[Stopwar-l] Action & Udates

[StopWar]

1. Take action against Canada's torture scandle 

2. StopWar co-chair
detained at US Boarder 

3. StopWar.ca Statement on the Olympics 

***(1)
(1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)***


CALL, FAX AND E-MAIL THE PRIME MINISTER TO DEMAND PETER MACKAY RESIGN


Today we learned that not only did the Canadian government know about
torture of Afghan detainees but that they actually defended their torturer
in Kandahar:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/738404--canada-defended-torturer?bn=1
[1]

 And although the government insists that the detainee transfer
agreement stopped the abuse of Afghans, this appears to be another
smokescreen:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/afghans-violating-detainee-transfer-agreement/article1399050/
[2]

 The Harper government needs to hear from you. Call to demand that
Harper:
 * Fire Peter MacKay
 * Call a full public inquiry
 * Bring the
troops home now (not in 2011)

 Contact the Prime Minister (and his chief
of staff):
 * pm at pm.gc.ca [3], Phone: 613-992-4211, Fax: 613-941-6900
 *
Guy Giorno, Stephen Harper's Chief of Staff, Phone: 613-992-4211 x11


Please let us know how they respond by sending us an e-mail at cpa at web.ca
[4] or by posting a report on the wall of the _"PETER MACKAY MUST RESIGN"_
facebook group at:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=211847868912&v=info">***(2) (2) (2)
(2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)***


OLYMPIC CRITIC DETAINED, QUESTIONED, AND REJECTED AT USA BORDER

- For
immediate public release - Thursday, December 10, 2009

Critics of the 2010
Olympic Winter Games (being held in Vancouver and Whistler, British
Columbia, Canada) continue to be subject to police harassment and
intimidation, including another activist detained and questioned at the
Pacific (Truck) Crossing border station and denied entry to the USA on
Thursday, December 10, 2009.

Marla Renn, a member of the Olympic
Resistance Network (ORN), was travelling to Portland, Oregon to speak on
the negative impacts of the 2010 Games. Renn was scheduled to speak at
educational events at Mt. Hood Community College, Reed College, Portland
State University, and the Red and Black Cafe. She was held for over six
hours as both Canadian and US border guards interrogated her about the
subject of her speech, her contacts in Portland, and her political
activities. She was previously denied entry for a Seattle speaking event on
the grounds that ten anti-Olympic shirts were unauthorised commercial
merchandise, but the shirts were found after she had already been
questioned on political issues. Likewise, the excuse for rejecting her this
time (lack of employment since her graduation in August) was brought up
after her planned speech and political activities were addressed by border
guards.

Renn was targeted for immediate questioning at the US border. She
was photographed and fingerprinted, her property was searched, her cell
phone was taken and accessed, and her documents (even the book she was
reading) photocopied. She was warned that any attempt to enter the US
within the next six months may result in two years imprisonment. At the
Canadian side of the border, she was again searched and questioned
extensively on the Portland events, her speech, and attempts to build
anti-Olympic support in the USA. "Continued harassment of peaceful
organisers and speakers by the police and border guards show that their
real objective is to silence dissent and not to protect the public," says
Renn.

Recently, journalist Amy Goodman (of Democracy Now) was travelling
to speak in Vancouver and was detained and questioned about her speech as
border guards assumed she would be criticizing the Olympics. Professor
Chris Shaw, also of ORN, was detained and questioned at the UK border when
travelling to speak on Olympic issues at an academic conference. Other
activists have been questioned and even rejected at the Canada-USA
border.

Across Canada, political organisers have been subject to
harassment, surveillance and questioning about anti-Olympic activism.
People's housing, academic work and employment have been jeopardized by
police visits. Even family members, friends, neighbours and co-workers
(people not involved in political activity) have been contacted by police.
The targets of these investigations are community members involved in open
public organising, with publicly accessible groups, meetings, events, and
websites. Combined with the efforts of the City of Vancouver and Olympic
officials to deny free expression by restricting political displays in
public space, the intent is clearly to silence public criticism and
traditional protest methods, such as political signs, speaking events,
marches, and rallies. 

***(3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
(3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)*** 

STOPWAR STATEMENT ON THE VANCOUVER 2010
OLYMPIC GAMES 
December 9, 2009 
***Please distribute widely.*** 

The
Olympic Charter states that the Olympic movement aims, "to place sport at
the 
service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting
a peaceful 
society concerned with the preservation of human dignity". The
Stopwar.ca coalition in 
Vancouver, Canada considers that this noble ideal
is contradicted the by reality of the 
Games which reveals a consistent,
predictable and historical pattern of militarization 
and anti-democratic
acts everywhere that they are hosted. The 2010 Winter Games that 
will take
place in Vancouver next February are no exception to this reality.


StopWar is especially concerned with the militarization of Vancouver and
Whistler 
during the Games, with its accompanying restrictions on the
democracy and safety of 
our community. Enormous resources, including one
billion dollars of 
spending, considerable military personnel and
equipment, and countless thousands of 
police and private security
personnel are being deployed. Featured among the identified 
"threats" to
the Games are domestic protest. The Games are accompanied by 
the largest
domestic military and security operation in Canadian military history. It

includes: 40 km of electronically monitored security fencing; over 1000
closed circuit 
cameras; the use of military aerial surveillance; the
creation of new policing forces such 
as VISU (Vancouver Integrated
Security Unit), JTFG (Joint Task Force Games), 
and participation of US
security and policing agencies; and finally, the use of 4500 
Canadian
Forces troops, many of whom will be pulled from the war in Afghanistan to
be 
relocated in 10 military camps between Vancouver and Whistler. 

The
increased surveillance and militarization of the Olympic host communities,
as well 
as those that the Olympic Torch will be passing through, has
resulted in an assault on 
civil liberties that is increasing as the Games
draw closer. What's more, British 
Columbia is facing environmental
destruction and the erosion of social services as a 
result of the Games.


The pattern of anti-democratic and repressive security procedures and
apparatuses that 
follow the Olympic Games wherever they are hosted can be
traced to IOC rules. Rule 
51 of the IOC Charter (2007) stipulates that "No
kind of demonstration or political, 
religious or racial propaganda is
permitted in any Olympic sites,venues or other areas." 
Rules and
procedures such as this call into question the legitimacy of any community

hosting the Olympic Games if they are guaranteed to remove the basic
principles and 
protections of a democratic society. The Canadian agencies
responsible for security 
have identified domestic protest groups as the
most significant security threat, thereby 
legitimizing the use of force to
suppress opposition and the effective removal of the 
fundamental freedoms
of speech, thought, and assembly protected by the Canadian 
Charter of
Rights and Freedoms.

Like the stated goal of the Olympic Games, the
Olympic Truce movement is similarly 
hypocritical and reveals nothing more
than a rhetorical commitment to peace that is 
contradicted by real
actions. Despite Canada being in its 9th year of waging war on the 
people
of Afghanistan, the Canadian Olympic Truce is calling on the world
community 
"to cease hostilities during the Games and promote the ideals of
peace through sport", 
however, Canada has no plans to cease causing death
and destruction in Afghan 
society. In an ironic twist of history, we
remember that the 1980 Olympic Games hosted 
by the Soviet Union were
boycotted by over 60 countries, including Canada, in protest 
of the Soviet
occupation and war in Afghanistan that had begun a year earlier in 1979.


The continued Canadian aggression in Afghanistan reflects a paternalistic
and 
Imperialist commitment in which the sovereignty of Afghanistan and the
ability of Afghan 
people to determine their own future is disregarded. In
the same way, the Olympic 
Games reveal the true agenda of the Canadian and
BC governments to disregard and 
further attack the struggle for
self-determination and sovereignty of local Indigenous 
nations. Land and
resource development for the Games has displayed a total disrespect 
for
legally recognized Indigenous land, title and resources and the destruction
of sacred 
sites. Government supported chiefs have been bought out and
traditional indigenous 
symbols and artistic expression have been co-opted.


Stopwar opposes the use of war as a means of settling international
disputes. We 
demand that Canada withdraw our troops from Afghanistan
immediately and that 
Canada respect and recognize Indigenous rights,
title, and sovereignty on the stolen 
and colonized land of Turtle Island
(North America). 

We believe that the Vancouver 2010 Olympic games will
leave a lasting legacy that is 
disastrous for our community and nation. We
call on all peace loving people to expose 
and bring to the world stage our
experience of the militarization that come from hosting 
the Olympic Games.
By being vigilant and vocal about what it really means to promote a

peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity we can
try to ensure 
that no nation and no community is forced to endure these
conditions again. 



Links:
------
[1]
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/738404--canada-defended-torturer?bn=1
[2]
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/afghans-violating-detainee-transfer-agreement/article1399050/
[3]
mailto:pm at pm.gc.ca
[4] mailto:cpa at web.ca
[5]
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=211847868912&v=info&edit_info=all#/group.php?gid=211847868912
[6]
http://www.acp-cpa.ca/endtorture.html
[7]
http://ottawapeace.blogspot.com/
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