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The Canadian cops’ “poster” case in the “war on
terrorism” is falling apart. During the week of April 14, 2008,
charges against four more of the " Toronto
18" were stayed. Along with the three men who were previously released,
the case of the "Toronto 18" has now been whittled
down to the "Toronto 11".
Each of the remaining 11 men are still facing
trial. As a result of the “wide net” cast by government,
intelligence and police agencies in their quest to catch criminals and
justify rising police and military expenditures, not to mention wars of
occupation abroad, innocent persons continue to be harassed,
interrogated, detained, arrested and incarcerated. The reputations of
many have been smeared and lives ruined.
The witch-hunt was evident in the cases of Maher Arar
and Project Thread. The Arar case, in which the victim was “rendered” to Syria
for interrogation and torture by U.S. officials, with the consent of Ottawa,
resulted in a public inquiry and Arar's complete exoneration. In the less
well-known Project Thread case, 24 South Asian men living in the Toronto
area, were wrongly labelled as terrorists. They had their lives turned
upside down. Ultimately, despite the media circus, no terror-related or criminal
charges were laid. Most were deported on minor immigration offences.
It is now clear that the lives of seven more men and
youths and their families have been irreparably harmed. Initially
assumed to be part of the "Toronto
18" plot, accused of planning to behead Prime Minister Stephen Harper,
seize MP s and blow up the CBC, some of them spent nearly two years of
their lives in jail. The majority were held in solitary confinement for
23 hours a day. They have now been released and charges against them
stayed.
According to Toronto Star columnist Thomas Walkom, “The
alleged terror training camp turned out to be a hapless adventure in the
rain, one where participants spent much of their time in a local doughnut
shop and where the ammunition for target practice was apparently provided
by one of two paid RCMP informers.” It seems the ‘plotters’ didn’t
even know how to get to Parliament Hill, in Ottawa.
Ten of the initial "Toronto
18" remain incarcerated pending trial. Three men continue to be held
in solitary confinement under conditions more severe than those to which
the majority of Canada 's convicted murderers and rapists
are subject. On April 15, a couple hundred people demonstrated
outside a courthouse north-west of Toronto to
demand that the men be granted bail and that, in accordance with the law,
they be assumed as innocent until proven guilty. The labour
movement and the NDP should demand no less, and ought to raise a hue and
cry about it now.
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