Francis Chartrand for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles

Labels: France, Human mistake, Judaism

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 2:58 AM 0 Comments

(New York) - While the government and rebel groups take steps toward ending the civil war in the Central African Republic (CAR), civilians in the northwestern part of the country are being abused at the hands of a variety of armed groups, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today.

The 23-page briefing paper, "Improving Civilian Protection in the Central African Republic," released following a round of peace talks that began on December 5 in the capital, Bangui, urged the government to make civilian protection the highest priority and to adopt measures to protect civilians better in insecure areas in the country's lawless northwest. It also urged the United Nations and regional groups to support this effort.

"The people in this area are at the mercy of uncontrolled armed groups and gangs of armed bandits," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The government should be making every effort to protect them, beginning with expanding military patrols and making clear that attackers will not get away with their crimes."

In 2008, Human Rights Watch documented attacks against civilians in the region by rebels from the Popular Army for the Restoration of the Republic and of Democracy (Armée populaire pour la restauration de la République et la démocratie, APRD) and by elements of the Chadian National Army (Armée Nationale du Tchad, ANT).

Human Rights Watch also documented violent abuses by loosely organized bandits, known as zaraguinas, who are a huge threat to civilians in the northern part of the country.

The government's regular Central African Armed Forces (Forces Armées Centrafricaines, FACA) has been ineffective in protecting civilians from these armed groups, largely because it lacks the capacity, but also because of the way it operates. Many units are confined to Bangui, and when they go to the danger zones, they do not conduct regular patrols and generally venture no further than a few kilometers from the towns in which they are based. In some instances documented by Human Rights Watch, government forces did not give civilians effective warning of impending military operations and used indiscriminate lethal force, killing civilians during military operations.

"The mere deployment of security forces that are poorly armed, badly trained, or are not strategically mobilized to safeguard civilians is clearly failing to achieve the necessary protection," Gagnon said. "If the government sends out well-trained, well-equipped soldiers beyond the capital and the immediate vicinity of army bases, it will be able to protect civilians more effectively."

Last year, the FACA assumed primary responsibility for security in the northwest from the government's elite Presidential Guard, which had summarily executed and seriously abused civilians while conducting counterinsurgency operations in the region from 2005 to 2007. Human Rights Watch reported on these abuses in a September 2007 report, "State of Anarchy: Rebellion and Abuses Against Civilians".

The withdrawal of most Presidential Guard units from the northwest reduced government attacks against civilians in the region. But the individuals known to be responsible for the worst human rights abuses during 2005-2007 have yet to answer for their crimes.

"The lack of accountability is one of the major impediments to protecting human rights and establishing the rule of law in the Central African Republic," said Gagnon. "The government is required to investigate and prosecute those responsible for rights violations, and failure to do so can lead to even more serious abuses."

While the government bears primary responsibility for improving civilian protection, regional and multinational organizations may be in a position to enhance those efforts. Both the United Nations and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) have sent missions to the Central African Republic, including peacekeeping troops, which can augment government efforts to improve civilian protection in the northwest by conducting patrols in insecure areas.

The United Nations Peace-Building Support Office in the Central African Republic (Bureau d'appui des Nations Unies pour la consolidation de la paix en République centrafricaine, BONUCA) can help counter impunity by monitoring judicial proceedings and facilitating practical aspects of investigations such as transportation and forensics.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) can also support efforts to ensure accountability for international crimes by encouraging domestic judicial processes. If the government is unable or unwilling to hold those responsible for war crimes to account, the ICC may have jurisdiction.

Background

The country's current president, François Bozizé, came to power in 2003 after deposing Ange-Félix Patassé in a coup d'etat. Bozizé was elected president in 2005 elections that were considered free and fair but that excluded Patassé. Shortly thereafter, rebellion broke out in Patassé's home region in the northwest.

The main rebel group there, the Popular Army for the Restoration of the Republic and Democracy (Armée Populaire pour la restauration de la République et la Démocratie, APRD), largely consisted of elements of Patassé's Presidential Guard. A separate rebellion in the northeastern part of the country, led by the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (Union des forces démocratiques pour le rassemblement, UFDR), consisted mainly of soldiers who helped bring Bozizé to power but later turned against him for failing to compensate them adequately for their support. A third group, the Democratic Front of the Central African People (Front démocratique du peuple centrafricain, FDPC), was led by Abdoulaye Miskine, a Chadian with close ties to the Libyan government.

On June 21, 2008, the Popular Army and the Union of Democratic Forces signed a peace accord that extended a general amnesty to all parties to the conflict (except individuals accused of war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, or any offense within the jurisdiction of the ICC) and prepared the groundwork for an internationally mediated Inclusive Political Dialogue (Dialogue Politique Inclusif) between the government, former rebel factions and civil society groups. An opening round of peace talks was held in Bangui from December 5 to 20.

Link

Labels: Central African Republic, Human rights, Human Rights Watch, Iba Bouramine

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 10:56 PM 0 Comments

(Rabat, December 19, 2008) - Morocco violates the rights to expression, association, and assembly in Western Sahara, Human Rights Watch said in a new report issued today, revealing stark limits to the progress that Morocco has made in protecting human rights overall. Human rights conditions have also improved in the Sahrawi refugee camps managed by the Polisario Front in Algeria, although the Polisario marginalizes those who directly oppose its leadership.

Human Rights Watch called on both Morocco and Polisario to take specific steps to improve the human rights situation in the territories under their de facto control, and on the United Nations Security Council to ensure regular human rights monitoring in both Western Sahara and Tindouf.

"The repression has eased somewhat, and today dissidents are testing the red lines," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "But Moroccan authorities - to their credit - ask us to judge them not against their own past record, but against their international human rights engagements. By that standard, they have a long way to go."

The 216-page report, "Human Rights in Western Sahara and in the Tindouf Refugee Camps," focuses on the present-day situation rather than on past abuses. Human Rights Watch documents how Morocco uses a combination of repressive laws, police violence, and unfair trials to punish Sahrawis who advocate peacefully in favor of independence or full self-determination for the disputed Western Sahara.

"The Western Sahara is an international problem that has been on the back burner for decades," said Whitson. "But through this conflict, the world can also understand and address the broader human rights challenges that remain for Morocco."

In Western Sahara, Moroccan authorities consider all opposition to their rule of the disputed territory as illegal attacks on Morocco's "territorial integrity," and use this as a basis to ban or disperse peaceful demonstrations and to deny legal recognition to human rights organizations. The problem goes well beyond repressive laws, however: police beat peaceful pro-independence demonstrators and sometimes torture persons in their custody, Human Rights Watch said. Citizens file formal complaints about police abuse that the justice system routinely dismisses without conducting serious investigations, reinforcing a climate of impunity for the police.

While Sahrawi demonstrations sometimes involve acts of protester violence that Moroccan authorities have a responsibility to prevent and punish, this cannot justify blanket bans on peaceful assemblies. Moroccan courts have convicted Sahrawi human rights activists of inciting or participating in violence based on dubious evidence, in trials that were patently unfair.

In preparing this report, Human Rights Watch interviewed scores of people living in Western Sahara as well as present and former residents of the Tindouf refugee camps. Both Moroccan and Polisario authorities received the Human Rights Watch delegation, imposed no significant obstacles on its work, and provided extensive answers to questions from Human Rights Watch that are reflected in the report.

In the Tindouf refugee camps, the Polisario Front allows refugees to criticize its management of daily affairs, but effectively marginalizes those who directly oppose its leadership. Residents are able to leave the camps if they wish to, including to resettle in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. The fact that most take the main road to Mauritania rather than a clandestine route shows their confidence in being allowed to travel. Yet, those headed to Western Sahara tend to hide their plans, fearing both official obstacles and the disapproval of other camp residents if their final destination becomes known.

The population of the camps remains vulnerable to abuses due to the camps' isolated location, the lack of any regular independent human rights monitoring and reporting, and Algeria's claim that the Polisario, rather than Algeria itself, is responsible for protecting the human rights of the camps' residents.

"The refugees in Tindouf have, for more than 30 years, lived in exile from their homeland, governed by a liberation movement in an environment that is physically harsh and isolated," said Whitson. "Regardless of the current state of affairs, both the Polisario and the host country, Algeria, have responsibilities to ensure that the rights of these vulnerable refugees are protected."

Human Rights Watch said that the UN Security Council should ensure that the UN presence in the region includes regular human rights monitoring. Virtually all UN peacekeeping missions around the world include a human rights component and, with MINURSO forces operating in a peacekeeper capacity in Western Sahara, this region should be no exception. In this, France and the United States, as the permanent Security Council members with the strongest interests in this region, have a critical role to play.

Among its many recommendations, Human Rights Watch urges Morocco to:

• Revise or abolish laws that criminalize speech and political or associative activities deemed affronts to Morocco's "territorial integrity" and that are used to suppress nonviolent advocacy in favor of Sahrawi political rights;
  
• End impunity for police abuses by ensuring serious investigations into civilian complaints and, where warranted, charges or disciplinary measures against abusive agents;
  
• Allow independent human rights associations to follow the procedure for obtaining legal recognition; and
  
• Ensure that courts reach verdicts based on the impartial weighing of all relevant evidence. Judges and prosecutors should give effect to suspects' right under Moroccan law to demand medical examinations, and reject as evidence any statement that is established to have been made as a result of police torture.

Human Rights Watch urges the Polisario Front to:

• Take pro-active measures so that all camp residents know that they are free to leave the camps, including to settle in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara;
  
• Ensure that camp residents are free to challenge peacefully the leadership of the Polisario Front and to advocate options for Western Sahara other than independence; and
  
• Eliminate or restrict broadly worded articles of the Polisario penal code that, for example, criminalize the printing of publications or participating in demonstrations deemed "likely to disturb the public order."

Morocco has ruled Western Sahara de facto since its troops moved in following Spain's withdrawal from its former colony in 1976. Morocco officially refers to the region as its "southern provinces," but the United Nations does not recognize Moroccan sovereignty.

Morocco opposed as unworkable a UN-brokered plan for a referendum on the territory's future and has proposed autonomy for the Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty. Morocco has made clear, however, that the plan envisages no rollback of laws criminalizing "attacks on territorial integrity." Thus, Moroccan-granted autonomy will not give Sahrawis their right to demand independence or a referendum to decide the region's future.

"Sahrawis differ on how to resolve the conflict," said Whitson. "But wherever they live, authorities must allow them peacefully to express and act on behalf of those views. Any proposed solution for the Western Sahara that does not guarantee these rights is no solution at all."

Human Rights Watch takes no position on the issue of independence for Western Sahara or on Morocco's proposal for regional autonomy.

Link

Labels: Human rights, Human Rights Watch, Marie-Êve Marineau, Morocco

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 10:40 PM 0 Comments

Hello to all the team of Point de Bascule,

I would like to congratulate you to be standing (to congratulate someone for having held a moment imagine), you are an example for the nation and a model for youth and I am not even exaggerating.

First let me introduce myself, Francis Chartrand, former NDP candidate in the district of Rivière-des-Mille-Iles in the 2006 federal election, at the age of 23 years. I say "ex" because it was one year this week, December 16, I had the news in the media (Toronto Star) that I would be more candidate for a second consecutive election. I was removed from my position as candidate along with Micheline Montreuil, in the riding of Quebec.

Following an internal party battle, statements and piracy on my blog, resignations of several of my brothers and sisters as solidarity, based on a petition campaign salissage, I later learned, 6 days later than that was because of my positions on reasonable accommodations, and I asked that the NDP chose to make Canada a secular state and secular at the same time adopting a constitution and secular separating the powers of the state and religions, now not only the state and church, and preventing the integration movement and fundamentalist religious fanatics as lobbyists with the Supreme Court of Canada and as lobbyists religious fundamentalists. While members of several organizations give me their support as Quebecers Lay Movement, the Association of Maghreb Laurentians, and many citizens of Arab origin, Algerian and Moroccan living in the Lower Laurentians themselves, the NDP, they I dealt with racism, Islamophobia and "asshole of 450 to exterminate" and even said to me: "Get Converted to Islam, therefore, try it, this religion, it will not kill you anyway."

It is worth mentioning that all members of the local association of the NDP had been suspended indefinitely from January to August this year because almost all members (98% of the 289 members of Riviere-des-Mille-Iles) had chosen to support me in my struggle when I'm finally show the door by my party last February, which had the effect of "punish" the dissenting members for failing to honor the party, instead of investigating the association and a vote of confidence.

We got wind of this suspension, my team and me, because members had joined the NDP headquarters in Montreal in December of last year and were answering the phone that no statement should be called to newspapers , and argues that they were having made under penalty of suspension of membership cards. Members also were suspended in Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel, Marc-Aurele-Fortin, Terrebonne-Blainville, Montcalm, Alfred Pellan, Laval and Laval-Les Iles, probably totaling more than 500 suspensions card members and without notice, until we learn in August.

Then later, in an attempt to introduce myself as an independent candidate in federal elections, which is what me and my team were currently working in my county Rivière-des-Mille-Iles, on the North Shore of Montreal, planes knew that a campaign was salissage good wind in the region. Some "volunteers", obviously from the NDP, because they had a badge of the NDP in the neck, were door to door in Deux-Montagnes, St. Eustatius and Boisbriand.

The point of this campaign salissage was to make me pass me and my colleagues, Christian Barrette, a former candidate for the swearing-in Alfred Pellan, Alexandre Laberge, former secretary in the Association for the NDP riding Riviere-des-Mille-Iles and Anne Humphreys, a former candidate for the swearing-in Marc-Aurele Fortin for racists, xenophobes, the Islamophobic and even anti-Semites. As these volunteers were first tour of some 289 members of the association council, even at home, distributing a pamphlet without photo or image showing that I was racist because I was standing and held firmly against the reasonable accommodation on a religious point of view.

Thereafter, I do not believe my eyes or my ears. For a weekend of August, more than 60 former members had joined my campaign regional committee by telephone that they were intimidated during the door-to-door by 2 "volunteers" from the NDP. They were male, showed a membership of the county of Notre-Dame-de-Grace-Lachine, and do not hindered to treat guests in their own house, "fucking racist" and "fucking suburban people" , "residents of 450 to exterminate" and even of "cursed Quebecois against Sharia", because yes, these volunteers was apparently the promotion of cultural diversity including Sharia.

If they try to save face in their party, they have the right to keep the members they can, but they are in compliance. In election campaign, it is always up to be respectful to a citizen who opens his door, as citizens, voters and even members of the party attached to his home is not affected by our politics, in quite possibly has nothing to sperm washing machine sal cultural groups in Montreal and is entitled to its peacefulness. Those who do not know what this message means, have an interest in releasing the door to door. Did we get involved in the election campaign in Saint-Lambert and Westmount-Saint-Louis? No.

Another point made me jump. What kind of hypocrisy can we have against members or former members of the NDP while volunteers seeking a "support against" against me, or even a renewal of a membership card, or even seek a member to its door to promote cultural diversity including the Sharia, while its membership card is suspended for 7 months out of disciplinary action to seek censorship on the part of members? And they dare call this party, democratic?

The days passed, and came the federal election, where you have hit the electoral team of the NDP candidate in Bourassa, Samira Laoun. Tell yourself that this day, you did my revenge, and I Jubilee joy and relief when you had shown evidence of hate propaganda on the part of Mohamed Elmasry. And what about the statements wise Tarek Fatah, which does not mince words against Jack Layton, Thomas Mulcair, and of course, Yvonne Ridley. As for me, I preferred to put my political career aside, temporarily, the time to take a breath again, after I was operated by the throat and lungs, where does my 4 tumors.

Thank you for you to take my old party, even when I am forbidden to be racist, I was threatened with prosecution. Why, for bitch? NDP: New Democratic Party? No, New disciplinary procedure. (Make sure you crush, say you like it with a forced smile, and shut up!) When a 25-year old, which is a known activist in his community with an impeccable reputation and transparent and that be demolished as the proponents of religious pluralism NDP did, believe me, it eats a slap. But when we realize that our ideas are repeated and repeated by others, such as you at Point de Bascule, it is good for the conscience to know that we are not in the field.

My life takes its breath and lay my struggle continues, and in addition to the fight against poverty which I am at every moment, as well as that for press freedom. I am "politician" and I believe in you. Good work.

Francis Chartrand

Labels: Francis Chartrand, Hostile races, Islam, New Democratic Party, Religion and fanaticism

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 9:50 PM 0 Comments

Labels: Québec, Secularism

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 1:36 AM 0 Comments

Labels: Action Démocratique du Québec, Québec, Religion and fanaticism, Secularism

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 12:31 AM 0 Comments

(New York, December 16, 2008) - The UN Security Council should respond to escalating violations against children in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, including the recruitment of child soldiers and sexual violence, said Human Rights Watch in a letter sent on December 10, 2008, to Security Council members. The Security Council's working group on children and armed conflict is expected to meet this week to consider action on this issue.

At least 175 children have been forcibly recruited into armed service since heavy fighting resumed in August between the Congolese army (FARDC) and the rebel group led by Laurent Nkunda, the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP). There are reports that the number may be much higher. Scores of girls have been raped by parties to the conflict. Human Rights Watch observed some of these abuses in a visit last week.

"We wish Security Council members could have been with our researchers," said Jo Becker, children's rights advocate at Human Rights Watch. "The sight of drugged children carrying AK-47s might convince them that they should take stronger action to end the recruitment and rape of children and hold the guilty parties accountable."

Human Rights Watch researchers visited Nyamilima and Ishasha in North Kivu province, where they saw at least 30 children guarding barricades and patrolling the streets with weapons they could barely carry. Some were as young as 12, and four were girls. They were operating in areas now controlled by Mai Mai militias and the Rwandan armed group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

In some areas of Rutshuru and Masisi territories in North Kivu, Nkunda's rebels and other armed groups have gone door-to-door to force young boys and adults, some as young as 14, into their service. In other areas the group has recruited boys as young as 12 near displaced persons' camps. Some have been sent into combat without military training.

Pro-government Mai Mai groups recruited dozens of children for military service in late October, and the Congolese army has also recruited children to transport and distribute weapons.

Worldwide, 14 parties to armed conflict have been identified since 2002 by the UN secretary-general for consistent and repeated violations of international laws that prohibit the recruitment and use of child soldiers. Four of these "persistent violators" are currently recruiting children in the DRC - the Congolese army (FARDC), the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), pro-government Mai Mai groups, and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

"Tragically, many of the children recently taken are ‘re-recruits,' who have already gone through demobilization programs," said Becker. "These programs are too brief, and the children urgently need more support and protection from being recruited again once they return to their families."

Human Rights Watch has also documented rapes of girls and women by Congolese army soldiers and by combatants of the CNDP, FDLR and Mai Mai militias. Dozens of women and girls from Nyamilima and Ishasha have been raped in recent weeks by Mai Mai combatants, including girls as young as 9 years old, attacked while working in the fields or sleeping in their houses at night. Some witnesses credit FDLR combatants with trying to restrain Mai Mai abuses, but in many areas both groups have collaborated in attacks.

Nkunda's soldiers raped at least 16 women and girls in late October and November following their takeover of Rutshuru and Kiwanja. Congolese army soldiers fleeing an advance by the group raped more than a dozen women and girls as they fled Goma on October 29.

Tens of thousands of women and girls have been raped since the war began in 1998, and a recent report from the secretary-general found that between June 2007 and June 2008, the UN recorded 5,517 cases of sexual violence against children in Ituri and North and South Kivu - 31 percent of all sexual violence victims.

Human Rights Watch called on the European Union to urgently send a "bridging" force to eastern Congo to help UN peacekeepers stop further attacks on civilians, including children. Human Rights Watch wrote (http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/12/09/european-union-deploy-bringing-force-north-kivu-eastern-drc ) to EU heads of state on December 9, asking them to deploy such a force quickly in eastern Congo following an earlier request from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the EU.

Human Rights Watch urged the Security Council to:

• Take measures, including additional sanctions, against parties responsible for the recruitment and use of child soldiers, and rape and sexual violence;
  
• Urge members of the Security Council and governments in the region to apprehend individuals wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), including the CNDP chief of staff, Bosco Ntaganda, who is accused by the ICC of crimes relating to child soldiers in Ituri in 2002 and 2003; and
  
• Ensure that UNICEF, the UN peacekeeping mission MONUC, and other relevant UN agencies receive adequate resources and personnel to promote the demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers, including girls associated with armed groups.

Statements by children

(All names below have been changed to protect the children's privacy.)

Anthony

Anthony was one of an estimated 50 children and dozens of adults forcibly recruited in mid-September by rival forces, CNDP and PARECO, just outside the displaced persons' camp in Ngungu (Masisi territory). His family had fled to Ngungu days earlier, after the two groups fought in their home village, Numbi:

"Five CNDP soldiers stopped me on the road in the middle of the day. They sent me with a large group of other men and boys - some as young as 12, others as old as 40 - to Murambi, where they said we would transport boxes of ammunition for the rebel soldiers. They beat us badly so we couldn't resist. When we got to Murambi, they didn't order us to transport boxes, but instead gave us military uniforms and taught us how to use weapons. Then, after three days, they put us all in an underground prison. We stayed there for four days, and new recruits joined us every day. On the fourth day, they called us out of the prison and took us to Karuba. That night, I managed to escape with two other recruits, and we ran all the way back to Ngungu. The others who remained behind were sent to Kitchanga for military training."

When Anthony and the others arrived in Ngungu, they sought refuge at the MONUC base. Like many fighters who choose to disarm or who escape forced recruitment, they were handed over to Congolese authorities, who sent them to the military intelligence prison in Goma (known as the T2) as a transit point on their way to demobilization camps. Detainees are often held at T2 for weeks or months without charge and are subjected to cruel and degrading treatment; some are tortured. After five days without eating, Anthony managed to escape and sought refuge at a MONUC base in Goma.

"I want to go back to our home in Numbi," Anthony said. "But I'm scared. If the CNDP soldiers find me there, they will kill me."

Marie

Marie is a 16-year-old girl who was raped by a CNDP soldier in a farm outside Rutshuru on October 29, just after the group took control of the town:

"The day the CNDP arrived in Rutshuru, they pillaged my neighborhood and shot and killed two boys, so I decided to flee to Goma. I ran through the farms on the edge of Rutshuru and met two Tutsi soldiers with guns and spears. They stopped me in the farm. I was alone. One of the soldiers spoke Kinyarwanda, and the other spoke Swahili. They said, ‘We're going to kill you.' Then they put a knife on my arm. I said, ‘No, please pardon me.' Then they said, ‘The only way we can pardon you is if we rape you.' They cut my clothes off with the knife. One of the soldiers raped me from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. There was blood everywhere. Then when the second soldier wanted to start, there were lots of gunshots nearby and they left, saying that if I fled they would kill me. After that, I managed to escape and made it to Kibati [a large displacement camp outside Goma]. I'm still in a lot of pain, but I don't have any medicine and there's no one here to treat me."

Liliane

Liliane lives in a displaced persons camp in Rutshuru. She was raped when she went back to her village to look for something to eat:

"One time, when I tried to go back to my village, the FDLR stopped me and raped me. They took me on the side of the road, near the village Buhuga. There were eight FDLR combatants. I was with seven other girls. All of us were raped. The other girls were from my village, but they don't live in this camp. They took us at 2 p.m. and let us go the next day at 4 p.m. We spent the night with them and then they let us go. One soldier raped me; there was one soldier for each girl. They abused us badly. They used their weapons to threaten us, but they didn't use them against us. I was 17 years old when this happened. The other girls were 16, 17, and 18 years old. I studied until the sixth primary level, but I can't study now that I'm displaced. I just want the FDLR and the CNDP to leave so I can return home and continue my life."

Link

Labels: Children, Congo, Human rights, Human Rights Watch, Renata Daninsky

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 6:23 PM 0 Comments

The book by Imam Al-Hayiti is here (in French).

BACKGROUND

On 11 April 2008, I filed a complaint for "hate propaganda" on the Internet before the Canadian Human Rights Commission against a Salafi Imam of Montreal, Abou Hammaad Sulaiman Dameus Al-Hayiti. The purpose of my complaint was to test the objectivity of the Commission. My complaint relates to the imam’s book L’Islam ou l’Intégrisme ? À la lumière du Qor’an et de la Sounnah (Islam or Fundamentalism ? In light of the Qor’an and the Sunna), (2006/2007), 3rd edition corrected. Imam Abou H., who is fluent in Arabic, attended universities in Saudi Arabia where he studied Islam and the science of Hadiths. His teachings can therefore be perceived as authoritative with respect to Islam.

My complaint under section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act (the "Act") claims that the writings of the imam are supremacist and expose persons belonging to the following groups to hatred or contempt : homosexuals, Infidels (non-Muslims), women, Jews, Quebecois (as an ethnic group and national minority).

On December 5, I received a letter fom Stéphane Brisson of the Commission informing me that they will not proceed to investigate my complaint. In the opinion of the Commission, the writings of the imam are not likely to expose persons from identifiable groups to hatred or contempt. Below is a translated excerpt of the letter of the Commission, followed by translated excerpts of the book of the Imam that I brought to the attention of the Commission in support of my complaint :

EXCERPT FROM THE LETTER OF THE COMMISSION

“ ...the majority of the references in “Islam or Fundamentalism” are to “infidels”, “miscreants” or “western women”. These are general, broad and diversified categories that do not constitute an “identifiable group” under Section 13 of the Act. As we have also mentioned, the extracts that identify groups on the basis of prohibited grounds of discrimination (homosexuals, lesbians, Christians, Jews) do not seem to promote “hatred” or “contempt” according to the criteria set forth in the Taylor case. Therefore, the document on which the complaint is based does not seem to meet the requirements of Section 13 of the Act for a complaint.”

BOOK EXCERPTS

Homosexuals

• Homosexuality is a "perversion"
  
• Homosexuals "spread disorder on earth"
  
• Homosexuals and lesbians should be "exterminated in this life"
  
• "Homosexuals caught performing sodomy are beheaded"

Infidels

• Most Infidels “live like animals”
  
• "they are evil people, they love perversity", and "they are our enemies"
  
• "sending our sons and daughters to the schools of the Infidels has devastating effects on their beliefs, their behavior and their character. For the children of Infidels are the most pervert children. At a very early age, they adopt the behavior of their parents "
  
• "Moreover, attending schools with Infidels may lead to friendship in their heart for Infidel children, which contradicts the foundations of Islam. Because Islam prohibits befriending even the closest relatives if they are Infidels"
  
• "there is no doubt that it is not permissible for a Muslim to love or to take as friend whoever follows a religion other than Islam"
  
• "Infidels say they are open-minded, but in reality they have opened their mind to garbage and filth, and closed it to all that is pure and right !"

Men are superior to women

• "men are superior to women and better than them". In general, "men have a more complete intellect and memory than women"
  
• "Infidels acknowledge this reality, but they do not want to accept the truth because they are blinded by their passions"

Muslim women are superior to Infidel women

• "The veiled Muslim woman is a light in the darkness of the 20th century, she carries the torch of modesty, of chastity and of Islamic values"
  
• "She brings the liberating message of "LA ILAHA ILLALLAH" to the poor western woman who has lost her femininity, her dignity and her honor and who is now crying for her savior"
  
• The consequences of immodesty are "rape, venereal diseases, AIDS, herpes, single-parent families, crime, poverty, ignorance and many others"
  
• "Infidels will never admit that these social problems are the result of their refusal to submit to Allah, because they are consumed with pride"
  
• "... male Infidels wanted to liberate women only for economic reasons (cheap labor) and to sexually exploit them"
  
• “male Infidels will not be happy with us until our women are in their beds, in their magazines and in their dancing clubs !”
  
• "If a Muslim woman marries a non-Muslim man ... their marriage is invalid, in fact it is adultery"

Ethnic groups are not equal

• "Can we doubt the superiority of Islamic principles over the corrupt principles of Eastern and Western cultures ? Culture is based on the beliefs of a nation. The superior culture is the one closest to the revelation of Allah !"
  
• "This is the reason why ethnic groups are not equal"

Muslims are superior to Infidels

• "... a Muslim must never put his brother in Islam at the same level as an Infidel. In fact, to place Infidels at equality with Muslims is one of the greatest form of ignorance and injustice"
  
• "The rule is that the most disobedient among Muslims is better than the most virtuous, the most polite, the most honest and the most loyal among the Infidels"
  
• "The Muslim nation is actually the most balanced and the most righteous"

Christianity

• "It is because of this religion of lies, which goes against human nature, that the West is now full of perversity, corruption and adultery"

Jews

• Jews "spread corruption and chaos on earth"
  
• Most Jews "seek only material goods and money, apart from that, they have nothing"
  
• Jews "unjustly occupy" Palestine for the sole purpose of "filling this land with corruption and transgress the laws of Allah in the name of secularism"

Slavery

• "owning slaves is not prohibited"
  
• "Allah has allowed men to marry two, three or four women, but one who fears he will not be fair can marry only one or have slaves."

Democracy is contrary to Islam. Jihad is a duty of sedition

• "Democracy is a system in total contradiction with Islam"
  
• "... freedom is unknown in Islam, it contradicts Islam, therefore it is a false concept"
  
• "[freedom] serves to justify corruption" and "stooping to the lowest levels of bestiality"
  
• "Freedom of conscience is actually freedom to leave Islam !"
  
• “Anyone who leaves Islam, cut his neck”
  
• "no matter how it is understood and applied ... secularism is a pure negation of Islam"
  
• "If Muslims are strong and they have the ability to fight the Infidel ruler, to overthrow him from power and replace him with a Muslim ruler, it is mandatory for them to do so. This is part of Jihad in the path of Allah"
  
• "injustice will never disappear from the face of the earth before Islam and Sharia are properly applied throughout the world"
  
• "Islam commands us to destroy all idols", i.e. "democracy, human rights, secularism, freedom, equality, and modernity"
  
• in an Islamic state, Christians and Jews can keep their religion but they must pay a sum of money, the Jizyah. "The purpose of the Jizyah is to humiliate and punish Infidels to encourage them to accept Islam." The other Infidels (Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, etc.) have no options but to accept Islam or “be killed"

CONCLUSION

• If you belong to a minority, you can with impunity propagate hatred and contempt against the majority. You are not held to the same standards of tolerance, respect and civility as the majority. Equality under the law, according to the Commission, does not exist anymore.
  
• If you belong to a religious minority, you can with impunity propagate a supremacist ideology that also condones the extermination of other minorities, and of the majority, if this is the doctrine of your religion.
  
• If you belong to the majority and you expose the supremacist, totalitarian and anti-democratic ideology propagated by a minority, you risk being sued.

Link

Labels: Canada, Human rights

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 7:59 AM 0 Comments

A mosque asking that Canadian workplaces respect a strict Muslim dress code is at the same time disseminating slurs against Jews and Western societies, and warning members against social integration.

The Khalid Bin Al-Walid Mosque near Kipling Ave. and Rexdale Blvd. serves as the religious authority for eight Somali women complaining to the Canadian Human Rights Commission that UPS Canada Ltd. violated their religious rights at a sorting plant. The mosque, founded in 1990 and serving upwards of 10,000 people, preaches strict adherence to sharia, or Islamic law, and no compromise with the West.

Teachings on the mosque's website, khalidmosque.com, refer to non-Muslim Westerners as "wicked," "corrupt" and "our clear enemies."

Sometimes Jews are singled out.

"Is it permissible for women to wear high-heeled shoes?" begins one posting in question-and-answer format. "That is not permissible," comes the reply. "It involves resembling the Disbelieving Women or the wicked women. It has its origin among the Jewish women."

Modern pastimes are condemned.

"What is the ruling on subscribing to sports channels?" another question begins. "Watching some of the female spectators, when the camera focuses on them time after time" stirs "evil inclinations," the lesson reads. "Some (players) may not even believe in Allaah."

Mosque leaders refused repeated requests for an interview.

A disclaimer on the website says questions and answers do not necessarily reflect the mosque's views. But the About Us page says: "All questions and answers on this site (are) prepared, approved and supervised by (the mosque's imam) Bashir Yusuf Shiil."

The mosque's stand on the UPS case also appears contradictory.

In September, a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal heard two weeks of testimony from eight mosque members alleging "Islamophobia" at the company's west Toronto plant. Three final days of testimony are scheduled for next week.

The eight women, who lost their jobs at UPS, say Islam dictates that they wear a full-length skirt for modesty. The courier company insists that any skirt be knee-length for safety, as workers climb ladders up to 6 metres high.

Under their skirt, the women wear full-length trousers but say they do not want the lower part showing in case the shape of the calf can be discerned.

The complaint originally centred on the company's use of temporary workers and uneven enforcement of its safety rules.

But the key question remains: Is UPS insisting on shorter hems for safety or is it violating religious rights by denying the women permanent jobs unless they conform?

So far, no Khalid Bin Al-Walid Mosque representative has attended the sessions, but the women cited the mosque as their place of worship and religious authority, and tabled a letter from its administration. "This is to certify that the religion of Islam requires all Muslim women to cover her entire body inclusive of the legs, arms, head, ears and neck," the letter reads. "As such, (the women) would not be able to wear pants as an outfit."

On the other hand, the mosque's website teachings forbid women to work outside the home in the first place. "It is known that when women go to work in the workplaces of men, this leads to mixing with men," one such posting says.

"This is a very dangerous matter," it reads. "It is in clear opposition to the texts of the Shariah that order the women to remain in their houses and to fulfill the type of work that is particular for her ...

"We ask Allah to protect our land and the lands of all Muslims from the plots and machinations of their enemies."

Two of the women making the complaint – Dales Yusuf, 46, and Nadifo Yusuf (no relation), 36 – said in an interview that they live in Canada now, and are free to pick and choose from Islamic law.

"We must work," said Dales Yusuf. "I'm a single parent raising my kids." Jacquie Chic, a lawyer with the Workers' Action Centre representing the women at the hearings, said neither she nor her clients were aware of the mosque's posted teachings. "I, the Workers' Centre and these women are concerned enormously about any expression of anti-Semitism or any other form of racism," she said.

Questions to the mosque about its teachings were met with evasiveness over three weeks.

Mosque chairman Osman Mohamed three times agreed to an interview and three times cancelled at last minute. Imam Shiil was said to be in Saudi Arabia and unreachable. Mosque administrator Abukar Mohamed confused matters further by appearing to agree with UPS, saying: "The Quran says women must be covered – it doesn't give you the specific clothes. But I am not a religious authority."

Link

Labels: Canada, Islam, Marie-Êve Marineau, Religion and fanaticism, Secularism

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 10:57 PM 0 Comments

For the Government, parents are irresponsible idiots ...

Here is the testimony of a parent who fled Algeria to escape Islam and who does not know of an ECR for his children:

"I had 8 000 km, without a penny to put my two children from Islam. I made a vacuum around me and I eliminated any of my relations who can tell them the good of the religion. Now we will serve them in school. They say that Christianity and Islam is the same message, but said differently. "

"They say that Jesus and Mohammed are equal and are all 2 of chic types and that Christians and Muslims should not quibble. It does not say that seeks chicane. They say that Jews and Muslims are brothers who are wrong to quibble and should live in harmony in Palestine as Andalusia and potatoes and potatoes. "

"Sooner or later, my children know my opinion or ask me questions. I then go to them for a liar and a villain. I had full opportunity to live this situation in Algeria, without needing to cross an ocean. I'm back to square one after 8000 km and years of toil. My God, no! it will not again. I'm exhausted. "

****

The absent are suspended

(Granby) The management of the school-Joseph-Hermas Leclerc Granby tough with students who are boycotting the course of ethics and religious culture. A fourth secondary student was suspended yesterday and five others received notice of suspension for next week. This is the beginning of a battle between the parents of these young people and the school board of Val-des-Cerfs.

Jonathan Gagné has been suspended for failing 20 hours of an ethics and religious culture (ECR). Since the beginning of the year, the teenager avoids the course, with the blessing of his parents.

So that he can return to class, they must sign a contract for reinstatement with the school. In the document, parents commit to compel their children to attend during RWCE.

"We will not sign the contract, says his mother, Diane Gagné, which is convened to school Monday morning. It continues to withdraw our son's progress. "

Expulsion

Without the label of his parents, Jonathan risk expulsion. The school board of Val-des-Cerfs confirms that it will apply the penalties prescribed in the Code of school life-H. J. Leclerc-against absenteeism.

"We have an obligation to put forward the basic school, said the general manager of the school board, Alain Lecours. A student absent, even partially, violates this rule. We must crack down. "

Sanctions code of life depend on the number of missed periods. They range from verbal warning to withdrawal from school, from suspensions of various durations.

According to the Education Act, a parent shall take the necessary means for their child attends school. "If the parent does not sign the contract for reinstatement, we're in a gray area, said Lecours. We can not readmit the young. It requires that parents find a solution with the school. "

Diane Gagné condemns this position. "We expect that Jonathan is deported Monday, regrets she says. It is very difficult, because it does not reverse its decision and neither have we. Especially since we have no real alternative than to change school or move to another province. "

As Jonathan 16, it could also attend adult school.

Non-motivated absences

The son of Linda Foisy, Xavier and Pierre-Elijah Lasnier, respectively will be suspended Monday and Tuesday. Like Diane Gagné, it will not sign for his children return to their being RWCE.

"I appeal to school almost every morning to justify their absence from the course, she says. The problem is that schools are considered as non-motivated absences. It calls into question my authority of a parent. They do not understand that this course was, it does not want to! "

The Coalition for Freedom in Education (CLE), a group of parents who oppose during RWCE, denounced this policy of school-J.-H. Leclerc.

"It's completely arbitrary. A student who is two weeks in Switzerland to ski with his parents will no reasoned, "is outraged spokesman Richard Decarie. According to him, the only honorable for the school board to resolve the impasse is to accept to exempt students. He argues that even if the price of RCT is mandatory, it is not necessary for graduation from high school.

Values

The Director General of the school board of Val-des-Cerfs contends that the school is within its rights to refuse to motivate young people absences.

"Their parents have already made requests for exemption to the school board for being RWCE and they were all rejected, said Alain Lecours. We know that this is not the code of life problem. The substantive debate is the values and beliefs. "

Labels: Children, Québec, Religion and fanaticism, Renata Daninsky

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 9:43 PM 0 Comments

The Ombudsman Julie Miville-Dechêne (pictured right against) concluded that because of flaws in editorial control, the presentation of the film Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land Issue Major reports violated journalistic standards and practices Radio-Canada. Ce film avance, sans en faire la preuve, que le gouvernement israélien contrôle les médias américains. The film advance without making the evidence that the Israeli government controls the American media. It contains anachronisms and inaccuracies groups and pro-Palestinian activists were involved in the research.

The decision of December 8 2008 Julie Miville-Dechêne bearing on the film Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land released on October 23 2008 on the airwaves Network Information Radio-Canada (RDI), follows a request Reviewed by the Quebec-Israel Committee.

The Committee asked the Ombudsman to determine if the film and the guidance offered by RDI meet the journalistic standards and practices of Radio-Canada. The request for review concluded:

'By failing to identify the film as a documentary type of opinion committed and almost literally repeating the description of the perpetrator, RDI has violated journalistic standards and practices of Radio-Canada, which says that production should be clearly identified at the beginning and the end as a documentary author. " Ironically, while the facilitator asked Simon Durivage introduction if the American media does not distorted the trial of his public, RDI has contributed to the deformation of his own trial on the Arab-Israeli conflict. "

The decision of Mrs. Miville-Dechêne, reproduced below, meets each of the objections raised by the Quebec-Israel Committee.

But first, beyond the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict being the decision of the Ombudsman, the whole media coverage of political Islam that we put in question at tipping point, on which we will return in depth.

When a report on ideology imperialist supremacy and hatred that has taken epidemic proportions among Muslims, as pointed out clearly the eminent Indian religious Wahiduddin Khan, who calls Muslims to work for introspection and deconditioning ideological ? This ideology to theological foundations that Khan calls to deconstruct, has led to countless massacres of innocent civilians around the world. It leads the Salafist Sunni Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia (11 / 9), the Deoband Pakistan (Mumbai), the Shiites of Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. It explains jihadist violence in Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Chechnya, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Gaza, London, Madrid, and elsewhere. What is the common pattern here? It is obvious, but the media is split into four so as not to appoint, under cover of a misplaced political correctness is part of the problem rather than the solution, or a sense of objectivity Godard 's is mocked by the phrase "five minutes for Jews, five minutes for the Nazis."

Returning to our subject, let's first see what the Ombudsman Radio-Canada.

OMBUDSMAN OF RADIO-CANADA

The ombudsman's office is presented as follows on the website of Radio-Canada:

Accuracy, integrity, fairness

"The ombudsman Julie Miville-Dechêne is listening to you. It represents you, you viewers, listeners and Internet Radio-Canada. It assesses the merits of your complaints, to the best of his trial, and quite independently. You believe that information to our office or on our website is biased or inaccurate? Contact us. "

Radio-Canada has established journalistic standards and practices that describe how this institution funded by taxpayers meets public expectations and fulfills its obligations. These standards are quite detailed, and serve as a guide to the decisions of the Ombudsman.

****

Office of the Ombudsman Services French
On December 8, 2008

REVIEW documentary Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land Released on 23 October 2008 to broadcast Major reports Network Information

Contents

More than 150 people have complained to my office dissemination of the documentary foreign pro-Palestinian Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land, the issuance Major reports, the Network of Public Information (RDI) on 23 October 2008. They accuse the CBC for having aired a work of propaganda with errors of fact.

Radio-Canada has admitted a mistake: its journalistic standards and practices have not been respected in the presentation of the documentary. There was no mention of the date of production (2003) and the fact that the situation on the ground had changed since then, particularly because of the dismantling of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip.

Produced five years ago, the documentary contains inaccuracies and anachronisms, groups and pro-Palestinian activists were involved in the research.

Given the circumstances and vulnerabilities identified in editorial control, this documentary would not have been released.

COMPLAINTS

On 23 October 2008, issuing reports Major Network Information (RDI) presented a documentary entitled American Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land, which focused on the image of Arab-Israeli conflict that carry the American media.

I received 156 complaints about this issue. Most complainants from various countries have responded to the call of pro-Israeli group monitoring media HonestReporting Canada. The pressure group urged its supporters online to send complaints to my office. Other Canadian viewers who have seen the show have also complained spontaneously to my office. For them, this is not a balanced documentary but a work of propaganda for the Palestinians, which contains errors of fact. Here is an excerpt from the complaint of Quebec-Israel Committee:

"(...) By failing to identify the film as a documentary

opinion type committed and showing almost literally

description of the author, RDI has violated the standards and

journalistic practices of Radio-Canada, which stipulate that

production should be clearly identified at the beginning and the

end as a documentary author (...)

The exclusive participation of activists and groups of employees

pressure and organized interests, as well as thanks

of production to those groups not only do they undermine

seriously the responsibility of the RDI to ensure that groups

interest policies [...] or pressure do not seek to

assert their views through this kind of productions, but

should raise with the RDI questions about

the independence of the film of any group that could

have a direct interest in the issue.

In presenting an indictment against unilateral either party

a conflict, RDI has failed in its duty to ensure fairness and balance

by failing to present in this other issue

views on the item, as stipulated Standards

and journalistic practices of Radio-Canada, the audience can

note that can draw different conclusions from the same facts.

Tolerating the many snags to the realities of film history,

RDI a political and diplomatic settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian RDI has

failed in its responsibility for the accuracy of the facts - applicable

even in the case of a document of opinion - and has failed to enforce

film the criterion of exceptional quality and relevance before

to disseminate, as stipulated in its own standards and journalism. (...) ".

Director, Complaint Handling and General Affairs, sent this reply to all complainants:

"We've received your comments on

Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land, presented

at the major reports, RDI broadcast on October 23.

Let me first give you some explanations on

the context in which we broadcast documentaries. The

documentary focuses on personal point of view.

In the almost all cases, these documents are signed works

by directors from outside the CBC. We choose

to disseminate because we believe they contain

information of interest.

By airing documentaries opinion, Radio-Canada does

not promote the views contained therein. On

the contrary, it is part of our commitment to offering a

variety of perspectives on topics of public interest.

The documentary Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land

contained interesting information to the Canadian public on the

treatment of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the American media.

It was a U.S. production of a Media Education Foundation, distributed

by Mundovision.

However, this documentary is an updated version of a partial

document turned ago now four years before Israel

withdraw from Gaza. Therefore our presentation CW

should have put in context of four years ago rather

as a contemporary challenges posed the Middle East

on the eve of U.S. presidential elections of 2008.

It was indeed a very personalized the conflict.

We recognize that this view was clearly pro-Palestinian.

We wish to assure you that we have recently acquired

other documentaries offering glances different on the

situation in Israel and Gaza and we expect to circulate

in the coming months. (...) "

After receiving this response, several plaintiffs have asked me to review the issue because they believe this documentary simply would not have been broadcast, whatever may have been the presentation.

REVISION

The rules to follow

The information broadcast on Radio-Canada must respect the three principles at the heart of its journalistic standards and practices: the accuracy, integrity and fairness. However, there are exceptions for documentaries produced outside the house, including "documentaries of opinion within the meaning of documentaries engaged":

"The term documentary opinion is also used to describe a

work commenced or a thesis, an advocacy, based on facts,

calls for a solution or a point of view on a controversial subject.

Although the work is based on facts, it does not fairly the

variety of opinions that may exist on the subject or record.

The programmer must sometimes decide whether to disseminate

production significantly transgresses standards journalistic

Radio-Canada because this production openly takes sides on a

controversial issue, the point to exclude other relevant facts

and other items of view. (...) "

(NPJ A, 2.4)

The documentary Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land satisfies these criteria. The film advance without making the evidence that the Israeli government controls the American media, written and electronic. To illustrate this thesis, the documentary uses excerpts from television news reports that pass over in silence the fact that the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel. According to the film, this omission, the choice of words and the systematic lack of context reinforces false perceptions in the American public. There is no fairness, balance or nuance here: the pro-Palestinian documentary presents a single point of view, only one side of the coin. All those interviewed - academics, Israeli and Palestinian activists, media critics and journalists - are in agreement with this view. If Radio-Canada chooses to present a documentary such rules apply:

Radio-Canada (...) should ensure that interest groups political or

economic or pressure groups, not seek to enforce their views

through this kind of production. "

(NPJ A, 2.4)

"The production should be clearly identified at the beginning and

the end as a documentary author. "

(NPJ A, 2.4, b)

"The facts should be accurate even if it is a work of opinion, and

arguments should conform to facts. (...) "

(NPJ A, 2.4, d)

The production is clearly identified?

The direction of Radio-Canada has quickly admitted its mistake: the presentation of this report does not respect the political journalism of Radio-Canada. Here is the transcript from this Great reports:

"Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land.

The American media does

they see Israeli settlement in the occupied territories

a gesture of defense?

Welcome to Great reports. The signing of a peace agreement

in the Middle East before the end of 2008, as provided in the

Annapolis conference last year, is it still possible?

With the approach of the American election and the first two

Israeli and Palestinian ministers, both at their departure,

much in doubt. According to experts from the Middle East since

40 years, the settlement policy of the Jewish state has increased

inside the occupied Palestinian territories. Therefore:

Daily violence is both the Palestinian and Israeli sides.

So what message convey the American media on this

interminable conflict? They distort the trial of our neighbors

of South? "

At no time, nor in this presentation, or at the end of the show, it is said that it was a documentary view of a film commitment. No mention is made of its author or its production house American Media Education Foundation. In fact, the name of Montreal distributor who is at the beginning of the documentary and the generic. More troubling still, at any time or in the presentation or in the generic, it is said that the documentary was released in 2003, when I was confirmed by the producer.

Such omissions deprive viewers of vital information. However, the website of the production makes clear that this film in 2003. Five years in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a long time. At that time we were in the second wave of the intifada. Since then, the situation has changed: the Israelis have withdrawn from the Gaza Strip, Ariel Sharon created a new party in favor of dismantling settlements before being terraced by two strokes and falling into a coma, Yasser Arafat is dead; Palestinians from Gaza have elected the radical Hamas and the Israelis have built a fence around the West Bank, suicide bombings have ended in Israel's offensive the Israeli army against Hezbollah in Lebanon has killed 1 200 .

The presentation gives the impression that the documentary is recent. The first director responsible for the content of documentaries on Radio-Canada recognizes that the context is lacking. In his opinion, should have been saying that the settlers and the Israeli army left Gaza, and perhaps ask the question to launch the documentary: "One wonders whether the situation has changed since then."

When Radio-Canada buys a documentary, it adapts, translates to the need and shortens, in this case from 52 to 43 minutes. It is a director who is responsible for this work. The director in question tells me he has not managed to find the date of production of the documentary. It chose instead to identify video clips in the documentary, excerpts dating from 2000 to 2003.

The journalist in search charged with writing the show, admits his error. He was captured, he said, by another series of documentaries. Two hundred documentaries must be adapted to the major stories in every IRD year.

The director of Radio-Canada responsible for acquisitions said that, on paper and during the viewing, Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land seemed worthwhile because the documentary presented a new angle on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The director believed that the work was contemporary, since 2008 in the catalog of "international documentary programs," Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land was described as "production".

He said that the distributor has not warned that the movie was not recent. For its part, distributor remembers that Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land was released in room in early 2005. However, Radio-Canada has recognized the true date of production (2003) when complaints began to accumulate. The craftsmen who I spoke to me all said they will be more vigilant in the future.

The big difference between documentary and the 2003 version distributed in October 2008 to RDI is its duration. The original work is 80 minutes, the distributor asked the producer to reduce his film to 52 minutes to sell it to TV. The distributor has registered a narration to accompany the abbreviated version. It has removed some glaring anachronisms in the international version in English. In my opinion, this is not enough to talk about "updating". You can see the documentary and read the full transcript on the site of the production: http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi

A author Documentary pro-Palestinian or a work of propaganda?

Radio-Canada must ensure that it buys documentaries are not propaganda tools of lobbyists. If Radio-Canada had viewed the full 80 minutes of Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land, it would have realized that by the end of the film can be read thanks to several militant groups pro-Palestinian (Electronic Antifada, Al -Awda Right of Return Coalition, Islam Online). The producer and director assures me that these lobbyists have not funded his film, but only provided assistance for research.

This proximity between militant groups and documentary is disturbing. For example, a data-shocks of the documentary is that only 4 percent of the new state television that the West Bank and Gaza are "occupied". A small note at the bottom of the screen attributes this statistic in 2001 the group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting FAIR. This is a pro-Palestinian group monitoring the media for the pro-Israel group CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) and HonestReporting, the source of many complaints to my office against this documentary. This is not independent research.

It would have taken at least that these facts are known to Radio-Canada so that it may be part of the evaluation of the editorial product.

The facts are they true?

Even if it is a documentary of opinion, the arguments must be based on facts, under the rules Radio-Canada. But the obvious anachronisms. Of anachronisms that are not believing the viewer warned that Gaza is still occupied by the army and Israeli settlers. The reality is quite different: the settlers left the Gaza Strip since 2005, the Israeli army evacuated the territory, although it still encircles and control the entry and exit of Palestinians and goods.

At 3 minutes and a half early, it can be read at the bottom of the screen: "The West Bank and Gaza Strip under military occupation."

At 9 minutes into "So we could say that in addition to the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel (...)."

At 12 minutes into the narrator says: "... Four percent of the media network 2 on the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip indicate that they are occupied territories."

At 20 minutes 17 at the beginning, the narrator says: "The Palestinian territories are dotted with settlements that are established in strategic (...) settlements with the neighboring land they have appropriate control over 40% the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "On screen, we see a map of small white dots, illustrating the settlements dot the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The first was erroneous overprint added by the director of Radio-Canada that adaptation. Neither him, nor anyone has noticed anachronisms before the CW. Even if the director who adapted the work tells me that he thought the documentary was "limited", it has not expressed its concerns to staff framework. Result: no connection charge has viewed the documentary before it is released.

The convener Simon Durivage is not responsible for these errors. He records the presentations that he prepares between two direct interventions RDI, where he is on the air four hours or more per day.

The failure to mention the withdrawal from Gaza is not trivial, because part of the argument of the film is based on the following statement: "The purpose of Israel is permanently annexing the occupied territories" . That may be true for part of the West Bank, but it has already proved false in the Gaza Strip.

Other inaccuracies:

The fighting in Jenin in 2002. "This event, although widely condemned as a war crime by organizations of human rights, was minimized by the American media who gave écartèrent involved and the possibility of a massacre." (Excerpt of the documentary). On the Palestinian side, there was talk at the time of 500 victims. An investigation by Human Rights Watch concluded that there was no evidence of the massacre. Fifty-seven Palestinians and twenty-four Israelis have died in these clashes.

"Israel's position is anything but defensive.": This is a dubious generalization.

The occupied territories, "a foreign country: the West Bank and Gaza Strip are not part of Israel. These territories are under no jurisdiction. The Palestinians want to make a country, but it is not yet a reality.

On several occasions, the documentary refers to the occupation "illegal" Palestinian territories by Israel. The legal reality is more complex: the Jewish settlements and the erection of a security fence in the West Bank are clearly illegal. But experts disagree about the "illegal" any Israeli military presence in the West Bank because of the ambiguity in the English version of resolution 242 United Nations (1967). The withdrawal must be "territories" (from territories). The Israeli withdrawal from all territories it is mandatory or not under resolution 242? The interpretation of this clause has never been clarified by the courts.

On this issue, the director of the grid RDI think that the CBC has no staff necessary to verify the facts contained in the 200 documentaries purchased each year. Hence the importance of a strong write to the warnings required for the viewers. The first director responsible for the content of documentary adds that the CBC trusted foreign producers known (eg., BBC), but the Company can not abandon its responsibility to seriously evaluate the content of broadcast works.

The two executives, who have several responsibilities, say it is unthinkable for them to watch all the documentaries before putting on the air, especially that to buy 200, one must view the double. When artisans have doubts about a documentary, they should seek advice from one of their superiors. This time, no alarm was triggered throughout the process. The director of the grid RDI believes this is an isolated event, which should not obscure the work done for 14 years. In light of this error, the first director of the documentary says it needs tighter control editorial Service acquisitions.

The documentary would it have been broadcast or not?

The fact that this documentary is favorable for the Palestinian cause is not in question here. Radio-Canada has the right to broadcast films opinion, provided they are clearly presented as such. Radio-Canada must also encourage a diversity of views in its programming. There is no strict accounting on the "views" disseminated about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the first director ensures that the interests of diversity exists. Before this controversy erupted, he had bought the rights of Israeli interesting documentary to be broadcast in early 2009.

The first director think this documentary deserved to be released because of the fame of some of the participants. It is of the opinion that to preserve the integrity of the work, do not get to touch here and there so that the film has more air after five years. It is therefore not agree with the approach of the dealer who says he is an update of Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land in 2008.

Le producteur et réalisateur du documentaire est convaincu que son film est toujours pertinent. The producer and director of the documentary is convinced that his film is still relevant. He said: "This will not change that Gaza is no longer colonized by Israel, since that territory has become an open-air prison." The situation on the ground has not changed, and it is always also true in his opinion that the American media, written or electronic, routinely fail to mention the occupation of the West Bank and the reasons behind the Palestinian resistance. He is preparing a new movie on the cover made by the American media about the Gaza Strip and the Israeli offensive in Lebanon.

Conclusion

The error has already been recognized by the management of Radio-Canada. The Standards and journalistic practices have not been respected in the presentation of foreign documentary Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land, distributed to broadcast Major reports, on 23 October 2008. Radio-Canada should have specified that it was a documentary engaged, that the situation on the ground had changed since five years, date of production of the film, particularly since Israel withdrew from Gaza . Finally, it should be clear that a work was produced abroad.

Given the circumstances and vulnerabilities identified in editorial control, this documentary would not have been released.

Julie Miville-Dechêne Julie Miville-Dechêne
Ombudsman Services French
Société Radio-Canada Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
2008-12-08 2008-12-08

E-mail: ombudsman@radio-Canada.ca

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Labels: Anne Humphreys, Canada, Islam, Palestine, Radio-Canada

# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 11:09 AM 0 Comments