“Stop Unjust Extradition Proceedings”
In this issue:
- Pack the Courtroom in Toronto on November 4 and 5, 2013
- Canadian Dimension Article:
“The Extradition Case of Dr. Hassan Diab”
“L’affaire de l’extradition de M. Hassan Diab”
- Letter to Organizations and Individuals in France
Lettre aux organisations et personnes en France
- How You Can Help
1. Pack the Courtroom in Toronto on November 4 and 5, 2013
| What: | Appeal of Dr. Hassan Diab’s extradition decision |
| When: | Monday-Tuesday, November 4-5, 2013, starting at 10:00 AM |
| Where: | Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario *****Note new address above***** |
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/SMEfE
TTC: Osgoode Subway Station on the Yonge-University-Spadina line
Please come out to show solidarity with Dr. Hassan Diab! Join us at the Court of Appeal for Ontario, on Monday November 4 at 10:00 AM, for a crucial hearing regarding Canada’s unjust extradition law. Take a stand against extradition based on secret intelligence and a single handwriting analysis report that has been discredited and condemned in Court.
Amnesty International, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) have filed interventions with the Court expressing their deep concerns about Hassan’s case.
You can attend Court the whole day or come and go whenever you wish. If you can come only one day, please prioritize Monday. However, we would love to see a show of support both days.
Please help us distribute this announcement widely, and encourage people you know to come to Court!
Canada’s Unfair Extradition Law
Hassan’s case points to glaring problems with Canada’s extradition law. In extradition cases, the Charter rights of the person sought are severely compromised. Canadian standards of evidence do not apply. The standard for extradition is so low that Canada hands people over to other countries based on evidence that is not acceptable in Canadian courts. Evidence submitted by the foreign country is presumed reliable, and the ability of the person sought to challenge the case is severely curtailed. Canada has extradition treaties with countries that allow secret intelligence, including intelligence that may have been the product of torture, to be used as evidence at trial. Moreover, Canada’s extradition law is unbalanced, as Canada extradites its citizens to countries that do not extradite their own citizens (France, in this case).
We must demand that Canadian standards of evidence apply to extradition cases, and that Canada not extradite its citizens to countries that allow secret intelligence — including intelligence obtained from torture — to be used as evidence.
Let’s pack the courtroom and show our concern about the erosion of the rights of Canadians under the extradition law!
Further Reading
- “Human rights groups sound alarm over Diab extradition evidence”, Ottawa Citizen, July 3, 2013
- “Canada’s Extradition Law: The Least Fair Act on Earth”, by Gary Botting, Prism Magazine, June 17, 2011
“The Extradition Case of Dr. Hassan Diab”, by Matthew Behrens, Canadian Dimension magazine, September/October 2013
“Hassan Diab is a mild-mannered Ottawa university professor with a passion for history and culinary skills that surely the French would appreciate. In fact, the French government has invested much energy to have Diab brought to Paris, but not for his vegetarian kebbah.
Rather, Dr. Diab is sought for questioning about his alleged role in a 1980 Paris bombing that claimed four lives. Unfortunately for Diab, the process behind the allegations could almost be a French farce — worthy of Inspector Clouseau of Pink Panther fame. Indeed, even though Diab’s fingerprints and palm prints, handwriting, and physical description do not match those of the suspect — and an Ontario Court judge has ruled that the case against him is “weak,” “suspect” and “confusing,” concluding “the prospects of conviction in the context of a fair trial, seem unlikely” — Canada has committed to extraditing him overseas to face a hearing that could be based on unsourced information gleaned from torture…”
Read the full article:
http://canadiandimension.com/articles/5586/
“L’affaire de l’extradition de M. Hassan Diab”, par Matthew Behrens, Canadian Dimension magazine, Septembre/Octobre, 2013 – Traduit par Bob Thomson
“Hassan Diab est un professeur universitaire affable d’Ottawa, avec une passion pour l’histoire et les compétences culinaires que sûrement les Français apprécierait. En fait, le gouvernement français a investi beaucoup d’énergie pour avoir Diab amené à Paris, mais pas pour son kebbah végétarien.
Au contraire, M. Diab est recherché pour être interrogé sur son rôle présumé dans l’attentat qui a coûté quatre vies a Paris en 1980. Malheureusement pour Diab, le processus derrière les allégations pourrait presque être une farce française — digne d’linspecteur renommé Clouseau de Pink Panther. En effet, même si les empreintes palmaires de Diab, sa écriture et description physique ne correspondent pas à celles du suspect — et un juge de la Cour de l’Ontario a statué que la preuve contre Diab est “faible”, “suspect” et “déroutant”, et a conclu que “les perspectives de conviction dans le cadre d’un procès équitable, semble peu probable” – Canada s’est engagé à l’extrader a l’étranger pour faire face à une audience qui pourrait être basée sur des informations sans sources, ou glanées de torture…”
Lire l’article complet:
http://www.web.ca/~bthomson/Misc/MBehrens_CD_article_re_Hassan_Diab_Francais.html
3. Letter to Organizations and Individuals in France
In October 2013, the Hassan Diab Support Committee sent the following letter to civil society organisations and individual in France. The letter seeks to inform them about important facts in Dr. Diab’s case, and to underscore the issues of fairness, due process, and human rights at stake in Hassan’s case.
Read the letter:
http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/letter-france-oct2013-en
Lettre aux organisations et personnes en France
En Octobre 2013, le Comité de soutien de Hassan Diab a envoyé la lettre suivante aux organisations de la société civile et aux particuliers en France. La lettre vise à les informer sur les faits importants dans le cas du Dr. Diab, et de souligner les questions d’équité, l’application du procès en bonne et due forme et les droits humains en jeu dans le cas de Hassan.
Lire la lettre:
http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/letter-france-oct2013-fr
WRITE letters to the editor voicing your concern about the injustices in Hassan’s case.
CONTACT your Canadian Member of Parliament (MP) about Hassan’s plight and urge him/her to reform Canada’s unfair extradition law.
DONATE to Hassan’s defence to help defray the cost of the GPS monitoring device he is required to wear and the hefty legal fees he is saddled with.
Hassan must pay his “creditor” — in this case, the Canadian government — $2,000 per month for the cost of his own surveillance, or return to prison. Join the Hundred for Hassan Campaign and make a statement of support for Hassan by contributing $20 (or more) a month to cover the cost of his GPS monitoring. This is our way of taking a public stand and saying it is just wrong to make Hassan pay for his own surveillance.
We are pleased to announce the recent addition of the 107th signatory to the Hundred for Hassan Campaign Statement! However, the five-year legal battle and monthly GPS monitoring have drained the financial resources of Hassan and his family. He urgently needs donations to succeed in his struggle for justice — a struggle we all have a stake in!
Please visit http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/donate for information on how to donate.
Hassan Diab Support Committee
Email: diabsupport@gmail.com
Web: http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/justiceforhassandiab
Twitter: http://twitter.com/justiceforhdiab
Blog: http://friendsofhassandiab.blogspot.com
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