Handwrite for Harkat's Human Rights: Send a Free Snail Mail Letter to Stop His Deportation to Torture

 

Details on how to participate in this FREE snail mail campaign below!

 

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

In an age of easily ignored electronic mail, Members of Parliament rarely receive physical mail. When they do, it’s a sign that someone cares enough to sit down and write something out and mail it. During the pandemic, many people have turned to traditional home-based activities like sourdough bread baking and arts and crafts. So why not a handwritten letter to protect someone's human rights? It’s a perfect summertime activity while sitting outside at the socially distanced beach, under a shady tree in the park, or at your kitchen table.

We hope to generate 5,000 personal letters to stop one of the gravest crimes a government can commit: sending someone to torture. Below is a sample letter to MP and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair (feel free to personalize it and explain why this issue is important to you) to stop the deportation to torture of Ottawa refugee Mohamed Harkat, who has lived with this “wrongful conviction” nightmare (even though he was never charged)  for 18 years. Imagine the pain of indefinitely facing a potential death sentence based on allegations from secret accusers you were never allowed to face and cross examine.  Learn more about his case here: https://www.change.org/p/help-stop-my-husband-s-deportation-to-torture

HOW THIS WORKS

1. Get a pen and paper and an envelope.

2. Write a letter (sample below, feel free to personalize it). If handwriting is a problem, you can type a letter and print it out with your signature (if typing, maybe handwrite an additional sentence as well as a PS, like “Canada should never deport anyone to torture. This must end!"

3. Put your return address in the upper left hand corner of the envelope. No postage required! Don't put any slogans or messages on the envelope—we want each one opened!

4. Send the letter for FREE to the following address

Bill Blair, MP

House of Commons

Ottawa, Ontario. K1A 0A6

5. Email tasc@web.ca to let us know you sent a letter so we can keep track of our numbers.

6. If you have a scanner, scan your handwritten letter and send it to tasc@web.ca ; if you are comfortable taking a selfie and holding up your letter and sending it to us, we would love to post it on social media 

7. Share this callout with friends, family and on social media: https://www.facebook.com/events/4813748268651004

Thanks so much!

Matthew Behrens

Stop Canadian Involvement in Torture

SAMPLE LETTER

(Feel free to personalize or edit: why is this issue important to you?)

Dear Bill Blair,

Please grant permanent residency to Ottawa refugee Mohamed (Moe) Harkat and end the threat of deportation to torture. A well-supported application to allow Mr. Harkat to stay in Canada has been on your desk for over four years.

Starting in 2002, Moe spent 43 months in maximum security detention without charge on secret allegations he was not allowed to properly contest. He was released in 2006 on the strictest bail conditions in Canadian history, and while they have lessened, they are still incredibly intrusive and humiliating 14 years later.  The original “evidence” against Mr. Harkat was destroyed by CSIS, and the allegations against him are based on two secret informants – one failed a lie detector test and the other had an affair with his CSIS handler – who were never cross-examined in court. 

If this had been a regular criminal trial, the term “wrongful conviction” would fit perfectly.

This is grossly unfair. Moe is a United Nations Convention refugee who has lived in Canada for 25 years. If deported, he faces the risk of imprisonment, torture, and possibly death in Algeria. Courts in the UK and Ireland have barred their governments from deporting people to Algeria who face a substantial risk of torture. Canada must do the same in Moe’s case.

On October 26, 2017, Prime Minister Trudeau clearly stated: “Nobody ever deserves to be tortured. And when a Canadian government is either complicit in that or was not active enough in preventing it, there needs to be responsibility taken.”

The threat to deport Moe violates Canadian law and the UN Convention Against Torture (which outlaws deportation to torture under any circumstances, without exception).

Under the law, you have the power to allow Mr. Harkat to stay in Canada. I, along with thousands of other people both in Canada and globally, urge you to use this power today to allow Mohamed Harkat to remain in Canada and live his life, safe from fear and torture, with his wife and community.

I look forward to hearing from you about the resolution of this case.

Thank you  

 

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