Help Canadians detained abroad

Nov 06, 2007 04:30 AM

MohamedO Hassan

In a nation like Canada with so many communities from every corner of the world, it is not unusual for some of our citizens to find themselves caught in the global terror-fighting dragnet.

Some Canadians, such as myself, hail from the very places that today are theatres of operations in the war on terror: Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Lebanon. Others, who were born here, may share a common name or culture with those perceived to be targets of the global-war-on-terror machinery.

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DEATH FOR CELIL IN PRISON

AFTER CELIL'S FIRST COURT TAKEN PLACE THE DECISION MADE AS A RESULT OF DEATH IN THE PRISON IN OTHER WORDS SENTENCED FOR LIFE. MOST LIKELY LIFE SENTENCED PRISONERS EVENTUALLY ARE EXCECUTED IN CHINA.
WHAT WE SHOULD DO IS EVERYTHING TO HELP HIM BY DRAWING CANADIANS ATTENTION TO THE MATTER AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN.
WE ARE TRYING TO SET UP A GENERAL PROTESTING IN TORONTO WITH EVERYBODIES ATTENDANCE.
PLEASE DO NOT TREAT THIS VERY CLOSE FRIEND’S NEWS AS AN EMAIL OR NEWS TRASH.
SPREAD THE NEWS AND HAVE AN IDEA TO HELP US ON THIS.
BELOW SOME MEDIA COVERAGE

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N19414202.htm
Other Other
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=172249
https://www.amnesty.ca/urgentappeal/celil.php
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/

FOREIGN MINISTER GOES TO CHINA

Minister MacKay Announces Trip to Norway, Belgium, China and South Korea

April 18, 2007
No. 58

The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, today announced that he will travel to Oslo, Norway, to attend a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. The Minister will then visit Brussels, Belgium, to attend a high-level event on Afghanistan, travelling next to China and concluding his trip with a visit to South Korea.

The NATO meeting is one of two foreign ministers’ meetings that NATO holds each year. Minister MacKay will then travel to Brussels on April 28 to participate in a panel discussion on democracy in Afghanistan, as part of the Brussels Forum 2007.

In China, Minister MacKay’s program will include discussions with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. This bilateral visit will serve as a further occasion to discuss a number of issues of importance to Canada, including the consular case of Huseyincan Celil, and to set priorities for productive cooperation between Canada and China.

On May 1 and 2, Minister MacKay will visit South Korea and meet Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Song Min-soon to discuss bilateral and multilateral issues, including Canada’s security interests in the region and the Six-Party talks on North Korea. The Minister will also visit the Demilitarized Zone to see first hand the area of past confrontation with North Korea.

- 30 -

For further information, media representatives may contact:

Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874
http://www.international.gc.ca

APRIL 1st The First Year In Detention - Protesting Chinese Injustice

We are planning a protest in front of the Chinese Consulate Toronto for the First Year of Brother Huseyincan Celil's Detention with the association of the Uyghur Canadian Association.

We still do not know anything about Celil's second trial however with the help of our community we hired a Chinese lawyer to defend our brother Celil and inform us in anyway possible under the unjust treatment of Chinese Government .

We ask everybody to join us and spread the word around. At least kindly forward this message to your mailing list.

Protesting will be taken place in front of Chinese Consulate 240 St. George Street, Toronto between 01:00 PM - 03:00 PM on Sunday APRIL 1st.

For the Map >>>
For more information >>>

New Lawyer in China is on -We Thank to Our Community for their support

Since it has been three weeks we started the campaign for hiring a new lawyer in China for our brother Huseyincan Celil.
We have reached the targeted amount for the expenses of the new lawyer and he is on his way to Urumqi where our brother Celil is in prison.
We thank to our community for their generous supports. It is really important that we stand together at the times of our needs.
You can still send your donations… information here>>>

Supporters seeking new lawyer for Celil

Supporters of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian citizen detained in China, say that his court-appointed lawyer is inadequate and that Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs has recommended they obtain independent legal advice there.

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Engaging China requires a balance of values and interests

Let us therefore engage China effectively on human rights. Let us also have a comprehensive and balanced framework for our bilateral and multilateral discussions. For the pursuit of values without also emphasizing interests puts both at risk.

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Senator blasts Harper's stand on China

Senator Jack Austin said former prime minister Jean Chretien was particularly successful in securing the release of political prisoners.
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Resolve dual-citizenship row with China, MPs urged

300,000 Canadian passport holders at risk because of Beijing's policy, experts warn

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Another Canadian held by Chinese

A Chinese Canadian businessman from Mississauga has been detained – without formal charge – in Fujian, China, for four months in the midst of a business dispute with his distribution company's Hong Kong supplier.

>>>Read All>>>

Canadians Assess Action on Huseyin Celil Case

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in Canada have a clear idea of the way their federal administration should deal with the case of Huseyin Celil, according to a poll by Angus Reid Strategies. 53 per cent of respondents think the Canadian government should protest the treatment of Celil, who is being held by Chinese authorities on terrorism charges, through regular diplomatic channels.

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Who is Huseyin Celil?

Caught in the grip of Beijing

He is a very stubborn man, a pious imam and a proud Uighur. He's drawn the wrath of China's authorities who brand him a terrorist. Huseyin Celil is also a Canadian, jailed in an unknown prison in western China. And his case is straining relations between the two nations

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070217.CELIL17/TPStory/TPInternational/Asia/?pageRequested=all

These days, attention is focused on the case of Huseyin Celil, who emigrated to Canada from China. On a trip to Uzbekistan, he was arrested and shipped to China. He has been held at an undisclosed location for about eight months.

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Celil Needs Your Help!

HE NEEDS OUR HELP!
Celil’s situation is getting worse and terrifying along with the latest bad news of Ismail Samed’s execution whose case was parallel to Celil’s.
As you know recent updates below, China does not allow any Canadian officials or lawyers to defend Huseyincan Celil through his trial started recently.
This seems unfair and unjust yet we should remember that we are dealing with biggest horrendous and horrific country in the world, communist China.
Celil’s family lawyer Chris MacLeod said that He couldn’t get to China because China did not approved his travel visa.
Therefore we have no choice but hiring another lawyer in China who can be able to defend Celil and provide us his updates in Urumqi, China.
With the help of Chris Macleod and Amnesty Canada another lawyer in China will be hired.
We need to raise up to $12.000 to cover new lawyer expenses. Already we have matching $3000 promised by Amnesty Canada.
We need our community’s support on this fund. We ask everybody to involve and help out.
Please spread this campaign everyone in your mailing lists and let everybody know.
We also ask our community leaders to participate and inform their people through their services.
Please contact us via freehcorg@gmail.com for more information on transferring your donations or any other concerns.

Terrifying parallels

Man executed in China belonged to same minority group as Burlington detainee

By Dana Borcea
With Spectator wire services
(Feb 10, 2007)

The wife of a Burlington man imprisoned in China is reeling after hearing that another man, detained for similar reasons, has been executed.

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Celil Won't Face Death Penalty in China: MacKay

Josh Pringle
Sunday, February 11, 2007

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay says the Canadian Government is doing everything it can to convince China to respect the rights of Huseyin Celil.

The Burlington father of six is accused of terrorism, and China doesn't recognize his dual citizenship.

MacKay told CTV's Question Period that there's no reason why Canada cannot insist on respect for human rights, and still have trade with China.
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Harper warns China on human-rights trade threat

y Randall Palmer Fri Feb 9, 5:58 PM ET

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned Beijing on Friday against trying to use trade as a lever to deflect criticism of its human rights record, including its treatment of a Canadian imprisoned in China.
He gave a blunt response to remarks by a Chinese official, published on Friday, that the two countries need to trust each other for their economic relationship to flourish.
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Canada-China row intensifies over terrorism charges

Montreal- The Canadian government came under fire Thursday for its handling of a diplomatic row with China, after the family of a Chinese-Canadian held on terrorism charges said he had been abandoned by Canadian diplomats. Huseyin Celil, a member of the Muslim ethnic Uighur community who lived in the Xingjiang province of China, was arrested on terrorism charges in Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent while visiting family on March 27, 2006.

He was extradited to China three months later under an agreement between the Uzbek and Chinese governments.
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China Executes Uighur Activist ISMAIL SAMED

BEIJING — China has executed Uighur Muslim activist Ismail Samed on charges of "splitting the Chinese motherland" with rights groups and his lawyer slamming his trial as politically motivated and unfair.
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Canadian 'anger' at China trial

The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is said to be "displeased" that Canadian diplomats did not attend the trial in China of a Canadian Uighur.

Huseyincan Celil, an ethnic Uighur and a rights activist, is on trial on terrorism charges in Urumqi in Xinjiang, home to a Muslim majority.

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China rejects concerns about Muslim activist

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday Canadian diplomats had no right to be present at a court hearing for a Chinese Uighur Muslim accused of terrorism who was awarded joint Canandian citizenship two years ago.

Yu Shanjiang, also known as Huseyincan Celil, fled China in the 1990s and traveled last year to Uzbekistan, where he was detained and then extradited back to China on terrorism charges.

China has not recognized his Canadian citizenship, obtained in 2005.

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Detainee alive, tortured in jail, wife learns

Kamila Telendibaeva is now sure of two things she didn't know last week.

One is that her husband is alive. The other is that Chinese authorities have tortured him in prison.

"I'm 100 per cent sure they did it," she said yesterday.

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Family claims Chinese-Canadian tortured in China

Updated Thu. Feb. 8 2007 10:09 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The family of a Chinese-Canadian imprisoned in China on terror-related charges spoke with CTV News inside the country, despite the fear that police would arrest them for talking to the foreign press.

Huseyin Celil's sister, mother and older brother met CTV's Steve Chao to speak out about his alleged mistreatment.

"He is being tortured by Chinese police," said Celil's mother. "They forced him to sign a confession, or he would be put in a hole and buried alive."

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Celil's desperate family had given up hope

GEOFFREY YORK

Globe and Mail Update

URUMQI, China — When he was marched in handcuffs into a courtroom in this remote Chinese city last week, Huseyin Celil was like a man returning from the grave.

His family had been convinced that he was probably dead. For months, they had been hounding the prisons of Urumqi, begging for any news of him. They searched computer records and spoke to prison staff, desperate for any sign that the Canadian religious leader was still alive.

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China says agreement with Canada doesn't apply to Celil case

Audra Ang, Canadian Press

Published: Thursday, February 08, 2007

BEIJING - The case of a Canadian activist jailed for alleged terrorist links will be handled according to Chinese law and is not subject to consular agreements, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Thursday.

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Protest marks Xinjiang 'massacre'

Dozens of exiled Uighur Muslims have protested outside China’s embassy in Washington DC on the 10th anniversary of a massacre that some say was on a similar scale to events in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Protesters waved Uighur flags and chanted slogans calling on China to account for the many people they say were killed on February 5, 1997.

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Harper Angry Diplomats Missed Start of Trial for Canadian

Josh Pringle
Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to know why there was no Canadian diplomat present at a recent court appearance for a Canadian man imprisoned in China.

Harper is insisting that Canadian diplomats in China attend future court proceedings

Senior Government Officials say diplomats in Beijing and Ottawa fumbled the ball when Huseyin Celil appeared in court last week.

Celil has been jailed at an unknown location in China for almost eight months for alleged ties to terror groups.

Canadian Finance Minister in China

China does not recognize his Canadian citizenship and Ottawa has been aggressively lobbying for his release. His family says he is being persecuted because he is a Muslim and a political dissident who fled his homeland in the 1990s.
Canada's campaign to have Celil released has angered Chinese officials, as did Canada's granting of honorary citizenship to the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama.
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PM irked as diplomats miss activist's hearing

Government says Canadian diplomats in Beijing and consular officials in Ottawa fumbled the ball

JEFF SALLOT AND GEOFFREY YORK

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

OTTAWA AND BEIJING — Angered by what he believes is lack of attention to a serious human-rights case, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is demanding an explanation for why no Canadian diplomat was present at the recent court appearance of a Canadian man accused of terrorist activities.

Both Canadian diplomats in Beijing and consular officials in Ottawa fumbled the ball last week when Huseyin Celil appeared in a Chinese court, a senior government official said Monday night in Ottawa.

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Harper wants action on Burlington man in Chinese prison

The Canadian Press

TORONTO - The prime minister is angry and wants to know why there was no Canadian diplomat present at a recent court appearance for a Burlington man imprisoned in China.

A published report today quotes a senior government official saying that diplomats in both Beijing and Ottawa fumbled the ball when Huseyin Celil appeared in court last week.

Stephen Harper is insisting that Canadian diplomats in China attend future court proceedings, which opened Friday in the provincial city of Urumqi.

Diplomats say they have been frustrated by the fact that China will not recognize Celil's Canadian citizenship.

But the official says a Canadian representative should have been present for the opening of the trial as a signal of how seriously the Harper government is taking the case.

Celil, a former imam at a mosque in Hamilton, has been jailed at an unknown location in China for almost eight months for alleged ties to terror groups.

Story of Celil

Celil at the Chinese Court

Huseyin Celil was brought to trial on Friday(Feb 2, Friday) in Urumqi
for 6 hours after having kept nearly 8 month in unknown location by
China's authorities.
his mother, sisters and his son joined the trial with along secrete
service members and regional police represenatatives.

government appointed lawyer has tried to represent Mr. Celil.

soon after Court opened, Mr. Celil asked to see appointed lawyer's law
lisence to confirm wether he is a
lawyer or not. court has rejected his request.

Mr. Celil asked the court he is Canadian citizen and he wants to
have the presence Canadian personal from Embassy, lawyer with law
degree that recommended by Canadian Embassy, or his wife or at least
other Canadian HR organizations to represent him at the court.
court kep silence on his request.

during 6 hours trial, government side did not present any charges
against him interestingly.

Mr. Celil also asked the court to know, after so many months, "what is
the charge against me, and why I am detained.

court spent most of the time to ask his activities in Canada.
Mr. Celil told the court that, he was a student and busy enough to take
care of his small kids.
he said to the court in response that "I live and exercise my rights
within
the limit of Canadian Law in Canada. I attend community activities if my

time permitts, but most of the time I could not able to attend any
social
events organized by Uyghurs in Canada due to my time that spent mostly
with my kids".

Mr. Celil at the end of the court asked again that he wants to see
Canadian representatives in Beijing.

his mother and sisters described that his condition is good.
also secrete police asked if there is any pictures from Canada for his
wife and new born child.

government appointed lawyer told his mother and sister that, so far in
his understanding there is no any reason he has seen why Mr. Celil was
detained and kept in China.
according to that Lawyer, his repeated request to see the charges
against Huseyin Celil was turned down and he was hoping to see it in
the court, but no one brought up any charges against him.

instead of presenting any charges against him, prosecutors simply
started to question him what kinds of activity he has engaged in Canada
against China.


court closed after 6 hours of empity talks and said there will be other
trial soon.

information is recieved from the relatives of Mr. Celil by phone.

Uyghur Canadian Association
Democracy, Human Rights through non-violence
www.uyghurcanadian.org
info@uyghurcanadian.org

Photos of the Last Protest

Photos of the December 10th Protesting Rally in front of Chinese Embassy in Toronto
>>to see all click on the picture or link