My name is Nada Amara, and I am the wife of Zakariya Amara, one of the so-called accused of the "Toronto 18". I am currently a student at the University of Toronto, doing a double major in Biology and Chemistry. It has been almost two years since my husband's arrest, which have also been two of the most difficult years of my life. Although it has been a trying experience, I want my fellow Canadians to know what I have gone through. I wish to highlight the injustices that have transpired, right before our very eyes, within the very borders of our nation. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 13 June 2008 )
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Thursday, May 08, 2008 1:42 pm Steven Chand of 'Toronto 11' thrown into the 'hole'
- For Immediate Release -
(Toronto, Canada - May 8, 2008) - Human rights groups in Toronto are calling on the Ontario government to investigate allegations of prisoner abuse at the Maplehurst Correctional Facility in Milton, Ontario. The Canadian Council on American Islamic-Relations (CAIR-CAN) and the Presumption of Innocence Project (PIP), supported by 10 national and regional organizations, are concerned about recent allegations that Steven Chand, an inmate at the Maplehurst Complex, has been unjustly transferred to what is known as "the hole" - a form of solitary confinement - because of his attempts at religious accommodation during prayer. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 08 May 2008 )
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Calls Maplehurst `Abu Ghraib lite,' alleging client targeted during prayer, strip-searched, segregated May 08, 2008 Isabel Teotonio
Staff reporter
The lawyer for a homegrown terror suspect says his client was praying in his cell and did nothing to provoke being "dragged" into segregation by guards at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex, which he described as "Abu Ghraib lite." "There's a significant amount of petty torment by a small number of guards who hold absolute power over these guys," said Michael Moon yesterday, referring to the alleged members of the so-called Toronto 18 who are currently behind bars in the Milton jail. "It's absolute power over a group of people who can't be anything more than mute supplicants." Moon's comments come on the heels of an unusual series of events that he says are simply too coincidental to not be connected. Last week, the lawyer was interviewed by the CBC and spoke out about the alleged mistreatment of his client, Steven Chand. Moon spoke of an incident last year in which Chand reportedly raised the ire of guards by taking too long in the shower – an offence that landed him in segregation, commonly referred to as "the hole." |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 08 May 2008 )
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The Terrorist Who Wasn't
BY MICHAEL FRISCOLANTI
Original Source: To be published on Maclean's Magazine - May 5/08
The old carpet has not been replaced yet, and one of the walls in the banquet room still needs to be knocked down. But the essential pieces of a new restaurant—the tables, the light fixtures, and that bright blue sign hanging over the front door—were put in place a few weeks ago, just in time for the grand opening. "We’re going to set up the espresso machines over there," says Yasin Abdi Mohamed, walking through the dining room and into the kitchen. "And this is where the craziness happens. It gets pretty busy in here." |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 08 May 2008 )
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In an open letter, the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) in partnership with the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF), Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC), Federation of Muslim Women (FMW), Islamic Ahlul Bayt Assembly of Canada, Islamic Circle of North America Canada (ICNA Canada), Islamic Society of North America Canada (ISNA Canada) and Muslim Association of Canada (MAC), along with an additional 11 organizations, today asked authorities to consider reasonable bail terms and re-examine the use of solitary confinement for the "Toronto 11." Subject: Authorities asked to consider reasonable bail terms and re-examine solitary confinement for 'Toronto 11'
April 22, 2008
During the week of April 14, 2008, charges against four more of the "Toronto 18" were stayed. Along with the three men who were previously released, the case of the "Toronto 18" has now been whittled down to the "Toronto 11."
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Last Updated ( Friday, 13 June 2008 )
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Zealous prosecutors seeking convictions against terrorism suspects dubbed the "Toronto 18" have trampled due process and the presumption of innocence, sanctioning lengthy solitary confinement that amounts to torture, a group of demonstrators said yesterday. About 150 people descended on a Brampton courthouse as 20-year-old Saad Gaya's second bail hearing began inside. Mr. Gaya is charged in an alleged explosives plot, and remains in custody after spending a year in solitary confinement. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 25 April 2008 )
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Follow original story here
Accused terrorist Saad Gaya, a rugby player at 16. The arrest of an alleged Toronto terrorist ring on June 2, 2006, was initially hailed as an intelligence coup. Now the case seems far less clear-cut. Meanwhile, the family of one accused continues to wait – and suffer |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 25 April 2008 )
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My brother's three months in solitary In the end, his charges were stayed. 'The authorities ruined my brother's future, his reputation and abused him physically and psychologically – all for, according to them, absolutely no reason.
A time comes when silence is betrayal. We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy, for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers and sisters. – Martin Luther King, Jr. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 25 April 2008 )
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Feels like June 2nd all over again.
March 31, 2008 by Beenish Gaya The trial of the only remaining youth in the Toronto 18 case commenced last week in a Brampton courtroom. The new details disclosed in the Crown factum filed in the case elicited depressingly new emotional lows in all of the accused and their families. Reminiscent of that fateful day in June, 2006, the media sensationalism started all over again, with the reporting of incomplete evidence and outrageous headlines. Having attended the entire preliminary hearing, I must confess my shock and disbelief at the fact that these allegations continue to be presented in a manner which precludes the public from seeing a complete or accurate picture. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 15 April 2008 )
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PRESS RELEASENEW FILM VINDICATES TORONTO TERROR SUSPECTS; ALLEGES ENTRAPMENT BY RCMP Shocking facts about alleged “homegrown terrorism” in Toronto are revealed for the first time in a new and independent documentary. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 25 April 2008 )
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Who are the “Toronto 18”?
Are all the men in jail?
What is the status of their cases?
Do these arrests mean the men are guilty?
Why is more information not available?
Why should I care?
Where can I find more information?
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 06 April 2008 )
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Please visit the website link below and sign on behalf of the three detainees kept in solitary confinement at the Don Jail, Toronto for about 2 years! Aim: 10,000 Signatures
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 06 April 2008 )
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