Solitary Confinement for refugees

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Thursday October 16, 2003 15:09 by Johnny X - Anarchist Prisoner Support anarprisonersupp at hotmail dot com APS c/o Po Box 3355. Dublin 7

Syria, 29 year old Hassan Almrei

We have to start acting against imprisonment of our brothers and sisters.

Support for Hassan Almrei
Hassan Almrei is a 29-year old refugee from Syria who has been held two years in solitary confinement in a Canadian prison as of October 19. He is held without charge or bail on the CSIS secret trial security certificate, on quot;evidence" neither he nor his lawyer is allowed to see. On this basis, he could be deported to Syria, where his life would be in serious jeopardy.

Hassan has never been charged with, much less convicted, of any offence anywhere on the globe. All he wants is his freedom, so he can open a Freedom Restaurant in Toronto. To hold someone on secret evidence, where they don't know why they are being treated so badly, is mental torture. Hassan's immediate demand is that there be proper heat in his solitary confinement cell, a cold, concrete block where he is freezing, unable to sleep at night, having to pace the floors to keep the blood flowing. He is not allowed shoes or a jacket, nor a space heater. Not having eaten for seven days means weight loss (almost 15 pounds since he began) and difficulty maintaining what little body temperature he has to begin with.

Hassan has been incredibly patient, enduring two such winters already. This torture must end.

WHAT YOU CAN DO.

1. Show Hassan you support his just demand for heat, in the interim, and for a hearing in which there is no secret "evidence," over the longer term. Postcards or short letters of support can be sent to Hassan Almrei, Metro West Detention Centre, 111 Disco Road, Rexdale, ON M9W 5L6. Please notify us at [email protected] if you do write, so we can make sure he is getting his mail. Letters from outside of Canada welcomed as well.

2. Join in the chain fast in support of Hassan. Take a day or two when you will fast in support of Hassan's demand for heat and for an end to secret trials. Please let us know at [email protected] if you would want your name listed as part of the chain fast and when you are fasting. Notify your local media of what you are doing, and use the enclosed press release for background information. Hassan has said he will fast until he gets heat, and that could still be some time in the future.

3. Come to the Metro West Detention Centre on Sunday, October 19, the second anniversary of Hassan's arrest, for a vigil from 12 noon to 2 pm. (Located in northwest Etobicoke) To get a ride or if you can offer your vehicle to take others up to the jail, call us at (416) 651-5800 or at [email protected]

3. Contact the new Ontario Minister of "Public Safety and Security" (as yet not announced) and demand that people like Hassan be given their right to the Minimum Standards for Prisoners as agreed to by Canada at the U.N (see below). Official Ontario policy states prison temperatures in winter must be no lower than 22 degrees Celsius, give or take one degree. That individual (Minister for now) can be reached at:

Minister of "Public Safety and Security"

25 Grosvenor St., 18th Flr.

Toronto, ON M7A 1Y6

(416) 325-0408

fax: (416) 325-6067

4. Take part in the National Day of Action to Stop Secret Trials, Friday, October 31. In Ottawa, there will be a large gathering at CSIS. If something is not planned in your community already, get in touch and we can discuss setting up a local vigil with flyers (or visit our website at www.homesnotbombs.ca for details)

5. Contact Immigration Minister Denis Coderre and demand that such punishment meted out against immigrants and refugees be stopped immediately. Demand as well that secret trials under the CSIS security certificate be stopped. Coderre can be reached at:

Denis Coderre, Immigration Minister

House of Commons

Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

(613) 995-6108

Fax: (613) 995-9755

[email protected]

[email protected]