Terrorism And Our Rights

Terrorism: The potential use of terror and intimidation (American Heritage Dictionary) Unlawful use of force or violence, committed by a group(s) of two or more individuals, against persons or property, to intimidate or coerce the Government, Civilian population or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objective. (FBI) Potential Outcomes for Terrorists Events • Mass casualties • Overwhelms response resources • Disrupts normal business and personal processes • Panic and confusion • Mass suspicion / oppression of ethnic, cultural and racial groups • Loss of faith in government agencies • Loss of faith in Emergency Response System (ERS) Terrorists: what do they look like? What race, culture, religion are they? Who do we consider a terrorist? Is your niece, nephew, neighbor one; or maybe your employer? It depends on their thinking, opinions and political beliefs. Or does it? HOW DO YOU KNOW?! It’s a possibility! Do we get rid of all human rights and civil rights laws to prevent the next attack? Do we have cameras in every room at work, home, street and business? Maybe the government through businesses monitors telephone, verbal and electronic conversations? What’s the problem? If you have done nothing wrong you have nothing to worry about!! I personally like this one. It implies that we don’t need rules, guidelines or laws to prevent abuse by government agencies. It is always the first thing that is thrown in your face when you question their actions. It protects everyone from attack! It is in defence of your country! You love and are loyal to your country are you not and its flag. Right? Well? Yes, the world sure is different isn't it? I mean since 9/11. It is amazing the number of experts that come out of their holes when it, terrorism, finds them in their backyards or bites them in the proverbial ass. It didn't interfere in their lives before so it didn't matter if it happened to someone else or else where for that matter. It is a new age, is it not? We now have legal scholars trying to justify torture. Civil Liberties Lawyer Alan Dershowitz says torture by US law enforcement is "inevitable," and might as well be legalized. Under this justification, torture is appropriate not because of what people have done but because of what they will, might, or can do. Certain citizens may be seen as internal threats, putting at risk the safety and stability of the state. One of the most common rationales for engaging in torture is to obtain information that supposedly could not be gathered by other means. One of the bluntest ways that people can accommodate torture in their midst is to deny that it exists, usually by dismissing any signs, reports, or evidence of torture as lies, exaggerations, or mistakes. Canadian officials said the Americans, who claimed Arar was a member of Al Qaeda, didn't tell them he had been sent to Syria. Arar says he was tortured and held for a year without charges. The Monterey Protocol falls short of guaranteeing Canadian citizens won't be deported again as part of the U.S.'s controversial rendition program, whereby suspects are sent to countries that use torture during interrogation. Drawing parallels to the charges brought against CIA operatives by a Milan magistrate last week, attorney Marlys Edwardh said Canadian law defined torture as illegal wherever it occurs. Arar, 34, was seized by U.S. agents while he was changing planes in New York, questioned for 12 days and then transported in shackles to Syria. "Torture is a crime that is triable by Canadian courts if the victim is a Canadian citizen. The Americans definitely aided and abetted this crime," Edwardh said, standing outside the site of a judicial inquiry into Arar's treatment. An analysis of the U.S. Justice Department's list of terrorism prosecutions by The Washington Post shows that 39 people — not 200 — have been convicted of crimes related to terrorism or national security. Most of the others were convicted of relatively minor crimes such as making false statements and violating immigration law — and had nothing to do with terrorism, the analysis shows. Overall, the median sentence was 11 months. On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It begins with: Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law. All the Nations that made up the United Nations at the time, December 10, 1948, and those that latter joined have agreed to these fundamental human rights. The time is of importance not only because it is right after the Second World War but in fact, it acquires special meaning at the present time when tendencies of so-called "historical revisionism" have become rife in many countries, with their denial of the very occurrence, or at least the extent, of the catastrophe which the National Socialist regime in Germany brought upon the Jewish people. National Socialist regime putting into practice the laws known as "The Nuremberg Laws" for the purpose of depriving millions of Jews in all those countries occupied by them of their human rights. Also, it is the first time that humanity had such a meticulously kept record of un-thinkable and hideous atrocities that had ever occurred in recent human history. It is also the time in which the charge "crime against humanity" is first used. A crime against humanity is a term in international law that refers to acts of murderous persecution against a body of people, as being the criminal offence above all others. The term was first used in the preamble of the Hague Convention of 1907, and subsequently used during the Nuremberg trials as a charge for actions such as the Holocaust which did not violate a specific treaty but were deemed to require severe punishment. The term has been criticized for being extremely vague and for being politically defined. For example, Nazi attempts to eliminate certain ethnic groups are widely recognized as having been crimes against humanity, yet Soviet and American persecutions of certain groups are not. The systematic persecution of African people by the South African apartheid government was recognized as a crime against humanity by the United Nations in 1966. Leaders, organizers, instigators and accomplices participating in the formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy to commit any of the foregoing crimes are responsible for all acts performed by any persons in execution of such plan. We face a choice between a society where people accept modest sacrifices for a common good and a more contentious society where private interest and political groups selfishly protect their own interests, wants and desires. We must find a balance between the "ethics of individual rights" with an "ethic of the common good" for society as a whole. I believe that Canadians should receive fair and equitable treatment under law whether you are in Canada, the United States of America or any other Country that we have Diplomatic ties with. That what is expected in one Country is received equally in the other, no exceptions. That both Countries Canada and the United States of America have a level playing field and protection of basic rights in Business, Travel and basic Human rights as citizens of our perspective countries. It is fine to protect one’s self, one’s people and one’s Country but let’s not forget the need and reason that we have Human Rights Laws. Let’s not be too hasty to throw those rights away without careful consideration of the possible consequences as a result of those types of actions. Points to consider; Chemical and Biological Terrorist Incidents since 1970; 1972 Typhoid, 1984 Botulinum, 1984 Salmonella (751 injured), 1985 Cyande, 1992 Cyanide, June 1994 Sarin (7 Dead, 200 Injured), March 1995 Ricin, March 1995 Sarin (12 Dead, 5500 Affected), April 1995 Sarin, May 1995 Plague, April-June 1995 Cyanide, Phosgene, Pepper Spray, November 1995 Radioactive Cesium, December 1995 Ricin, February 1997 Clorine (14 Injured, 500 Evacuated), April 1997 U235. Saddam Hussein was to be condemned as a criminal for crimes against Humanity by the UN in the late 1980’s for using chemical warfare against Iran but the U.S. vetoed the UN resolution because he was an ally to the United States of America besides giving him the biological weapons and the ability to make them and use them against Iran. The United States didn't recognize the IRA as a terrorist body when they bombed London and Irish Americans held fund raisers in New York City every fall for them until 1990 which the British Government said was used to buy weapons for them. Let’s also consider Groups or considered Terrorist Groups such as the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and others, a list of them are found below, most formed in the 1960’s and 1970’s; Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) , Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), Aleph see Aum Shinrikyo (Aum) al-Aqsa Martyrs Battalion see Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade Ansar Al-Islam (AI) Ansar al-Sunnah Partisans of Islam see Ansar Al-Islam (AI) Arab Revolutionary Brigades see Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) Armed Islamic Group Army of Mohammed see Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) Army of the Pure see Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) Army of the Pure and Righteous see Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) Army of the Righteous see Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) Asbat al-Ansar Aum Shinrikyo (Aum) Aum Supreme Truth (Aum) see Aum Shinrikyo (Aum) Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia see Al-Qaida Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) Batasuna see Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) Black September see Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) Communist Party of Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA) Continuity Army Council see Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) Dev Sol see Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) Devrimci Sol see Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) Egyptian Islamic Jihad see Al-Jihad EIJ see Al-Jihad ELA see Revolutionary Nuclei Ellalan Force see The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Epanastatiki Organosi 17 Noemvri see 17 November Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna see Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) Fatah Revolutionary Council see Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) Freedom and Democracy Congress of Kurdistan see Kongra-Gel (KGK) Gama'a al-Islamiyya al-Gama’at see Gama'a al-Islamiyya Le Groupe Salafiste pour la Predication et le Combat see Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) HAMAS Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM) Harakat ul-Ansar see Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM) Helpers of Islam see Ansar Al-Islam (AI) Hizballah Islamic Group see Gama'a al-Islamiyya Islamic Jihad see Al-Jihad Islamic Jihad see Hizballah Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine see Hizballah Islamic Jihad of Palestine see Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Islamic Resistance Movement see HAMAS Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) Jaish Ansar Al-Islam see Ansar Al-Islam (AI) Jama’at al-Tawhid wa’al-Jihad see Tanzim Qa’idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR) Jemaah Islamiya Organization (JI) Al-Jihad (AJ) Jihad Group see Al-Jihad Jund Al-Islam see Ansar Al-Islam (AI) KADEK see Kongra-Gel (KGK) Kahane Chai (Kach) Khuddam-ul-Islam see Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) Kongra-Gel (KGK) Kurdish Taliban see Ansar Al-Islam (AI) Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress see Kongra-Gel (KGK) Kurdistan People’s Congress see Kongra-Gel (KGK) Kurdistan Workers’ Party see Kongra-Gel (KGK) Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) Lashkar-e-Toiba see Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) Lashkar i Jhangvi (LJ) The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) al-Mansoorian see Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) al Monsooreen see Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) The Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) Muslim Iranian Students Society see The Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) National Council of Resistance see The Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) see The Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) National Liberation Army (ELN) The National Liberation Army of Iran see The Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) New People's Army (NPA) see Communist Party of Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA) Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) Palestine Liberation Front-Abu Abbas Faction see Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Palestinian Islamic Jihad-Shalla Faction see Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Palestinian Islamic Jihad-Shaqaqi Faction see Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Party of God see Hizballah The People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI) see The Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) PKK see Kongra-Gel (KGK) Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) Al-Qaida Al-Qa’ida in Iraq see Tanzim Qa’idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR) Al-Qa’ida of Jihad Organization in the Land of The Two Rivers see Tanzim Qa’idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR) Al-Quds Brigades see Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Real IRA (RIRA) Republican Sinn Fein see Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Revolutionary Left see Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) Revolutionary Nuclei Revolutionary Cells see Revolutionary Nuclei Revolutionary Organization 17 November see 17 November Revolutionary Organization of Socialist Muslims see Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) Revolutionary Popular Struggle see Revolutionary Nuclei Sangillan Force see The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat see Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) Sendero Luminoso People's Liberation Army see Shining Path (SL) Shining Path (SL) Talaa'al-Fateh see Al-Jihad Tamil Tigers see The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tanzim Qa’idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR) Tehrik ul-Furqaan see Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) United Self-Defense Forces/Group of Colombia (AUC) Usama Bin Ladin Organization see Al-Qaida Al-Zarqawi Network see Tanzim Qa’idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR) Groups Listed in Prior Editions of Patterns of Global Terrorism 3rd October Organization see Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) 15 May Organization Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) Algerian Terrorism Anti-Imperialist International Brigade (AIIB) see Japanese Red Army Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR) Al-'Asifa see Al-Fatah Al-Fatah Chukaku-Ha (Nucleus or Middle Core Faction) Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) Ellalan Force see The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Federation of Associations of Canadian Tamils (FACT) see The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) First of October Antifascist Resistance Group (GRAPO) Force 17 Former Armed Forces (ex-FAR) see Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR) Interahamwe see Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR) Irish Republican Army (IRA) Jamaat ul-Fuqra Japanese Red Army (JRA) Khmer Rouge Lautaro Popular Rebel Forces (FRPL) see Lautaro Youth Movement (MJL) Lautaro Youth Movement (MJL) Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FPMR) Morazanist Patriotic Front (FPM) National Liberation Army (ELN)--Columbia Orange Volunteers (OV) The Orly Group see Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Party of Democratic Kampuchea see Khmer Rouge Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-Special Command (PFLP-SC) Popular Struggle Front (PSF) Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) see Irish Republican Army (IRA) Provos see Irish Republican Army (IRA) Puka Inti (Sol Rojo, Red Sun) Red Army Faction (RAF) Red Brigades (BR) Red Hand Defenders (RHD) Revolutionary People's Struggle (ELA) Revolutionary United Front (RUF) Sikh Terrorism Sol Rojo see Puka Inti (Sol Rojo, Red Sun) Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) Tupac Katari Guerrilla Army (EGTK) Al Ummah United Popular Action Movement (MAPU/L) see Lautaro Youth Movement (MJL) Zviadists Yes, the world sure is different isn't it? [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on July 19, 2005]