WSWS
:
News & Analysis
:
North America
:
Canada
Canada
bans LTTE under draconian anti-terrorist legislation
By Keith Jones
14 April 2006
Canada’s
Conservative government announced Monday that it has
proscribed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
under the country’s draconian anti-terrorist laws.
Henceforth, anyone
who knowingly provides financial support to the LTTE
could be jailed for up to 10 years, while persons who
fundraise or otherwise “facilitate” the work of the
LTTE face 14 years’ imprisonment.
That the government
intends to use these provisions to imprison and deport
LTTE supporters was underscored by Public Security
Minister Stockwell Day’s announcement that the
government has established an anti-LTTE “snitch-line.”
Day urged members of
Canada’s
large Sri Lankan Tamil exile/immigrant community to
denounce LTTE activists to state authorities using a
special, dedicated telephone line.
In justifying the
ban, Day claimed that LTTE activists have used threats
of violence to coerce Canadian Tamils into making
financial contributions. But such threats are already
illegal under Canadian criminal law.
The Canadian
government’s banning of the LTTE, which governs much
of
Sri Lanka’s
northern and eastern provinces, must be opposed by the
working class and all those interested in defending
basic democratic rights.
Canada’s
anti-terrorist laws constitute a flagrant assault on
democratic rights and civil liberties. Under them, the
state has created a new order of crime, subject to
harsher penalties than normal criminal acts and to
which basic judicial principles, like the full
disclosure of evidence and public trials, no longer
apply.
Through these
anti-terrorist laws, the state is seeking to
criminalize political movements deemed inimical to the
interests of the Canadian ruling class, movements that
in many cases arose in reaction against the state
terror practiced by governments with which
Canada
is allied. Not only do these laws fail to distinguish
between attacks on civilians and actions directed
against security forces of repressive regimes, persons
can be found guilty of terrorism who have never
participated in or planned any violent act.
Facilitating any part of the activities undertaken by
an organization labelled terrorist—be it raising funds
or distributing political propaganda or doing relief
work—makes one liable to be imprisoned for a decade or
more.
Moreover, the
invocation of these laws goes hand in hand with
Canada’s support for and participation in a purported
worldwide war on terrorism that is being used to
justify the expansion and rearmament of the Canadian
Armed Forces and Canadian participation in wars and
military interventions aimed at establishing or
supporting regimes more in keeping with the interests
of the North American and international bourgeoisie.
At Monday’s press
conference, Day took a jab at the previous Liberal
government, which the Conservatives long denounced as
“soft” on terrorism and insufficiently supportive of
the Bush administration. “The decision to list the
LTTE [as a terrorist organization] is long overdue and
something the previous government did not take
seriously enough to act upon. Our government,”
continued Day, “is clearly determined to take decisive
steps to ensure the safety of Canadians against
terrorism.”
The World
Socialist Web Site has made clear on countless
occasions its opposition to the LTTE’s perspective of
carving out a new capitalist nation-state on ethnic
lines and its tactics, which have included
indiscriminate violence against Sinhalese workers and
peasants.
Responsibility for
the civil that has convulsed
Sri Lanka
for the past 23 years, however, falls squarely on the
Sri Lankan bourgeoisie and its imperialist backers. At
the birth of an independent
Sri Lanka
in 1948, the parties of the Sri Lankan bourgeoisie
stripped the Tamil plantation workers (the so-called
Indian Tamils) of citizenship rights. In the 1950s,
Sinhalese was made the country’s sole official
language. Fifteen years later, further steps were
taken to reduce the minority Tamil population to
second-class status, with the passing of a
constitution that proclaimed Buddhism, the majority
religion of the Sinhalese, the state religion, and the
enacting of quotas to limit Tamils’ access to higher
education. Civil war ultimately erupted in 1983
shortly after a state-orchestrated anti-Tamil pogrom.
At Monday’s press
conference, Day and Foreign Affairs Minster Peter
MacKay rejected criticisms from Canadian Tamils that
their proscribing of the LTTE will impede the effort
to reach a permanent peace settlement between the LTTE
and the Sri Lankan political establishment.
But there is no
question that the Sri Lankan ruling elite and the
Sinhalese chauvinists have enthusiastically welcomed
the Canadian government’s decision, which they believe
strengthens their hand against the LTTE by lending
credence to their claims that the LTTE is not a
suitable peace partner, and threatening the LTTE’s
ability to raise funds in Canada, the country with the
largest Sri Lankan Tamil population outside South
Asia.
The state-run Daily
News crowed that the Canadian ban will “place the
Government delegation” at coming peace talks on “a
sounder-footing” knowing “that at last the world
community is gradually coming to its assistance
vis-a-vis the LTTE.”
The Island,
a right-wing and aggressively communal newspaper,
urged the European Union to follow the lead of
Canada’s Conservative government: “Canada has realized
the danger of giving a terror group a free hand and
told it where to get off at long last. It is now up to
EU to follow the suit, without further
prevarication....”
The Buddhist monk-led
National Heritage party (JHU), one of the most
militant voices of Sinhala chauvinism, coupled praise
for the Canadian government decision with criticism of
the Sri Lankan government for not taking an even more
aggressive stand against the LTTE.
The Norwegian-led Sri
Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) has warned repeatedly
that the truce that has been in effect since February
2002 is on the verge of collapse and that the country
will soon plunge back into all-out civil war.
The Canadian ban on
the LTTE encourages those forces in the Sri Lankan
elite and their Sinhalese chauvinist petty bourgeois
allies who prefer ratcheting up the pressure on the
LTTE and risking plunging the country anew into civil
war to ceding significant power to the LTTE in a
federal or confederal state. It thus abets those who
would lead the people of
Sri Lanka
into a new abyss of violence and terror.
The Conservative
government’s ban on the LTTE is the latest in a series
of actions the new government has taken to shift
Canada’s
foreign policy and geo-political posture sharply to
the right.
Canada
was one of the first governments in the world to
announce that it was cutting off funding to the
Palestinian Authority after Hamas took over the reins
of government. Last month, Prime Minister Stephen
Harper made a three-day visit to Afghanistan to
underline his government’s commitment to a long-term
Canadian Armed Forces intervention there and his
intention to pursue a more “robust” foreign and
military policy that will make, to use his words, the
great powers of the world take notice.
Canada:
Security certificates overturn long-standing
democratic rights
By
François Tremblay
11 April 2006
Use this version to
print
|
Send this link by email
|
Email the author
Two
recent events have underlined the anti-democratic
nature of the Canadian state’s “security certificates”
and the determination of the new Conservative
government to intensify the assault on
long-established democratic rights that its
predecessor, the Chrétien-Martin Liberal government,
initiated in the name of the “war on terrorism.”
The
first is the announcement that a special prison will
be constructed to hold those detained under a security
certificate—a legal document that authorizes the
government to imprison indefinitely and without charge
any non-Canadian citizen it deems a “threat” to
national security.
The
special prison will be constructed within an existing
maximum-security penitentiary in Kingston, Ontario. It
will be used to indefinitely incarcerate people who
are presently detained under security certificates at
a number of other locations and any new persons whom
federal authorities designate a security threat.
Sections of the press have rightly drawn a parallel
between the special prison under construction in
Kingston and the concentration camp to which the Bush
administration has disappeared alleged “enemy
combatants” in Guantanamo, Cuba, labeling the planned
Canadian facility “North Guantanamo” or “Guantanamo
Lite.”
Four
individuals will soon be transferred to the new
prison: Mohamed Harkat, detained since December 2002;
Hassan Almrei, detained since October 2001; Mahmoud
Jaballah, detained since August 2001; and Mohammad
Majhoud, detained since June 2000. Majhoud staged a
79-day hunger strike in 2005 to obtain basic medical
care and the right to receive monthly visits from his
two children, aged six and eight.
In the
new prison, Majhoud and the other detainees will
likely face even harsher conditions. Although it is
being built inside the walls of the Kingston
penitentiary, the new facility will remain completely
separate from it. At all times, prisoners held there
will be segregated from the regular inmates of the
Kingston penitentiary and, most probably, from each
other. The authorities are refusing even to reveal the
size of the cells in which the security-certificate
detainees will be held.
The
second event that merits note is the mid-March
decision of a Federal Court judge upholding the
deportation of security-certificate detainee Mahmoud
Jaballah to Egypt, where he faces possible torture and
execution. Judge Mackay invoked the security
certificate issued against Jaballah as grounds for
refusing to grant him asylum and authorizing his
deportation.
In his
decision, Judge Mackay claimed that evidence indicated
Jaballah shouldn’t receive Canada’s protection as a
refugee because he posed too much of a risk to
national security. The evidence to which the judge
refers has never been divulged to Jaballah or to his
lawyers, who suspect that at least some of it comes
from people tortured in foreign prisons. The use of
such “evidence” was authorized by the Canadian
government in the anti-terrorist legislation it rushed
through parliament following the September 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks.
Judge
Mackay admitted that his decision violates the
International Convention Against Torture. The
Convention, signed by Canada, forbids deportation to a
country that practices torture under any and all
circumstances. But, Mackay added, even if it might be
a useful interpretive tool, the Convention doesn’t
apply to persons considered a threat to national
security. The decision in Jaballah’s case marks the
third time that the Federal Court has refused to grant
asylum to someone detained on a security certificate
even while admitting that its decision may result in
the rejected refugee-claimant facing torture and death
in a foreign country.
Arbitrary detention
Under
Canada’s security-certificate regime, the minister of
public security is empowered to issue a ministerial
decree, based on information provided by the security
services, naming an individual who is a visitor to
Canada, a refugee applicant, or a landed immigrant a
potential threat to national security. The person
named in such a security certificate can then be
arrested and held indefinitely without any charge
being laid against them and without any access to the
information that reputedly shows they are a threat to
national security.
“Illegal combatant” or “threat to national
security”—in both cases, the person so designated is
denied legal rights historically guaranteed to all who
are detained, such as the right to know the exact
nature of the actions alleged and of the crime
committed, the right to be brought before a judge and
be heard by an impartial and public court, and the
right to be presumed innocent.
In
2005, the Federal Court concluded that security
certificates were constitutional, indicating at the
same time that, whether in the name of national
security or diplomatic convenience (i.e., maintaining
friendly relations with countries where torture takes
place), whole sections of evidence can be withheld
from public examination and remain the sole property
of the security agencies and the judges. As a last
resort, the executive can impose an absolute veto on
revealing any of the evidence, even over the
objections of the courts themselves.
This
decision of the Federal Court has been appealed, and
the Supreme Court is to issue its ruling in the coming
months. But already in 2002, Canada’s highest court
ruled that deportation of persons facing torture and
death is permitted in exceptional cases.
Following September 11, 2001, the Canadian government
passed a slew of anti-terrorist legislation, modifying
many laws, including the Criminal Code and immigration
laws, with the goal of undermining long-standing
democratic principles and opening the door to
authoritarian methods of governing.
Security certificates were on the law books prior to
September 11, but it is only after this date that they
became a regular instrument in the government’s
purported war on terrorism. The definition of
terrorism, it need be added, has been dramatically
expanded to the point where someone who has neither
committed nor planned a terrorist act can be deemed a
terrorist by the government, if he or she has had
links with an organization that the government has
categorized as “terrorist.” Thus, a person involved in
fund-raising or disseminating pamphlets for an
organization like the Kurdish nationalist PKK or the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) can be
designated by the Canadian government to be a
terrorist and indefinitely incarcerated without the
most basic rights of due process.
Although security certificates have been denounced by
numerous international and national human rights
organizations, the Canadian government has announced
its intention to expand their scope.
At
present, the law does not permit the issuing of a
certificate against a Canadian citizen. The
Conservative government intends to modify this law and
to gain the possibility of withdrawing citizenship
from anyone who obtained it fraudulently—for instance,
by hiding links with organizations categorized as
terrorist. Once again, any evidence would remain
March 28, 2006
The editor,
Toronto Star
Toronto.
Dear Sir,
Reference your news story “ Gang boss deported to Sri
Lanka” (Tor Star – March 28, 2006)
I am disappointed over the choice of language of the
Toronto Star when it described the deportee as the
“reputed leader of a Tamil gang whose battle
with rival gang members on the streets of Toronto
claimed the lives of more than a dozen youths.”
Street violence is a common phenomenon among all
communities in Toronto and it is not understood why
you singled out only the Tamil community. Do you
call violence perpetrated by Blacks as Black
violence? Or the violence committed by the notorious
motorbike gangs like Hell’s Angels as White Anglo
Saxon violence? Surely you don’t. Then why label
violence by a few youths among the Tamils as “Tamil
gang violence?” It looks though this is part of the
sinister campaign by Toronto Star to discredit the
Tamil community by hook or by crook!
Your reporter exaggerates the
lives lost due to gang violence as “more than a
dozen” but she only documented 3 killings and that
too due to mistaken identities. What happened to the
remaining 10-15 gang members who died?
Have you ever posed to ponder why and how this gang
violence originated? And how it was sustained for so
long? Surely none of the youths arrested came to
Canada with criminal records. They took to street
violence only after coming to Canada!
One of the powerful reasons why these youths took to
street violence is the availability of guns and drugs
freely in the streets of Toronto. On the top of it we
had a corrupt police which instead of nipping the
violence in the bud allowed it to fester and bleed.
They carried tales between the rival groups and
instigated them to take on one another to the finish.
This they did to collect perks, promotions and other
monetary rewards.
A few community leaders, including
this writer, talked to these Tamil youths over
several weeks and brought about an amicable
settlement at a function held in a leading Hindu
temple in Toronto. The truce between the rival groups
lasted from April 1998.till end of June 1999. One
would think the Police would have been the first to
celebrate the reconciliation of the rival groups.
No, they were the most disappointed and they openly
encouraged the Tamil youths to resume their fighting.
“If you cannot shoot each other at least beat each
other, otherwise we will have nothing to do!” was
what they told the youths. I mentioned this to the
Asst. Commissioner of Police in the presence of 2
City Councillors and expected him to react angrily to
the accusation. Instead, all what I got as a reply
was a big smile from him.
In one instance
the Police arrested the wrong person and put him in
jail. Members of the Tamil group told the police that
they will get the real culprit to surrender if they
could agree to release the one in custody. The Tamil
youths were aghast when the Police officer told them
“Don’t think we don’t know who the real suspect is,
we know that for sure, but we want to teach this guy
a lesson and that is why we arrested him and not the
real culprit!”
Had the Police
moved against the Tamil youths not in 2001 but much
earlier when the problem was in its infancy we could
have saved lives and escaped the stigma of the whole
community being branded as “violent”?
A corrupt
Police force which allows flow of guns and drugs
across the border is at the bottom of all past and
present street violence. This is the unpalatable
truth.
Yours truly,
V.Thangavelu
----- Original Message
-----
Sent: Monday,
March 27, 2006 10:12 AM
Your letter to The Editor has been received. You
will be contacted by telephone if your letter is
short-listed for publication.
If
you have not supplied a contact telephone number and
full home address, please resubmit your letter with
this information included. This is for verification
only and will not be printed.
Thank you for your contribution to the Letters Page.
Dear editor
Toronto Star it is a
liberal newspaper by Canadian standards. From
global perspectives it is a white-owned and
white-managed right-wing newspaper serving the
interests of Anglo-Saxons! Not even
French Quebecois! This is the newspaper which does
not expose the grave human rights violations
committed by the US/UK combine in Iraq. The Abu
Ghraib prison massacres, Guantamano Bay prison
torture, the killing of Iraqi civilians by US
bombing conveniently tagged as "collateral damage"
are of no interest to Toronto Star. When once in a
way criticism is offered it is in a mild and
condescending manner.
The Indian-born Rudyard
Kipling's verse"The Blackman is Whiteman's burden"
is the type of arrogance that pervades the thinking
of the editor of Toronto Star who sits in
judgment over the LTTE and Thamil Diaspora at the
drop of a hat. It is the belief held by
most Europeans/Americans that they are obligated
to save the Blackman.
The fact is for Jo
Becker, editor Toronto Star and other arm-chair
critics fund raising, child soldiers and terrorism
have become their favourite whipping horses!
They close their eyes and ears to the horrendous
human rights violations perpetrated against the
Thamil people by a racist Sri Lankan government.
Where is the freedom of movement and right to life
for those unfortunate Thamils languishing in
refugee camps, welfare centres in the Northeast of
Sri Lanka?
Toronto Star editor
like a quack doctor prescribes banning to cure the
disease without knowing the root causes that caused
the disease in the first place. Perhaps he should
read the following Kural to gain some wisdom.
A doctor before
treating a patient should diagnose with care,
discover the cause,
And thereafter
to effect a cure apply the appropriate
remedy!
Thangavelu
Hart House Circle, Toronto M5S 3H3, ON · Web:
http://stg.utorontotsa.org · Email:
ut_tsa@hotmail.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
University of Toronto Tamil Students' Association
dismayed by LTTE
terrorist listing
April 11th, 2006 - The Tamil student body at the
University of
Toronto is alarmed and distressed by the
Canadian government's recent verdict to list the
Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam, also known as
LTTE as a terrorist organization under Bill C-36.
The LTTE, an organized group seeking an independent
state from Sri
Lanka was the first to be listed as
a terrorist group by the new Canadian government.
The decision by the new Conservative government comes
after recent
speculations by a New York
based Human Rights Watch that indicts the LTTE of
extortion and
harassment of Canadian Tamils to
donate to the organization. The allegation
unquestionably places a
black mark on a generous
community who has voluntarily donated funds to
genuine organizations
targeted at the development of
war-stricken and Tsunami effected Tamils in Sri Lanka
-not war
efforts.
The Tamil student community fears the recent decision
due to its
sensitive timing, will be detrimental to
the internationally mediated peace process, where
both the LTTE and
government of Sri Lanka are
currently engaged in. The outcome may also hinder the
subtle
stability that has brought both the
oppositions to the negotiating table and may prove to
be pivotal
during this critical time.
Students are revoked by the Conservative government
who did not care
to consult the community
before making its decision even after voicing support
for the peace
process on the election platform.
Furthermore, the Canadian government's failure to
recognize the
numerous human rights abuses
endured by the Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka, the
continued neglect
of several Ceasefire Agreement
violations in 2002 especially after the LTTE listing,
is astounding.
Instead of putting a terrorist label on the LTTE, we
hope the
Canadian government, internationally
known as peacekeepers, would take this opportunity to
actively
engage in the peace process as
mediators for the LTTE and Sri Lanka.
March 20, 2006
The editor
Toronto Star
Toronto.
This refers to
the letter published in today’s Toronto Star
appropriately styled “Place Sri Lanka in terrorist
list” in response to your editorial (Ban Tamil
Tigers and halt extortion). As correctly pointed out
there would have been no LTTE if the Sri Lankan
government had treated Tamils equally and with
dignity. LTTE is a creation of the successive
chauvinistic Sinhala dominated governments since
independence in 1948. If not for the LTTE, the
minority Thamil nation would have been decimated by
the Sri Lankan armed forces.
Banning the
LTTE will only embolden the Sinhala dominated
government to escalate the genocidal war against the
Thamil people living under occupation. Here is a
short list of horrendous killings committed by the
SLAF since December, 2005.
(1) On
December 01, 2005 unidentified assailants shot and
killed two farmers at a tea shop close to Athiyar
Hindu College in Neerveli at 8 p.m. A youth who was
standing inside the tea shop was seriously wounded
(2) On
December 16, 2005, 19
years old Thamil girl Eliyathamby Tharshini was raped
and murdered by Sri Lanka naval personnel at
Pungudutivu. Her body was found dumped inside a well.
(3)
On December 19, 2005 SL troops open fire on
University students led demonstrations protesting the
rape and murder of Tharshini in Jaffna. One lecturer
was shot and Vice-Chancellor physically attacked.
(4) On
December 22, 2005 a Thamil activist K.
Navaratnam (47),
Jaffna
district organizer for Tamil Resurgence Task force,
was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in front of the
Thinakkural newspaper office in KKS road in Jaffna
town.
(5) On
December 24, 2005 a woman succumbed to gun shot
injuries at Chavakachcheri, Jaffna. Four other men
were wounded when SL troops opened fire.
(6) On December
25, 2005 Remains of burnt bodies including a
four-year-old boy were discovered inside a house of
the Victoria Hundred Houses resettlement in Pesalai,
Mannar in a revenge attacks on the civilians by the
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN). Soldiers blocked residents from
searching for two other missing persons in parts of
surrounding area. Three houses and a shop were burnt
and almost all the houses were found looted. The
victims were burnt using madras, kajan leaves and
palmyrah stems,
(7)
On December 25, 2005, Joseph Pararajasingham, M.P.
was assassinated at St. Mary’s Church while attending
midnight mass by Sri Lankan army intelligence and/or
para-military groups. Pararajasingham’s son and
daughter are Canadian citizens.
(8) On
December 25, 2005 two civilians from Thoppu, in
Atchuvely Jaffna, who went to hunt wild boars in
shrub jungles close to the Palaly High Security Zone
(HSZ) armed with shotguns, were shot dead by Sri
Lanka Army (SLA) troops.
(9) On
December 28, 2005
unidentified gunmen shot and
killed Thambirajah Arul Ajanthan, 16, at his house
located in Eruvan in Kodikamam. The gunmen, who
entered the victim's house premises, following a Sri
Lanka Army patrol in the area, opened fire and killed
the victim, the younger brother of a youth who took
part in organizing Martyrs day remembrance events.
(10)
On January 02, 2006 5 innocent Thamil
students at Trincomalee were shot at point blank
range by members of the Special Task Force dispatched
by defence advisor and former DIG H.M.G.B.
Kotakadeniya. He is the Vice President of Jathika
Hela Urumaya, a religious outfit of Buddhist Bhikkus.
(11) On January 05, 2006 Rasaratnam
Kuganenthiran, 24, also called Sinnathamby, a
resident of Puthukkulam in Kiran Batticaloa was shot
dead by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers. Sources said
Kuganenthiran did not have the National Identity card
in his possession.
(12) On
January 6, 2006 two LTTE cadres killed by army deep
penetration unit in Trincomalee Tampalagamam area
under the control of the LTTE. Captain Suman
(Vensumin Anburasa from Trincomalee) and Lieft.
Umainesan (Perinpa Saseetharan from Mutur
Nadesu, who runs a business near the Puthur junction
on the Jaffna - Point Pedro road was shot dead by Sri
Lanka military intelligence operatives.
These killings
are those that were reported in the local press.
There might be other killings that did not catch the
news.
In none of
the above killings the perpetrators of the crime were
apprehended and brought before justice. A climate of
impunity reigns in army controlled areas.
Late Slobodan
Milosevic was rightly put on trial for committing
genocide against ethnic Albanians, Croatians etc.
before the International Criminal Tribunal at Hague.
Likewise the Head of Sri Lankan government too
should be arraigned before the same court for
genocide against ethnic Thamil people.
The editor of
Toronto Star could help the cause of peace and
democracy if he could use his position and influence
towards this end.
Yours truly,
Veluppillai
Thangavelu
416 281 1165
Place Sri Lanka on terrorist list
Mar. 20, 2006. 01:00 AM
(Published in Tor Star - Letter to the editor)
Ban Tamil
Tigers and halt extortion
Your editorial says
Canada should ban the Tamil Tigers. As you know,
Canada has failed miserably to convince the Sri
Lankan government to consider the federal model
solution to the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka. If
there should be some action taken, then Canada
should place Sri Lanka on the terrorist list as the
Sri Lankan government has tortured and killed more
than 65,000 Tamils and bombed schools, churches in
Tamil areas and made thousands of people disappear.
The government was not
even willing to do anything when the tsunami hit the
Tamil area and it is disappointing to see a reputed
newspaper like the Toronto Star not
questioning that but making a biased suggestion to
ban the LTTE.
It is time Canada takes
a fair stand and condemns the atrocities committed
by the Sri Lankan government against Tamils in Sri
Lanka.
Canada should play a
more active role in bringing peace to that country
and should engage both parties of the conflict.
Banning one party would only strengthen the
Sinhalese extremists to commit more atrocities
against Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Quoting the baseless
Human Rights Watch report on extortion is not
enough.
Personally, I contribute
money to help our people back home. It is because of
the expatriate Tamils's contribution that Tamils in
their homeland are living at least a half decent
life.
The Sri Lankan
government did not give a penny to the Tamils when
the tsunami hit or when people were suffering during
the war.
People are still
displaced and living in refugee camps; it is the
money we gave that keeps them alive.
To say I was intimidated
to give money is ridiculous. I don't live in Sri
Lanka where I can be raped, killed and thrown into a
well by the military. I live in Canada where I am
well aware of my rights and responsibilities and I
know where to go if I am intimidated. The report is
an insult to the whole Tamil community as it
portrays us as some bunch of idiots who don't know
our rights in this beautiful country.
In any case, I really
hope Canada plays a strong role in bringing peace
and justice to that country by engaging with both
parties without being biased toward the Sri Lankan
government which has a long history of committing
atrocities against the Tamil people. There would not
have been the LTTE if the Sri Lankan government had
treated Tamils equally with dignity.
CANADA RATIFIES
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR SUPPRESSION OF TERRORISM
FINANCING
FEBRUARY 15, 2002
-- Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham, Minister of
Justice and Attorney General of Canada Martin Cauchon,
and Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay today
announced that Canada has ratified the International
Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of
Terrorism. The Convention aims to curb terrorist acts
by cutting off terrorists’ sources of funding through
the creation of new offences under international law.
Minister Graham presented Canada’s instruments of
ratification to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi
Annan during their meeting today at UN headquarters in
New York City.
"This Convention provides
a valuable tool in our global fight against terrorism,
to help prevent another tragedy, such as the one that
occurred here in New York," said Minister Graham.
"With Canada’s ratification today, we are close to
having this important Convention enter into force."
Countries that ratify the
Convention are required to criminalize the provision
or collection of funds used or intended for use in
committing terrorist acts. The Convention also
establishes a framework for the extradition or
prosecution of those who raise or provide funds to
terrorists.
"Targeting terrorist
financing is an integral component of Canada’s efforts
to combat terrorism," said Minister Cauchon. "I am
pleased that we have recently enacted federal
legislation, through the Anti-Terrorism Act, to bring
Canada into compliance with the requirements of the
Convention and to ensure that we can play our role in
the global effort to disable and dismantle terrorist
organizations."
"Canada is committed to
curbing terrorist financing and this Convention will
strengthen our capacity to do so," said Minister
MacAulay.
The Convention was
unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly on
December 9, 1999, and has been open for signature
since January 10, 2000. Canada is the twentieth
country to ratify the Convention. It will enter into
force when ratified by 22 states.
The Convention for the
Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism is intended
to complement existing counterterrorism conventions.
Canada has signed all 12 of the existing conventions,
and has now ratified 11 of them.
