ZGram - 2/27/2004 - "Investigation into CSIS's role in torture widening" - Part IV

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now more than ever!   

  March 1, 2004   

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:   

I now bring you the conclusion of this four-part Zgram that can be 
summarized in Ernst Zundel's words,  "... they (secret services in 
the United States and Canada) are farming out people to other 
countries to be tortured."   

  In this Zgram, Attorney Barbara Jackman, legal counsel for torture 
victim, Mr. Nureddin, gives an important statement at the press 
conference.  

Pay close attention to what she says about the use of "centres" to 
smear and implicate targeted victims of secret services such as CSIS. 

In Ernst's hearings, for instance, a big deal is being made about his 
alleged "association" with leaders and members of the Heritage Front, 
a non-profit "centre" set up in the early 1990s to provide a "safe 
ethnic haven" for disaffected Aryan youths.  I remember one of the 
very first audios I heard of a then to me unknown Mr. Zundel where he 
expresses his concern that "something is not right" about this 
Heritage Front - that he thought it was a set-up by the government.

And as per usual, Ernst Zundel had it right! 

Thanks to a careful investigation written up in a number of 
sensational political exposés by Canadian veteran reporter Bill 
Dunphy,  it was revealed to an astonished Canada that the Heritage 
Front had a CSIS mole, Grant Bristow, embedded in a leadership 
position who tried to egg the white kids on to telephone-harass 
Canadian Jews and get themselves involved in other petty crimes such 
as some street gang violence.  That's how society's "villains" are 
created by the very agencies commissioned to protect us - clever and 
handy, isn't it?  To justify their jobs, some people just create 
themselves the villains that they need!

Ernst was never a member, much less a leader of this Heritage Front, 
but he did know some of the white kids and those in a leadership 
position.  The Heritage Front became a mere shell of itself after the 
outing of Grant Bristow through Dunphy, but the "centre" is still 
seen as a handy tool for CSIS to smear Ernst's character in the 
on-going hearing, with former CSIS boss, Judge Blais, presiding. 

(I sell a video called "Setting the Record Straight" where Ernst 
explains his interaction with some of the Heritage Front kids.  If 
you are interested, email me - and I'll be glad to send you a copy 
for $25.- postage included.) 

But back to Attorney Barbara Jackman, who represents torture victim, Nureddin.

  [START]

  	I'm an immigration lawyer and I've been involved in security 
cases since the 1970s, when it was the RCMP Security Service and then 
later with both CSIS and the RCMP. I think what happened with Mr. 
Nureddin should be put in context. CSIS has a long-standing 
practice--and the RCMP before it and still--of focusing and 
targetting of persons who are associated with particular centres. 
Certainly the Muslim centre is now being targetted. In the past it's 
been Tamils, Kurds, Sikhs, because of their association with 
particular ethnic centres.

  	Associations with other persons and with particular centres 
have formed the basis of security certificates imposed on 
non-citizens in Canada, like Mr. Jaballah and Mr. Almrei and a number 
of others. In security certificate proceedings the government only 
needs to establish that the case might possibly be true,  so 
inferences are drawn based merely on associations with persons or a 
particular centre that's a concern to CSIS. Mr. Nureddin's case, and 
Mr. Arar before it, appear to indicate that the RCMP and CSIS, or 
both of them, are moving into another form of targetting: Canadian 
citizens.

  	I think it's important to realize that under the 
anti-terrorism act, there is no case to make against Mr. Nureddin or 
a number of the other persons. Canadian citizens can't be made 
subject of security certificates because they're Canadian citizens. 
So what appears to be happening is that CSIS or the RCMP are 
opportunistically taking advantage of times when people are 
travelling to provide information to other governments to get them to 
do their dirty work, to ask questions using means that would not be 
acceptable in Canada and that are not condoned internationally and in 
fact are prohibited internationally.

  	While the United States is returning people directly to 
countries to be tortured, it would appear that our services --or at 
least the question is raised -- that our security services are taking 
advantage of people's normal travels to have other countries question 
them using improper moves to do so.

  	I think that it's important for the Canadian government to 
investigate what happened and like Alex Neve said, Mr. Nureddin and I 
would like his case to be added to Mr. Arar's inquiry.

It's important not just in terms of what's happened but I think at 
this point in time, anybody, any Canadian citizen or permanent 
resident from the Middle East who's ever been questioned by CSIS or 
the RCMP should be worried about travelling.

  	They can't take a chance that if they travel they won't be 
detained in some other country because CSIS has passed information on 
about them.

  	That seems to be what is happening here and it's a very very 
serious concern which the government needs to investigate. I wrote a 
letter to Anne McLellan on behalf of Mr. Nureddin asking her to add 
him to Mr. Arar's inquiry, to do a second phase so to speak in order 
to investigate what happened to him and to emphasize that the 
Canadian Security Intelligence Service -- not just the RCMP -- needs 
to be investigated in terms of the practices that appear to be 
happening at the present time. 

[END]