civil liberties

Mohamed Harkat, one of the "security certificate five" was arrested at his home while taking his morning shower yesterday. The stated reason on behalf of federal immigration authorities was the fact that his mother-in-law was not home at the time. His bail conditions stipulated that she remain living with Harkat and his wife. She still lives with both of them.

From Harkat's support committee:

MOHAMED HARKAT, SECURITY CERTIFICATE DETAINEE UNJUSTLY ARRESTED IN OTTAWA

What happened:

Mohamed Harkat was arrested Tuesday afternoon by Ottawa police
accompanied by Canadian Border Services agents at his home in Ottawa. CBSA alleges that Mohamed Harkat breached his bail conditions. In fact no breach occurred. The crown has 48 hours to bring him before a federal court judge. Mohamed Harkat is also already scheduled to appear in court next week to argue for changes in his bail conditions.

What you can do:

A) We ask organizations to issue statements along the lines of the following statement from the Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee.

Statement from the Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee

1. There was no breach of Mohamed Harkat's bail conditions. This, despite the conditions imposed being the toughest in Canadian history.
2. The arrest's timing was highly questionable given the facts:
- Mohamed Harkat's bail is up for review next week;
- Bill C-3, the new Security Certificates law, is being debated this week in the House of Commons.
This arrest could only have happened by order of a cabinet Minister - which was confirmed to Mohamed Harkat by CBSA officials. It also occurred on the eve of Adil Charkaoui's Supreme Court appeal.
3. The arrest constitutes harassment in the context of an
unconstitutional law.

Full Article at Adbusters Magazine.

Despite the privacy invasions and wrongful imprisonments in the Minority Report, the most disturbing scene in the futuristic thriller is the interactive hologram advertisements that read people’s emotions and call out to them by their name. While Philip K. Dick’s vision of a wayward security state still lies in the realm of science fiction, the personalized ads were frighteningly real...

For those keeping track of the millions in funding for "pro-western" journalists and political activists flowing from the US State Department, CIDA, and others, this article is worth reading. It seems that in the case of Iran, US funding has resulted in fewer freedoms, because the regime of the day feels threatened by the use of media for US foreign policy ends.

Many observers and activists say the crackdown on intellectuals and government critics has worsened since the U.S. State Department declared last February that it was creating a 75-million-dollar fund to "reach out to the people of Iran".

Poya, a member of No One Is Illegal Montreal, is in Iran, and recently sent back a rather interesting report about life there and the country's political situation.

There has been some fuss about the Venezuelan government's plan to remove the license for the Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) network. Rabble.ca even linked to it.

The main problem seems to be that an organization that receive funding from the US State Department, the National Endowment for Democracy and the International Republican Institute (and then refuse to disclose the details) is calling it a crackdown on freedom of speech.

Mahmoud Jaballah, Mohammad Mahjoub, and Hassan Almrei have sent an open letter to Canadians about their indefinite detainment.

There is a mounting campaign to "Close Guantanamo North", a reference to the "prison within a prison" at the Millhaven Institution. It's where the Canadian government is indefinitely detaining non-citizens under "security certificates", an "anti-terror" provision which allows the government to suspend the civil liberties of foreign nationals and hold them without granting access to evidence against them, if it exists.