Vol. 74/No. 24      June 21, 2010

The UN edict, which was established in 1999 after U.S. embassies were bombed in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, makes it illegal to give material aid or financial services to those who have been listed. They cannot fly and their assets must be frozen. Any person or organization that hires them could be prosecuted.

Abdelrazik was born in the Sudan. When he returned there in 2003 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.

The Canadian government only reluctantly issued the travel documents in 2009 that permitted Abdelrazik to return home after he was cleared by both CSIS and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in late 2007. But the UN Security Council refuses to lift the sanctions that prevent Abdelrazik from working.

The CLC, with more than 3 million union members across Canada, will hire Abdelrazik for one week. His job will be to document his story. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, both CLC affiliates, will also each hire Abdelrazik, for a day.

Hassan Yussuff, secretary-treasurer of the CLC, told a May 18 news conference that the CLC hopes other labor groups will do the same thing “to send a very clear message to our Canadian government that this is a basic issue of human rights.” IAMAW general vice president Dave Ritchie said, “The IAMAW is proud to be a part of this campaign especially because Mr. Adelrazik is a machinist by trade.”

At the press conference, Abdelrazik thanked the CLC for its efforts on his behalf. “Physically I came to Canada, but I am still in prison,” he said. “The Canadian government blocked my way to come back. And when I came back I asked them to lobby on my behalf for delisting … and they refused.”

In an April 28 telethon here in support of Abdelrazik more than 300 people phoned in to declare support for “busting the sanctions” and revoking the UN regulations in Canada. Those who want to help with the campaign can visit: www.peoplescommission.org/en/abdelrazik.  
 
 
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