But the failed refugee from Colombia was shocked when she saw her asylum and criminal records made public in an open letter by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney on his department website Tuesday.
“I was young and led to the path I had, but I didn’t hide or lie about it,” the 37-year-old mother of four said Wednesday from Montreal. “He was trying to attack me and make me look bad. I’m upset and feel betrayed.”
Legal and media experts were equally surprised.
“Refugees have the rights to privacy,” said Toronto refugee lawyer Max Berger. “She has the rights to release what she wants to and what is relevant to her situation. That’s her rights.”
The controversy stemmed from an article in Monday’s La Presse by journalist Anabelle Nicoud about the inconsistency of Immigration and Refugee Board’s decision-making.
Martinez and her husband sought asylum in Canada on the same claims — persecution by paramilitaries in Colombia, but got different results.
On Tuesday, Kenney posted the letter chastising the article and chiding Nicoud for not calling immigration or obtaining a privacy waiver from Martinez to get the full story.
It posted a link to Martinez’ asylum decision along with a summary of her criminal past, about her 15-plus aliases and credibility issue. (Martinez said her last criminal charge was for shoplifting in 2002 while living illegally in New Jersey, and that she has had a clean slate in Canada.)
“Stories presenting only one side of a story can lead to public distrust of the rule of law. Factually incorrect or incomplete reporting usually leaves the impression that Canada’s refugee determination system is unjust or heartless,” Kenney’s statement said.
“Ms. Martinez has a long, public record in front of criminal and civil courts in Canada and the United States. We are releasing only the public information.”
La Presse deputy publisher Eric Trottier said Nicoud should have called immigration for its input, but the paper stands by the story.
“Immigration refuses all the time to give answers to our questions about those cases. And at the end, our story was complete. We wrote about the criminal records of Ms. Martinez,” said Trottier, referring to the reference to the woman’s shoplifting charges in the article.
Ryerson University journalism professor Lisa Taylor said citizens including cabinet ministers, unhappy with a story, can complain to the reporter, management and in this case, to the Quebec Press Council.
“I’m not comfortable as a citizen with (immigration) being a bully and retaliating against a journalist for not doing what she could have,” said Taylor, an expert on media laws and ethics. “This is not the minister’s personal website, it’s a government website.”
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Nicholas Keung
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