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TechnoratiOn June 1, U.S. peace activist Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Codepink women for Peace and Global Exchange, Diane Wilson, an environmental, jail reform and peace activist and I, a retired US Army Reserves Colonel and diplomat who resigned in March, 2003 in opposition to the Iraq war, attempted to enter Canada to attend a conference in Vancouver, Canada on women war resisters.
Diane Wilson, mother of five and grandmother of five, author of "An Unreasonable Woman," which tells about her fight against the petro-chemical companies of the South Texas coast that polluted the bay where she was a shrimper, had not been to Canada since 1970 when she went AWOL from the US Army in opposition to the Vietnam war. She stayed in Toronto, Canada for three months before returning to the United States and turning herself into the Army. She had been an Army medic and had seen the horrors of war while working at an Army hospital in Texas and decided she could not work in any way to support the Vietnam War. For her act of conscience, Diane received an undesirable discharge. Diane has been arrested numerous times for environmental issues and for anti-war actions.
I had been denied entry to Canada twice in 2007 and Medea had been denied once in 2007. Canadian immigration told us that we were ineligible to enter Canada because of our arrests (not convictions, just arrests) for peaceful, non-violent protest Washington, DC in front of the White House and the US Congress, in New York at the US mission to the United Nations and the United Nations itself, in Crawford, Texas and San Francisco, California.
We were protesting President Bush's policies of the war in Iraq (a war that successive Canadian governments have refused to join), extraordinary rendition and torture (Canadian citizen Maher Arar was kidnapped by US government officials from JFK airport and flown to Syria where he was tortured for 9 months and to whom Canada paid $10 million for Canadian complicity in his kidnapping), illegal prisons and illegal eavesdropping, among many other crimes.
These arrests now appear on the FBI's National Crime Information Database, a data base that was created for recording serious felonies, parole violations, gang related crimes, sex offenders. Misdemeanor violations for protest political policies are not listed as offenses to be recorded on the NCIC.
Canadian immigration has been using the NCIC data base to determine eligibility to enter Canada and has denied a number of anti-war activists entry to Canada from information contained on the data base .
Many Canadian parliamentarians have been very concerned about their immigration service using the FBI's politically tainted data base and invited Medea and myself in October, 2007 to attend a parliamentary conference to discuss the database. Canadian Immigration at the Ottawa International Airport refused me entry to Canada despite the letter of invitation from the parliamentarians and despite their presence outside the arrivals hall at the airport. (Medea had been arrested the previous day in the US Congress and was unable to go on the trip.)
On June 1, Canadian parliamentarian Libby Davies, drove to the US side of the border and rode in the same van as Medea and I. Diane went ahead in a different car and was not stopped by immigration despite her numerous arrests. Parliamentarian Davies told the immigration officers that she had knowledge of our peaceful, non-violent protests of Bush administration policies and vouched for our character.
During three hours at the border, immigration officers made phone calls to various offices. At the end of the process, Medea was given a 24 hour visitors permit and I received an exception to my earlier exclusion order, apparently from a high official in the Ministry of Immigration.
The next day, June 2, Veterans for Peace (VFP) national president Elliot Adams and VFP member Will Cover, drove from New York to Ottawa to observe the vote of the Canadian parliament on the non-binding resolution that would allow US war resisters to stay in Canada. After being asked at the border crossing if either had ever been arrested, they both acknowledged that they had been arrested for protesting Bush policies on the war in Iraq. They were further questioned in secondary screening about the character of the protests and arrests, and after two hours, were allowed to continue into Canada. They drove on to Ottawa and attended the 137to 110 Parliamentary non-binding vote to permit US war resisters to remain in Canada.
The border crossing by two groups of high profile anti-war activists with arrest records in a two day period, both dealing with the issue of US war resisters in Canada, may indicate a change in the position of the Canadian immigration service on misdemeanor arrests for political protest in the United States.
We hope so, as we pose no threat to Canadian security and indeed our actions in the United States for which we were arrested seem to reflect the views of most Canadians that the war in Iraq should end and that US war resisters should be able to stay in their country.
The Ottawa-based International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (CLMG) has set up an action-research clearinghouse on border controls and watch lists to investigate and document cases related to the creation of no-fly lists and other watch lists that impact on civil liberties, right to privacy and mobility rights for all travelers, including peace activists.
CLMG would like to hear from anyone who has had trouble entering Canada because of arrests for political protests in the United States. Their website, www.travelwatchlist.ca, will be active on June 18, 2008 and will have a toll-free number.
Please contact CLMG if you have had travel problems into Canada based on political activism.
Ann Wright is a 29 year US Army/US Army Reserve veteran who retired as a Colonel. She was also a US diplomat for 16 years and served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia. She resigned in March, 2003 from the US Government in opposition to the Iraq war. She is the co-author of "Dissent: Voices of Conscience."
15 Comments so far
Show AllIf Medea Benjamin and Ann Wright want to get arrested for peaceful protesting, they have to understand that they have to pay the penalty. If you do the crime, you have to do the time.
Persecuting political protest is a blantant sign of growing tyranny - those targeted and victimized eventually become demonized as 'traitors' and 'enemies of the State' - as happened in Nazi Germany (as well as Stalin's USSR and countless others since) and consequently in any Left-leaning socially responsible country ever since (with the full support of the US and its 'coalition of the willing' responsible for the persecution, imprisonment, torture, and extermination of so many millions of people guilty of no more than having a different perspective on social and/or economic idealism. In other words - thought crimes.)
Label them, lie about them, demonize them, persecute them, exterminate them - but ideas never die - especially good ones.
The French Revolution, the American Revolution, the Russian Revolution, even the Iranian Revolution - all were co-opted and inevitably corrupted by self-serving opportunists who thrive on misery and anarchy. The Left seems to lack the long-range perspective necessary to keep these radical predators from usurping power whenever a power-vacuum presents itself. Afghanistan and Iraq are contemporary examples of 'good intentions' gone terribly wrong (definitely not the 'good intentions' of our neo-fascists though). But hope is often blind - especially after decades, or even centuries, of repression. I doubt if most Iraqis knew what was in store for them.
The Right is better organized - and plans well ahead to take advantage of any opportunity - paranoia drives them to expect the worst, and plan for their ascendency - and it usually works. If the Left doesn't start learning from their mistakes - and soon - we will no longer have a world left to save - technology has made the weapons of war (and oppression) too dire to employ much longer. Take heed - the Left needs responsible conservative partners if fascism is ever to be reined in (it can never be defeated - just marginalized, and we must be ever vigilant). But I know I still get the cold shoulder from most liberals, Lefties, and progressives - and I'm on their side!
As was said before. the PM, Harper people will poll the heck out of Canadians to see how the average Canadian feels. If politicly it is better for Harper to look the other way on these people trying to enter Canada or stay in Canada guess what they will be allowed to stay.
Why do occasional comments just disappear into the void lately? What is that about? Is something going on with the CommonDreams site? I just posted a comment and it disappeared. This is the second time. I can only wonder if this one will appear or not.
canuckchuck - do you think the Indians will take North America if we give it back to them?
Christ what is so damn important???? Kucinich is the
god damn pre-emptive Strike we neede to divert any fuck ups....
Un-fucking-believable, words and words...........no action.
Congress needs to probe the FBI's role as Bush's domestic political enforcement arm. No fly lists, off-the-record conversations with potential employers, unlawful delving into personal records and other offenses must not go unpunished. The agents who have done these things should be fired, prosecuted, and subject to civil lawsuits for damages (sovereign immunity does not cover criminal acts).
On the other hand, A Canadian given a ticket for smoking a joint once 30 years ago is not allowed into the USA...EVER.
Hi Ann, thanks for the talks that night in Cherry Hill, Nj for ivaw. Yes they I mean he, Harpo blinked said he'd deport them, ass. Corey Glass
is now facing deportation, more facing time in the brig, Matthis Chiroux refused to deploy, Stop-Loss victim, Guard, Active 4 honorably discharged, inactive for 4 the redeploy him to Iraq, He stated he'd stay because his job as a Photojournalists in the Army as to through his cameras eye view the bloodshed and egregious human rights violations..
Braking News... Kucinich on the House floor, Resolution:Impeachment of George W. Bush for High Crimes and Misdemeanors. Under Article.I. waged a secret propaganda campaign against Iraq.
Article.II.Section.3. Illegally spent money on a propaganda campaign
against Iraq.
DoD violated Articles.I, II, IV, VIII. this inc. Rove, Libby, Rice, Maitlin and others.
Rummy gave interviews to FOX, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS and MSNBC using the talking points of message force multipliers.
2005 JAO said that they are ALLOWED to use covert propaganda according to Legal Counsel to protect the US.
bobble head Perino said, "SO, it should be illegal,[think they're still taking apps even though we'll still be dead?]
he set the stage for the deaths of 4,100 Troops, 1.3 MN Iraqis and....
subversive of constitutional law, GUILTY of Impeachment.
executed instead to purposely deceive the US Citizens and Congress.....subverting the actions of Congress,.....along with all of his Constitutionally backed well documented lies makeing without excuse cheney and the others Complicit, too.
Dennis is still making every point uninterrupted this time...7:47 and still going... I so love him, I adore this Representative of all Citizens of the US.
I did some bitching to both the New Democrats and the Liberals the first time that Medea and Ann were stopped. Got no response from the Libs, but the NDP sent an email to tell me they were on it. I'm pleased to see that they sent Libby to help get them here.
I'm glad you were able to successfully go through the Peace Arch and enter Canada Ann, but I suspect you might have had more trouble if Libby and the national media had not been there to document the event.
It was gratifying to hear that peace activists who had previously been denied entry to Canada were allowed to enter in June. But I would urge any Canadian who reads this to send letters and emails to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Immigration Minister Diane Finley urging them to be wary of relying on the FBI database before denying entry to anyone. Canada should not become an agent of American political repression.
the Arar case needs to proceed in the Hauge
outside YANKEE influence & control.
[O]ur actions in the United States for which we were arrested seem to reflect the views of most Canadians that the war in Iraq should end and that US war resisters should be able to stay in their country.
You can count on it. In fact, that explains why Canada's current minority government is modifying its apparent positions at least slightly on its previous blind obedience to Bushco's dictates. Having bigger fish to fry, such as their ongoing treasonous commitments to the so-called North American Security and Prosperity Partnership, they don't want to risk their ability to complete that more important work before getting kicked out of power.
Wright sez: "Many Canadian parliamentarians have been very concerned about their immigration service using the FBI's politically tainted data base and invited Medea and myself in October, 2007 to attend a parliamentary conference to discuss the database."
This business of excluding peaceful dissenters is not a long-running Canadian policy; it derives from Harper attaching himself like a barnacle to Cheneybush imperial and economic dogma.
The parliamentary behaviour Col. Wright notes above is known as "opposition." It would be nice if congressional Democrats in the U.S. would employ some of it.