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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Muslim Hunger Striker's Support From Jewish Woman |
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| timbuktu |
| 10/20/03 at 20:34:18 |
| Muslim Hunger Striker's Support From Jewish Woman From S. F 10-19-3 This story is outrageous! A Syrian man has been held in solitary confinement in an Ontario jail WITHOUT CHARGES for the last two years on what is called a 'security certificate'. "They can remain imprisoned for as long as the authorities want. Detainees are not charged with any offence or afforded the usual legal process of being able to defend themselves. Evidence is kept in secret from the individual accused and the defence lawyer." Canada's 'Guantanamo'... The man is on a hunger strike for a sweater, shoes and heat in his cell because apparently "regulations won't allow an inmate to have shoes, a jacket or heater in his cell." A Jewish woman, an ex-professor, has started her own hunger strike in support of the man, and has offered "$10,000 for bail and an apartment for him to stay if he were released." I'm enclosing three stories, as they each had info the other one didn't. I'm noting the date the stories originally appeared, rather than today's. Man Held Two Years Without Charge Begins Hunger Strike CFMU (93.3 FM) Revolt Radio 10-9-3 A man charged with no offence, but held in solitary confinement for more than two years on what's called a security certificate has begun a hunger strike. Hassan Almrei began refusing food from guards at Toronto's Metro West Detention Centre eleven days ago. One woman involved with a campaign to end the security certificate process is held under has begun a hunger strike in solidarity with Almrei. Revolt Radio reached Diana Ralph at her Toronto home yesterday. She said she will fast as long as Almrei, who has said he will not stop until he receives adequate heat and proper clothing. Ralph says Almrei has already suffered through two winters in such conditions. He felt the temperatures getting colder this year and decided eleven days ago he could take no more. Ralph, who is Jewish, began her strike during Yom Kippur, a day of atonement in the Jewish faith observed earlier this week. The Security Certificate procedure Hassan Almrei is held on dates back to the early 1990s. It allows Canada's spy agency, CSIS, to obtain an order from the Minister of Immigration to jail residents of Canada who are without citizenship status. They can remain imprisoned for as long as the authorities want. Detainees are not charged with any offence or afforded the usual legal process of being able to defend themselves. Evidence is kept in secret from the individual accused and the defence lawyer. Formerly in the honey business in Saudi Arabia, Almrei is accused of being a potential money launderer for the Bin Laden network on the basis that the network has used the honey industry for such purposes before. Yet the security certificate prohibits the release of any evidence that actually links Almrei to Bin Laden network money. CSIS further alleges Almrei is a security threat because he admitted to knowing Nabil Al Marabh, whose uncle owns the Toronto photocopying business that was splashed all over Ontario television following the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York. Mathew Behrens of the campaign to End Secret Trials says charges of Al Marabh's link to terrorism have quietly whittled away to a minor immigration violation. Despite the collapse of this key piece of evidence, there is no appeal for Almrei because security certificates are final. Behrens and other supporters will hold vigil outside the Metro West Detention Centre October 19 from noon until 2pm. This will mark two years in solitary confinement for Hassan Almrei, without having been charged with any offence. The next day, October 20th, Behrens travels to Hamilton to speak about the Campaign to End Secret Trials. His talk will take place in room 311 of the student centre, beginning at 7pm. Meanwhile, Diana Ralph is encouraging supporters to send messages to Almrei, and to call complaints into the Metro West Detention Centre as well as Immigration Minister Denis Corderre and Solicitor General Wayne Easter. http://hamilton.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=4661&group=webcast |
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