Taking care of our own
Editorial
Aug 15, 2003
Bill Sampson's family is furious at Ottawa, and it is easy to see why. According to documents recently released in response to Access to Information requests, Mr. Sampson repeatedly told visiting Canadians -- including diplomat Jean Gobeil, Bloc Québécois MP Stéphane Bergeron and a psychiatrist sent to examine him -- that he was brutally tortured during his 31 months in a Saudi Arabian prison. But these reports were dismissed as mere allegations by our Department of Foreign Affairs, which has now admitted its officials may have followed "quick media lines" in repeating Saudi Arabia's denials of abuse.
Assuming Mr. Sampson spoke the truth -- and given the Saudis' atrocious human rights record, there is good reason to assume he was -- our government's lack of action was shameful. True, officials may have had legitimate concerns that publicly criticizing Saudi Arabia would only have made things worse for Mr. Sampson. (Bill Graham, the Foreign Affairs Minister, claimed yesterday that "rais[ing] the temperature in this case could have in fact resulted in the death of Mr. Sampson.") But given the tremendous international outcry that would have resulted had the Saudis responded to Canadian criticism by hastening the execution of a prisoner, we find this difficult to believe. More relevant, we suspect, was the Western habit of giving a large oil-supplying nation and nominal ally the benefit of the doubt.
But Ottawa now has several opportunities to set a better precedent for dealing with rights violations of Canadians abroad. And in one case, at least, it appears to be taking full advantage. Since photojournalist Zahra Kazemi's violent death last month while in the custody of Iranian police, our officials have been duly vocal in seeking answers. When Tehran announced her body would be buried in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, despite repeated requests from senior Canadian officials and her Montreal-based son that she be shipped home, the government recalled our ambassador. Now, it is reportedly considering introducing a United Nations resolution condemning Iran's human rights record.
Certainly, we hope such a resolution is forthcoming. But if the Canadian government is to send a clear message that rogue governments cannot abuse Canadian citizens and get away with it, Ottawa must be just as diligent in two other pending cases as well.
Last month, Calgarian Bruce Balfour was arrested at the Beirut airport. Mr. Balfour, an evangelical Christian in Lebanon as part of a group that wants to reforest a mountain range with cedars, will stand trial for "collaborating with the enemy" on August 20. Lebanese authorities claim he acted as a spy for Israel, providing intelligence on both army and Hezbollah positions.
Others, however, have noted that he is probably just paying the price for having previously visited Israel (Lebanon does not permit entry to anyone with an Israeli stamp on their passport). And according to Elias Bejjani, a spokesman for the Canadian-Lebanese Human Rights Federation, "collaborating with the enemy" is a catch-all charge favoured by many Middle Eastern countries. "In the Arab world, whenever they want to get somebody, this charge is always ready, and they fabricate it," Mr. Bejjani explained recently.
A cloudier case -- but one that is no less deserving of attention -- is that of Maher Arar, an Ottawan arrested last year while changing flights in New York. U.S. authorities suspected Mr. Arar of being an Al-Qaeda agent and sent back to Syria, which he left in 1988. He has since been held in a Syrian prison without charge, and the London-based Syria Human Rights Committee claims that "confirmed reports from confidential and knowledgeable sources" indicate he "has received heavy and severe torture."
Yesterday, Bill Graham told reporters that Mr. Arar assured Canadian consular officials in a private meeting that he has not been tortured, and that his treatment has improved because of Canadian intervention. Given what we now know about Mr. Sampson's treatment -- and about what Ottawa told us at the time -- we have our doubts. But in either case, our government must continue to be vigilant. Although the charges against Mr. Arar may not be quite as flimsy as the ones against Mr. Balfour, both men are threatened by the same primitive brand of Middle Eastern justice that cost Ms. Kazemi her life, and very nearly cost Mr. Sampson his as well.
http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1775.shtmlOfficial Denounces U.S. Ploys Against Iran
Politics Section
Aug 16, 2003
NEISHABOUR, Khorasan Province -- Director General of the Khorasan Intelligence Department Mehdi Mousavi said here Wednesday that 11 satellite TV channels based in the United States are staging anti-Iran propaganda.
By allowing the TV channels, the United States is supporting ploys against the Iranian system; he noted adding that the U.S. is after creating division between the Iranian people and officials.
Mousavi said the officials have to consider the social realities and avoid words and deeds that may be used as pretexts by enemies to launch anti-Iran propaganda.
The official was critical of the performance of the media circles which he said have created a somber image of the Islamic Republic. He touched on the directives given by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei who named the current Iranian year as "the year of rendering service to the people."
Mousavi said the U.S. is not afraid of the nuclear breakthroughs of Iran but it is afraid of the strong unity between the people and officials adding that the United States is after launching a psychological war on the Islamic Republic to bring it to its knees.
He called on the Muslim ummah to remain vigilant vis-a-vis the ploys hatched by the global arrogance as it is after sowing the seeds of discord among the people.
The weak pillars of the economic, political and cultural infrastructures of the United States were revealed with the September 11, 2001 hijacked airliner mid-air attacks against the U.S. major cities New York and Washington, he said.
Mousavi commented on the developments in Iraq and Afghanistan saying the United States attacked Afghanistan to cover up its internal problems.
In Iraq, he said, the U.S. forces have created many problems with the Iraqis continuing to face many challenges and hardships.
He warned about the divisive behaviors and actions by some individuals and groups in the country and called for unity to suppress threats to nation.
The promotion of the rule of law, he asserted, would contribute to a strong unity and solidarity among the masses.
He said the factional aspirations should not be given more attention than the genuine national interests and added that if the political camps and factions set aside their discrepancies, national unity would be promoted.
Proper measures and efforts to promote the national unity and solidarity among masses are now of critical importance, he said.
The achievements of the Islamic revolution are so numerous that the poisonous propaganda of the western media can do nothing to make the Iranian people ignore them, concluded Mousavi.
http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1770.shtml