The mood was ominous, the message dire.
War criminals are among us, and Canadians must rally for the safety of the homeland.
On Thursday Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney opened a two-pronged campaign against illegal migrants suspected of war crimes or crimes against humanity, by releasing the names of 30 wanted men believed to evading justice throughout Canada.
The list, with mugshot-style images of the suspects, was posted on the Canadian Border Services Agency website.
“We all have a part to play in making our communities safe, and today we are asking for Canadians’ assistance,” Toews said at a news conference in Mississauga.
“It is our hope that new information will help our law-enforcement officials track (suspects) down and remove them from Canada.”
Kenney added that they “will find no haven on our shores.” Those who arrive “by fraud” will be identified, located and made to face the consequences.
But for vigilant Canadians, the brief descriptions of the men — from countries ranging from Afghanistan to former Yugoslavia — gave little to go on, and the images gave no clue as to when they were taken, or what they might look like now.
Fourteen were last seen in the Toronto area.
It was the second report in a week denouncing illegal migrants.
Thursday’s release of the vaguely defined, but alarming wanted list raised more questions than answers.
“Canadian policy and practice has overwhelmingly been to turn to the immigration system instead of criminal law for dealing with such cases,” said Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International in Canada.
In an email to the Star, the Border Services said “the 30 individuals do not represent all the cases CBSA is tracking, however they are high-priority removal cases.”
But they said details of what the men were specifically charged with, by whom they were accused, and what kind of evidence was gathered against them “cannot be divulged in accordance with privacy laws.”
And they added that those on the list were not found guilty by a criminal court, but were found by the Immigration and Refugee Board to have been involved in activities related to war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.
But Lorne Waldman, a prominent Toronto immigration lawyer, said that may “brand people war criminals without enough evidence to prosecute them. If they believe they are guilty they should charge them in Canada.
“The reality is that the immigration process can be used when they know they can’t proceed criminally. The rules of evidence are relaxed, and the definition of war crimes is extremely broad.”
The accused men on the government’s list may be killers, torturers or guilty of murder on a large scale. But critics say deporting them to dubious countries is unlikely to bring them to justice.
Serious human rights violators should be held accountable, said Neve. “But we don’t see the details. Who made the allegations against them? Cases of this sort are often well-founded, but others may be based on rumors.”
Deporting those who are arrested may be difficult, if not impossible, critics say.
Twenty-three of the 30 accused men come from countries that allow capital punishment — and Canada cannot deport them without a guarantee that they will not be executed.
Potential deportees are entitled to due process and levels of appeal, the Border Services said.
Suspects from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti and Iraq are under “temporary suspension of removals” because entire populations are at risk there.
“There’s nothing wrong with pursuing people who are wanted on immigration warrants,” said Waldman. “But when immigration is tied to a law-and-order agenda, immigrants are associated with lying, cheating, smuggling, terrorism and other crimes. The key thing is a negative message.”
Origin
Source: Toronto Star
War criminals are among us, and Canadians must rally for the safety of the homeland.
On Thursday Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney opened a two-pronged campaign against illegal migrants suspected of war crimes or crimes against humanity, by releasing the names of 30 wanted men believed to evading justice throughout Canada.
The list, with mugshot-style images of the suspects, was posted on the Canadian Border Services Agency website.
“We all have a part to play in making our communities safe, and today we are asking for Canadians’ assistance,” Toews said at a news conference in Mississauga.
“It is our hope that new information will help our law-enforcement officials track (suspects) down and remove them from Canada.”
Kenney added that they “will find no haven on our shores.” Those who arrive “by fraud” will be identified, located and made to face the consequences.
But for vigilant Canadians, the brief descriptions of the men — from countries ranging from Afghanistan to former Yugoslavia — gave little to go on, and the images gave no clue as to when they were taken, or what they might look like now.
Fourteen were last seen in the Toronto area.
It was the second report in a week denouncing illegal migrants.
Thursday’s release of the vaguely defined, but alarming wanted list raised more questions than answers.
“Canadian policy and practice has overwhelmingly been to turn to the immigration system instead of criminal law for dealing with such cases,” said Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International in Canada.
In an email to the Star, the Border Services said “the 30 individuals do not represent all the cases CBSA is tracking, however they are high-priority removal cases.”
But they said details of what the men were specifically charged with, by whom they were accused, and what kind of evidence was gathered against them “cannot be divulged in accordance with privacy laws.”
And they added that those on the list were not found guilty by a criminal court, but were found by the Immigration and Refugee Board to have been involved in activities related to war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.
But Lorne Waldman, a prominent Toronto immigration lawyer, said that may “brand people war criminals without enough evidence to prosecute them. If they believe they are guilty they should charge them in Canada.
“The reality is that the immigration process can be used when they know they can’t proceed criminally. The rules of evidence are relaxed, and the definition of war crimes is extremely broad.”
The accused men on the government’s list may be killers, torturers or guilty of murder on a large scale. But critics say deporting them to dubious countries is unlikely to bring them to justice.
Serious human rights violators should be held accountable, said Neve. “But we don’t see the details. Who made the allegations against them? Cases of this sort are often well-founded, but others may be based on rumors.”
Deporting those who are arrested may be difficult, if not impossible, critics say.
Twenty-three of the 30 accused men come from countries that allow capital punishment — and Canada cannot deport them without a guarantee that they will not be executed.
Potential deportees are entitled to due process and levels of appeal, the Border Services said.
Suspects from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti and Iraq are under “temporary suspension of removals” because entire populations are at risk there.
“There’s nothing wrong with pursuing people who are wanted on immigration warrants,” said Waldman. “But when immigration is tied to a law-and-order agenda, immigrants are associated with lying, cheating, smuggling, terrorism and other crimes. The key thing is a negative message.”
Origin
Source: Toronto Star
No comments:
Post a Comment