Today, in Halifax, a memorial to the MS St. Louis was unveiled, in memory of the hundreds of Jewish refugees turned away from North American shores on the eve of the Holocaust. The MS St. Louis carried over 930 German … Read More
Features Blog
Blacklisted
Posted onWelcome back to a new year at the BCCLA National Security Blog. We returned from our winter break to find a copy of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights’ new report on terrorist blacklists at our desk — … Read More
Back from hiatus! (briefly)
Posted onSo one of our readers pointed out recently that the National Security Blog’s long overdue for an update, and he’s absolutely right, especially given the things we’ve been up to recently. In late October, the BCCLA issued its report on … Read More
The waiting game
Posted onAfter a week of sentencing hearings, the Military Commission in Guantanamo imposed a 40-year sentence on Omar Khadr, 15 years more than the 25-year term requested by the prosecutors. The military “jury” deliberating Mr. Khadr’s sentence had not been informed … Read More
Omar Khadr: Waiting for answers
Posted onThe BCCLA National Security team has covered Omar Khadr’s continuing ordeal extensively over the past year, from Canadian courts to Guantanamo Bay. After weeks of rumours and speculation, the Guantanamo show trial will finally wrap up. Omar Khadr has pled … Read More
Laroche, redux
Posted onThis morning at the MPCC, Paul Champ resumed his cross-examination of BGen Guy Laroche. Readers of these pages may recall that at the close of the last session of MPCC hearings this May, we heard conflicting testimony from BGen Laroche … Read More
Canada’s man for the job
Posted onDisturbing testimony continued to emerge from the Afghan Public Interest Hearings at the Military Police Complaints Commission, as John Davison, a Department of Foreign Affairs official who was stationed in Afghanistan, took the stand on Thursday, September 16. Mr. Davison … Read More
Some news from down south
Posted onIn related news, earlier this week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the United States sided with the Obama administration’s arguments for a wide-sweeping application of the so-called state secrets doctrine and dismissed a claim for damages brought by … Read More
Today at the MPCC: Torture is a “real conversation killer”
Posted onAfter a long summer hiatus, the Afghan Public Interest Hearings at the Military Police Complaints Commission resumed today, with Major General Mike Ward of the Canadian Forces taking the stand to discuss the transfer of detainees to Afghan security forces … Read More
Ongoing torture of Afghan prisoners?
Posted onIn today’s online edition of the Toronto Star, Murray Brewster of The Canadian Press is reporting that an Afghan intelligence officer with the National Directorate of Security (NDS) boasted to Canadian ground commanders as recently as May 2009 that he … Read More
