[IPSM] Sogi Singh Deported

[nazila pop3]

(please circulate far and wide.)

Sogi Singh (*see below for background) was taken from prison in Montreal by
9am this morning. We assume that he is in the process of being deported.
However, we do not where he is at the moment, nor where he is being sent in
India.

It is urgent now for Sogi's safety to ensure that there is scrutiny when he
arrives in India. Amnesty's international secretariat has agreed to monitor
him. However, they need to know where he is. Here are some things that you
can do that would be useful:

==> Call, email, or fax Minister of Public Safety, Stockwell Day, and
Minister of Immigration, Monte Solberg, and ask them to disclose Sogi's
whereabouts to his lawyer in cooperation with Amnesty's offer to monitor his
security. Please also express your outrage about the fact that he was
deported despite serious questions about his security, that he was detained
for four years without charge, and that he was not given a chance to clear
his name of the allegations brought against him.

*Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Tel: (613) 991-2924 or 1-800-665-8711
Fax: (613) 952-2240
Email: day.s at parl.gc.ca AND days5 at parl.gc.ca

*Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Tel: 613-992-4516 (Ottawa) or toll free 1-800-565-4694 (Alberta)
Fax: 613-992-6181
E-mail: solberg.m at parl.gc.ca AND minister at cic.gc.ca AND bmq at cic.gc.ca

==> Call, email or fax Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter MacKay. Let him
know that you are concerned about the safety of Bachan Singh Sogi, and
demand that Canada prove that he is secure and that they are adequately
monitoring his security.

*Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Tel.: 613-992-6022 et 902-752-0226
Fax: 613-992-2337 et 902-752-0284
Email: mackay.p at parl.gc.ca AND mackap1 at parl.gc.ca


==> Call your media contacts and see if they will cover it - a basic
background is below. Media can get further info or set up interviews by
calling 514 859 9023 or emailing psi at riseup.net.

==============

BACKGROUND
1 July 2006




According to a fax sent by government authorities before dawn on Saturday, 1
July to the office of his lawyer, leave to appeal the decision to deport Mr.
Singh was refused, and deportation of the 45-year old asylum-seeker would
proceed on Sunday, 2 July.



Mr. Singh's imminent expulsion is widely viewed as part of a trend to set
aside long-established international safeguards against state use of
torture. On 14 June, the UN Committee against Torture asked Canada to halt
the deportation of Mr. Singh pending their review of his file. On 23 June,
the Federal Court nevertheless refused to stay the deportation. On 28 June,
Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day announced that he would not accept
the UN CAT recommendation and intended to proceed with the deportation
without delay.



Mr. Singh was assessed by Immigration Canada on 31 August 2005 to be at
"risk of torture" and at "risk to life or risk of cruel and unusual
treatment or punishment" if deported to his birth country, India
(Pre-removal Risk Assessment). This decision was set aside by a delegate of
the Minister of Immigration in a May refusal to offer Sogi "protection".



The torture survivor has been imprisoned in Montreal without trial under
secret evidence since August 2002 in a process similar to the "security
certificate". He is being deported on security grounds, but has denied the
allegation that he belongs to the Babbar Khalsa, a Sikh militant group.
Under the immigration security process, Sogi has been denied the opportunity
to defend himself against these accusations in a fair trial and has been
subjected to exceptions to safeguards against torture.



Minister Day and Minister of Immigration Monte Solberg have discretionary
power to halt the deportation at any time. The Presbyterian Church in
Canada, Amnesty International, Canadian Council for Refugees, Ligue des
droits et libertés, the Refugee Lawyers Association of Ontario, Liberal
Immigration Critic Raymonde Folco, Bloc Québecois Immigration Critic Meili
Faille and prominent members of the legal community are among the many
organisations and individuals from across the country who have called on the
Ministers to exercise this power in the past days.




Source: Sogi Singh Support Committee, tel. 514 859 9023, psi at riseup.net