Wow! My last post on Afghanistan brought a firestorm of invective pro and con. Some real old fashioned democratic debate for a change. I’ll comment on some of these posts in a day or two. Right now I’m still recovering from a lecture tour (more precisely from the unavoidable interaction with Air Canada). Meanwhile, a news flash […]
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RSS feed for this sectionDeal or No Deal - Stop the Transfer of Detainees
May 4, 2007 Dear Ceasefire.ca supporter, You are no doubt hearing and reading about the new Afghan detainee transfer agreement struck between Canada and Afghanistan. The deal was announced yesterday, only minutes before the federal court was to consider issuing an injunction against any further handover of prisoners taken by Canadian troops to Afghan authorities. […]
An Omen?
Once again news reports say that American military operations have killed scores of civilians in Afghanistan. Even President Karzai — who could not stay in power a day without American support, has condemned the killings. The Americans, as always, claim they killed “Taliban fighters”. But the combat took place west of Herat, well outside of the Pushtun areas […]
Are Hillier and O'Connor War Criminals?
Are Chief of Defence Staff General Rick Hillier and Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor war criminals? That’s the question that two international law professors are asking the International Criminal Court to investigate, in light of the revelations last week that prisoners taken by Canada and handed to Afghan authorities were tortured. In a letter they wrote (Byers […]
Out of the Woodwork
Well, yesterday’s blog about Omar Khadr has evoked two reactions: one predictable, reasoned, but simply wrong, and one absolutely terrifying. First, let me get something on the record: my opposition to the rubbishing of the rule of law for the so-called “War on Terror” does not derive from an ivory-tower ignorance of terrorism. When I attended university at […]
Canadian child in the dock at Guantanamo show trials
While mistreatment of Afghan detainees has made the news this week, a Toronto-born Canadian is about to be put on trial by a U.S. military kangaroo court at the notorious Guantanamo prison camp for “crimes” he committed as an “illegal combatant” between the ages of 10 and 15. More and more citizens of the world’s democracies are speaking out […]