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URGENT ACTION
URGENT - STOP the deportation of a
feminist activist on July 6, 2004
FFQ
- Fédération des femmes du Québec
Friday,
June 25 2004
[Translation
provided in solidarity by NAC/CCA]
Hello, all members
and friends of the Fédération des femmes du Québec,
The Fédération
des femmes du Québec is calling on you to stop the deportation
of Ms Nouha Hussein, a member of the FFQ Committee of Women of
Cultural Communities since 2002. Should Ms Hussein be deported, she
would go
directly to prison – with a risk of torture and capital punishment
- for the simple crime of having participated in meetings of a political
nature in Syria in 2001 and 2002. In fact, an arrest warrant awaits
her in Syria and in Lebanon, her two countries of citizenship.
A serious injustice was committed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada
(CIC) when it refused her as a political refugee and only by the political
pressure of a strong appeal by numerous organizations and as many
individuals as possible will the Minister of Immigration, Ms Judy
Sgro, be able to interfere on her behalf to lift the deportation order.
We ask you to
fax the form letter enclosed, drafted by the FFQ, to the three authorities
concerned: the Canadian Minister of Immigration, Ms Judy Sgro, Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness,
Ms Anne McLellan and Mr. René D' Aoust, Director, Investigation
and Removals, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, adding the logo
of your organization (if necessary) and signing it.
- PLEASE, send
by fax or e-mail a carbon copy (c.c.) of every letter sent, to the
FFQ at the following contact information:
Faxes: (514 876-0162) ATT: Barbara Legault
E-mail: blegault@ffq.qc.ca
- Please change
the address and send the letter below to each of the following people:
(letters to the federal government Ministers do not need a
stamp);
The Honorable
Judy Sgro
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Telephone : 613-992-7774
Fax: 613-957-2688
The Honorable Anne McLellan
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Telephone: 613-991-2924
Fax: 613-952-2240
M. René D’Aoust
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Canada Border Services Agency
1010 St. Antoine O.
Montréal, QUE
Telephone : 514-496-1238
Fax: 514-496-1882
In solidarity with Nouha Hussein,
Barbara Legault, Mobilization Officer
Fédération des femmes
du Québec
Mr.
René D' Aoust
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Canada Border Services Agency
1010 Saint Antoine O.
Montreal, QUE
Telephone : 514-496-1238
Telefax : 514-496-1882
June 23, 2004
SUBJECT: URGENT.
Request to stay the deportation of Ms. Nouha Hussein and support for
her application for permanent residency on humanitarian grounds
Client ID : 39698521
Dear Sir,
We are writing to draw your attention to the urgent situation of Ms.
Nouha Hussein who received a deportation order for July 6, 2004 and
whose life would be in danger if she was sent to Syria or Lebanon.
Ms. Hussein is
a 52-year-old woman of Lebanese descent who has Syrian citizenship,
having married a Syrian in 1971 and having lived there until 2002.
Ms. Hussein has a French university degree from the University of
Damascus. Today she is divorced and a mother of two girls who have
both graduated from university. They live respectively in the United
States and in Lebanon. Ms. Hussein has lived in Montreal, Quebec,
since May 23, 2002.
Threats to
Ms. Hussein's safety if deported
On June 26, 2003,
Lebanese authorities issued a warrant of arrest for Ms. Hussein, that
alleges that she is sought for having committed an "offence of
instigating disdain for a brother country, blaspheming its army, its
flag and its national emblem, the disdain of its president and representative
in Lebanon, scolding in public and joining an association whose objectives
and purposes are suspect and contrary to public and political order
in Syria, as well as other business that puts the security of the
state in danger". This arrest warrant, issued because of Ms.
Hussein's completely peaceful political activities, proves irrefutably
that Ms. Hussein's safety is in danger if she is deported to Lebanon
or Syria.
Generalized violations of human rights in Syria and Lebanon
It is important
to note that Lebanon is under the custody of Syria, which maintains
security and information services there. The arrest warrant against
Ms. Hussein is effective in both countries of citizenship where she
would certainly be arrested upon arrival at the airport.
As well, at least
twenty reports published by Amnesty International since the beginning
of 2004 show clearly that the situation of human rights in Syria is
alarming. These reports confirm the existence of violations of fundamental
human rights, the disregard of freedom of expression and association,
torture in detention, confessions obtained under torture and threat
of judgment - even capital punishment - made by a biased and corrupt
authority.
Furthermore, recent
reports demonstrate disregard of freedom of expression and association.
Since February, 2003, five individuals have been imprisoned whose
only crime was to have used the internet to publish news in electronic
dailies. These individuals remain in prison to this day where they
undergo torture, threats and humiliation. Also recently, on April
24, 2004, a dozen students were arrested for the simple reason of
having exercised their right to freedom of expression and association
in participating in a peaceful student demonstration.
Ms. Hussein's
political activities in Syria
Ms. Hussein is
a fervent defender of democracy, human rights and freedom of expression.
From 2001 to 2002, Ms. Hussein participated in numerous meetings and
public political forums in Syria. In a raid where political activists
were arrested, Ms. Hussein was arrested on November 25, 2001; she
was interrogated and held for five days for having participated in
these meetings. She was tortured and humiliated, slapped and threatened
with rape. Her family had to pay $5000 to get her released. This is
when she decided to leave Syria.
Ms. Hussein's
integration in Canada
Ms. Hussein is
extremely well integrated into Quebec society and community life in
Montreal. She has worked since arriving here, is financially independent
and volunteers as a journalist for a Pakistani newspaper in Montreal.
She speaks both of Canada's two official languages and has mastered
written French. Her volunteer work is exemplary. She has a vast network
of friends and acquaintances and members of her extended family living
in Montreal. She is greatly appreciated by her circle of friends for
her loyalty, intelligence, determination and passion for respecting
democracy. Her deportation would represent an important loss for society.
Being known in
Quebec, mainly due to participating in activities denouncing human
rights abuses in Syria, and because she asked for refugee status in
Canada - considered as an insult by the Syrian government - Ms. Hussein
runs an even greater risk if deported.
The role of
protection Canada must play
The arrest warrant
against Ms. Hussein, her political activities in Syria, the obvious
inequality of women in Syria, her involvement and visibility in Canada,
her application for refugee status as well as the generalized context
of fundamental human rights violations in Syria clearly demonstrate
that Ms. Hussein's personal safety would seriously be put in danger
in Syria and Lebanon - a country under occupation by Syria - where
she would be exposed to persecution, torture and possibly even death.
In spite of these
indisputable dangers and even before the response was received to
her filed application for permanent residency on humanitarian grounds,
last June 8, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) ordered her
deportation by July 6, 2004. We consider that Ms. Hussein is a victim
of a serious injustice and the government of Canada, being responsible
for it, also has the moral duty to restore justice and to recognize
its duty to protect her.
We remind you
that Canada is a signatory to the 1951Geneva Convention Relating to
the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. According to the official
website of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, "Through its refugee
protection system, Canada offers safe haven to persons with a well-founded
fear of persecution, as well as those at risk of torture or cruel
and unusual treatment or punishment." As a society based on respect
for fundamental human rights, we have the duty to protect Ms. Hussein's
life and to grant her political asylum in Canada.
On the basis of
the above analysis, we ask you to intervene with all due haste to
lift the deportation order. We ask you to use all the powers you have
at your disposal to make sure that Ms. Hussein can stay in Canada
and to stay the deportation order so that her application for permanent
residency can be assessed and then, to grant her permanent residency
so that she can live in safety, free of violence.
We hope for a positive answer from you as early as possible.
Yours sincerely.
June
25, 2004
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