Friday, June 12, 2009

Cowards and sadists

I'm modifying and building on a comment I left at Dr. Dawg's regarding the continued internment abroad of brown skinned Canadians, literally spite of a court rulings. Aside from the plight of these marooned citizens, there are other aspects of this case which are troubling and enraging on much deeper level.

If simple bureaucratic proceduralism were the cause of all this, it could be challenged and argued and a signature or two could sort it out. We could all curse the 'system' and pressure would surely rectify whatever Foreign Affairs obstacles were in the way. We tried that many times with Abousfian Abdelrazik but to no avail. The bureaucratic barriers were surmounted but we have thus far failed. We failed because the Minister, no doubt on orders from or in league with Satan the Prime Minister have taken it upon themselves to directly intervene and contribute to the fate of an individual (among several) Canadian. Rephrased slightly, Lawrence Cannon and Stephen Harper are directly harming the life and wellbeing of a Canadian citizen, in spite of legal rulings to the contrary, the Charter, and the policies of their own departments. These are not the actions of a state or a government (which have plenty laws and regulations that inflict their own peculiar cruelty), but the behaviour of a street gang with a personal vendetta.

This is terrifying on a number of levels.

On one level, it suggests individuals within the Harper government are willing to directly interfere in the life of any Canadian who displeases them. Considering the number of people who did not vote for their party, this includes the majority of Canadians. One wonders if there are there other Canadians in whose lives Ministers have taken direct and wicked roles beyond any court or legal sanction? They don't have to block some one from exercising their Charter right to return from hell like Abdelrazik, but they could do much less sensational things that cause great discomfort to Canadians who actively disagree with them (taxes, delaying applications, etc). They've certainly set the precedent.

On another level of the personal, because theirs are actions of the individual and personal level, Lawrence Cannon and Stephen Harper display an example of high cowardice on par with that of child molesters. And no, I will not apologise for comparing the actions of Stephen Harper and his ilk to that of paedophiles when their actions amount to the foreign internment and torture of Canadians (or anyone for that matter) whom they are Charter-bound to protect. It really is that fucking personal - just read Justice Zinns description of Abdelrazik's ordeal and ask yourself why these disgusting people are not standing in shackles before some sort of court.

Could Cannon or Harper or any other serpent in that garden of sadists stand in front of Abousfian Abdelrazik or Abdihakim Mohamed, or the one-time boy-soldier and torture victim Omar Khadr or anyone else and tell they weren't going to let them come home? Look them in the eye and tell them as far as they were concerned, they didn't give a tinker's damn whether their victim ended up tortured yet again, or even dead? Not a chance, I think. They'll simply write one sentence telegrams of judgement to what I imagine are incredulous embassy staff.

On a macrolevel, they're also delegitimising the institutions of state by pushing them to their limits. Whether by design or incompetence, the result is the same. What happens if they keep appealing rulings on Abdelrazik, or worse, simply ignore them altogether? Would a judge order their detention? Would the police actually arrest them? If there are no consequences for this government (including an election loss), we're on very shaky ground. I am not saying this will come to pass; I do think eventually they'll bring Abdelrazik and others home, but I can't help but wonder 'what happens if they don't?'. Foreign Affairs staff may find themselves caught between a court order and a Minister's commands - perhaps they are now. What they do may determine a great deal.

This government must go.

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