CIA Torture Memos

This a mixed story if there ever was one. In the last few days four CIA memos dating from 2002 and 2005 have been released to the public, largely unredacted and detailing specific methods of torture, as part of a deal whereby CIA agents who tortured detainees will not face prosecution for their actions. It is reassuring, if you can apply such a word to a situation this grotesque, to know that President Obama is committed enough to shining the light of public scrutiny on past anti-terrorist tactics to force out these documents. There was evidently a strong push from within the CIA to either withhold documents or heavily censor them, for fear of setting a precedent of revealing sensitive security information to the public.


Perhaps the most frightening element of these documents is the way the dramatically highlight the human engine of justification. We seem to posses an almost unlimited ability to create reasons for protecting or even endorsing the worst actions. I cannot help but be struck by how many harmful acts could be averted if we were all more aware of this nasty little mechanism at work in us. If only we could carry with us an alarm that started buzzing whenever we started piling up reasons to cross over the barrier between "have to" and "chose to". For now, we are stuck with our conscience, so the next time you start marshaling arguments for some nasty behavior, step back and ask yourself whether the same process that led to these memos is at work.

All four memos can be downloaded from the ACLU link below:
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/olc_memos.html

Fiercelight

Tonight I am blogging about a very intriguing documentary focusing on the critical mass of spiritual activism being achieved globally. The film is called Fiercelight - when spirit meets action, and has a tremendous pedigree. It profiles a number of different protest movements that have arisen at what the director calls the "ground zeros" of the above mentioned spiritual activist movement. Some truly legendary figures such as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Nhat Hanh, the Zen Buddhist leader, and Alice Walker, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Color Purple, are interviewed. The project was produced by Mark Achbar, who some of you might know as director/producer of The Corporation. Fiercelight is directed by Velcrow Ripper, whose last film, Scared Sacred, tore a hot streak across North America film festivals.

I was just made aware of this film, but it really seems to reflect a genuine up swelling of emotion and involvement that has become part of the lives of so many. While some might balk at the term spiritual activism, it best serves as a historically comprehensable label for the kind of irrepressible and hopeful protests that are sprouting around the world. By referencing a basis in religion or spiritual contemplation, some kind of context is provided for distinct phenomena. Whether you believe it is rooted in ancient traditions of compassion or exists as a unique and timely phenomena, the courageous actions and worthy causes being taken up by entire segments of society needs to be recognized.

Here is a link to the film's official website:
http://www.fiercelight.org/home

And a link to Velcrow Ripper's previous film:
http://www.scaredsacred.org/

Ripper also has a blog related to the film:
http://fiercelove.org/

Saving the CBC

As some of my fellow Canadians will be aware, our national public broadcasting channel, the CBC, is facing a 171$ million budget deficit and is being forced to lay off 800 employees. Additionally, a number of local television and radio stations are going to be scaled back some of the CBC's land and office assets will be sold off. For its part, the CBC has proposed a bridge loan that would amount to about 6$ dollars per Canadian and go a long way to stop the hemorrhaging of jobs and programing. There is a petition circulating related to this issue and it will be delivered to Prime Minister Harper once Parliament returns to session. The petition has already collected more than 125,000 signatures but every contribution counts.

Here is the link to the petition:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_cbc/

Dmitri Lennikov

Here is another timely case dealing with Canadian citizenship.

Dmitri Lennikov is a young Russian-Canadian who has been living in this country with his family for more than a decade. His father, Mikhail, emigrated from Russia in 1997 after leaving a post (voluntarily) within the KGB’s Japanese unit, where he worked largely to monitor the activities of Japanese businessmen and investors in Russia. Upon reaching Canada Mikhail immediately disclosed his involvement with the KGB to CSIS, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Mikhail soon brought his wife and young child with him to Canada, and has been steadily and gainfully employed ever since. Nonetheless, the Lennikov’s status in Canada has always been shaky, with the entire family facing the acute chance of deportation in 2008; a dangerous outcome considering that Mikhail would face prosecution (and possibly persecution) for revealing his KGB background to CSIS. Thankfully, Dmitri and his mother were recently spared the threat of deportation.

Mikhail, however, is still at risk, and further statements of support for the entire Lennikov family would be much appreciated. There is a big Facebook community dedicated to helping Dmitri that houses plenty of information and links related to the case in general. It has mailing and fax address for politicians (some of which I have included below) as well as stock letters. There is also a terrific CBC documentary profiling the Lennikovs that is still freely available; I highly recommend watching it.

Here is the Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33363813633

And here is the documentary: http://www.cbc.ca/MRL/clips/rm-hi/macintyre-kgbagent070316.rm

The following is taking from the above Facebook page:

Write a letter to Peter Van Loan, and his email address is: vanloan.p@parl.gc.ca. asking him to extend the deadline

His mailing address is:
Room 209-S
Centre Block
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6


**Also Try The Following***
Peter Van Loan - vanloan.p@parl.gc.ca
Stephen Harper - pm@pm.gc.ca
Mark Holland - Holland.M@parl.gc.ca
Jack Harris - Harris.J@parl.gc.ca
Jack Layton - Layton.J@parl.gc.ca
Michael Ignatief - Ignatieff.M@parl.gc.ca
*******Immigration Minister- Kenney.J@parl.gc.ca******
Liberal party - info@liberal.ca
David Tilson - tilsod@parl.gc.ca
Maurizio Bevilacqua – bevilm@parl.gc.ca
Thierry St-Cyr - stcyrt@parl.gc.ca
Paul Calandra – calandra.p@parl.gc.ca
Olivia Chow – chowo@parl.gc.ca
Jean Dorion – dorion.j@parl.gc.ca
Rick Dykstra – dykstr@parl.gc.ca
Nina Grewal – grewal.n@parl.gc.ca
Jim Karygiannis – karygj@parl.gc.ca
Alexandra Mendes – mendes.a@parl.gc.ca
Devinder Shory – shory.d@parl.gc.ca
Alice Wong – wong.a@parl.gc.ca

or sign our online petition:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Lennikov/

Also keep inviting more people so we gain as much support as we can for the Lennikov family

Precompleted Fax Forms for Mohamed Kohail

As promised, here are pair of letters that can be sent on behalf of Mohamed Kohail and his brother. One should be sent to the Saudi officials and the second to Lawrence Cannon and Beverly Oda.

Here is the letter directed towards several members of the Saudi royal family:

Your Majesty/Royal Highness

I am writing this letter on to implore you to exert your power in staying the execution of Mohamed Kohail, Mehanna Sa’d, and any potential similar sentence delivered to Sultan Kohail. Such a choice works in the best interest of both individual justice and the entire country of Saudi Arabia. I hope to illustrate that this decision will be viewed favorably and greatly appreciated by the world community.

The sentence of death by beheading rendered in this case begs further review and your personal consideration. Strong evidence points to the two men convicted having been tortured during their detention, and the defense attorney acting on their behalf was denied any chance to challenge the prosecution’s evidence or present witnesses. In the case of Sultan Kohail, the Convention on the Rights of the Child forbids execution for those charged with offences occurring under the age of 18; Sultan was merely 17 at the time of the incident in question and should thus be protected from the death penalty.

As a member of the United Nations, Saudi Arabia has committed to maintaining international standards of fair trial. Specifically, the UN Safeguards Guaranteeing the Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty insist upon reasonable legal assistance being provided to any and all defendants. Saudi Arabia has also accepted the standards outlined in Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which prohibits the kind of ill treatment Mohamed may have been subjected to.

Saudi Arabia faces great media scrutiny as one of the premier powers of the Middle East, and it would greatly enhance the worldwide perception of your country’s justice system were Mohamed Kohail and Mehanna Sa’d spared the death penalty. Such a merciful act would strongly signal Saudi Arabia’s respect for justice and adequate legal representation. I am confident that your judgment and discretion will prevail in recognizing that the benefits of this choice.

Yours sincerely,

Faxes addressed to the princes should be addressed "Your Royal Highness", while those sent to the king should begin with "Your Majesty".

APPEALS TO:

Please note that you may experience difficulties sending faxes on Thursdays and Fridays, which are the weekend in Saudi Arabia.

His Majesty King Abdullah Bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud
The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques
Office of His Majesty the King
Royal Court, Riyadh,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Fax: (via Ministry of the Interior) +966 1 403 1185 (please keep trying)
Salutation: Your Majesty

His Royal Highness Prince Naif bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud
Minister of the Interior
Ministry of the Interior
P.O. Box 2933
Airport Road, Riyadh 11134
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Fax: +966 1 403 1185 (please keep trying)
Salutation: Your Royal Highness

His Royal Highness Prince Saud al-Faisal bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Nasseriya Street
Riyadh 11124
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Fax: +966 1 403 0645
Salutation: Your Royal Highness

COPIES TO:

Mr Turki bin Khaled Al-Sudairy
President Human Rights Commission
PO Box 58889, Riyadh 11515
King Fahad Road, Building No.373
Riyadh
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Fax: +966 1 4612061

And now for the ministers' letter:

I am writing on behalf of Mohamed Kohail, the young Canadian citizen facing execution in Saudi Arabia for his involvement in the death of Munzer Al-Hiraki. While the exact circumstances of the unfortunate death of Mr. Al-Hiraki are unclear, what is beyond dispute is the blatantly unethical and prejudicial prosecution of this case by the Saudi authorities. Mohamed’s trial was conducted in nine sessions of ten minutes length, with a defense attorney present only in one or two instances and forbidden from actively challenging the court’s evidence. Prior to this Mohamed and another young man charged in the case were held by Saudi police and beaten, possibly tortured, to try and provoke confessions. Furthermore, two witnesses to be presented on behalf of the defense were denied access to the court.

The fact that no Canadian citizen should be subject to such ill treatment by another country’s legal authorities is beyond question; I implore you to act in accordance with the most deep rooted principles of compassion and sovereignty in persuading the powers at be in Saudi Arabia to stay Mohamed’s execution. Thank you graciously for your time in considering this letter.

Beverley Oda

Minister for International Cooperation

Ottawa Office
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Phone: (613) 992-2792
Fax: (613) 992-2794

Lawrence Cannon

House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
Tel: (613) 992-5516
Fax: (613) 992-6802
Email: Cannon.L@parl.gc.ca

Mohamed Kohail

This is another situation I am following; Mohamed Kohail is a Saudi born Canadian citizen currently facing execution Saudi Arabia. Mohamed and his younger brother, Sultan, have been charged and convicted for their involvement in the death of Munzer Hiraki. The boys were confronted by a large mob that included Munzer, ostensibly over an insult Sultan had made regarding one of his assailants' sisters. The Kohails claim that some of their attackers were armed, and that Munzer's death resulted when he was struck by a wall they had hidden behind and that collapsed when a number of the brawlers tried to push it over.

Undoubtedly, the circumstances of Munzer's death are cloudy, and I sympathize with the anguish his family must feel over losing a young son in such a senseless incident. I cannot vouch completely for the Kohail's story, but what is beyond doubt is the brevity and poor quality of the judicial process that has decided upon their punishments. The Kohails were convicted after nine, 10 minute trials, only two of which their defense attorney was allowed to attend. Furthermore, the court refused to take into consideration a pair of witnesses brought forward by the defense. Beyond these shortcomings, both brothers were allegedly subjected to beatings and torture while detained prior to their trial.

Again, I would like to stress that the complete innocence of Mohammed and Sultan is not certain. But denying them anything but the most superficial and paltry chance to defend themselves against arguably the harshest punishment imaginable (death by beheading) seems unfair and immoral.

Now for some action:

Here is a link to a Facebook group dedicated to helping Mohamed. It includes links to newspaper articles regarding the case, and fax addresses for a number of Saudi politicians and royal family members with the power to influence the court's rulings.

This website contains the same fax addresses and makes some recommendations about the kind of language to included in the faxes you send.

Canadian citizens should also contact Lawrence Cannon and Beverely Oda, as well as their local parliamentary representatives about the case.

Tomorrow I will be posting additional contact information as well as pre-written letters that can be faxed to the above figures. Time is of the essence in this case, so any appeals you might send would be best faxed in promptly.�

A(entry)

This blog is a means of making some small contribution towards raising awareness regarding causes, protests, or activities I feel are meaningful. Hopefully a few new hands and voices will be funneled towards these causes as a result. Being an enabler in helping people find meaningful problems and the steps they can take to solve them seems like a good starting place.

First off, I thought I would bring up buteinlet.net and the recent moratorium on river diversion energy generation projects in British Columbia. The moratorium puts a temporary halt to any further private sector hydroelectric developments involving potentially hundreds of small rivers throughout the mainland. These developments are ostensibly "green" alternatives to fossil fuel consumption, but seem to be of debatable long term benefit to British Colombians themselves, both from a financial and environmental viewpoint. The moratorium coincided with a rally I attended on the 4th and buys British Colombians some time to raise further awareness of the issues and solicit change from their elected representatives.

Here is a summary of the benefits of a public operated power system, of the type that has been partially dismanteled over the last few years in BC.
http://hydrofactsbc.ca/why-a-public-electricity-system-mainmenu-26

And here is a link to an article on the moratorium itself.
http://www.buteinlet.net/node/99

You can take action by signing the following online citizen's appeal and by donating to the Citizen's for Public Power.


"All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing". Thank you, Mr. Burke.