Civil Society Leaders Sign Statement in Support of Hassan Diab

July 2014

A large number of prominent individuals in academia, the arts, law, medicine, and other professional fields are on record expressing deep concerns about Canada’s extradition law and particularly how it is being applied to Dr. Hassan Diab. The signatories call upon the Canadian Minister of Justice to immediately halt the extradition proceedings against Dr. Diab, and to reform the extradition law to take into account the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, especially the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial, and the right to disclosure of evidence.

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Justice for Hassan Diab Statement

We the undersigned:

  • Believe that a person should not be forcibly removed from Canada to other countries merely to be questioned;
  • Oppose extradition based on fundamentally flawed evidence (handwriting analysis) that was described by the Canadian extradition judge as “very problematic”, “convoluted”, “very confusing”, and “with conclusions that are suspect”;
  • Believe that Canada should not extradite anyone based on evidence or proceedings that would be unacceptable in a Canadian court;
  • Object to extradition based on allegations anchored in intelligence from unknown sources and obtained under unknown circumstances that may have included torture;
  • Object to an extradition process that allows for the exclusion of exonerating evidence;
  • Believe in the presumption of innocence, and therefore object to “punishing” Dr. Hassan Diab by making him pay approximately $2,000 per month for his GPS monitoring;
  • Believe that a person’s ability to defend oneself should not be curtailed by carrying the aforementioned financial burden.

Therefore, we oppose the extradition proceedings against Dr. Hassan Diab and call upon the Canadian Minister of Justice to:

  • Exercise the power he has to immediately halt extradition proceedings against Dr. Hassan Diab;
  • Protect individuals in Canada from unjust and abusive extradition practices, and refuse extradition based on evidence or proceedings that do not meet Canadian legal standards;
  • Reform legislation on extradition law to take into account Canada’s human rights obligations under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, especially the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial, the right to disclosure of evidence, and all other due process rights.



List of signatories:

  • Nahla Abdo, Professor, Carleton University
  • Sharryn Aiken, Associate Dean of Law, Queen’s University
  • Warren Allmand, Former Solicitor General, City Councillor
  • John Baker, Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Board; Professor, University of Calgary
  • Matthew Behrens, Activist
  • Dave Bidini, Writer and Musician
  • Gary Botting, Lawyer and expert on extradition law
  • Dionne Brand, Writer
  • Andrew Brock, Professor, Carleton University
  • Meyer Brownstone, Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto
  • Doris Buss, Professor of Legal Studies, Carleton University
  • Paul Champ, Human Rights lawyer
  • Noam Chomsky, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, MIT, and world-renowned activist
  • James Compton, Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Board; Associate Professor, Western University
  • Chandler Davis, Professor, University of Toronto
  • Natalie Davis, Professor, University of Toronto
  • James Deutsch, M.D., Ph.D. Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Toronto
  • Farzana Doctor, Writer
  • Stacy Douglas, Professor of Law, Carleton University
  • Aaron Doyle, Professor, Sociology and Criminology
  • Margrit Eichler, FRCS, Professor Emerita, University of Toronto
  • Yves Engler, Journalist, Writer
  • Len Findlay, Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Board; Professor, University of Saskatchewan
  • Miriam Garfinkle, M.D., Toronto
  • Peter Gose, Professor, Carleton University
  • John Greyson, Filmmaker, Academic
  • Judy Haiven, Professor, Saint Mary’s University
  • Yavar Hameed, Human Rights lawyer
  • David Heap, Professor, UWO
  • Barbara Jackman, Human Rights lawyer
  • Michael Keefer, Professor Emeritus, Univeristy of Guelph
  • Umni Khan, Professor of Law, Carleton University
  • Lou Kriesberg, Professor Emeritus, Syracuse University
  • Denis Lemelin, President of Canadian Union of Postal Workers
  • Rashmi Luther, Professor, Carleton University
  • Audrey Macklin, Professor, University of Toronto
  • Kyo Maclear, Writer
  • Randal Marlin, President of the Civil Liberties Association, Nation Capital Region
  • Monia Mazigh, Writer
  • Dan McDonald, Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Executive Board
  • John McMurtry, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Guelph
  • David McNally, Professor of Political Science, York University
  • Rabbi David Mivisair Rabbi, Ahavat Olam Congregation
  • Dawn Moore, Professor of Law, Carleton University
  • Augustine Park, Professor, Carleton University
  • Erin Patterson, Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Board; Acadia University
  • Justin Paulson, Professor, Carleton University
  • Wayne Peters, Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Board; Associate Professor, University of Prince Edward Island
  • Justin Piché, Professor of Criminology, University of Ottawa
  • Justin Podur, Professor, York University
  • Trevor Purvis, Professor of Law, Carleton University
  • Judy Rebick, Activist, Academic, and Writer
  • Peter Rosenthal, Professor, University of Toronto, Human Rights lawyer
  • Larry Rousseau, Regional Executive Vice President for the National Capital Region, Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)
  • Bill Skidmore, Professor of Human Rights, Carleton University
  • Adrian Smith, Lawyer and Professor of Law, Carleton University
  • Penni Stewart, Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Board; Associate Professor, York University
  • Jim Turk, Former Executive Director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT); distinguished Visiting Professor at Ryerson University
  • Robin Vose, Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Board; Associate Professor, St Thomas University
  • Rosemary Warskett, Adjunct Professor, Carleton University
  • Laura Westra, Professor Emerita (Philosophy), University of Windsor
  • Christiane Wilke, Professor of Law, Carleton University
  • b.h. Yael, Toronto based filmmaker; Professor of Integrated Media at OCAD University
  • Diana Young, Professor of Law, Carleton University