ZGram - 2/27/2004 - "Investigation into CSIS's role in torture
widening" - Part II
zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org
zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org
Sat Feb 28 10:16:10 EST 2004
ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny: Now more than ever!
February 28, 2004
Good Morning from the Zundelsite:
This is Part II of my four-part Zgram about a widening US/Canadian
scandal involving a covert governmental operation between these two
countries to turn over "suspects" to be tortured in third
countries.
Zgram - Part I gave you an overview of what Ernst calls "... they
(secret services in the United States and Canada) are farming out
people to other countries to be tortured."
This Zgram - Part 2 - brings you the actual testimony of the second
Arab torture victim, Muayyad Nureddin, to have come forward after
Maher Arar, telling a story of having been nabbed while traveling and
having been turned over to Syria to be tortured.
The information comes from a Canadian website called
www.homesnotbombs.ca Last night was the first time I saw this
material that somebody e-mailed to me. I do not know the Arabs
involved, but the story is similar to what happened to my husband.
Brace yourself. This is not pleasant reading.
[START]
Given the soundbite nature of the news, it seems especially
important given the gravity of this issue to reproduce below a
transcript of today's press conference statements. Those who
participated are Muayyad Nureddin [and] his friend Tawfik Kettanah.
TAWFIK KETTANAH
(thanks media and all those who helped bring Muayyad home)
This case started when I received a call from Muayyad's brother that
he was being detained in Syria. His friends and I worked to get the
message to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the media.
The media and interviewed some of the people who knew Muayyad. I
later learned that CSIS visited the other two gentlemen who sent
money with Muayyad to their families in Iraq.
These gentlemen and I were approached by CSIS in the same way and had
been asked similar questions about Muayyad and the money, which
seemed to be a concern to the security agency in the airport at the
time when Muayyad was about to leave Canada.
I personally never accused CSIS of planning this and the last comment
I made to CTV News I remember was I need to hear from Muayyad to pass
a judgment. I learned later that some newspapers quoted me as
accusing CSIS, and this is not true.
Now that Muayyad is back I am very concerned that there are
indications that CSIS may have played a role in this case either
directly or indirectly.
MUAYYAD NUREDDIN
My name is Muayyed Nureddin.
I am an Iraqi Canadian.
I am a computer programmer analyst. I completed a three year
degree program at Centennial College in 2000. Before this I studied
geology for two years at a university in Iraq.
In the past I was the principal of the Salaheddin Islamic
School from January, 2001 to June, 2003.
I have never been a member of a political party or joined a
religious movement.
I am not a member of a political party or a religious movement.
I am not interested in joining a political party or a
religious movement.
I was visited by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
sometime in 1999 or 2000. I was asked:
If I had been to Afghanistan - I said no.
If I knew any Egyptians, involved in the Muslim movement - I
said I did not know.
Where I went to pray - I said to many mosques including the
Medina Masjid, Markham and Salaheddin.
Sometime later CSIS visited me. I was not home. They talked
to my room mate. They did not leave their card and did not return.
On September 16, 2003 I went to Pearson International
Airport. I was planning to fly to Germany via Amsterdam to meet up
with my brother and travel with him by car to Iraq to visit our
family.
When I was in the boarding line-up, I was approached by two
men who identified themselves as Canadian security agents. They
escorted me to the sitting area and questioned me for about 45
minutes. They asked me:
How many times I had visited Iraq - I told them two times before.
How much money I was carrying with me - I had already
declared my money. I gave them the details about whose money I had,
because I was taking money from friends in Canada for their families
in Iraq.
They asked if I knew three gentlemen, two Canadians, Aly Hindy and
Subhat Allah Rasul, and one landed immigrant, Hassan Farhat, who left
Canada in 2001. I told them that I knew these men. Two were friends
and one was my former boss.
They asked if I was involved in the accounting department of
the Islamic Centre, where I had been the principal. - I told them no.
After this 8 customs officers and a dog searched me and my
luggage. I was allowed to board my flight.
I met my brother in Germany and we traveled by car through
Europe to Turkey, then to Syria and Iraq. I was held up at the
Turkish-Syrian border for about 4 hours. Our car was searched - even
the doors and inside the ceiling. My money was counted. I was
questioned:
Did I work at a Muslim Centre - I said yes, but I had quit.
When did I quit - I said in June, 2003
Did I belong to any organization - I said no.
When I was in the border office, the Turkish official
received a call. I heard him say "why were they exaggerating" as I
had nothing. When he hung up the phone the officer told me that they
had to check me as they had received a report from higher officials.
I had no problems after this. My brother and I traveled to
Syria and Iraq.
In November, 2003 I traveled with one of my brothers to
Jordan to arrange to have the cars released, which I had shipped from
Canada, so that my brother and I could bring them to Iraq for resale.
On my way back to Iraq, a Jordanian border official asked me if I had
been told to report to any office in Jordan. I said no. He was
surprised that I had not been told to report in Jordan.
On December 11, 2003, I traveled by car with my mother, two
sisters and three brothers to the Syrian border. I was planning to
board a flight in Damascus to return to Canada via Amsterdam. One
brother was to travel with me to Damascus and the rest of my family
were to return to Syria.
I was detained. My luggage was searched and then given to my
brother. He was told to leave. We agreed he would go on to Damascus
and wait for me there. I learned later that he stayed in Damascus a
few days and then returned to Iraq to tell my family that I was
detained in Syria. My family contacted my friend Tawfik Kettanah in
Canada to ask him to help find out what had happened to me.
At the border, I was searched and handcuffed to a bed. A
Syrian official told me that I would not see the sun again. I was
questioned about my background. I overheard a Syrian official telling
someone on the phone that I had not been detained when I traveled
through Syria in September, 2003 because they only received a report
on me on November 14, 2003.
I was transferred that afternoon to a military detention
centre in Kamashly. I was kept in a small 1 x 2 metre cell. [3 ft by
6 ft] One officer joked about me hiding a bomb in my shoe. I told him
I was only trying to return to Canada. The next evening I was
transferred to the Palestine Branch of Syrian Military Intelligence
in Damascus.
I was detained at the Palestine Branch from December 12, 2003
to January 13, 2004. During this time, I was detained in an
underground cell about 5 x 6 metres. [15 ft by 18 ft] There were 30
prisoners in the same cell and by the time I left there were 40
prisoners.
I was interrogated a number of times. I was asked:
What money I had brought to Iraq. I told them I had about $10,000.
They told me exactly how much I had brought - $10,500 US and
4,000 Euros.
They asked if I had given the money to an organization. I said no.
They asked about the same three men that Canadian security
agents had asked me about at the airport when I was leaving Canada in
September, 2003.
They asked me about the Salaheddin Centre. I told them I
worked there before as school principal, and had quit.
I went through one terrible torture session. I have never
experienced this before and never want to again. I was taken to an
interrogation room and questioned. I was left to think about what
information I would give. My interrogators returned and I was told to
undress, but for my underwear. I was made to lie on the ground on my
stomach. I was soaked with cold water and a ceiling fan was put on. I
was interrogated again. The officers did not like my asnwers. I was
made to lift my legs, still lying on my stomach. The soles of my
feet were lashed with a cable more than a dozen times. I was told to
stand and they poured cold water on my feet. I was made to walking,
while standing in one place for ten minutes. Then they repeated the
same process twice more. Each time I was asked for more information.
They called me a liar, when I had nothing new to say to them. I was
sent back to my cell and told I would be called back for more
questions and that I had better think more about my answers.
I was told the chair would be used next time. This is a chair
frame into which a person is pushed and then his back bent.
I could not walk for a number of days after this session. I
lived with the constant fear that it would be repeated. I could not
sleep. Every time any guard came to the door I was afraid. It was
mental torture for me after the physical torture.
Early in January, 2004, I was made to sign statements without
being permitted to read them.
[ some text missing here] an outline of my family
information, which appeared to be the statement that I had previously
been told to write out.
[ some text missing here] what appeared to be a statement
which I had been made to write saying that I had been treated nicely
while detained.
[ some text missing here] a statement prepared by the jail
authorities, which I think covered the answers I had provided to
their questions.
On January 13, 2004 I was told to get ready as I was being
released. I was called to the Director's office and my passport,
flight ticket, and other belongings were returned to me. I was taken
to another office and told by Syrian officers to say that I had been
treated nicely.
I was taken to the Branch director's office and when asked I told him
that I had been treated nicely. I was introduced to Leo Martel from
the Canadian Embassy and left the prison with him. I spent time at
the Embassy that day and the next and told them what had happened to
me.
I was taken to the Sheraton Hotel overnight. The Canadian
government covered the cost of my hotel and flight back to Canada. I
was told to sign a repayment agreement. I now owe them $3,073.
I was told by Leo Martel that CSIS had advised the Canadian
Embassy that I was to be released the morning of January 13, 2004.
Since my return to Canada, I have fully cooperated with
CSIS. I met with them. They told me that they were involved in
securing my release.
They told me that I am not a person of concern to them.
It has become clear that there is a pattern of people who
held my job at the Islamic School being viewed with suspicion by the
authorities. Helmy El Sherief was the principal at one time. He was
held in an Egyptian jail for close to one month this year. Mahmoud
Jaballah was the principal at one time. He has been held in a
Canadian jail for more than two years. I was principal at one time
and I have been tortured in Syria.
I did know both of these men. I know nothing about them doing
anything illegal.
I have never done anything illegal. Why have I and they been targeted.
I have many questions:
I want to know why I was detained in Syria.
I want to know if CSIS or any other Canadian security agency
was responsible for my detention and torture in Syria.
I want the Canadian government to hold a public inquiry so
that I and the Canadian public know exactly what happened.
I do not want this to happen to others ever again. It is wrong.
I thank the Canadian media and every person who helped in
securing my release.
[END]
Tomorrow: Part III / Amnesty International at the press conference
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