Street Theatre and Rally
Monday, October 6 at 5:30PM
Phillips Square (corner of Ste. Catherine's and Union, McGill metro)

Pan-Canadian week of action October 5 to October 11, 2008 to demand the
repatriation of Canadian citizen Omar Khadr to Canada
*(actions taking place in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Montreal and other
towns and cities across the country throughout the week)*.

Come participate in a public action to demand that the federal government
act immediately to repatriate Omar Khadr. We particularly invite teenagers
to join us, since Omar Khadr was only 15 when he was arrested by the US
military.

Human rights and community organizations in Canada and Quebec have called
for a pan-Canadian week of action from October 5 to 11, 2008 to demand that
the federal government immediately *request* Omar Khadr's release from the
US military prison at Guantánamo.

As Canada enters a federal election, the Coalition to Repatriate Omar Khadr
plans to raise the issue of Khadr's detention throughout the campaign
period. The Coalition is challenging the federal government to account for
its refusal to support the rights of a Canadian citizen held in Guantánamo,
and is challenging all candidates to show their support for basic human
rights and international law - and their opposition to racism and torture -
by publicly joining the call to repatriate Omar Khadr.

*Organized by:
The Coalition to Repatriate Omar Khadr
Jointly with the People's Commission Torture Canada series

::::::The Coalition to Repatriate Omar Khadr - Statement::::::

Canadian citizen Omar Khadr is the only Western national left in Guantánamo
Bay. Khadr and fellow detainee Mohammed Jawad are believed to be the first
child combatants ever to face prosecution of alleged "war crimes". Khadr was
only 15 years old when he was captured by US forces in Afghanistan and later
transported to the infamous US detention centre where he has now spent more
than a quarter of his life. Khadr faces trial by US military commission. The
military commissions fall so far short of international human rights
standards that it is impossible for Khadr to receive a fair trial at
Guantánamo.

Recently disclosed documents provide further details about the mistreatment
that Khadr has experienced in Guantánamo Bay, where the US has been accused
of systematically torturing and ill-treating detainees. Reports show that
Khadr was subjected to extreme forms of sleep deprivation, a form of
torture, including a practice known as 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. Khadr was also placed in solitary confinement
for extended lengths of time.

Court documents also 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 US assurances that he was being humanely
treated were reliable.

The Coalition asks that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Government of
Canada:

- Protect the rights of all Canadian citizens detained abroad, including
Omar Khadr.
- Respect Canadian and international law that guarantees the presumption of
innocence, due process and protection against torture and other cruel
treatment.
- Request the repatriation of Omar Khadr from Guantánamo Bay, and work with
US authorities to return him to Canada without further delay.
- Guarantee that Omar Khadr be fairly tried in an open civilian court,
should admissible evidence warrant prosecution.
- Provide the necessary resources for Omar Khadr's rehabilitation and
reintegration into Canadian society.

Member organizations of the coalition include Amnesty International Canada
(English and French sections), Council on American-Islamic Relations -
Canada (CAIR-CAN), Canadian Arab Federation, Canadian Islamic Congress,
Canadian Muslim Forum (FMC-CMF), Canadian Peace Alliance, Council of
Canadians, Muslim Unity, Parole Arabe and others.

For more information or to get involved:
www.bringomarhome.ca
brin...@yahoo.ca.

::::::Torture Canada::::::

This is one of a series of creative actions taking place in Montreal
throughout the fall of 2008 to expose Canadian complicity in torture in the
name of "national security". Inspired by the People's Commission on
Immigration "Security" Measures, each action focuses on a different case of
Canada's current involvement in torture. Photos of the first two actions, in
support of Abdelrazik Abousfian (detained and tortured in Sudan with the
complicity of the Canadian government and still blocked by Canadian
officials from returning home to Montreal) and of Ivan Apaolaza Sancho
(detained in Montreal without trial for over a year under threat of
deportation to a high risk of torture, all on the basis of information
itself obtained under torture), can be seen at http://photos.cmaq.net.

From Omar Khadr in Guantanamo Bay, to the three men whose detention and
torture abroad with the complicity of the Canadian government is being
examined by the Iacobucci Inquiry, to Hassan Almerei, a security certificate
victim in Ontario who has been detained without charge for almost seven
years under threat of being deported to face torture in Syria, Canadian
officials are involved in torture. Whether by exploiting the exceptions in
immigration law which refuse protection to people labelled security threats
or by resorting to blatantly illegal methods such as "extraordinary
rendition", these officials are involved in such practices as
water-boarding, simulated suffocation, electric shocks, and more.

The stories of these individuals are part of a dangerous trend to deny
certain people their most fundamental human rights, ironically, in the name
of "security" and even "civilization". Public ignorance, political exclusion
and racism have allowed this to continue for far too long.

For more information (or to get involved):
www.peoplescommission.org
abolissons(at)gmail.com