Dear Sir and Madam,

It has been brought to my attention that a report in the Irish Times on Sat 2 August has received widespread coverage and dissemination on web sites including yours, and I would therefore like to bring a clarification to the attention of your readers.

Despite the spin in the paper, we did not issue a press statement or a legal warning to the Catholic Church. We were actually contacted by the paper and asked to comment on the legal position of the document released by the church in relation to the existing Incitement to Hatred Act 1989. As I said, we did not issue a statement on it and have no intention of pursuing any legal action against the Catholic Church. The 1989 act states:

2.=97(1) It shall be an offence for a person

( a ) to publish or distribute written material,

( b ) to use words, behave or display written material

(i) in any place other than inside a private residence, or

(ii) inside a private residence so that the words, behaviour or material are heard or seen by persons outside the residence, or

( c ) to distribute, show or play a recording of visual images or sounds, if the written material, words, behaviour, visual images or sounds, as the case may be, are threatening, abusive or insulting and are intended or, having regard to all the circumstances, are likely to stir up hatred.

And hatred" means hatred against a group of persons in the State or elsewhere on account of their race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins, membership of the travelling community or sexual orientation;

That is the Act that I was asked to comment on and I noted that it is possible that the document could be interpreted as breaching these standards. I also said that the document itself is likely not to be a problem, but if the words in it were used in an active campaign to condemn gays as evil and a threat to children, then that could be interpreted as likely to cause hatred.

I never said that the Vatican intended to incite hatred, but the strong words of the document could lead to problems.

I hope this clarifies the matter. Also to confirm, the ICCL fully supports equal rights for all those irrespective of sexual orientation and has and will continue to campaign for full recognition of same sex unions.

Thank you for your time,

Aisling Reidy
Director, ICCL

Legal warning to church on gay stance, Liam Reid, The Irish Times, August 2, 03.

Clergy and bishops who distribute the Vatican's latest publication describing homosexual activity as "evil" could face prosecution under incitement to hatred legislation.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has warned that the language in the 12-page booklet is so strong it could be interpreted as being in breach of the Act. . . . .

319. (1) Every one who, by communicating statements in any public place, incites hatred against any identifiable group where such incitement is likely to lead to a breach of the peace is guilty of

(a) an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years; or

(b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

Wilful promotion of hatred

(2) Every one who, by communicating statements, other than in private conversation, wilfully promotes hatred against any identifiable group is guilty of

(a) an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years; or

(b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

Defences

(3) No person shall be convicted of an offence under subsection (2)

(a) if he establishes that the statements communicated were true;

(b) if, in good faith, he expressed or attempted to establish by argument an opinion on a religious subject;

(c) if the statements were relevant to any subject of public interest, the discussion of which was for the public benefit, and if on reasonable grounds he believed them to be true; or

(d) if, in good faith, he intended to point out, for the purpose of removal, matters producing or tending to produce feelings of hatred toward an identifiable group in Canada.

Actually, it is not England as such that has changed people of [********] origin, but a certain kind of modernity. The changes they have undergone (or should I say embraced, since they are chosen?) are not really so very dissimilar to those that the native English themselves have undergone, and that make the modern English so deeply unattractive a people. One powerful influence in the process has been so-called popular culture, which is to real culture what McDonald’s is to real cookery. Where are the Marxist cultural critics when you need them? Just as the British educational system can be justly characterised as a conspiracy by the Department for Education, acting as a sub-committee on behalf of the British bourgeoisie, to protect the bourgeoisie from any competition from the lower orders by keeping them in a state of preternatural ignorance and uncouthness, so what is known as [********] culture is actually a conspiracy by the musico-industrial complex to keep [*********] in a permanent state of exploitable helotry--that is to say as a reserve army of reluctant casual labourers. In the process, of course, a few among them, possessed of minimal talent and little different from the rest, become very rich, though few of them hang on to their money because of the very ‘culture’ of which they are both the creators and the victims, stardom these days being awarded not to exceptional people but to mediocrities, in order to keep the rest of the population daydreaming rather than forming proper and realisable ambitions.

The output of the musico-industrial complex reinforces and makes actual the stereotype of the [********] as a man of small brain but large appetites, with a powerful though primitive sense of rhythm. These are not, of course, qualities that are very useful in social ascent: on the contrary, they inhibit it. It is therefore no accident, as the Marxist would say, that [********] music is lionised in our press, even taken seriously as a genuine rather than as an ersatz and prefabricated, that is to say industrialised, cry of protest from the streets; while Pentecostal religion - the other pole of [********] culture in Britain, one that is genuine and spontaneous -- is laughed to scorn. Pentecostal religion offers the frightening prospect of [*********] breaking free of the musically and bureaucratically forged manacles that keep them forever subordinate, marginalised and criminalised. As a 16th-century German bishop once remarked, the poor are a goldmine; and so are the [*********] -- for the record companies and welfare bureaucracies alike.

Detainee trained to fly: 19 suspects allegedly used student visas to enter Canada

TORONTO - An anti-terrorism probe that led to the arrest of 19 Pakistani men, including one who took commercial flight training over a nuclear power plant, highlights security holes that should have been plugged after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, Ontario officials said.

The Public Security and Anti-Terrorism Unit, a federal national security task force, quietly arrested the group of mostly young men last week. The men appear to have used fraudulent student visas to enter Canada or to maintain their residency here.

Federal authorities documented a pattern of suspicious behaviour that shows an interest in Ontario's nuclear generators and bears similarities to the hijackers involved in the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States.

"It raises serious concerns about the issue of people being in the country on false documentation and taking flight training," Bob Runciman, Ontario's Minister of Public Security. . . "

Federal investigators found an "alarming" network of immigrants, tied to a Toronto diploma mill, whose activities include trying to get into a nuclear compound, gathering radioactive devices, moving house in the middle of the night and learning to fly, according to a document summarizing the case presented at immigration detention hearings this week.

"There is a pattern of fraudulent document use to obtain or maintain immigration status," the document says. "To enter and/or remain in a country by misrepresentation is a known ruse used by persons of security concern.

[. . . .]

A police search of records at the school [Ottawa Business College] turned up 31 people who appear to have fraudulently used the school to enter or stay in Canada; 19 were arrested.

Most are between 18 and 33 who, with one exception, have connections to Pakistan's Punjab province, noted for its Sunni Muslim extremism, authorities say.

[. . . .]

The men lived simply and moved often.

"Generally, the only items reported in the residences are mattresses on the floor and a computer. One cluster left an apartment during the night and discarded all of their belongings: mattresses, clothing and computer shells, apparently taking only the computer hard drive upon vacating an apartment," the document says.

[. . . .]

One of the men's roommates provided a landlord with a letter of reference from Global Relief Foundation, Inc., which has been identified by the United Nations as a group that provides financial support to terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda.

Mr. Runciman and other provincial authorities said the case required intensive action to reduce lapses in Canada's immigration and security systems. "We need to know how many student visas have been issued by the federal government; how many of these schools have had security or background checks; how many of the students are still in Canada even though their visa has expired," he said.

He has also asked for a review of the province's regulation of non-degree granting schools and their ownership.

[. . . .]

The arrests also highlighted concerns over the security of Canada's nuclear reactors. Two of the group were found by police trying to enter the Pickering nuclear power station at 4:15 a.m. on a cool, damp night. They allegedly asked officers for permission to enter the perimeter to go for a walk on the beach. And one took flight training that took him over the Pickering nuclear site.

[. . . .]

Michel Clèroux, a spokesman for the Nuclear Safety Commission, said imposing no-fly zones over nuclear facilities is "not a practical option." Many of the nuclear stations are in the midst of heavily populated areas with busy air traffic. Imposing no-fly zones around the plants would be too disruptive, he said.

Mohammed Syed, a Toronto lawyer representing two of the men, accused the government of using public fears over terrorism to keep his clients behind bars. "The allegations are so sketchy and so flimsy it boggles the mind they would be detained as security risks," Mr. Syed said. "I think it's over-reaction on [the authorities'] part, partly because of Sept. 11 and because all these males are Muslim," he said. "That, to me, smacks of racism."

Terrorism specialists, however, said the case should be watched closely.

"At best, this is a large immigration fraud," said a counter-terrorism official who did not want to be named. "At worst, it is something very nefarious that reflects some of the things that we've been worrying about for some time. This is a glass half-full/glass half-empty story: It's good they were caught, but why did they get in?"

Mark Dunn, spokesman for Denis Coderre, the federal Immigration Minister, said the arrests illustrate the collaborative efforts of the RCMP, Immigration officials and other law enforcement agencies.

Mr. Runciman, however, complained Ontario's police agencies were not informed of the operation.

New CSIS report

An accused al-Qaeda sleeper agent arrested in Montreal three months ago was trained in Afghanistan alongside convicted millennium bomber Ahmed Ressam, Canada's intelligence agency said yesterday.

A newly released report says Ressam told Canadian Security Intelligence Service agents he met Adil Charkaoui in the summer of 1998 when they trained together at one of Osama bin Laden's camps. At the time, Ressam was training at Khalden Camp with 50 to 100 other radical Muslims.

Among the plots discussed at the camp was a plan to meet in Canada to carry out a major attack against the United States.

Muslim recruits from around the world converged at Khalden Camp in the late 1990s to join bin Laden's holy war against the West.

They were taught how to handle weapons, build bombs, deceive authorities and destroy electrical plants, airports, hotels and corporate buildings.

CSIS claims Mr. Charkaoui was one such recruit.

He was trained and then sent back to Canada to live quietly as a sleeper agent who could be quickly activated to carry out an attack.

Although Mr. Charkaoui denies ever having gone to Afghanistan, and Islamic lobby groups assert his arrest is part of an "inquisition against Muslims," evidence is mounting to support the CSIS claim that he is a highly trained terrorist operative.

Last month, CSIS said chief al-Qaeda recruiter Abou Zubayda had identified Mr. Charkaoui as a man he knew in Afghanistan as Zubeir Al-Maghrebi. Now the intelligence service says one of Canada's most notorious terrorists has also fingered Mr. Charkaoui.
[. . . .]

Following his conviction in April, 2001, Ressam agreed to co-operate with authorities in exchange for a more lenient sentence. A U.S. judge has characterized him as a "startlingly helpful" informant.

[. . . .]

He was arrested on May 21 after Denis Coderre, the Minister of Immigration, and Wayne Easter, the Solicitor-General, signed a certificate declaring him a threat to national security.

Canadian immigration law allows the government to deport non-citizens who are members of terrorist organizations. . . .

Security unit sees 19 men as a threat

TORONTO - Immigration authorities released the names yesterday of 19 Pakistanis whose arrests have sparked fears an Islamic extremist cell may have been plotting attacks in Canada.

[. . . .]

A national security unit composed of RCMP and immigration officials also tied the group to the theft of a gauge containing radioactive Cesium-137, considered a likely component of a so-called dirty bomb.
The Immigration and Refugee Board identified them as Jahan Zaib Sawhney, Yousaf Rasheed, Aqeel Ahmed, Muhammad Asif Aziz, Kashif Siddique, Mohammed Asif, Muhammad Waliu Siddiqui, Mohammad Akhtar, Muhammad Waheed, Sajjad Ahmad, Muhammed Imran, Fahim Kayani, Imran Younas Khan, Manzoor Qadar Joyia, Zahoor Hussain, Saif Ulla Khan, Anwar-Ur-Rehman Mohammed, Muhammed Naeem and Khurran Shazad Toor.
[. . . .]

The probe found the Ottawa Business College was a front that sold acceptance letters, transcripts and diplomas to foreign students, 31 of whom fraudulently used the school to enter Canada.
[. . . .]

Since the 9/11 attacks, Canadian authorities have arrested several suspected members of the Osama bin Laden network, which trained thousands of radical Muslims and dispatched them around the world to become sleeper agents of terrorism.

Canadian intelligence documents relating to the arrest of one of them, Mohamed Harkat, claim that bin Laden "is trying to obtain chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Furthermore, evidence demonstrates that bin Laden has made significant progress in achieving this end."

HALIFAX - Police across Canada must do more to deal with allegations of racially-biased policing, police chiefs meeting in Halifax were told Monday.

[. . . .]

While the chiefs say they will not tolerate racial prejudice on the job, one speaker told them they have to deal with the issue – whether it's real or perceived. [This is worth quoting again.]

***While the chiefs say they will not tolerate racial prejudice on the job, one speaker told them they have to deal with the issue – whether it's real or perceived.***

In Halifax, police are facing allegations of racial discrimination from heavyweight boxer Kirk Johnson. He says police pulled over his car on several occasions because he is black. On one occassion the car was confiscated.

[. . . .]

Johnson calls his supposed offense "driving while black."
Halifax police Chief Frank Beazley says in his 33 years in uniform, he's never known an officer who bases a decision on race.

"It's not something that police do," said Beazley.

Consultant Robert Lunney, a former police chief in Ontario's Peel Region, says police have to deal with perception.

taking the city of Fredericton to court seeking to have the city's language laws declared invalid because they are not available in both official languages and because city staffers do not communicate in French. (Reference: Language spat hits city, French watchdog eyes Fredericton, The Daily Gleaner, August 22, 03)

The resolution passed Tuesday says New Brunswick has both French and English as official languages and citizens have the right to communicate and receive government services in the language of their choice.

Moncton will now provide all services and make all public notices and information in both languages.

That is expected to cost $200,000 to $300,000 annually.

Councillors say no unilingual city employees will lose their jobs, but some may be shifted to new areas so workers who deal with the public are bilingual.

WASHINGTON - Alabama's Chief Justice, Roy Moore, as been suspended for defying a federal court order to remove his stone monument to the Ten Commandments from the state Supreme Court building.

Judge Moore answers that American laws are based on the biblical injunctions, which is loosely true but hardly a compelling argument. The law could be based on the collected thoughts of Tomas de Torquemada, but it would still be illegal to erect a statue of the Grand Inquisitor if the U.S. Constitution banned such a tribute.

Which brings us to the Chief Justice's second and more substantial point -- does the Constitution ban the monument? The turbulent judge says no, the Constitution grants no jurisdiction to the federal bench in this, a state matter.

He is taking his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, but legal analysts say he will get no joy there. They are probably right, for the First Amendment has for the past two generations been interpreted as guaranteeing a near-total separation of Church and state. It seems pretty clear that this forbids the 2,400 kilogram monument that Judge Myron Thompson of the Federal District Court describes as "an obtrusive year-round religious display."

[. . . .] at bottom the judge is right; it is, or should be, none of Washington's business. The relevant clause of the First Amendment reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" -- that's it.

Why the stark and studiedly neutral word "respecting" if the clause was intended to separate Church and state always and everywhere within the United States. Why did the Founding Fathers not write: "No government -- federal, state or local -- shall take or allow any action that tends to establish religion"?

The reason is that this was not what they intended, and it is not what the words say. A people whose claim to self-determination rested on certain inalienable rights granted by the Creator is not one that envisaged government expunged of religion.

The historical context of the late 18th century and the words themselves make plain that the clause was intended not merely as an insuperable obstacle to the imposition of a national religion, although it certainly is that. But it was also a guarantee of state sovereignty -- a constitutional barrier preventing the federal government from interfering if a state chose to establish a religion. If the people of Massachusetts, for example, decided to adopt state presbyterianism, the establishment clause proscribed federal interference -- which is pretty much Judge Moore's point. A guarantee of state freedom in the matter of establishment was a prerequisite of ratification in some parts of New England.

The trouble is, it really doesn't matter what the establishment clause was originally for; it is now widely regarded as the foundation of an axiomatic separation of Church and state, and nothing will change that for the foreseeable future.

Despite stricter border controls put in place after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, large-scale contraband and migrant smuggling has resumed, partly through Indian reserves, according to an RCMP intelligence study.

Although cross-border smuggling declined immediately after 9/11, as Canadian and American authorities stepped up patrols along the frontier, smugglers have since figured out how to circumvent the measures.

Rather than trying to move large shipments of contraband, organized crime groups are now using more couriers to move smaller amounts and making use of less visible crossing points as well as airports and harbours, it says.

"Geography continues to play a critical role in Canada's contraband operations. Smugglers take advantage of trails, back roads and other land and water access points to transport cargoes across the international border."

The intelligence report -- which is marked "Protected" but was released to the National Post under the Access to Information Act -- also claims cigarette smuggling is financing terrorist activity both in Europe and the Middle East.

Organized crime syndicates are heavily into smuggling because of the huge profits, and "criminal extremist" groups such as Hezbollah are involved, it says. "In some cases, lenient penalties offer little deterrence."

The report identifies the Akwesasne and Kahnawake reserves as hot spots.

[. . . .]

There is a list of the the most popular items smuggled: stolen cars, illicit gold jewellery, smuggled water pipe tobacco, U.S. computer components and precious stones, and illegal handguns, while Canadian-made fur coats are being smuggled to Russia.

Drugs and migrants are now the "commodities of choice" for aboriginal smugglers, replacing tobacco and alcohol, it says.

[. . . .]

Curbing smuggling through reserves has proved challenging.

"Bands generally develop and enforce their own policies for the welfare of their community. In some situations, this has been exploited for financial gain," the report says.

"Tobacco plays an important role in many native communities. Once seen as the symbol of peace and healing, tobacco is quickly becoming a financial symbol and has been transformed from a benign substance into a means to rapid financial gain."

[. . . .]

The RCMP says one of its concerns is the import of explosives or materials used to manufacture bombs.

The Montreal-based Islamic terrorist Ahmed Ressam tried to cross the border into Washington in 1999 with a load of explosives in his car trunk, but he was caught. He intended to blow up Los Angeles International Airport.

Ontario - The Akwesasne reserve "remains a primary portal for illegal goods moving in and out of Canada, including narcotics, firearms, illegal migrants, alcohol and tobacco."

Source: RCMP Criminal Intelligence Directorate.

The existence of gun rentals in Toronto is not a new phenomenon, according to police, but one that signals an increasing gang presence on city streets.
"I don't think it's something new; it's something that's resurging," said Sergeant Joe Gataveckas.

"Wherever there's gangs, there's guns."

Detectives in 23 Division, which encompasses Toronto's northwest Rexdale neighbourhood, are investigating reports that weapons are rented out for as much as $250 an hour from private homes and nightclubs.

They believe some of these guns have been used in recent gang-related shootings in two housing projects.

Officers have seized at least six guns in the last three weeks, one of which was taken from a 13-year-old boy accused of providing a handgun used in a shooting last week.
[. . . .]

Those problems have been manifesting in gunfire throughout the city in recent weeks, prompting Julian Fantino, Toronto's Chief of Police, to deploy specialized units to concentrate on guns, gangs and drugs.

The chief was furious with two incidents this month, when officers were fired on during a patrol and pelted with bottles after responding to a shooting.

The city has seen 12 gun-related murders this year, five since the beginning of July. In 2002, nearly half the city's killings involved firearms, compared with 23% in 1998.
[. . . . ]

The guns are rented only to those who have been recommended by someone the broker knows. The network is closely guarded and seemingly impossible for police to infiltrate.
[. . . .]

Gun rental is a lucrative business for those who buy inexpensive weapons south of the border. Once the weapon is in hand, they can rent it out repeatedly for hundreds of dollars to those who do not want the trouble of buying a weapon or disposing of it.