Summary
This previously unreleased document describes a demarche by the US Government on the orders of the White House to the Government of Canada, concerning the wish to have Abousfian Abdelrazik, a man wrongly accused of terrorism, prosecuted in the USA. Mr. Abdelrazik is currently being exiled in Sudan by the Government of Canada, and this document suggests it is because of US pressure. The current issue of The Economist, the internationally-known news magazine, has a brief story on the Abdelrazik case, demonstrating its significance.
The document was obtained under the Privacy Act, but it appears that the person censoring it made an error and did not completely black out the document (hundreds of other pages were blacked out).
The document was obtained by Professor Amir Attaran of the University of Ottawa. He may be contacted at aattaran@uottawa.ca.
Here is a transcript of the scanned document:
ABDELRAZIK: US EMBASSY DEMARCHE
Hoskins, Bert
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From: Di Gangi, John [digangj@fac-aec.gc.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 6:23 PM
To: Wright, James R.
Cc: hooper, Jack; Portelance, Luc; Topposzini, Mike; Reynolds, Rick; Richards, Paul; Livermore, Daniel; Anderson, Gary; Saleh, Magdi; Hoskins, Bert; Bakewell, Peter
Subject: ABDELRAZIK: US EMBASSY DEMARCHE
Classification: SECRET
US Embassy DCM John Dickson made a memarche this afternoon re: Abdelrazk. He said that he had sat in with Ambassador Wilkins on two confrence calls today — Lebanon and Abdelrazik. He had been asked to deliver a message from the White House, specifically from senior levels of the Homeland Security Council. Ambassador Wilkins might be calling Minister Toves [sic] or Day tomorrow. Frances Townsend might also be calling.
Dickson's main message was that the US would like Canada's assistance in putting together a criminal case against Abedelrazik so that he could be charged in the US. The US had information on Abdelrazik but at this point, it was not enough to charge him; the same might be true for Canada. If Canadian police or security agencies shared what they had, it might prove to be enough for the US to proceed, as the threshold for prosecution there was lower than here.
Dickson recalled that iwth Abdullah Khadr, Canadian authorities had not been prepared to share information until he had been formally charged in the US. He recognized that this might again be the case but wanted to be sure that the US request would be given due considertion. He suggested that there was surprise in Washington at the short notice re Abdelrazik's release, and that this matter had not come up in the contet of recent visits, eg Chertoff.
I responded that I would convey the US request, nothing thathis Embassy had been advised of the impending release shortly after we heard about it. I reassured Dickson that the Canadian position was unchanged, ie that Abdelrazik would be given the usual consular assistance, adn that if and when he provided our Embassy in Khartoum with a confirmed travel itinerary, he would be issued a one-way travel document.
Dickson probed whether Canada wanted Abedelrazik back and how he would be handled if he returned. I repeated that as a Canadian citizen, he had the right to return to Canada, if he wished. I also noted that while we might get a sense of Abdelrazik's Intentions shortly after his release, the question of possible outcomes could likely be a matter of continuing discussion here and between our governments.
s. 19(1) s. 21
7/19/06
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Canada
Military or intelligence (ruling)
Department of Foreign and International Affairs
Primary language
English
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173291
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PDF document, version 1.3
