Re: Ottawa prof ordered to face French bomb counts, April 6
The impending extradition to France of Dr. Hassan Diab is further evidence of our government’s willingness to have Canadian citizens played as pawns in the machinations of the global “war on terror.”
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson has upheld Diab’s extradition order despite serious concerns about due process. Diab has not been charged, some of the evidence against him may have been obtained by torture, and the evidence presented against him has been judged faulty by Canadian courts.
Unless we treat Dr. Diab’s extradition as an attack on the rights of all Canadians, we implicitly accept a double standard, whereby a citizen’s name, colour, faith or country of origin become liabilities as our government weighs the protection of individual rights against considerations of political expediency.
Dr. Alex Latta and Dr. Ali Zaidi, Department of Global Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo
I am surprised and disappointed that there has not been much more said about the continuing ill treatment of Dr. Hassan Diab by the government of Canada.
It takes little effort to determine that Dr. Diab, falsely accused of criminal acts in a country noted for its poor relationships with its Islamic citizens, has faced extraordinary enmity by Canadian officials for many years; most recently by a decision by Rob Nicholson to extradite him for questioning without first charging him with an offence. Mr. Nicholson is Minister of “Justice” but does not demonstrate an understanding of the concept.
An offence occurred in France 32 years ago. Dr. Diab was not involved. It is time for an outcry by Canadians on this matter and greater publicity by more than one Canadian newspaper about the injustice that has already taken place before it is further compounded.
Allen R. Wells, Sarnia
