For twelve long years, Mohammad Mahjoub, a torture survivor, has been detained without charge in Canada. He was held for lengthy periods in solitary confinement and later under house arrest – all on the basis of secret information which the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has admitted was likely obtained under torture. Finally, after twelve years, Mr. Mahjoub is permitted to travel outside Toronto, and he is bringing his demand for justice across these lands.
Mr. Mahjoub is one of five Muslim men who have been struggling for justice in Canada against so-called security certificates. Security certificates allow the government to indefinitely detain or deport people on the basis of their profile and based on secret information that is never revealed to the person in question – making a proper legal defence impossible. He will tell his story as his speaking tour, which began in 2012, continues into Western Canada. It is a rare opportunity for audiences in other cities to hear this shocking and compelling story first-hand.
He will be joined by Syed Hussan, a member of the Justice for Mahjoub Network. Hussan is a migrant justice, anti-austerity and indigenous solidarity organizer who has been active in No One Is Illegal – Toronto and the Solidarity City Network (which just made Toronto Canada’s first Sanctuary City).
** More on Mahjoub http://www.supportmahjoub.org/background/summary-2/
** Security certificates http://www.supportmahjoub.org/background/security-certificates/
Part of a West Coast Speaking Tour:
http://www.facebook.com/events/427719553983930/
Speaking event in Vancouver co-organized by: Justice for Mahjoub Network, No One Is Illegal-Vancouver Unceded Coast Salish Territories and BC Civil Liberties Association