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| Blogs > dinty3 > It's in the book |
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Here we go again...and again...and again I was not going to comment on Canadians suspected of Terror but heck. America is not treating our immigrants visiting overseas with respect and it is costing me as a taxpayer money. (Even though Ameziane was not and is not a Canadian) Canadian Press by Colin Perkel An Algerian man is set to sue the Federal Government of Canada for the abuse he suffered at the hands of American security forces after he left Canada 15 years ago. The unproven allegations by Djamel Ameziane, who was never charged or prosecuted, raises further questions about Canada's complicity in the abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay - a topic his lawyer said demands a full scale public inquiry. "My current situation is really bad, I am struggling to survive" Ameizane, 50, said from near Algiers. "I was repatriated from Guantanamo and left like almost homeless. I couldn't find a job because of the Guantanamo stigma and my age, so a settlement would be very helpful to get my life back together. In a draft statement of claim obtained by the Canadian Press, Ameziane seeks damages of $50 million dollars on grounds that Canada's security services co-operated with their U.S. counterparts even though they knew the Americans were abusing him. (skip 6 paragraphs from his lawyer) "For years I had the idea of suing the Canadian government but didn't know how and honestly didn't know if it was possible until I read the news about the settlement of Omar Kahdr, who was my fellow inmate in Guantanamo Bay," Ameziane said. "The action I am taking may also make (Canadian Officials) think twice before acting against the interests of Canada and Canada's human values." According to his claim, Ameizane left Algeria in the 1990s to escape rising violence there. After working as a chef in Austria, he came to Canada in 1995 and asked for refugee status. He lived in Montreal for five years, where he attended mosques where the Americans said members of al-Qaida prayed. When Canada rejected his request for asylum, Ameizane opted to go to Afghanistan rather than Algeria, where he feared abuse. He left Afghanistan for Pakistan in October 2001 when fighting erupted, but was captured and turned over to American forces in exchange for a bounty, his claim states. The Americans first took him to a detention facility in Kandahar, where he alleges guards brutalized him then sent him to Guantanamo Bay based partly on information provided by Canadian intelligence, according to his claim. Ameizane, who denies any terrorism links, says Canadian agents interviewed him in Guantanamo in February and May 2003 and turned over recordings of the interrogations to the Americans. They did so, he claims, despite wide spread allegations that the U.S. forces were abusing detainees and even though they knew he faced no charges and had no access to a lawyer or the courts. Ameizane alleged American officials interrogated him hundreds of times and abused him when they decided he was not co-operating. The abuse, he alleges, included sleep-deprivation, intrusive genital searches, pepper-spraying, water-boarding, being left in freezing conditions, and having his head slammed against walls and the floor dislocating his jaw. "Canadian officials came to interview me on two occasions (and) they not only shared information about me with my American tortures but even tried to get information out of me that had nothing to do with Canada in order to help my American tortures," Ameizane said. "I refused to answer questions, after that, I was subjected to a worse treatment by the Americans. |
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The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Kahdr's rights as a Canadian citizen were violated by Canadian representatives, so the government had no choice but to compensate him. This current fellow is not a Canadian citizen so I rather doubt his claim will prevail. Unfortunately PM Trudeau and our current gov't are having to clean up the problems caused by previous governments. It's a mess and no one is happy.
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“The worst form of tyranny the world has ever known the tyranny of the weak over the strong. It is the only tyranny that lasts.” ―Oscar Wilde Judgment Day will be interesting - and all paths lead there.
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I can't understand why a person would need 50,000,000 dollars to restart his life. We live in a litigious society these days where greed is paramount...but even then that huge amount seems excessive. Then again, what do I know about his years of suffering! And why sue Canada rather than America? He wasn't a citizen of either country...but it's America he accuses of torturing him, maybe he doesn't realize that on American soil Canadians had no power to intervene. Seems strange to me that he is suing Canada as accessory after the fact...but not America who tortured him. Strange World we live in! 
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Canadians have their (in touch with his feminist side) Prime Minister Trudeau to thank for setting a precedent giving millions of dollars to terrorists caught in the act or suspected terrorists who are detained by the U.S. The Bank of Canada is open in more ways than one.
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