Tag Archives: Torture

Canada, First Nations, Ideology, Uncategorized

#opTeaKettle asks Did #Harper’s #CPC #MinistryofTruth attempt to #censor #cdnpoli @ddner of @vicecanada and @VICE re #FirstNations?

1 Comment

Spread the word, Tweet it, Share it and check out the references below for clues and let us know what ya think below!

Updated: The “short” answer is YES!

#opTeaKettle found: YES #Harper’s #CPC #MinistryofTruth DID attempt 2 #censor #cdnpoli @ddner re #FirstNations! https://dumpharper.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/opteakettle-asks-did-harpers-cpc-ministryoftruth-attempt-to-censor-cdnpoli-ddner-and-vice-re-firstnations/

Please Note: As of Approx 2200hr, 10PM 21Jul2013, the url has now been reactivated, so consider this one small victory for “We the People” keeping in mind that since there was NO explanation provided back to #opTeaKettle, the battle is not done 🙂

The NEW Question

Please refer to the Original Question and ponder WHY?

The Original Question

#opTeaKettle asks Did #Harper‘s #CPC #MinistryofTruth attempt to #censor #cdnpoli @ddner and @VICE re #FirstNations? https://dumpharper.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/opteakettle-asks-did-harpers-cpc-ministryoftruth-attempt-to-censor-cdnpoli-ddner-and-vice-re-firstnations/

Clues

  1. Statement of Apology by Stephen Harper -11 June 2008 – Google cache as it appeared on 11 Jul 2013 16:04:42 GMT. https://dumpharper.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/statement-of-apology-by-stephen-harper-11-june-2008-google-cache-as-it-appeared-on-11-jul-2013-160442-gmt/
  2. The Canadian Government Is Withholding Documents Concerning the Torture of Children 19 Jul 2013 – Despite numerous testimonies stating that children who attended St. Anne’s residential “Indian” school were sexually abused and sat in an electric chair, the Canadian government refuses to release 7,000 pages of investigative documents that seemingly corroborate those claims. Full story: http://www.vice.com/read/the-canadian-government-is-withholding-documents-concerning-the-torture-of-native-children
  3. Canadian Government still withholding documents concerning widespread torture of native children 18 Jul 2013 – http://www.sott.net/article/264145-The-Canadian-Government-Is-withholding-documents-concerning-the-torture-of-native-children

Our Inquiry into the matter

We are not very patient at this point and rather disappointed considering we exist in a 24/7/365 society and economy. Oddly, websites usually fix broken links ASAP. Thus far it has been well over 15 hours since our first tweet about this subversive censorship and 8 hours since we sent out the urgent email inquiry below (this is the template for the email without the email addys, don’t wanna no problemo, ci?) to who we though would be the most interested parties. We have also been monitoring our web traffic and while we do know the info is being shared, we are not really satisfied until we receive a reply or at least acknowledgement that the message was received.

From: dumpharper@live.ca
To: The Parties Below and Then Some
Subject: The Harper Government is attempting to censor your reference link
Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 10:32:48 -0400

Greetings Team, Please note that this is a copy of a message the we sent earlier to the Vice and Sott crews along with the Shadow Government of Canada. Since we are unsure which of the two of your departments might be interested in investigation this, we sent to both. As you are aware having a popular article that has reference links requires the referenced links to be active. This has changed with regards to the information below. This is an ongoing issue we are plagued with in the Nation formerly know as Canada, which for all intents and purposes should be re-branded Harperstan since the Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party of Canada has re-branded the former Canadian Government is his name, the Harper Government. CommieNazi’s should be addressed swiftly and decidedly. Your urgent assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated as they are taking the day off awaiting their scripts to arrive in the am.

ATTENTION: The Harper Government is attempting to censor your reference link

It is with great sadness that we need to report a rather peculiar occurrence of censorship and subversive and deceptive media manipulation with regards to the recently published article titled “THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT IS WITHHOLDING DOCUMENTS CONCERNING THE TORTURE OF CHILDREN” By Dave Dean that was published on http://Vice.com and http://Sott.net at the urls below. to make it a bit easier we have initiated a Twitter campaign [#opTeaKettle] and have located the Google cached version of the referenced page, that is linked in the following paragraph, which is the LAST paragraph:

“To not immediately release these documents shows that the current government was dishonest in their apology that First Nations groups say yielded no significant change for their way of life in Canada. Obviously it was a hollow gesture. And now, to deny the claims and withhold evidence of what amounts to torture from child survivors is, well, fucked up. Stephen Harper relished the moment to deliver a historical apology. Now it’s time to actually do something, and make things better for Canada’s Native victims.”

Surely you are aware of the ramifications of these revelations considering the amount of traffic that goes to your portals and how easy it is for this to be manipulated by rouge elements. In addition we have gathered the evidence that we can and have published everything thus far at the following url, so please check it out as soon as possible and get back to us!

Feel free to utilize the page we have provided to redirect the interested visitors to see what Dave seen when he utilized it as a reference. https://dumpharper.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/opteakettle-asks-did-harpers-cpc-ministryoftruth-attempt-to-censor-cdnpoli-ddner-and-vice-re-firstnations/

http://www.vice.com/read/the-canadian-government-is-withholding-documents-concerning-the-torture-of-native-children

http://www.sott.net/article/264145-The-Canadian-Government-Is-withholding-documents-concerning-the-torture-of-native-children

btw: here is the tweet, just for kicks and to see whatcha think:

#opTeaKettle asks Did #Harper‘s #CPC #MinistryofTruth attempt to #censor#cdnpoli @ddner and @VICE re #FirstNations? https://dumpharper.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/statement-of-apology-by-stephen-harper-11-june-2008-google-cache-as-it-appeared-on-11-jul-2013-160442-gmt/

also sent to: LiveWord? Canada
cc’d to Shadow Cabinet Critics:

Charlie Angus: MP for Timmins-James Bay , Ethics, Access to Information and Privacy portfolio
Alexandre Boulerice: MP for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, Labour, Deputy Ethics, Access to Information and Privacy portfolio
Jean Crowder: MP for Nanaimo-Cowichan, Aboriginal Affairs portfolio
Françoise Boivin: MP for Gatineau, Justice portfolio
Wayne L. Marston: MP for Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, Human Rights, Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario portfolio
Pierre Nantel: MP for Longueuil–Pierre-Boucher, Heritage portfolio
Andrew Cash: MP for Davenport, Deputy Aboriginal Affairs portfolio
Carol Hughes: MP for Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing, Deputy Aboriginal Health portfolio
Hoang Mai: MP for Brossard–La Prairie, Deputy Justice portfolio
Sott.net
liberal.ca

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Next Step

Gone fishin’ for Yellow Journalists and the Social Media Kettlers that distract from the issues purposely. Stay tuned…

Remember, politics is a contact sport, like hockey, so please feel free to add quick contributions, observations and relevant information as a comment below!

Contact us if you would like to contribute to our collaborative efforts or would like to share/submit articles, data or additional content, feel free to add feedback, additional info, alternative contact details, related links, articles, anonymous submission, etc. as a comment below, via web-form, through social media outlets or email us directly and confidentially at: dumpharper [at] live [dot] ca

This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. and intend its use to be for education and instructional purposes only. Therefore, we believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond “fair use,” you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

ShareAlike Statement: https://dumpharper.wordpress.com/sharealike/

Canada, Corruption, Crime, First Nations, Health, Housing, Ideology, Justice, Police State, Political, Torture, Uncategorized

The Canadian Government Is Withholding Documents Concerning the Torture of Children via Vice.com [cached 21Jul2013]

1 Comment

The Canadian Government Is Withholding Documents Concerning the Torture of Children

By Dave Dean

Please note that this article is Cross posted via source, Vice.com, to assure accessibility. Refer to the following summary:
https://dumpharper.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/opteakettle-asks-did-harpers-cpc-ministryoftruth-attempt-to-censor-cdnpoli-ddner-and-vice-re-firstnations/


A class picture from St. Paul’s Indian Industrial School in Middlechurch, Manitoba. via WikiCommons.

In the early 1990s an affiliation of Cochrane, Kapuskasing, and James Bay’s OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) detectives were assigned to investigate one of the largest claims of sexual and physical abuse against children in Canadian history. The testimony they amassed by talking to hundreds of survivors of St. Anne’s Residential School in Fort Albany Ontario was horrifying. The investigation provided 7,000 pages of stories that wouldn’t be out of place in memoirs of concentration camp survivors, or of individuals trapped in a country where ethnic cleansing is a government policy.

The accounts of physical and sexual abuse are brutal and numerous—hetero and homosexual child rape, children being beaten with strops and rudimentary whips, forced ingestion of noxious substances (rotten porridge that children would throw up and then be forced to eat), sexual fondling, forced masturbation… the list goes on and on. But one of the most appalling and debasing examples of the indignity and the abuse suffered by children at St. Anne’s is that of being strapped down and tortured in a homemade electric chair—sometimes as a form of punishment—but other times just as a form of amusement for the missionaries, who, while committing these acts, were supposedly the ones “civilizing” the “Indians.”

Edmund Metatawabin was the chief of the Fort Albany First Nation in the 1990s, and the man who first brought these allegations to the attention of the OPP. Both he and his peers had been strapped down in the electric chair and he recalled the experiences as such: “Small boys used to have their legs flying in front of them… the sight of a child being electrocuted and their legs flying out in front was a funny sight for the missionaries and they’d all be laughing… the cranking of the machine would be longer and harder. Now you’re inflicted with real pain. Some of them passed out.”

In 1997, the OPP concluded its investigation and seven former employees of St. Anne’s were charged and convicted of a variety of assaults. The victims were never compensated, and the 7,000 pages of investigative evidence collected by the OPP was locked away somewhere in Orillia. Now, the victims are seeking compensation, and the federal government—who has subsequently become the defendant in a case involving the sexual abuse and torture of children by an electric chair—is attempting to keep those 7,000 documents from ever seeing the light of day, thus preventing the possibility of any recompense. The government is citing “privacy reasons” for their lack of transparency.

I corresponded with Fay Brunning, an Ottawa-based lawyer who is representing the victims of St. Anne’s in their compensation claims.

“In refugee claims in Canada,” says Fay, “the Federal Government accepts that electric shock is a form of torture. It was torture, according to many of my clients, to be strapped into that chair and electrocuted.”

Fay has been in contact with Detective Constable Greg Delguidice, an OPP officer who worked tirelessly on this case throughout the 90s, and who, in a ‘Will Say’ document (meaning it describes what Delguidice will say in court) Fay provided to me, Delguidice’s testimony corroborates the disturbing claims of the St. Anne’s survivors. But it also indicates that the federal government is not disclosing the most crucial evidence of abuse at the school: “None of this evidence is disclosed in the Federal Government disclosure package about St. Anne’s, which is supposed to reveal all the documents about sexual or physical abuse at the school while it operated.”

I called up Delguidice directly, at his office in Kapuskasing, to see if he’d be willing to provide a comment or perspective on the case, but he respectfully declined, saying it’s “in the middle of a civil process right now” and that their “corporate communications is dealing with the matter.”

These documents that the government is withholding are vitally important to the process, because without some form of official record, the claims of abuse by these victims are easily dismissed as being based solely on abstract words and memories. As Fay Brunning told me, “I take the position that the Federal Government should admit liability to those former students who were electrocuted… Former students should not have to go in, on their own, and each of them convince the adjudicator there was an electric chair. Furthermore, there should be no doubt that compensation should be granted to those people who were electrocuted.”

Seeing as the government is the defendant in this claims case, it seems totally bogus that they should have any legal say on what evidence may or may not be presented. “The fact is,” says Charlie Angus, Member of Parliament for Timmins-James Bay, “that the federal government is the defendant in the case. So, do we allow perps in any kind of sexual rape case to decide what kind of evidence comes forth? No.”

I called up Charlie to get some civil and political perspective on just why the government feels that it’s worth still trying to hide these thousands of documents of abuse evidence that are, at this point, essentially common knowledge in northern Ontario. Although not surprisingly—for an outspoken NDP critic of Aboriginal Affairs and Justice (who also hates Twitter)—he was candid on the matter, which was a refreshing departure from our often precious and handle-with-kid-gloves members of Parliament. In his words:

“They’re doing a lot of weaseling—legal weasel stuff that they always do with First Nations—to have the federal government not bother to tell these survivors when they’re coming in and having to prove their case, that, ‘yeah, we know where the evidence is, we’re just not going to provide it’”

“This is a government that talks about standing up for the victim all the time and they’re going to be tough on criminals. Well, are they telling us that there’s two classes of victims in this country? Native and non-Native? And that Native victims are just going to have to make do with less, and have their rights interfered with—have evidence of sexual torture and abuse of children suppressed? What, to save some dollars? I find that absolutely appalling. That they knew this, that they knew these documents were there and they made no evidence to supply them is mind boggling.”

From there, I asked Charlie if he thought the government could redeem themselves—if they could turn this around and make good to the victims of St. Anne’s, on their Residential School apology, and on the commitment they made to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“They can. The timing is important. They have to supply these documents soon. I know that at the provincial level we have people who are willing to help, we know the OPP are willing to help. People want justice done. Who would side with covering up or denying child victims of sexual and physical torture? It takes a special level of hardened depravity to want that. So, I expect this Justice Minister is going to do the right thing and they will turn those documents over. I’m sorry, They’ve been outed. The light’s shining on them. It’s time to do right, whether they want to or not. We’ve got to drag them into the daylight kicking and screaming, but we want justice.“

To not immediately release these documents shows that the current government was dishonest in their apology that First Nations groups say yielded no significant change for their way of life in Canada. Obviously it was a hollow gesture. And now, to deny the claims and withhold evidence of what amounts to torture from child survivors is, well, fucked up. Stephen Harper relished the moment to deliver a historical apology. Now it’s time to actually do something, and make things better for Canada’s Native victims.

Follow Dave on Twitter: @ddner

Previously:

The Wildly Depressing History of Residential Schools

By Dave Dean 1 day ago Tags: residential schools, Stephen Harper, Canada, conservatives, government, first nations, native, Torture, electric chair, sexual abuse

–end of cached article content–

continue reading source: http://www.vice.com/read/the-canadian-government-is-withholding-documents-concerning-the-torture-of-native-children

Remember, politics is a contact sport, like hockey, so please feel free to add quick contributions, observations and relevant information as a comment below!

Contact us if you would like to contribute to our collaborative efforts or would like to share/submit articles, data or additional content, feel free to add feedback, additional info, alternative contact details, related links, articles, anonymous submission, etc. as a comment below, via web-form, through social media outlets or email us directly and confidentially at: dumpharper [at] live [dot] ca

This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. and intend its use to be for education and instructional purposes only. Therefore, we believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond “fair use,” you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

ShareAlike Statement: https://dumpharper.wordpress.com/sharealike/

Canada, Corruption, Crime, First Nations, Health, Housing, Ideology, Justice, Police State, Political, Torture, Uncategorized

Canadian Government still withholding documents concerning widespread torture of native children via Sott.net [cached 21Jul2013]

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Canadian Government still withholding documents concerning widespread torture of native children

Dave Dean
Vice.com
Thu, 18 Jul 2013 00:00 CDT

Please note that this article is Cross posted via source, Sott.net, to assure accessibility. Refer to the following summary:
https://dumpharper.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/opteakettle-asks-did-harpers-cpc-ministryoftruth-attempt-to-censor-cdnpoli-ddner-and-vice-re-firstnations/

Map Print

© Unknown

In the early 1990s an affiliation of Cochrane, Kapuskasing and James Bay’s OPP detectives were assigned to investigate one of the largest claims of sexual and physical abuse against children in Canadian history. The testimony they amassed by talking to hundreds of survivors of St. Anne’s Residential School in Fort Albany Ontario was horrifying. Residential Schools were a form of genocide – and the OPP’s special investigation into St. Anne’s provided 7,000 pages of stories that wouldn’t be out of place in memoirs of concentration camp survivors, or of individuals trapped in a country where ethnic cleansing is a government policy.

The accounts of physical and sexual abuse are brutal and numerous – hetero and homosexual child rape, children being stropped and beaten with rudimentary whips, forced ingestion of noxious substances (rotten porridge that children would throw up, then subsequently be forced to eat), sexual fondling, and forced masturbation… the list goes on and on. But one of the most appalling and debasing examples of the indignity and the abuse suffered by children at St. Anne’s is that of being strapped down and tortured in a homemade electric chair – sometimes as a form of punishment – but other times just as a form the amusement for the missionaries, who, while committing these acts, were supposedly the ones “civilizing” the “Indians”.

Edmund Metatawabin was the chief of the Fort Albany First Nation in the 1990s, and the man who first brought these allegations to the attention of the OPP. Both he and his peers had been strapped down in the electric chair and he recalled the experiences as such: “Small boys used to have their legs flying in front of them… the sight of a child being electrocuted and their legs flying out in front was a funny sight for the missionaries and they’d all be laughing… the cranking of the machine would be longer and harder. Now you’re inflicted with real pain. Some of them passed out.”

In 1997, the OPP concluded its investigation,and seven former employees of St. Anne’s were charged and convicted of a variety of assaults. The victims were never compensated, and the 7,000 pages of investigative evidence collected by the OPP was locked away somewhere in Orillia. Now, the victims are seeking compensation, and the federal government – who has subsequently become the defendant in a case involving the sexual abuse and torture of children by an electric chair – is attempting to keep those 7,000 documents from ever seeing the light of day, thus preventing the possibility of any recompense. The government is citing “privacy reasons” for their lack of transparency.

I corresponded with Fay Brunning, an Ottawa-based lawyer who is representing the victims of St. Anne’s in their compensation claims.

“In refugee claims in Canada,” says Fay, “the Federal Government accepts that electric shock is a form of torture. It was torture, according to many of my clients, to be strapped into that chair and electrocuted.”

Fay has been in contact with Detective Constable Greg Delguidice, an OPP officer who worked tirelessly on this case throughout the 90s, and who, in a ‘Will Say’ document (meaning it describes what Delguidice will say in court) Fay provided to me, Delguidice’s testimony corroborates the disturbing claims of the St. Anne’s survivors. But it also indicates that the federal government is not disclosing the most crucial evidence of abuse at the school: “None of this evidence is disclosed in the Federal Government disclosure package about St. Anne’s, which is supposed to reveal all the documents about sexual or physical abuse at the school while it operated.”

I called up Delguidice directly, at his office in Kapuskasing to see if he’d be willing to provide a comment or perspective on the case, but he respectfully declined, saying it’s “in the middle of a civil process right now” and that their “corporate communications is dealing with the matter.”

These documents – that the government is withholding – are vitally important to the process, because without some form of official record, the claims of abuse by these victims are easily dismissed as being based solely on abstract words and memories. As Fay Brunning told me, “I take the position that the Federal Government should admit liability to those former students who were electrocuted… Former students should not have to go in, on their own, and each of them convince the adjudicator there was an electric chair. Furthermore, there should be no doubt that compensation should be granted to those people who were electrocuted.”

Seeing as the government is the defendant in this claims case, it seems totally bogus that they should have any legal say on what evidence may or may not be presented. “The fact is,” says Charlie Angus, Member of Parliament for Timmins-James Bay, “that the federal government is the defendant in the case. So, do we allow perps in any kind of sexual rape case decide what kind of evidence comes forth? No.”

I called up Charlie to get some civil and political perspective on just why the government feels that it’s worth still trying to hide these thousands of documents of abuse evidence that are, at this point, essentially common knowledge in northern Ontario. Although not surprisingly – for an outspoken NDP critic of Aboriginal Affairs and Justice (who also hates Twitter) – he was candid on the matter, which was a refreshing departure from our often precious and handle-with-kid-gloves members of Parliament. In his words:

“They’re doing a lot of weaseling, legal weasel stuff that they always do with First Nations… To have the federal government not bother to tell these survivors when they’re coming in and having to prove their case, that, ‘yeah, we know where the evidence is, we’re just not going to provide it'”

“This is a government that talks about standing up for the victim all the time and they’re going to be tough on criminals. Well, are they telling us that there’s two classes of victims in this country? Native and non-Native? And that Native victims are just going to have to make do with less, and have their rights interfered with – have evidence of sexual torture and abuse of children suppressed. What, to save some dollars? I find that absolutely appalling. That they knew this, that they knew these documents were there and they made no evidence to supply them is mind-boggling.”

From there, I asked Charlie if he thought the government could redeem themselves – if they could turn this around and make good to the victims of St. Anne’s, on their Residential School apology, and on the commitment they made to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“They can. The timing is important. They have to supply these documents soon. I know that at the provincial level we have people who are willing to help, we know the OPP are willing to help. People want justice done. Who would side with covering up or denying child victims of sexual and physical torture? It takes a special level of hardened depravity to want that. So, I expect this Justice Minister is going to do the right thing and they will turn those documents over. I’m sorry, They’ve been outed. The light’s shining on them. It’s time to do right, whether they want to or not. We’ve got to drag them into the daylight kicking and screaming, but we want justice.”

To not immediately release these documents shows that the current government was dishonest in their apology that First Nations groups say yielded no significant change for their way of life in Canada. Obviously it was a hollow gesture. And now, to deny the claims and withhold evidence of what amounts to torture from child survivors is, well, fucked up. Stephen Harper relished the moment to deliver an historical apology. Now it’s time to actually do something, and make things better for Canada’s Native victims.

–end of cached article content–

continue reading source: http://www.sott.net/article/264145-The-Canadian-Government-Is-withholding-documents-concerning-the-torture-of-native-children

Remember, politics is a contact sport, like hockey, so please feel free to add quick contributions, observations and relevant information as a comment below!

Contact us if you would like to contribute to our collaborative efforts or would like to share/submit articles, data or additional content, feel free to add feedback, additional info, alternative contact details, related links, articles, anonymous submission, etc. as a comment below, via web-form, through social media outlets or email us directly and confidentially at: dumpharper [at] live [dot] ca

This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. and intend its use to be for education and instructional purposes only. Therefore, we believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond “fair use,” you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

ShareAlike Statement: https://dumpharper.wordpress.com/sharealike/

Afghanistan, Torture, Uncategorized, Video

An Historical Timeline – TORTURE FILE

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“If you know your history, then you would know where you’re coming from.  Then you wouldn’t have to ask me, who in the hell do I think I am.” – Bob Marley

2007

April 27

Prof. Michael Byers (Canada Research Chair in Global Politics & International Law, University of British Columbia)  and  Prof. William A. Schaba (Irish Centre for Human Rights) sent a letter to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The letter, asks the Prosecutor to investigate whether Canada’s two most senior military officials committed war crimes by allowing unlawful transfers to take place, and by not stopping them when credible reports of torture surfaced.

2008

December 17

“Canadian Soldiers Complicit in Rape of Afghan Children” is published by peaceculture.org, calling for the ICC to probe allegations that some Canadian officers serving in Afghanistan told subordinates to ‘look the other way’ when Afghan soldiers and local interpreters sodomized young boys…

“It’s common knowledge that young boys are used in this way in Afghanistan,” said Brad Adams, executive director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch. “It’s the great dichotomy of Afghanistan. Homosexuality is treated as a cardinal sin, but it’s still common for men to have sex with boys.”  Moreover, Adams said he wasn’t surprised that some Canadian soldiers say they were told to ‘ignore’ cases of abuse. “I think (Western soldiers) look the other way about a number of things, like opium production and warlordism. They are looking the other way on almost everything.”

“I think it’s safe to say that they had other worries, like how they were staying alive,” said retired Canadian major-general Lewis MacKenzie.

2009

September 9 

The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, announced that the ICC had received “allegations from many different sources”, and that he has launched a preliminary examination.  If he finds grounds, a full investigation into war crimes committed by NATO soldiers and insurgents in Afghanistan would be required. Law experts say there is a very real chance Canadian officials could be charged with war crimes.

November 18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA_XSKSEZSI
Richard Covin testifies to a Special Committee of Parliament in respect of obstruction, intimidation and contempt on the part of Harper’s government, and confirms the commission of widespread war crimes by parties within the government, including the armed forces.

November 19

“Clearly the reality is there is no credible evidence, none, zero, to suggest that a Taliban prisoner transferred from Canadian Forces was ever abused.”
– Peter MacKay (Question Period, Nov. 19, 2009).

November 22

“Not a single Taliban soldier turned over by Canadian forces can be proved to have been abused. That is the crux* of the issue.” – Peter MacKay *
“Crux simplex”, a simple wooden torture stake, according to the classic Greek word “stavros” (“σταυρός”), by Justus Lipsius (1547-1606), De Cruce Libri Tres, Adwerp, 1629, p. 19.
 

November 26

The Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan presents its THIRD REPORT. (That the Committee believes a serious breach of privilege has occurred and members’ rights have been violated, that the Government of Canada, particularly the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, have intimidated a witness of this Committee, and obstructed and interfered with the Committee’s work and with the papers requested by the Committee – therefore the Committee reported the breach to the House for consideration).

December 9

Harper’s Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk finally, and for the first time, reveals to reporters that such torture had, in fact, occurred in Afghanistan. (Harper’s ministers say they were aware of neither Natynczyk’s torture reports, nor indeed any of the widespread reports that Afghan authorities were abusing detainees).

December 11

Liberals / NDP / BLOQ MPs pass a motion (votes: 145-143)  in the House Commons that orders Harper’s minority government to release thousands of pages of unedited documents in order that Parliament can examine whether Afghan prisoners detained by Canadian forces were subject to torture when handed over to local authorities, and what the government knew about the issue.

December 16

Embassymag.ca publishes “Could Canadians be charged with war crimes?”

December 30

Harper’s PR officials announce to Canadians that he has shut Parliament down until March by issuing the following angry “ALERT”:

From: Alerte-Info-Alert <Alerte-Info-Alert@pmo-cpm.gc.ca>  | To: Alerte-Info-Alert <Alerte-Info-Alert@pmo-cpm.gc.ca> | Sent: Wed Dec 30 13:25:11 2009 |

Subject: New Throne Speech / Nouveau discours du Trأ´ne
| Today, the Prime Minister announced that the next phase of our Economic Action Plan will be launched, following the Olympic Games, with a Throne Speech on March 3 and a Budget on March 4.

| This is the 105th time in Canada’s history that a new Throne Speech will launch a new session of an existing Parliament.

| The economy remains Canadians’ top priority and our top priority. The three economic themes of the new session will be: (1) completing implementation of the Economic Action Plan, (2) returning the federal budget to balance once the economy has recovered and (3) building the economy of the future.

| Ms Hoeppner’s bill to repeal the long-gun registry will be unaffected by the launch of a new session. We will reintroduce in their original form the consumer safety law (Bill C-6) and the anti-drug-crime law (Bill C-15) that the Ignatieff Liberals gutted.

| We will seek Opposition agreement to proceed expeditiously with other Government legislation — particularly laws urgently needed to fight crime — that the Ignatieff Liberals have blocked and obstructed.

2010

January 5

Harper tells the CBC that  torture is not on Canadians‘ “radar”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6oZ7r9h5gs

January 9

Canadian voters start ICC letter writing campaign re: war crimes investigation.

January 10

OURCANADA.TK website is launched

Please feel free to add feedback, additional info, alternative contact details, related links, articles, anonymous submission, etc. as a comment below, via web-form, through social media or mail us directly and confidentially at: dumpharper [at] live [dot] ca

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Canada, Torture, Uncategorized

Torture Directive 2.0

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By . Published on March 6, 2012
It seems that the Canadian government has learned nothing from the two $30-million torture inquires both of which recommended that the Canadian adopt a different approach…

Jim Bronskill from the Canadian Press published a follow-up story on the torture directive that was issued by the Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews. The new story speaks of a more recent directive (shown below) issued in July 2011. The new directive removes any ambiguity as to what the government position is with respect to the use and sharing of information that is likely derived from torture.

It seems that the Canadian government has learned nothing from the two $30-million torture inquires both of which recommended that the Canadian government adopt a different approach to dealing with foreign agencies that do not adhere to the same human rights standard as ours.

http://prism-magazine.com/2012/03/torture-directive-2-0/

  • Anon:What a friggin Farce ! All that money spent ! …and for what??!! I’d sure like to see a detailed expenditure,..and what , if anything was accomplished. Hell, one man could have done it for under a hundred thousand with two secretaries,..corruption, corruption corruption,..
  • Anon: All of the republican presidential hopefuls support torture, except Ron Paul. WHAT HAVE WE COME TO? The End Game phase of a world fascism agenda of long standing. That’s what. FU** the MATRIX!!!
  • Anon: Anyone know how long we have had a “Minister of Public Safety” and why we even have one? Is this something that came out of 911? It seems to be something stemming out of paranoia and not any real need to me. This kind of negative thinking only serves to grow more negativity’ ie. things to be paranoid about, like free thought and free speech.
  • Anon:It appears as if you are on the right track Anon…Public Safety Canada (PS) was created in 2003 to ensure coordination across all federal departments and agencies responsible for national security and the safety of Canadians.

    From natural disasters to crime and terrorism, our mandate is to keep Canadians safe.

    http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/abt/index-eng.aspx
    About us
    www.publicsafety.gc.ca

    Index page about Public Safety Canada, including who we are, what we do, our minister and departmental reports.

Please feel free to add feedback, additional info, alternative contact details, related links, articles, anonymous submission, etc. as a comment below, via web-form, through social media or mail us directly and confidentially at: dumpharper [at] live [dot] ca

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Afghanistan, Corruption, Crime, Economic, Elections Canada, Ideology, Immigration, Media, Military, Political, Uncategorized

Top 10 Conservative Party scandals

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by Daniela Syrovy & Greg Bolton

All governments have their controversies. Remember the Liberal’s infamous “sponsorship scandal?” The Mulroney-Schreiber “Airbus scandal?”

For a government that came in promising to clean up corruption, the current Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, have sure had their share of controversies. Here are 10 of the Harper Government’s biggest missteps so far. (It should be noted that it was harder than we originally anticipated to keep the list to just 10.)

1) Who: The Prime Minister’s Office and the Privy Council Office that directly serves Mr. Harper.
What: Replaced the words ”Government of Canada” with ”Harper Government” in an attempt to re-brand. Directive was sent to a variety of public servants with regards to all federal communication.
Result: Liberals have their panties in a knot and the rest of Canada thinks Harper is one step closer to declaring a dictatorship.
Lessons learned: If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Leave the re-branding to ad agencies. (credit: Canadian Press)

2) Who: Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence.
What: Canada transferred Afghan detainees to the Afghan National Army and allegedly knew about the abuse these detainees were receiving. Some believe Canada not only turned a blind eye to it but intentionally handed over prisoners to torturers.
Result: Whirlwind of bad press for the Conservatives, including the accusation that Canada should be tried for war crimes. The House of Commons is in showdown mode as opposition MP’s want access to documents pertaining to the detainees in question and to Canada’s treatment and tracking of prisoners in Afghanistan.
Lessons Learned: (Alleged) war crimes don’t pay. (credit: Canadian Press)

3) Who: National Resources Minister Lisa Raitt
What: In a private conversation between Raitt and her aide Jasmine MacDonnell, Rait described the issue of medical isotope shortage as a ”sexy” story and a chance to shine in the political limelight.
Result: Busted for being a cold-hearted player. Raitt’s aide, who accidently leaked the casual recording, resigned, while Raitt eventually apologized and offered her resignation. Harper refused it.
Lessons Learned: Get a better aide. Keep the word ”sexy” as far away from your politics as possible. (credit: Canadian Press)

4) Who: Immigration Minister Jason Kenny
What: Kenney’s now former director of multicultural affairs, Kasra Nejatian send a fundraising letter to Conservative riding associations on government letterhead seeking assistance for a $378,000 ad campaign meant to attract immigrant voters. An excellent example of partisan fundraising; Kenney used government staff and resources to try and get the Conservatives what they need.
Result: Kenney apologized but claimed it was his employee’s mistake. Nejatian resigned.
Lessons Learned: It’s never a good idea to blur the lines between your Ministerial duties and courting immigrant voters. For maximum efficacy and minimum risk, just make a pandering, empty appearance at random ethnic festivals instead. (credit: Canadian Press)

5) Who: Herr Harper Himself
What: The PMO is working on a plan code named the Shoe Store Project that would see government build a new media centre solely controlled by the government. Easier control of the media and the message the public get is the primary goal. The centre is meant to replace the 47-year-old National Press Theatre, a venue where conferences are moderated by the non-partisan Parliamentary Press Gallery association – a group of broadcasters, newspapers and other media outlets. The new media centre would be managed and moderated by hand-picked individuals answerable only to the Harper government, instead of to the press gallery. Estimated cost of the project is $2 million.
Result: We have yet to see if the new media centre sees the light of day. In the meantime, media outlets are expressing their concern that dictatorship is slowing edging out democracy.
Lesson Learned: Don’t f*&k with the media! (credit: Canadian Press)

6) Who: Quebec MP (and former Minister for Foreign Affairs) Maxime Bernier
What: In 2008, left highly confidential and sensitive NATO briefing notes at the apartment of then-girlfriend Julie Couillard, who was later discovered to have had ties to such unsavoury criminal organizations as the Hell’s Angels.
Result: SO. TOTALLY. FIRED! At least from his cabinet position. But he’s still an MP.
Lessons learned: For Harper: don’t trust NATO secrets with a self-absorbed jackass who does his best thinking with his ”Little Minister.” For Bernier: put your head down and behave for a bit, and you can actually keep your job, even though you don’t deserve it. Yay! (credit: Canadian Press)

7) Who: Former Cabinet Minister Helena Guergis
What: In the interest of fairness to the scandal-plagued, disgraced Guergis, it must be noted that in some cases, the exact details of her disgrace are still under investigation. But over a period of 24 months or so, she and/or her husband Rahim Jaffer were surrounded by a never-ending torrent of rumours of corruption, cocaine binges, three-way sex with prostitutes, alleged financial irregularities and a well-publicized hissy fit at the Charlottetown airport. Today, they might be known as Team Sheen.
Result: Fired, then thrown under the bus by Harper and his crew.
Lessons learned: Presumably, Harper was forced to upbraid his entire party with one of his infamous tactical directive memos. It probably read something like this: ”Hey guys! Seriously, no more blow, whores, and graft! This goes especially for cabinet ministers I appointed to multiple positions. Just good honest government for a bit, k? Tanx!” (credit: Canadian Press)

8) Who: Former Minister of International Cooperation Bev Oda
What: When an official document recommended the renewal of government funding for Kairos, a left-leaning international aid organization, Oda attempted to overturn it by simply adding the word ”not” to the document, effectively inverting the meaning of the recommendation. Also known in non-governmental circles as ”lying.” She also claimed, initially, not to have done it at all – another whopper.
Results: The Government seems to be riding this one out, despite a symphonic swell of calls for her resignation, including one from National Post columnist Lorne Gunter – although most of his blistering column is about how much less corrupt the Harper government is than, well, let’s say, any Liberal government ever.
Lessons learned: Good soldiers go far. Oda’s scandal has helped deflect from concurrent Conservative, scandals, especially its stonewalling of parties seeking detailed budget breakdowns. Both issues, ultimately, placed the Conservatives in contempt of Parliament. (credit: Canadian Press)

9) Who: Harper Chief of Staff Nigel Wright
What: According to 2008 documents related to the so-called ”in-and-out scandal,” Wright was the secretary of the Conservative Fund of Canada at the time of the alleged improprieties in the distribution of campaign funds for Conservative campaign advertising – the ”In and Out” scandal (which, by the way, despite the name, appears to have absolutely nothing to do with Maxime Bernier and/or Helena Guergis).
Results: Developing. In typical fashion, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is calling for Wright’s resignation, despite the nagging fact that Wright has yet to be implicated. Or, as Harper put it in a typically scintillating, heartfelt speech: ”the individual in question has not been charged with anything yet.”
Lessons learned: We’ll see what happens, but one thing we know already is that being Harper’s chief of staff is probably not all that much fun (credit: Canadian Press)

10) Who: Stephen Harper
What: After cutting $45 million in arts and culture funding back in 2008, Mr. Harper casually suggested that ”ordinary people” don’t care about arts funding. A Facebook group claiming the contrary was quickly started and went viral, gathering nearly 60,000 fans.
Results: Harper softened his stance a bit, then performed ”A Little Help From My Friends” at just the sort of gala he had derided earlier. Not a scandal, exactly, but a great example of Harper’s enduring love for the double-standard.
Lessons learned: Harper is not an ”ordinary” Canadian, and we’re supposed to do what he says, not what he does. Any questions? Direct them to The Canadian, er, the ”Harper Government.” (credit: Canadian Press)

source: http://news.sympatico.ca/OpEd/Coffee-Talk/conservative-scandals

Daniela Syrovy is a communications professional and writer who has worked for the Toronto International Film Festival, Alliance Atlantis and CTVGlobeMedia. She runs a boutique PR firm in Toronto and once owned a fast food diner called Big Burger. She contributes to sweetspot.ca and shedoesthecity.com, and divides her time between Toronto and the West Indies.

Sameer Vasta is a storyteller, web junkie, hugger extraordinaire, and communications strategist that has helped organizations like the Government of Ontario, The World Bank, and the AKDN create compelling narrative around their work. He performs poetry in the street and gives, arguably, the best hugs in the country. Ask him for one next time you’re in Toronto.

Please feel free to add feedback, additional info, alternative contact details, related links, articles, anonymous submission, etc. as a comment below, via web-form, through social media or mail us directly and confidentially at: dumpharper [at] live [dot] ca

This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. and intend its use to be for education and instructional purposes only. Therefore, we believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond “fair use,” you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

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