with nothing to stop 'em," McMullen said, pointing
out a gaping hole in the 8-foot-high corrugated steel fence that is
the only barrier between Mexico and California. In some spots, only
easily climbable criss-crossed steel girders protect the boundary.
Minutemen bristle at charges they are "racist," insisting they have
nothing against the Mexican people. "These poor guys come here to get
work. I'd probably try to do the same if I were in their shoes,"
McMullen said. "But I don't like people who come to my house through
the back door."
Using walkie-talkie handles like "Bandit," "Romeo" and "Big Bird," the
volunteers patrol the border on foot and in vehicles all through the
night. Some, like McMullen, wait until sunrise to sleep in their
trucks or tents.
The group has recruited volunteers around the nation, including Long
Island, and organizers say up to 8,000 volunteers are expected to
patrol the border by the end of this month. But only about 10 were at
the Campo site last Thursday. Heavy rains and muddy, sometimes
impassable, roads were blamed for the turnout.
Max Kennedy, 52, a cranky Brooklyn native with a long list of
complaints about society's ills, says he came to the border from
Hyannis, Mass., about two weeks ago "to do what the government should
be doing."
"George Bush is selling this country down the drain. Unless the
average citizen is willing to stand up and do something, we will not
have a country left," he said.
Kennedy said he left Greenpoint, Brooklyn, in 1995 after his car was
deliberately rammed by an irate man who was never prosecuted.
"All I want is for people to come here legally. There's no room to
rescue these people," he said. He believes illegal immigrants have
"driven down wages" and scarfed up cheap housing. He blames "greedy
corporations" for exploiting the immigrants as "slave labor."
The Minutemen said they are "dead set against" any guest worker
program that would allow illegal immigrants to continue working in the
United States. "The people who support that are traitors to our
country," McMullen said.
-----
(((((14)))))
ICE PULLS KIDS OFF SCHOOL BUSES
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 49
Mexicans and two Salvadorans on Mar. 30 and 31 in Merced County
in central California. ICE said all those arrested had prior
deportation orders. In at least two cases, ICE seized US citizen
children off school buses before or after arresting their
parents. In Firebaugh, two unmarked ICE vans pulled up alongside
a school bus on the morning of Mar. 31, said Brian Walker,
superintendent of the Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified School
District. One van drove in front of the bus, forcing the driver
to stop. Armed ICE agents boarded the bus and took three children
away in a van. The concerned bus driver followed the vans to a
home where he saw agents handcuffing people who appeared to be
the students' parents, said Walker. In Merced, agents took two
students from Franklin Elementary School off a bus after
arresting their parents.
Walker said he called ICE officials to discuss how arrests could
be handled in the future. "[W]e want to share with them that it
can be a traumatizing experience for students to be pulled over,"
said Walker. "We...think it could have been handled differently."
"There was no intention to target the children," said ICE
spokesperson Virginia Kice. "We were arresting their parents. The
parents were concerned about the kids coming home to an empty
house. We didn't want to separate a family."
The timing of the raids, during a week of nationwide protests for
immigrant rights, was a coincidence, said ICE Deputy Field Office
Director Timothy Aitken. "We do this every day," he said. "This
had nothing to do with the protests or the bills in the House and
the Senate." Three of ICE's "fugitive operations" teams conducted
the raids; local law enforcement agencies were not formally
involved, but the Merced County Sheriff's Department helped with
at least one arrest, said Aitken. [Merced Sun-Star 4/4/06]
(Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News
Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity
Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499;
fax 212-674-9139; wnu at igc.org. INB is also distributed free via
email; contact nicajg at panix.com for info.)
-----
(((((15)))))
Immigration cells 'like kennels'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4877394.stm
UK officials treat some immigration detainees "like parcels, not
people", the prisons watchdog has said.
Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers reported that British-run cells
in the French ferry port of Calais were so small, staff dubbed them
"dog kennels".
She also criticised the detention regime at London's Heathrow Airport
as being "neither humane nor efficient".
Immigration Minister Tony McNulty said the government would "respond
fully" to the criticisms.
Group 4 Securicor, who runs the facilities in Calais, said there were
positives in the report and that all of the issues raised would be
resolved.
'Wholly inadequate'
Ms Owers' report criticised three immigration detention centres in
France that she visited in August 2005 - Calais Seaport and the
Coquelles tourist and freight terminals.
The three units are used to hold people found attempting to smuggle
themselves into the UK in the back of a lorry or by other means.
She said staff were unsure whether French or English law applied, or
if they could stop attempted suicides, fights or escape bids.
In her report, Ms Owers said accommodation at Coquelles freight
terminal was "disrespectful and wholly inadequate" and "hygiene
arrangements were insufficient".
Children detained
The Calais cells described as "dog kennels" were 13ft by 10ft (4m by
3m) with hole-in-the-ground toilets. The cells hold as many as six
people - some for up to 17 hours.
The facilities, run by Group 4 Securicor, had inadequate furnishing,
ventilation and heating, said Ms Owers.
Eleven children were among 661 people detained at Calais Seaport
between May and July last year - 17% of whom were given permission to
enter Britain.
Ms Owers' report made 49 recommendations, including ensuring that an
independent monitoring board gets regular access.
Gavin Windsor, of Group 4 Securicor, said the report was welcome,
particularly the recognition that staff were caring and respectful.
"We will continue to work with the Immigration and Nationality
Directorate to resolve all issues raised in the reports. We will take
all actions necessary to ensure the safety and welfare of those in our
care."
Decision-makers
In a separate report on temporary detention at Heathrow Airport, Ms
Owers praised staff but said the system generally was inhumane.
"There was little evidence of individual care within the immigration
removal system itself," she said.
"Some of those we observed in detention had been dealt with as though
they were parcels, not people."
She said Heathrow's decision-makers were more "focused on cases, files
and targets" than people, adding: "This is neither humane nor, in the
end, efficient."
Mr McNulty said people should only be held very briefly in the cells,
but he agreed that independent monitoring of the centres may need to
be improved.
Maeve Sherlock, chief executive of the Refugee Council, called on the
government to make sure children never end up in such centres.
-----
No One Is Illegal/Personne n'est illégal-MONTREAL
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