ZGram - 5/26/2004 - "Amnesty slams Canada's 'blind pursuit' of security"

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

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

May 26, 2004

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Here is a bit of good news - and, at the same time, disturbing news. 
Amnesty International is scolding Canada for its "security 
certificate" abuse, but pointedly, Ernst Zundel is being left out. 
The "five men alleged to pose a risk to national security" are all 
Arabs.

What are they saying - that Ernst is NOT a security risk, 
incarcerated illegally, and therefore, Amnesty Internation need not 
be bothered with this case?

What unmitigated and unprincipled cowards they are!

At any rate, we are grateful for small favors - maybe something 
somewhere is going to shift. 

For the record:

[START]

Amnesty slams [Canada's] 'blind pursuit' of security

<http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/05/26/world/amnesty040526>http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/05/26/world/amnesty040526

LONDON - Canada is one of the countries sacrificing human rights in 
the name of stepped-up national security, Amnesty International said 
in its annual report Wednesday.   

The human rights group said the "blind pursuit of security" that 
began after Sept. 11, 2001 has produced the most sustained attack on 
human rights in half a century.

Several governments have introduced "regressive" anti-terrorist 
legislation, including Spain, France and Uzbekistan, the report said.

Amnesty singled out Canada for holding at least five men alleged to 
pose a risk to national security. They were detained on "security 
certificates" that allow them to be held without charge and denied 
full access to the evidence against them.

Amnesty also mentioned the case of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen of 
Syrian origin who was deported from the U.S. to Syria in 2002.

The U.S. said he was arrested on suspicion of having terrorist links. 
Arar was held for a year without being charged and says he was 
tortured while in custody in Syria.

A public inquiry into the case is set to begin in Ottawa next month.

U.S. has 'lost its moral high ground'

Amnesty saved its harshest criticism for the U.S., citing the 
hundreds of detainees from about 40 countries who are being held 
without charge by U.S. forces in Iraq, Cuba and Afghanistan.

The U.S. has lost its moral high ground and its ability to lead, said 
Irene Khan, secretary general of the human rights group.

"Sacrificing human rights in the name of national security, turning a 
blind eye to abuses abroad and using pre-emptive military force when 
and where the powerful choose has damaged justice and freedom, and 
made the world are more dangerous and divided place," Khan said.

The U.S.-led war on terror has given governments in "virtually every 
corner of the world" an excuse to abuse human rights, said Alex Neve, 
secretary general of Amnesty International Canada.

It's a trend now "firmly established on the global-political agenda," 
Neve said. "Many [governments] are using it as a pretext for 
persecution of ethnic groups."

[END]



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