CPTnet
September 17, 2004
TORONTO: Multi-faith walk calls for Canada to release "Secret Trial Five"
One hundred people walked through the streets of Toronto on September 12,
2004, calling on the Canadian government to release five Muslim men who
have been imprisoned for a cumulative total of over thirteen years without
charges, and without opportunity to defend themselves against the vague
accusations made against them. The walkers, most of them Jewish,
Christian, and Muslim, also called for the release of the thousands of
people without legal recourse whom the U.S. occupation forces in Iraq have
also jailed. Christian Peacemaker Teams, Campaign to Stop Secret Trials,
Canadian Association of Jews and Muslims, and Tikkun Toronto sponsored the
public witness.
The group gathered at the headquarters of the Canadian Security
Intelligence Service, which arrested Mohammed Mahjoub, Mahmoud Jaballah,
Adil Charkaoui, Hassan Almrei, and Mohamed Harkat. Mona El-Fouli, wife of
Mohammed Mahjoub, spoke of the pain she and her children have endured over
the last years of separation from their husband and father. Four of the
detainees are married, and they have eleven children among them.
The men are held under "security certificates," authorized by the Minister
of Public Safety which allege the men pose threats to national security.
Neither the accused nor their lawyers have the right to examine the
allegations. Dr. Aly Hindy, imam of Salaheddin mosque declared, "The
secrecy which enshrouds the prolonged imprisonment of these men bears the
mark of a police state, not the kind of democratic and freedom-cherishing
country which Canada aspires to be."
The Canadian government ultimately aims to deport the men to their
countries of birth, where Amnesty International says their lives would be
in danger.
>From the CSIS building, the vigilers walked to the U.S. consulate, the
city courthouse, and the headquarters of Canada's governing party, the
Liberals. At each station, a prayer was said from one of the religious
traditions and children of the detained men released white pigeons,
symbolizing freedom.
At the U.S. consulate, Stewart Vriesinga, a member of CPT's Iraq team,
spoke as an Iraqi prisoner, telling of how U.S. troops have come into
homes on night raids and torn people away from their families. Some
families have found no trace of their loved ones to this day.
At the courthouse, Shahid Akhtar, co-chair of the Canadian Association of
Jews and Muslims, said that people must join together in the struggle to
ensure that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Human Rights Laws are
applied to all regardless of race, color, place of origin or the faith one
adheres to.
In the closing prayer of the afternoon, Diana Ralph, a member of the
Campaign to Stop Secret Trials and Tikkun Toronto, marked the opening of
the Jewish High Holy Days by saying a prayer of atonement for herself.
She called also on Canadians in general and the Liberal Party in
particular to atone for their complicity and responsibility in allowing
these men to be deprived of their liberty and to be separated from their
families without a fair and open trial.
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches
(Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers) with support and
membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations.
Supporting violence-reduction efforts around the world is its
mandate.Contact CPT, POB 6508 Chicago, IL 60680; Telephone: 773-277-0253
Fax: 773-277-0291; e-mail: guest.903627@MennoLink.org.
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