Fredericton Peace Coalition Weblog

A 12-year old schoolgirl was gang-raped by five gunmen in Sarpul province in Northern Afghanistan. The girl and her family asked Hamid Karzai to prosecute the rapists and take their case seriously. They threatened that if they are not provided justice, the whole family will commit mass suicide to get rid of such life. They say, the local authorities keep silence on such cases and did not act to arrest those responsible.

Two Palestinian activists have been arrested and a Canadian activist has been shot in the leg by a rubber-coated steel bullet while attempting to take in food and other supplies to the West Bank village of Ni’lin, which has been holding constant non-violent demonstrations against the Israeli annexation barrier for the last two months.

Assembly rejects plans by B.C. company to do in Argentina what it can’t do in its home territory.

…the Harper government wants Canadians to think about the mission in Afghanistan and exposed its strategy for managing the public relations campaign. At what are called “message events” where journalists are updated on developments in Afghanistan, officials from Foreign Affairs, National Defence and the Canadian International Development Agency are to present the government line following “dry runs” to make sure the briefing motivates journalists to adopt what is called the “desired sound bite.” The sound bite includes a reference to restoring “the rule of law” in Afghanistan as a primary Canadian objective. The “key messages” the government wants conveyed include: We are making steady progress on the ground.

The truth is, the regime we are supporting in Kabul is not committed to a version of the rule of law that is remotely compatible with our own. Even the post-Taliban constitution of Afghanistan is based on sharia law. …..When a settlement does come in Afghanistan, and one is certainly possible between the Karzai government and elements of the Taliban, it will not create a country that is firmly on the road to democracy and a regime based on the rule of law and respect for the rights of women as the Harper government would have us believe. Hasn’t the time come for us to end the bleeding of our soldiers in a conflict in which our vital interests are not at stake and the side on which we are fighting upholds values that are remote from our own?

—- James Laxer, professor of political science at York University in Toronto and author of “Mission of Folly: Canada and Afghanistan.”

After six years of ignoring Afghanistan, things have gotten bad enough to force American officials to pay attention. For the past two months, U.S. casualties in Afghanistan have been higher than in Iraq.

Last Tuesday, Robin Long, a U.S. army deserter who was seeking refuge in Canada because of his opposition to the Iraq war, became the first to be deported after a British Columbia court ruled that he was not a refugee.

TELL STEPHEN HARPER: BRING OMAR KHADR BACK TO CANADA!
RALLY AND MARCH, Saturday, July 26, 12 noon in Ottawa at corner of Sussex and York

There is widespread anger with the Harper government about its defiant refusal to bring Omar Khadr back to Canada from Guantanamo Bay, the most notorious prison in the world. The peace movement in Canada has been a staunch defender of civil liberties and a strong opponent of racism and Islamophobia. This issue is another chance for the movement to take a principled stand for justice.

The Toronto Coalition to Stop the War, with its allies the Canadian Arab Federation, Muslim Unity Group, Canadian Peace Alliance
and the Council of Canadians, have issued a call-out for a rally and march on July 26 to tell Stephen Harper: “Bring Omar Khadr back to Canada!” They have invited all other peace and anti-war groups across the country to organize similar actions on July 26, in the hope that we can make the day a pan-Canadian event. NOWAR-PAIX is organizing in Ottawa, with support from the Council of Canadians. Please join us. To endorse, e-mail nowar.paix at gmail.com.

We hope you can join us on July 26 as we demand that Canada bring Omar Khadr home now!

Canadian citizen Omar Khadr is the only Western national left in Guantanamo Bay, and the first child-soldier to be prosecuted in more than a hundred years. Khadr was only 15 years-old when he was captured by US forces in Afghanistan and later transported to the infamous US prison where he has now spent more than a quarter of his life. Khadr faces trial by US military tribunal in October 2008.

Recently released video footage reveals the kind of mistreatment that Khadr has experienced in Guantanamo Bay, where the US has been accused of practicing torture on detainees. Other reports show that Khadr was subjected to extreme forms of sleep deprivation, a form of torture, including a practice called the “frequent flyer program” in which he was woken every three hours and moved to a different cell for 24 hours a day over a three-week period.

Worse still, court documents reveal that the Canadian government was aware of the abuse suffered by Khadr at the hands of US authorities yet continued to assure the Canadian public that he was being well treated.

The fact that Omar Khadr is still being held in Guantanamo Bay is a national disgrace, and an international embarrassment for all Canadians.

Despite the growing evidence of Khadr’s mistreatment, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has shamefully refused to bring Khadr back to Canada. Instead, Harper has said he supports a US military trial for Khadr, and will not seek his release from Guantanamo Bay.

Join us on July 26 to tell Stephen Harper: “Bring Omar Khadr back to Canada!” Demonstrate your opposition to our government’s decision to abandon a Canadian citizen in Guantanamo Bay, and show your support for civil liberties and international law.

Rights Action is extremely concerned for the safety of communities in resistance to the Goldcorp gold and silver mine, the Marlin Project, in municipalities of San Miguel Ixtahaucan and Sipakapa in the department of San Marcos, Guatemala. They are currently subject to greatly increased death threats, in particular Javier de Leon and Mario Tema. Though both have been subject to constant threats and intimidation, over the past few days the level of threats has increased.

It took about $150-million and 18 months of construction to put Goldcorp Inc.’s Marlin Mine in Guatemala into production. It took just a few minutes, however, for a local farmer to shut it down.

Fredericton-Palestine Solidarity is planning an educational event/workshop to help us collectively deepen our knowledge and
understanding of issues in the Palestine/Israel conflict. The event will be held on July 20, Sunday from 2pm to 5pm at Renaissance
College, 811 Charlotte St. Tentative agenda: 2:00-2:45 Historical background (Jeff Brown/Jack Gegenberg); 2:45-3:15 Canadian Role (Tracy Glynn); 3:15-3:45 Sanctions and boycotts (Clio Windlust); 3:45-4:15 Antisemitism (Jack Gegenberg); 4:15-5:00 General discussion and some food. Each topic will consist of a short (10 minute) talk and lots of time for questions and discussion. The organizers will provide food and drink. For more info, contact Alex at alex.treefingers@gmail.com