Monday, March 15, 2010

Dear Frank

Good letter from Fern to Frank over at Dammit Janet :

My Letter to the Hon. Frank Iacobucci

Dear Sir,
I am writing to you as one private citizen of Canada to another.

As a former Supreme Court Justice and upholder of the Constitution, you must recognize that the government's move to employ you to examine the documents relevant to the Afghan detainee ruckus is, at least, not very popular among some knowledgeable commenters.

To many, me included, it is a mockery of the concept of Parliamentary supremacy.

It is, further, merely the latest in a long series of anti-democratic initiatives by this Conservative government.

No one questions your ability or your reputation. The issue is whether Parliament is to be allowed to do its job.

Please. Reject the assignment.

Yours truly,
fern hill

Phone: (direct) 416.865.8217 Fax: 416.865.7380
Email: fiacobucci (at) torys.com
Mail: 79 Wellington Street West, Suite 3000Box 270, TD CentreToronto, Ontario, M5K 1N2 Canada

I'm guessing Fern wouldn't mind if you copy and pasted that puppy with your own name under it.


Here's my letter :

Dear Frank :

In your last go round with whitewashing government complicity in torture, it took you 16 months to determine that even though :

1)CSIS and the RCMP "mistakenly" advised Egyptian and Syrian authorities that Canadian citizens Ahmad El Maati and Abdullah Almalki were "associated with Al Qaeda" and an "imminent threat to public security" and a "confessed terrorist" and that El Maati was "involved in a plan to commit a terrorist act in Canada", resulting in

2)El Maati being subjected to "electric shock to his hands, back and genitals, and sleep deprivation while being subjected to excruciatingly painful stress torture for days on end", and that subsequently

3)CSIS fired off a handy list of questions to be put to them,

you ultimately determined in your report that :
"I found no evidence that any of these of these officials were seeking to do anything other than carry out conscientiously the duties and responsibilities of the institutions of which they were part."

and
"It seems inevitable, in the struggle against terrorism that mistakes of various kinds will be made."

After which the government redacted "about 20% of your findings from the public document for national security reasons."

So, really, Frank, who gives a fuck what you think?

Yours truly,
Alison

Strongly advise sending Fern's letter instead.

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