Village Journals
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
FYC:HUNGER STRIKER MAY FACE DEATH IN CANADIAN PRISON
Assalamu alaikum,
As Muslims living in Ontario, we've a moral and legal
responsibility to advocate for justice. This is
happening in our backyard - here in an Ontario prison.
I urge you to phone, fax or email the Minister of
Community Safety and Correctional Services today.
Rafia
Here is Hasan's story:
HUNGER STRIKER MAY FACE DEATH IN CANADIAN PRISON
Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada
Wednesday August 24, 2005
Hassan Almrei is now on Day 63 of his hunger strike.
He is emaciated and weakened, but his spirit has not
yet been broken. The light flickers, but has not yet
gone out.
Hassan Almrei, a refugee, has been imprisoned in
solitary confinement
without trial in a Canadian prison for 4 years under a
security
certificate, and is under threat of deportation to
Syria where he risks
torture. He is demanding minimally decent conditions
of detention; his main demand is the right to one hour
a day of exercise outside of his cell. The Ontario
government (this is a provincial prison) has callously
refused to make the tiniest concession.
In July, Alexandre Trudeau, Naomi Klein, Heather
Mallick, Avi Lewis and other well-known personalities
came forward to support Hassan Almrei's request for
release on bail (decision still pending). Questioned
about his motives, Trudeau stated "I presume he's
innocent", adding that it is unacceptable that a
person be imprisoned in Canada without being charged
and without the right to a fair and public trial.
Three of Hassan Almrei's prison guards also testified
in his favour, stating that he is an 'honourable',
'trustworthy' and decent man. One guard even stated
that he would have no hesitation to have Hassan as a
neighbour, saying "I would trust him".
This is Hassan Almrei's 6th hunger strike in four
years. On previous hunger strikes he has asked for
rights as basic as heating in his icy cell
in winter, but had to go to court to obtain them.
Almrei is waiting for a court date once again, but it
may come too late.
By way of comparison: in 1981, Bobby Sands and 9 other
IRA prisoners on hunger strike died after periods
varying from 46 to 73 days, after sustaining severe
organ damage (e.g., blindness). Several survivors of
the strike remained permanently handicapped. In 1996,
many Kurdish hunger strikers in Turkey died after
periods of 65 to 69 days.
Please don't let this happen to Hassan Almrei. Please
don't let the light go out.
PLEASE WRITE OR CALL MONTE KWINTER, the Ontario
minister, IMMEDIATELY to ask that Hassan Almrei's
demands be met. A massive, immediate flood of
calls, emails and faxes are needed in order to turn
the tide.
Mr. Monte Kwinter
Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services
18th floor, 25 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, ON, M7A 1Y6
Phone: (416) 325-0408
Fax: (416) 325-6067
Email:
[email protected]
Here is a sample letter (feel free to copy)
August 24, 2005
Monte Kwinter
Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services
Government of Ontario
Object: Hunger strike of Hassan Almrei
Dear sir,
I am writing to urge you to take immediate action to
meet the legitimate
demands of Hassan Almrei, who has been detained
without trial in an
Ontario prison for four years and is now on a hunger
strike to demand
minimally decent conditions of detention. His main
demand is for one hour
a day of exercise outside of his cell.
As of today (Wednesday, August 24), Hassan Almrei is
on Day 63 of his hunger strike. Hassan Almrei was
already in poor health before beginning his current
hunger strike. He is at imminent risk of permanent,
severe impairment, and very possibly, of death.
By way of comparison: in 1981, Bobby Sands and 9 other
IRA prisoners on hunger strike died after periods
varying from 46 to 73 days after
sustaining severe organ damage (e.g., blindness).
Several survivors of the strike remained permanently
handicapped. In 1996, many Kurdish hunger
strikers in Turkey died after periods of 65 to 69
days.
Please intervene immediately to try to find a humane
solution to this situation. You have the power, and
therefore the moral responsibility, to resolve this
crisis.
As Canadians, we pride ourselves on respecting basic
human rights. Please remain true to this fundamental
value. Should Hassan Almrei die or be permanently
handicapped, it would be to our lasting shame and
dishonour as Canadians and as members of the human
family.
(signature)
*********************************** ************************
You are also invited to CC Anne McLellan and Joe
Volpe, the federal
ministers responsible for security certificates, and
to add a demand for a
fair and public trial for all 5 men currently detained
on security
certificates.
Anne McLellan, Phone: (613) 992-4524 Fax: (613)
943-0044 or
[email protected]
Joe Volpe Phone: (613) 992-6361 Fax: (613) 992-9791 or
[email protected]
CC correspondence to Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in
Canada at
[email protected] or fax (416) 651-9770 or by mail to PO Box
73620, 509 St.
Clair Ave. West, Toronto, ON M6C 1C0, or let us know
that you have phoned
Kwinter's office. Hassan Almrei needs to know that he
is not alone, that
there are people who care enough to take action. For
more information:www.homesnotbombs.ca
?
Submitted on August 24, 2005 - 3:12pm.
As Muslims living in Ontario, we've a moral and legal
responsibility to advocate for justice. This is
happening in our backyard - here in an Ontario prison.
I urge you to phone, fax or email the Minister of
Community Safety and Correctional Services today.
Rafia
Here is Hasan's story:
HUNGER STRIKER MAY FACE DEATH IN CANADIAN PRISON
Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada
Wednesday August 24, 2005
Hassan Almrei is now on Day 63 of his hunger strike.
He is emaciated and weakened, but his spirit has not
yet been broken. The light flickers, but has not yet
gone out.
Hassan Almrei, a refugee, has been imprisoned in
solitary confinement
without trial in a Canadian prison for 4 years under a
security
certificate, and is under threat of deportation to
Syria where he risks
torture. He is demanding minimally decent conditions
of detention; his main demand is the right to one hour
a day of exercise outside of his cell. The Ontario
government (this is a provincial prison) has callously
refused to make the tiniest concession.
In July, Alexandre Trudeau, Naomi Klein, Heather
Mallick, Avi Lewis and other well-known personalities
came forward to support Hassan Almrei's request for
release on bail (decision still pending). Questioned
about his motives, Trudeau stated "I presume he's
innocent", adding that it is unacceptable that a
person be imprisoned in Canada without being charged
and without the right to a fair and public trial.
Three of Hassan Almrei's prison guards also testified
in his favour, stating that he is an 'honourable',
'trustworthy' and decent man. One guard even stated
that he would have no hesitation to have Hassan as a
neighbour, saying "I would trust him".
This is Hassan Almrei's 6th hunger strike in four
years. On previous hunger strikes he has asked for
rights as basic as heating in his icy cell
in winter, but had to go to court to obtain them.
Almrei is waiting for a court date once again, but it
may come too late.
By way of comparison: in 1981, Bobby Sands and 9 other
IRA prisoners on hunger strike died after periods
varying from 46 to 73 days, after sustaining severe
organ damage (e.g., blindness). Several survivors of
the strike remained permanently handicapped. In 1996,
many Kurdish hunger strikers in Turkey died after
periods of 65 to 69 days.
Please don't let this happen to Hassan Almrei. Please
don't let the light go out.
PLEASE WRITE OR CALL MONTE KWINTER, the Ontario
minister, IMMEDIATELY to ask that Hassan Almrei's
demands be met. A massive, immediate flood of
calls, emails and faxes are needed in order to turn
the tide.
Mr. Monte Kwinter
Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services
18th floor, 25 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, ON, M7A 1Y6
Phone: (416) 325-0408
Fax: (416) 325-6067
Email:
[email protected]
Here is a sample letter (feel free to copy)
August 24, 2005
Monte Kwinter
Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services
Government of Ontario
Object: Hunger strike of Hassan Almrei
Dear sir,
I am writing to urge you to take immediate action to
meet the legitimate
demands of Hassan Almrei, who has been detained
without trial in an
Ontario prison for four years and is now on a hunger
strike to demand
minimally decent conditions of detention. His main
demand is for one hour
a day of exercise outside of his cell.
As of today (Wednesday, August 24), Hassan Almrei is
on Day 63 of his hunger strike. Hassan Almrei was
already in poor health before beginning his current
hunger strike. He is at imminent risk of permanent,
severe impairment, and very possibly, of death.
By way of comparison: in 1981, Bobby Sands and 9 other
IRA prisoners on hunger strike died after periods
varying from 46 to 73 days after
sustaining severe organ damage (e.g., blindness).
Several survivors of the strike remained permanently
handicapped. In 1996, many Kurdish hunger
strikers in Turkey died after periods of 65 to 69
days.
Please intervene immediately to try to find a humane
solution to this situation. You have the power, and
therefore the moral responsibility, to resolve this
crisis.
As Canadians, we pride ourselves on respecting basic
human rights. Please remain true to this fundamental
value. Should Hassan Almrei die or be permanently
handicapped, it would be to our lasting shame and
dishonour as Canadians and as members of the human
family.
(signature)
*********************************** ************************
You are also invited to CC Anne McLellan and Joe
Volpe, the federal
ministers responsible for security certificates, and
to add a demand for a
fair and public trial for all 5 men currently detained
on security
certificates.
Anne McLellan, Phone: (613) 992-4524 Fax: (613)
943-0044 or
[email protected]
Joe Volpe Phone: (613) 992-6361 Fax: (613) 992-9791 or
[email protected]
CC correspondence to Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in
Canada at
[email protected] or fax (416) 651-9770 or by mail to PO Box
73620, 509 St.
Clair Ave. West, Toronto, ON M6C 1C0, or let us know
that you have phoned
Kwinter's office. Hassan Almrei needs to know that he
is not alone, that
there are people who care enough to take action. For
more information:www.homesnotbombs.ca
?
Submitted on August 24, 2005 - 3:12pm.