Open Letter on ‘Toronto 11′ to Authorities from 19 Groups

By Combined Sources

4-24-08, 11:42 am

Authorities Asked to Consider Reasonable Bail Terms and Re-examination of Solitary Confinement for ‘Toronto 11′

- For Immediate Release -

(Ottawa, Canada – April 22, 2008) – In an open letter, the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) in partnership with the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF), Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC), Federation of Muslim Women (FMW), Islamic Ahlul Bayt Assembly of Canada, Islamic Circle of North America Canada (ICNA Canada), Islamic Society of North America Canada (ISNA Canada) and Muslim Association of Canada (MAC), along with an additional 11 organizations, today asked authorities to consider reasonable bail terms and re-examine the use of solitary confinement for the “Toronto 11.”

In the letter the 19 organizations wrote:

Subject: Authorities asked to consider reasonable bail terms and re-examine solitary confinement for ‘Toronto 11′

April 22, 2008

During the week of April 14, 2008, charges against four more of the “Toronto 18″ were stayed. Along with the three men who were previously released, the case of the “Toronto 18″ has now been whittled down to the “Toronto 11.”

As representatives of Canada’s Muslim communities, we are committed to Canada’s security, while also ensuring that due process and civil liberties are respected. Thus, in consideration of the public knowledge we have of the cases, and the impact the proceedings have had on the accused and their families, we are requesting an end to solitary confinement and that their right to reasonable bail be seriously considered.

Citizens of conscience, including Canada’s Muslims, are deeply concerned about the status of each of the remaining 11 men still facing trial. It appears that our government, intelligence and law enforcement agencies have cast an extremely “wide net” in their quest to catch criminals and terrorists in the wake of the Sept. 11 tragedies. As a direct result, innocent persons continue to be harassed, interrogated, detained, arrested and incarcerated. The reputations of many have been smeared and lives reduced to tatters.

This phenomenon has been exemplified in the cases of Maher Arar and Project Thread. The Arar case, as citizens are aware, resulted in a public inquiry and Mr. Arar’s complete exoneration. In the less well-known Project Thread case, 24 South Asian men were wrongly labelled as terrorists. They had their lives turned upside down. Ultimately, despite the media circus, no terror related or criminal charges were even laid. Most were deported on minor immigration offences.

It is now clear that the lives of seven more men and boys and their families have been irreparably harmed. Initially assumed to be part of the “Toronto 18″ plot, some of these men and boys have, as a result, spent nearly two years of their lives in jail. The majority were held in solitary confinement for 23½ hours a day. They have now been released and charges against them stayed.

Balancing the pursuit of law, order, peace and security with the protection of individual human rights and civil liberties is a difficult task, especially when the balancing process involves individuals who may be unpopular. Are we, as a society, prepared to suspend basic rights, such as freedom of association and the presumption of innocence, in the name of anti-terrorism?

Ten of the initial “Toronto 18″ remain incarcerated pending trial. Three men continue to be held in solitary confinement. Extreme isolation, conditions more severe than the majority of Canada ’s convicted murderers and rapists are subject to, is hardly appropriate for persons who have not been found guilty by our justice system. Perhaps it is time that the use of solitary confinement in the case of the Toronto 11 be re-evaluated, especially given its extensive use in the cases of the seven who were recently released.

Like any other individual who is subject to the operation of the law, each of the remaining accused have the right to be granted reasonable bail terms, as the court deems appropriate. This Charter right should be seriously considered, especially if strong sureties are provided to ensure that bail conditions will be fully respected.

It is in this spirit that we respectfully submit that the rights of the remaining accused be given every consideration and protection under the law. We respectfully request that the use of solitary confinement for the Toronto 11 be re-evaluated. Finally, having regard to all of the circumstances, we respectfully ask that their requests for bail be given the fullest consideration.

Sincerely,
Ihsaan Gardee

Director of Community Relations
Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations
CAIR-CAN

On behalf of:

Canadian Arab Federation (CAF)
Canadian Coalition for Peace and Justice
Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN)
Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC)
Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association (CMCLA)
Canadian Muslim Forum (FMC-CMF)
DawaNet Canada
Federation of Muslim Women (FMW)
Islamic Ahlul Bayt Assembly of Canada
Islamic Circle of North America Canada (ICNA Canada )
Islamic Society of North America Canada (ISNA Canada )
Islamic Society of Toronto
Muslim Community Council of Ottawa-Gatineau (MCCOG)
Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM)
Muslim Association of Canada (MAC)
Ottawa Muslim Association (OMA)
Salaheddin Islamic Centre
South-Western Ontario Muslim Students’ Association
Young Muslims Canada

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By: Combined Sources

Published: 04/24/2008 11:41

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Is Al-Gore Leading by Example?

Hmm! today I searched Youtube for “The Inconvenient Truth” and instead found something else. Quite frankly, I used to be a fan but now I am only Dissapointed.

U.S. Preparing Military Options Against Iran

Let’s pray they won’t start another war, amin. If they did, I would say its pretty unpatriotic. The Iraq war is having its toll not only on the Iraqi people but also on the American people. I am afraid this crisis might turn into a third World War God forbid.  Please do anything in your capacity, given your circumstances, to do something about this issue.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Says U.S. Preparing Military Options Against Iran

By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer

25/04/08 “Washington Post” — – The nation’s top military officer said today that the Pentagon is planning for “potential military courses of action” against Iran, criticizing what he called the Tehran government’s “increasingly lethal and malign influence” in Iraq.

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a conflict with Iran would be “extremely stressing” but not impossible for U.S. forces, pointing specifically to reserve capabilities in the Navy and Air Force.

“It would be a mistake to think that we are out of combat capability,” he said at a Pentagon news conference.

Still, Mullen made clear that he prefers a diplomatic solution to the tensions with Iran and does not foresee any imminent military action. “I have no expectations that we’re going to get into a conflict with Iran in the immediate future,” he said.

Mullen’s statements and others by Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently signal a new rhetorical onslaught by the Bush administration against Iran, amid what officials say is increased Iranian provision of weapons, training, and financing to Iraqi groups that are attacking and killing Americans.

In a speech Monday at West Point, Gates said that Iran “is hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons.” He said a war with Iran would be “disastrous on a number of levels. But the military option must be kept on the table given the destabilizing policies of the regime and the risks inherent in a future Iranian nuclear threat.”

Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, who was nominated this week to head all U.S. forces in the Middle East, is preparing a briefing soon to lay out detailed evidence of increased Iranian involvement in Iraq, Mullen said. The briefing will detail, for example, the discovery in Iraq of weapons that were very recently manufactured in Iran, he said.

“The Iranian government pledged to halt such activities some months ago. It’s plainly obvious they have not. Indeed, they seem to have gone the other way,” Mullen said.

He said recent unrest in the southern Iraqi city of Basra had highlighted a “level of involvement” by Iran that had not been understood by the U.S. military previously. “It became very, very visible in ways that we hadn’t seen before,” he said.

But while Mullen and Gates have recently stated that the Tehran government certainly must know of Iranian actions in Iraq, which they say are led by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, or Quds Force, Mullen said he has “no smoking gun which could prove that the highest leadership [of Iran] is involved in this.”

© 2008 The Washington Post Company

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