Canada Refuses Entry to CODEPINK Cofounder Medea Benjamin and Retired Colonel Ann Wright

[ClayZ]

Source: Common Dreams


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 3, 2007
4:50 PM

CONTACT: CODE PINK
Medea Benjamin 415-235-6517
Ann Wright 808-741-1141
Dana Balicki 202-422-8624


Canada Refuses Entry to CODEPINK Cofounder Medea Benjamin and Retired Colonel Ann Wright

WASHINGTON - October 3 – Two well-respected US peace activists, CODEPINK and Global Exchange cofounder Medea Benjamin and retired Colonel and diplomat Ann Wright, were denied entry into Canada today (Wednesday, October 3). The two women were headed to Toronto to discuss peace and security issues at the invitation of the Toronto Stop the War Coalition. At the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Bridge they were detained, questioned and denied entry. They will hold a press conference on Thursday afternoon in front of the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC to ask the Canadian government to reverse its policy of barring peaceful protesters.


The women were questioned at Canadian customs about their participation in anti-war efforts and informed that they had an FBI file indicating they had been arrested in acts of non-violent civil disobedience.

WHEN: Thursday, October 4th at 1pm

WHERE: Canadian Embassy, 501 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC

"In my case, the border guard pulled up a file showing that I had been arrested at the US Mission to the UN where, on International Women's Day, a group of us had tried to deliver a peace petition signed by 152,000 women around the world," says Benjamin. "For this, the Canadians labeled me a criminal and refused to allow me in the country."

"The FBI's placing of peace activists on an international criminal database is blatant political intimidation of US citizens opposed to Bush administration policies," says Colonel Wright, who was also Deputy US Ambassador in four countries. "The Canadian government should certainly not accept this FBI database as the criteria for entering the country."

<snip>

"It's outrageous that Canada is turning away peacemakers protesting a war that does not have the support of either US or Canadian citizens," says Benjamin. "In the past, Canada has always welcomed peace activists with open arms. This new policy, obviously a creature of the Bush administration, is shocking and we in the US and Canada must insist that it be overturned.

Four members of the Canadian Parliament--Peggy Nash, Libby Davies, Paul Dewar and Peter Julian-- expressed outrage that the peace activists were barred from Canada and vow to change this policy.



Read more: http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/1003-15.htm

[Bozita]

1. unfuckingbelievable -- how much longer before Harper's dumped?

"The FBI's placing of peace activists on an international criminal database is blatant political intimidation of US citizens opposed to Bush administration policies," says Colonel Wright, who was also Deputy US Ambassador in four countries. "The Canadian government should certainly not accept this FBI database as the criteria for entering the country."

[ClayZ]

8. Land of the free?

Kick

[MADem]

2. Bush and Harper are peas in a pod. Unsurprising, really. NT

[eagler]

3. O Canada. What has happened to you?

[GliderGuider]

4. We've been Harperized.

There's going to be a federal election coming up soon. We'll see what we can do about it.

[tsuki]

6. I hope you will do better than we did. n/t

[rodeodance]

11. PLEASE send the world a message!

[feloneous cat]

14. Please!

Some of us have made plans to emigrate....

Feloneous

[Bassic]

24. Sadly, I have little hope that the situation will change.

I just hope he doesen't get a majority.

[donsu]

32. voting machines?

or are you still voting by paper and hand counted with an audience?

[TrogL]

33. Still paper

There's no need for the machines. We do it all by hand and get the results in time for the 10 p.m. news.

[aquart]

35. Good luck. Having a George is no fun.

[HuffleClaw]

39. he knows he's gonna lose too

and this time around he doesn't have a 'sponsorship scandal' to rely on.

[SlingBlade]

5. Fascism in Practice

[cornmak]

7. That's standard imigration law, not discrimination

That is actually normal imigration law around the world. Criminal records require more indepth clearances, thus time and expense. I work for a company where people do a lot of international travel and they are all required to have spotless conviction records for that very reason. At least Canada gives them a way to clear their record there. Many countries don't, once you have a record, you're forever "persona non grata" there.

[semillama]

12. Welcome to DU, Cornmak! And you're right about this

I recently looked into Canada's entry policies myself for a non-political reason. They do have a policy of barring people with criminal records from entry, if the conviction occurred in the last 5 years. If it occurred between 5 and 10 years ago, You can apply for "rehabilitation" from a consulate office, but that could take up to a year to process. If it's been more than 10 years, you're generally considered rehabilitated, except for certain crimes, I believe.

I myself have a youthful mistake that means I won't be attempting to cross the border until 2009....

I bet that if members of Code Pink that haven't been arrested would try to enter Canada, they won't have a problem.

I know this seems like the grand evil of the conservatives to crush progressives under their boots, but it's probably a case of the banal evil of bureaucracy in action.

[JPZenger]

28. Isn't this a misdemeanor?

You would think that a line would be drawn between persons convicted of a felony vs. a non-violent misdemeanor. If Canada kept out everyone who had speeding tickets, there would be no tourism.

[John Q. Citizen]

34. Do they bar Kissinger from entering, I wonder? You may be correct as to

the banal evil of bureaucracy in action, but that is just as worthy of a fight as is an evil plot to disrupt the free flow of information and people across borders to stifle the peace movement. The chill on civil rights is just the same. The fact that the boarder guards had the files showing the arrest was political in nature, and the crime was exercising the right to petition the governments of the UN raises interesting questions in itself.

Do we send all our records of arrests and convictions to the Canadians? If we do, are they bound by US law in terms of public discloser, document handling, etc? Or do they just get access in the event an American tries to enter Canada? And then what happens to the information?

The right to travel is definatly under attack in the Northern part of the Western Hemishere. It is political in nature. From Cat Stevens to Ted Kennedy, to Michael Moore's difficulties in shooting footage in Cuba due to the political manipulation of the ablility to travel freely for the collection and dismemination of educational information. And of course there are the random searches at bus and train depots, the presumed thousands of Americans on the no fly list, and all those locked up immigrants.

As stronger and stronger boarder controls are implemented, fewer and fewer will be able to pass, and as we have seen repeatedly, this right to pass is being manipulated for political purposes. So I'm in favor of people fighting for their right to pass, particularly when the reasons for denial are based on non-violent political convictions.

When rights are being scaled back, they always go for the easy targets first. If you fight them at that point, it makes it a lot harder for them to get to the next point. It matters not whether banal bureaucracy or evil empire; The problem is the right to travel is becoming both scarcer and highly politiized.

[SlingBlade]

27. Thanks for the info

I’m surprised anyone can travel under those circumstances

[YankmeCrankme]

30. Article says arrested, not convicted.

So, maybe there is discrimination being applied. I think it is Harper doing Bush a favor, as this is really a bogus reason for denying entry especially since it was a non-violent political protest they were arrested for. Canada can do better than this.

[bullimiami]

9. theyll throw a grand state welcome and roll out the red carpet for satans warmongers

but for those who believe in peace, nothing.

canadians, hang your heads in shame.

[rodeodance]

10. so----it is official----Being a peace activist gets you put on the FBI list.

[lonestarnot]

17. Guess we are forwarned.

[Andy Canuck]

13. Well hell

there goes me being able to be holier than thou. I guess I have some work to do North of the border.

[feloneous cat]

15. Yup... Time to Dump Harper

I see he is running on the "tax cut" band wagon.

Look what it did to this country. Don't let Harper turn Canada into a "mini me".

Next he'll be devaluing the currency, letting rogue mercs roam the country, and tell you less is more.

[Amonester]

16. I was a peace activist who enjoyed smoking cannabis and be peaceful...

but a fascist Royal Canadian Mounted Police busted me after (illegally) searching my pockets where an "astounding" amount of 0.7 grams awaited to be "joint-ed" (later on). Short story: I got fined 85 bucks AND got a life-long criminal record... if that ain't stupid enuf... I can't travel south of the border, so I go somewhere else, where they're not THAT stupid...

Now, about the OP, well: we're governed by a bunch of idiots.


On edit: It happened way back in the seventies... For the record, I don't do that kind of peace activism since the mid-eighties.

[sinkingfeeling]

18. Canada warned that they would start barring entry to those with even minor violation convictions.

This does not surprise me in the least.

[Purveyor]

23. You are correct. Even minor misdeameanor convictions from decades ago.

If you want to go to Canada and you have a conviction on your record, you better contact the Canadian authorities before planning your trip.

There are ways to be granted entrance but it takes a bit of work.

[never cry wolf]

26. That is true, my sister's bf was denied entry on vacation

due to a past DUI.

[saigon68]

19. They sure are insurgents

</sarcasm>

[BrklynLib at work]

20. I just know that this government does NOT truly represent the voice of the Canadian people...

[AngryAmish]

21. CMP Peggy Nash - is she related to Steve Nash?

They are both Canadian.

[davidinalameda]

22. that's a shame

maybe they would keep Medea

do her theatrics actually change anyone's opinion about the war or just make the anti-war side look like a bunch of idiots

[Kolesar]

25. The Irish government used this manipulation to control peaceful protestors in Ireland

This was from a story I heard on public radio a long time ago. Protestors were engaged in a sit in. The police showed up and told them they could leave now or stay and be arrested. Then the police said "if you have an arrest on your record you will never be admitted to America". The protestors left.
I don't recall if this was Ireland or Northern Ireland. What's the difference, anyway? :hide:

[Barrett808]

29. AP: U.S. activists denied entry to Canada

AP: U.S. activists denied entry to Canada
Associated Press
October 4, 2007

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. -- U.S. peace activists Medea Benjamin and Ann Wright have had a tough time entering Canada lately because their names send up red flags in border agents' computers.

Both women have been arrested in the United States protesting against the Iraq war, which has landed them in an international criminal database. When they visited Canada in August, they were told they would have to apply for "criminal rehabilitation" and pay $200 if they ever wanted to visit again. Neither applied.

Yesterday, Ms. Benjamin, co-founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, and Ms. Wright, a retired U.S. army colonel, walked into Canada at Niagara Falls to test whether they really would be denied entry because of their anti-war-related arrests.

They were.

Now they're asking why the names of those arrested during peaceful protests would be included in an FBI-maintained database meant to track fugitives, potential terrorists, missing persons and violent felons.

"We are certainly no threat to the Canadian people," Ms. Benjamin said.

(more)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071004.PROTESTORS04/TPStory/TPInternational/America

[donsu]

31. neo cons are slowly taking over Canada like they did us

nt

[ProudDad]

36. Keep this up and there goes your fucking tourist trade... (n/t)

[bos1]

37. This isn't about Canada

as much as it is about how a retired colonel with NO suspicious activities could end up on the watch list. It CLEARLY shows that this list is being used to target dissidents. It's a mindboggling that this is happening now in the US of A. This single issue should be a front page scandal.

[JohnyCanuck]

38. Statement by Medea Benjamin and Ann Wright

They appear on this YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lg_dkjwYvA (also posted in the DU political videos forum
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x59872 ) and make the point that under the current rules that were used to ban them from entry to Canada, Martin Luther King would also have been banned from entering the country.