URGENT ACTION NEEDED!!!

Please take the time to read this and act accordingly!!!

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WILL HUNGER STRIKER FACE DEATH IN CANADIAN PRISON?
SECRET TRIAL DETAINEE NEEDS YOUR HELP TODAY

Secret trial detainee Hassan Almrei is now on Day 68 of his hunger strike. He is emaciated and weakened, but his spirit has not yet been broken. The light flickers, but has not yet gone out.

Hassan Almrei has been detained in solitary confinement without charge or trial in a Canadian prison for 4 years. He is demanding minimally decent conditions of detention; his main demand is the right to one hour a day of exercise outside of his cell. The Ontario government (this is a provincial prison) has callously refused to make the tiniest concession.

This is Hassan Almrei's 6th hunger strike in four years. On previous hunger strikes he has asked for rights as basic as heating in his icy cell in winter, but had to go to court to obtain them. Almrei is waiting for a court date once again, but it may come too late.

By way of comparison: in 1981, Bobby Sands and 9 other IRA prisoners on hunger strike died after periods varying from 46 to 73 days, after sustaining severe organ damage (e.g., blindness). Several survivors of the strike remained permanently handicapped. In 1996, many Kurdish hunger strikers in Turkey died after periods of 65 to 69 days.

Please don't let this happen to Hassan Almrei. Please don't let the light go out.

In July, Alexandre Trudeau, Naomi Klein, Heather Mallick, Avi Lewis and other well-known personalities came forward to support Hassan Almrei's request for release on bail (decision still pending). Questioned about his motives, Trudeau stated "I presume he's innocent", adding that it is unacceptable that a person be imprisoned in Canada without being charged and without the right to a fair and public trial. Three of Hassan Almrei's prison guards also testified in his favour, stating that he is an 'honourable', 'trustworthy' and decent man. One guard even stated that he would have no hesitation to have Hassan as a neighbour, saying "I would trust him".


PLEASE WRITE OR CALL MONTE KWINTER, the provincial minister in charge of conditions of detention IMMEDIATELY. A massive, immediate flood of calls, emails and faxes are needed in order to turn the tide.

Mr. Monte Kwinter
Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services
18th floor, 25 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, ON, M7A 1Y6
Phone: (416) 325-0408
Fax: (416) 325-6067
Email: mkwinter.mpp@liberal.ola.org

Please cc Prime MInister Paul Martin (pm@pm.gc.ca ) and Anne McLlellan, Deputy Prime MInister (McLellan.A@parl.gc.ca)

CC correspondence to Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada at
tasc@web.ca or fax (416) 651-9770 or by mail to PO Box 73620, 509 St.
Clair Ave. West, Toronto, ON M6C 1C0, or let us know that you have phoned Kwinter's office. Hassan Almrei needs to know that he is not alone, that there are people who care enough to take action. For more
information: www.homesnotbombs.ca

Here is a sample letter (feel free to copy)

August 24, 2005

Monte Kwinter
Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services
Government of Ontario
Object: Hunger strike of Hassan Almrei

Dear sir,

I am writing to urge you to take immediate action to meet the legitimate demands of Hassan Almrei, who has been detained without trial in an Ontario prison for four years and is now on a hunger strike to demand minimally decent conditions of detention. His main demand is for one hour a day of exercise outside of his cell.

As of today (Thursday, August 24), Hassan Almrei is on Day 64 of his hunger strike. Hassan Almrei was already in poor health before beginning his current hunger strike. He is at imminent risk of permanent, severe impairment, and very possibly, of death.

By way of comparison: in 1981, Bobby Sands and 9 other IRA prisoners on hunger strike died after periods varying from 46 to 73 days after sustaining severe organ damage (e.g., blindness). Several survivors of the strike remained permanently handicapped. In 1996, many Kurdish hunger strikers in Turkey died after periods of 65 to 69 days.

Please intervene immediately to try to find a humane solution to this situation. You have the power, and therefore the moral responsibility, to resolve this crisis.

As Canadians, we pride ourselves on respecting basic human rights. Please remain true to this fundamental value. Should Hassan Almrei die or be permanently handicapped, it would be to our lasting shame and dishonour as Canadians and as members of the human family.

(signature)






RALLY FOR TWO HUNGER STRIKING SECURITY CERTIFICATE DETAINEES THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 1 @ 5 PM AT VANCOUVER ART GALLERY (ROBSON SIDE)
Organized by No One is Illegal Vancouver
Contact noii-van@resist.ca, call 778-885-0040
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* ALSO SEE BELOW FOR SAMPLE LETTER *


By Thursday September 1, Hassan Almrei will be on Day 71 of his hunger strike in a Canadian prison. Emaciated and weakened, he is at imminent risk of permanent, severe impairment and, very possibly, of death. Hassan Almrei has been imprisoned in solitary confinement without charge since October 2001 under a security certificate. A refugee, he is under threat of deportation to Syria where he risks torture. Hassan Almrei is demanding minimally decent conditions of detention; his main demand is the right to one hour a day of exercise outside of his cell. This is his 6th hunger strike in 4 years. Government authorities have so far callously refused to make the slightest concession. By Monday August 29, Hassan will know whether the court will hear his habeas corpus application for bail.

Mohammed Mahjoub will be on Day 56 of a hunger strike, also in a prison in Ontario. Majoub, who has been detained for 5 years, is asking for contact visits with his wife and children. Mohammed is an Egyptian refugee in Canada and is married with two children. Accepted as a refugee in Canada in 1996, Mahjoub denies terrorist ties and is fighting deporation on the
grounds he would again face torture if returned to Egypt, where he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in absentia for terrorism links. After the Sept 11th attacks, Mohammed was moved to solitary for seven months. Mohammed Mahjboub has only been able to hug his children twice in 5 years. His wife, Mona Elfouli, described the impact his detention has had on her and their two young children. "It was very, very difficult for me and the children," she says. "Are they punishing the children or what? They feel sad."

Mohammed and Hassan are two of the five “Secret Trial Five” whose lives have been torn apart by accusations that they are not allowed to fight in a fair and independent trial. All five men were arrested under "Security Certificates," a measure of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) that has been described by Amnesty International as "fundamentally
flawed and unfair". Security certificates and secret evidence reverse the fundamental rule of innocent until proven guilty. Neither the detainee nor his lawyer are informed of the precise allegations or provided with the full information against him. They are imprisoned indefinitely without charges on secret evidence and face deportation to their countries of origin, even if there is a substantial risk of torture or death.

ABOLISH SECURITY CERTIFICATES


**** SAMPLE LETTER ****

PLEASE WRITE OR CALL MONTE KWINTER, the Ontario minister, A massive, immediate flood of calls, emails and faxes are needed in order to turn the tide.

Mr. Monte Kwinter
Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services
18th floor, 25 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, ON, M7A 1Y6
Phone: (416) 325-0408
Fax: (416) 325-6067
Email: mkwinter.mpp@liberal.ola.org


I am writing to urge you to take immediate action to meet the legitimate demands of Hassan Almrei and Mohammed Majoub, who have been detained without trial in Ontario prisons for several years and are both on hunger strike to demand minimally decent conditions of detention.

Almrei has been held in solitary confinement for 4 years; he is asking for the right to have one hour a day of exercise outside of his cell. Majoub, who had been detained for 5 years, is asking for contact visits with his wife and children. Almrei and Majoub have never been charged, much less found guilty, under the fundamentally unjust Security Certificate process.

Both have been on hunger strike for over 50 days and their condition is deteriorating, particularly that of Hassan Almrei. Mr. Almrei was already in poor health before beginning his current hunger strike and is imminently at risk of serious and permanent damage to his health. Failure to act quickly could have grave and irreversible consequences.

Sincerely,