Torture

Canada is still torturing people and no one has been held accountable

gerry caplan — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 20:30:55 +0000

Canada ratified the United Nations Convention against Torture in 1987, yet a good number of Canadians have been tortured with the complicity of public officials. To be more precise: Torture -- physical, psychological or both -- has been inflicted by our prisons and our security and intelligence services on many Canadians -- a disproportionate number of them indigenous or people with a Middle Eastern background -- as well as on foreign citizens.

When examples of such incidents are exposed, Canadians are outraged. But only rarely are they revealed.

Canada's torture consumers and the faux national security consultation

rabble staff — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 01:36:35 +0000

Friday, October 21, 2016

Anyone following discussions on the ultimate disposition of the Harper regime's C-51 "anti-terror" legislation -- which received crucial Liberal support during a 2015 Parliamentary vote -- will soon be hearing a lot about "SIRC." The acronym will be bandied about as various professors, lawyers and terrorism industry "experts" bloviate on what they think will "improve" a law that is so fundamentally flawed and dangerous that taking anything short of an abolitionist position is to be complicit in the human rights abuses C-51 authorizes.

Anyone following discussions on the ultimate disposition of the Harper regime's C-51 "anti-terror" legislation will soon be hearing a lot about "SIRC" -- the Security Intelligence Review Committee.

Trudeau continues Harper assault on human rights

rabble staff — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 12:55:25 +0000

Friday, July 29, 2016

Like this article? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming.

There's something about Justin Trudeau and his PR-spinning Liberal Team that reminds me of the Tennessee Williams character Harvey "Big Daddy" Pollitt from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Pollitt famously uttered the line:

Those still intoxicated by the dream of a world without Harper don't want the fresh perfume of Trudeaumania to be erased by the cold facts of reality. But it's time to acknowledge some hard truths.

PODCAST: Max Dashu reveals the suppressed truth behind the witch hunts (and the implications for women today)

Feminist Current — Fri, 03 Jun 2016 03:27:33 +0000

max_dashu_witch_hunts_06012016_rabble.mp3

The witch hunts are viewed as a thing of the distant past, assumed to have happened over a century or two in Europe. But the truth is that the witch hunts lasted much longer than that — for much of the 20th century, in fact — and were widespread across the globe. Racism and misogyny were central themes. Many of the practices and instruments of torture are replicated today in BDSM and pornography. The fact that so many of us are unaware of the long and grisly history of the witch trials has left us vulnerable as women today. We’ve forgotten (or perhaps never learned in the first place) how deeply this aspect of history has shaped society today and how easily history repeats itself.

Four ways to prove Canada is serious about ending torture

rabble staff — Fri, 06 May 2016 13:06:56 +0000

Friday, May 6, 2016

Like this article? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming.

Is Canada ready to distance itself from torture, forcefully denounce it, and prosecute those who practice it? Here are four issues that serve as a litmus test for genuine change.

Our obligation to Omar Khadr

rabble staff — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 17:02:58 +0000

Friday, April 8, 2016

The Free Omar Khadr Committee has launched a letter-writing campaign that calls on the Canadian government to finally fully address our obligation to Omar Khadr.

Like this article? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming.

The federal government recently announced they would not proceed with the Conservative government's appeal of Omar Khadr's release on bail. There was a collective sigh of relief from those who have followed his tragic case.

From Cuba to Brussels, we need a uniform standard of justice

rabble staff — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 11:34:07 +0000

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Like this article? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming.

ISIS militants attacked a European city this week, setting off three bombs in Brussels that killed 31 and injured 260. In the United States, the response was immediate, first with the outpouring of support from the public, then, unsurprisingly, with a flurry of bellicose pronouncements from most of the remaining major-party presidential candidates.

The horror in Brussels is unforgivable. Few can deny, though, that some of the worst policies of the U.S. and its allies serve as recruitment tools for ISIS and other groups.

Liberals dishonour generations of war and torture victims

rabble staff — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 20:43:47 +0000

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Like this article? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming.

A once-in-a-lifetime selfie opportunity presented itself at a March 10 State Department luncheon in Washington, D.C., when Justin Trudeau and his team were being feted by one of the worst comedians on the touring circuit, Secretary of State John Kerry, whose stabs at humour could only be considered capital punishment.

Selfies taken by Canadian cabinet ministers with war criminals Henry Kissinger and Colin Powell are examples of how fawning obeisance disappears the victims of power while celebrating brutal violence.

Our friends the Gulf sheikhs and the case of Salim Alaradi

rabble staff — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 00:01:45 +0000

Friday, March 18, 2016

Like this article? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming.

In 2014, Canadian citizen Salim Alaradi was arrested by Emirati state security in Dubai and charged by the U.A.E. with supporting terrorism. Why isn't Canada demanding justice?

A question on torture for Canada's new defence minister

rabble staff — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 17:00:43 +0000

Friday, November 13, 2015

Like this article? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming.

Rideau Hall's glorious fall foliage produced the perfect backdrop for a series of memorable photo-ops during the Trudeau government's swearing-in ceremony, from the most diverse cabinet in Canadian history to the large crowds who waited patiently for selfies with the photogenic PM.

Canada's new national defence minister, Harjit Sajjan, was a high-level intelligence officer in Afghanistan. Did he know about Canada's complicity in torture?

A questionable record: Delusions of objectivity in the social sciences

rabble staff — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 15:18:23 +0000

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Chip in to keep stories like these coming.

The American Psychological Association held its annual convention this past weekend in Toronto. It's a huge organization, about 100,000 members -- academics, researchers, practitioners. This is the seventh time in 37 years that they met here, a frequency or repetition compulsion that may be worthy of research and, possibly, therapy. Canadians belong to it, the way the Blue Jays belong to the American League. We're in it but not always of it.

How could objective "scientists" happily verify that waterboarding isn't torture? They aren't just social observers, they're social agents, with their own motives that deserve careful research.

Thirty-seven per cent of Canadians think torture could be justified

rabble staff — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 17:27:23 +0000

"If the Canadian government used torture against people 'suspected' of terrorism, do you think this could be justified?" Thirty-seven per cent of people polled said yes.

Canadians get on board the torture train

rabble staff — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 23:10:52 +0000

Monday, July 27, 2015

Like this article? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming.

Just before the annual orgy of Canada Day self-celebration, the Pew Research Center released a poll revealing that over one-third of Canadians supported the use of torture. This was no late April Fool's joke, but rather a shocking figure that was part of a global survey on U.S. foreign policy and the use of what has been referred to as "enhanced interrogation techniques."

Just before the annual orgy of Canada Day self-celebration this year, the Pew Research Center released a shocking poll result, revealing that over one-third of Canadians supported the use of torture.

The commonalities of torture across Canada, Sweden and Denmark

rabble staff — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 17:49:08 +0000

The suprising factor that is common to Canada, Swden and Denmark: rendition to torture.

Rendition: Canada, Sweden and Denmark share the same barbaric practice

rabble staff — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 00:17:54 +0000

Friday, July 24, 2015

Like this article? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming.

What factor is common to Canada, Sweden and Denmark? The snow, perhaps? The cold weather? The social programs? Or maybe smoked salmon?

How about rendition to torture? And how about cooperation with the intelligence authorities of countries which practice torture with total impunity? These may be some of the darkest common factors shared by the three countries, ones that not everyone is aware of.

What factor is common to Canada, Sweden and Denmark? The snow, perhaps? The social programs? How about rendition to torture?