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| Great White North | |
| War criminals have rights: minister | |
| 2003-10-11 | |
| Tip o’ the hat to LGF. Canada’s Immigration Minister wrote in a recent letter that he is concerned about protecting the privacy rights of the dozens of wanted war crimes suspects on the loose in the country. In a letter to senior Ontario law enforcement officials, Denis Coderre defended his department’s handling of 59 suspected war criminals wanted on Canada-wide warrants after they failed to show up for immigration proceedings. The wanted foreigners, who include a Lebanese murderer and a Kashmiri militant considered armed and dangerous, came to Canada, were released and then skipped their deportation hearings. Their whereabouts are unknown. Not that Denis would do anything about if their whereabouts were known. Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino called the Minister’s letter This man makes too much sense to rise much higher in Canadian politics. Mr. Coderre has said little publicly about the issue but he spelled out his position in detail in a recent letter to Robert Runciman, Ontario’s Minister of Public Safety and Security, arguing the government must ensure it safeguards the suspected war criminals’ rights to privacy and due process. "In many cases, the government has reasons to believe that certain individuals have committed serious offences in other countries and should therefore be denied entry to Canada or removed," Mr. Coderre wrote. "Where the individual has not yet had a full and proper hearing and determination on their admissibility, however, the government must act carefully to ensure that the Privacy Act is not violated." Another option would have been keeping them on an ice floe somewhere in the Canadian archipelago, but that also makes too much sense.
But at least their rights weren’t violated. The Post revealed in June that Citizenship and Immigration Canada had lost track of 59 war criminals from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Eastern Europe. Warrants have been issued for their arrests but the department has so far refused to publicly release their names and pictures, making it impossible for Canadians to help find them. But at least their rights weren’t violated. In his letter, Mr. Coderre said the desire of Canadians to live in safety must be balanced against the rights of wanted war crimes suspects. "Canada, of course, is governed according to the principle of judicial process and the rule of law," Mr. Coderre wrote. "The main issue in dealing with suspected war criminals, therefore, is the extent to which all levels of government can co-operate to protect the safety and security of Canadians without substantially abandoning the rights of an accused to a fair hearing, or our adherence to the presumption of innocence." It’s been said that the American Constitution is not a suicide pact. Apparently the Canadians have a different view of theirs. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #12 the country will be infiltated by terrorist types!? Uh, Alaska Paul, remember the guy on the ferry from Seattle on his way to LAX? I think they already have been infiltrated and we have a false sense of security about our border with Canada. And, if you substituted the word "Canada" for "France" there's virtually no difference in both countries' policies re: US/Iraq war. |
| Posted by: Not Mike Moore 2003-10-12 12:02:01 AM |
| #11 War criminals are usually like everyone else in that they have both a Right and Left unless the soddies have cut one off before the sent them to war. dorf |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-10-11 6:54:02 PM |
| #10 Do war criminals have more rights than terrorists, or are their rights the same? |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-11 3:23:24 PM |
| #9 In his letter, Mr. Coderre said the desire of Canadians to live in safety must be balanced against the rights of wanted war crimes suspects. This is madness. I hope that the Canadian people throw this guy out. If Canada does not watch it, the country will be infiltrated by war criminal types and it will be too late. PC people scream loudly, but they back down when the people rise up. I also have a good number of Canadian friends and I fear for their country. The West is at war with the Islamists. We did not ask for it, but there it is. It is a question of survival. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-10-11 2:50:05 PM |
| #8 Fine, if Canada doesn't want to help, we'll just enlist the bears around the border region. I'm sure they will be more than happy to have another meal, especially after those tasty enviromentalists fromm California. |
| Posted by: Charles 2003-10-11 12:24:50 PM |
| #7 I have many, many friends in Canada, Raphael, from British Columbia to Prince Edward Island. I want them to be able to come down for a visit, whenever they wish. We have nothing against most Canadians, and they will ALWAYS be welcome, no matter how far their government goes off the deep end into an empty pool. Because of the Canadian Government, however, there's an enormous number of riff-raff living in Canada that don't believe in laws, don't believe in borders, and hate the United States just because it exists. We DO want to make it as difficult as possible for THAT group to make it south. A fence can help us do that. I would hope the Canadian government would understand that, and give us a hand. I KNOW the Canadian people are a bit touchy, but most of them, too, would agree, if the information was presented to them in the right way. It's easier to kill or capture your enemies if they've been funneled into nice, narrow options easy to patrol. Three thousand miles of more-or-less open border with a country with Canada's problems of tracking down such people as this article discusses doesn't give me a warm fuzzy. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-10-11 10:41:12 AM |
| #6 I don't know that we need a fence. A trellis would be more tastful. The fence shall be guarded by my zepplins of death. Rafael, If the mounties need the services of Duane Dog Chapman, I think he's cancelled his vacation in Cancun. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-11 9:06:11 AM |
| #5 is it time to build that northern friendship fence, now? As long as you call it a 'friendship fence', and as long as it is a fence, I guess it's ok. If need be I could always drive to some desolate border region and cut thru to the other side. Mind you, electrifying it or stretching razor wire across would be considered cheating. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2003-10-11 7:24:16 AM |
| #4 Reminds me a cartoon in which chained taxpayer citizens were doing hard labor and criminals were watching TV seated comfortably indoors. SK |
| Posted by: SK 2003-10-11 4:53:45 AM |
| #3 "Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino called the Minister’s letter "silly" and said public safety is more important than the privacy rights of war criminals" Well, there's at least one sane person left in Toronto, though probably not in Ottawa. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2003-10-11 2:15:04 AM |
| #2 With this kind of wild support on the Canadian side of the border for "Law & Order" I can see now that the border to the Great White North will be needing more intensive supervision and control. |
| Posted by: Leigh 2003-10-11 1:50:42 AM |
| #1 The wanted foreigners, who include a Lebanese murderer and a Kashmiri militant considered armed and dangerous, came to Canada, were released and then skipped their deportation hearings. Their whereabouts are unknown. Wouldn't be surprised if some of them slipped into the U.S. and are now hooked up with phony documentation. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-10-11 1:10:15 AM |