Vol. 74/No. 20      May 24, 2010

The UN’s 1267 list was named after a 1999 resolution that set up a “no-fly” blacklist regime under the control of the Security Council in which states can designate individuals and organizations as suspected “terrorists.” For an individual to be removed from the list it takes unanimous consent of all members of the Security Council, including the state that requested the measure. The 1267 resolution imposes a travel ban, an asset freeze, and an arms embargo on listed individuals and organizations.

Speaking to the gathering with translation from Arabic, Abdelrazik called on Ottawa to “please listen to the human aspect of the situation and ask the UN to take me off this inhuman list.”

“I want to live like any other Canadian and have a normal life,” he said. “I hope with your presence we can convince [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper to end this suffering, to end this story.”

In 2003 Abdelrazik traveled to Sudan to visit his sick mother. He was arrested by Sudanese authorities in collaboration with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). He was jailed and tortured as a “terrorist” suspect associated with al Qaeda.

On April 28, 2008, Abdelrazik walked into the Canadian embassy in Khartoum after his second period of detention in Sudanese jails and said he would not leave until he was booked on a plane back to Montreal where his two young daughters and a son live. Embassy officials allowed him to live there for a year under “temporary safe haven.” At the same time Ottawa blocked his return by refusing to issue travel documents until he paid for a ticket.

However, because of the sanctions imposed by Ottawa under the UN 1267 blacklist it is illegal for anyone to give Abdelrazik any money—whether it is a loan, a salary, or even a gift—under threat of a penalty up to 10 years in prison. When his situation became public a campaign was organized in Canada called Project Fly Home by people outraged at the arbitrary measures the government has taken against Abdelrazik in the name of “national security.”

Individuals supported by organizations such as the Canadian Labour Congress, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, civil rights organizations, and others defied the sanctions and raised the funds for a ticket. The campaign led to a federal court decision June 4, 2009, ordering Ottawa to bring Abdelrazik home within a month. Three weeks later he was reunited with his daughters and son in Montreal after a six-year separation.

During the course of the telethon more than 300 people phoned in to declare support for “busting the sanctions” and revoking the 1267 regulations in Canada. Those who want to help with the campaign can visit: www.peoplescommission.org/en/abdelrazik.
 
 
Related articles:
Oppose war at home and abroad
U.S. gov’t uses Times Square bomb attempt to target rights  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home