Ottawa jihadi seeking ‘martyrdom’ with ISIS in Syria | Ottawa Citizen

Profile of an Ottawa man fighting with ISIS in Syria:

Counter-terrorism officials say they are concerned that Canadian fighters who survive the conflicts in Syria and Iraq may return home to spread anti-Western radicalism and conduct terrorist attacks, but Maguire does not seem to want to leave.

“He said he’s not coming back,” his aunt, Allison McPherson, said in the Ontario family’s first public comments about their plight. “My sister doesn’t expect that she will ever see him again, and probably won’t ever see him again alive.”

As a boy, Maguire had a tough time, she said. After his mother left an abusive relationship and then suffered health problems, he was raised partly by his grandparents. “John is a very smart kid,” McPherson said, “but there was always something kind of closed off, and he kept to himself. And, of course, that’s exactly what these people are looking for — a bright guy, kind of a loner, needing a place to fit in.”

According to his online profile, he went to Hillcrest High School and once wanted to be a hockey player or motocross racer. He left home for California for a few months but returned  and enrolled at the University of Ottawa.

During the fall 2012 term, he began musing on Twitter about the brutality of President Bashar Al-Assad, writing, “how can I sleep with what is happening in Syria.” But the friend said Maguire was not an activist and had displayed little interest in issues in the Muslim world.

“Now we’re all just confused. What I’m trying to figure out is how it all began,” he said. Was he swayed by something he found on the Internet? Did someone influence him? Was he upset about events abroad? “I wish I knew what it was, and I wish I could have prevented it.”

As Canadian-born, and presumably not a dual citizenship, he would not be subject to citizenship revocation unlike other extremists not born but raised in Canada.

Ottawa jihadi seeking ‘martyrdom’ with ISIS in Syria | Ottawa Citizen.

Canadians in terrorist armies threaten us all – CSIS and Canadian Responsibility

Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Director Michel Coulombe’s op-ed on radicalization. Not much new in his overview, and no particular insights into why some are radicalized or not, but nevertheless worth reading.

I found however his comment below interesting in light of the Government’s recent changes to the Citizenship Act providing for revocation in cases of dual nationals engaged in terrorist activities.

Coulombe is saying that this is a “Canadian problem.”

Indeed, so why therefore should we banish or exile them, rather than locking them up in Canada?

Even if a Canadian extremist does not immediately return, he or she is still a Canadian problem. No country can become an unwitting exporter of terrorism without suffering damage to its international image and relations. Just as Canada expects other nations to prevent their citizens from harming Canadians and Canadian interests, we too are obligated to deny Canadian extremists the ability to kill and terrorize people of other countries.

 

Same point made by Chris Selley of the National Post, among others (Stripping jihadis’ citizenship feels good. But what good does it do?Actually, my citizenship is a right):

Canadians in terrorist armies threaten us all – The Globe and Mail.

Australian jihadists fighting overseas should be stripped of their citizenship | Malcolm Fraser

Malcolm Fraser, former Prime Minister of Australia 1975-83, advocating for citizenship revocation in cases of terrorism or fighting for foreign forces:

In Barwick’s time [1960-1], dual citizenship was rare. Today it is common. Australia would be totally justified in saying anyone who has dual citizenship will forthwith lose their Australian citizenship if they fight abroad with any other forces. Australians should only fight overseas with the Australian Armed Services. I don’t think any Australian should be able to fight in foreign wars, unless that action is supported by the Australian government. Importantly, that would preclude an Australian going to do national service in any other country.

If someone with dual citizenship wants to go overseas and fight in another country, they should then lose their Australian citizenship and have no right to return. The Australian government should do all in its power to bring such people before the International Criminal Court.

Not sure how Australian Jews would feel about such a broad definition, as it would include those fighting for the IDF.

Australian jihadists fighting overseas should be stripped of their citizenship | Malcolm Fraser | Comment is free | theguardian.com.

Kuwait and revoking citizenship – Al Arabiya News

The Gulf government view on extremism and revocation (not just for acts of terrorism but for extremist speech):

Extremist groups have realized that the silence of governments has enabled them to act freely, ensuring them protection and free movement especially if they are unarmed. These groups have now lost. Over the past few years, extremists succeeded in building mutually-reinforcing networks across borders, including with in the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Britain, France and other countries. Some were bold enough to threaten different factions of society, thus benefiting from the spread of terrorism.

However, this network is collapsing after governments decided to besiege it via different means. Political authorities found that targeting leaders is better than pursuing followers and that revoking citizenship will stop individuals who act as figure heads. This would send a strong message that the government will not be content with security checks and lawsuits but will resort to exerting its maximum power to bring down figures whom it considers dangerous to its national security.

Kuwait and revoking citizenship – Al Arabiya News.

Kuwait citizenship row a risk for business, too

Vignette from the Gulf and the Kuwaiti approach to citizenship and revocation. Given the large number of expatriate workers, both lower and higher skilled in the region, all states there have restrictive citizenship rights and depend largely on guest workers.

The Canadian government did not cite Kuwait as one of its models for revocation (Canada does, unlike recent UK measures, have an exception for those who would be left stateless):

Nationality has long been a fraught subject in Kuwait, home to an estimated 100,000 stateless individuals. The country’s so-called bidoon from the Arabic word for without, or stateless persons are unable to find legal work or access social services; some find odd jobs on the black market but most live in abject poverty. Many were born in Kuwait and claim that their parents – bedouins or members of other nomadic communities – were not able or aware that they needed to register to obtain citizenship when Kuwait became independent. While the government admits some of these residents deserve citizenship, it says others have arrived from third countries in hopes of accessing the country’s generous welfare system.

The creation of a new stateless class could complicate things further. None of the individuals who have lost their passports so far have other nationalities, meaning they have effectively joined the ranks for the bidoon.

Kuwait citizenship row a risk for business, too / 08 / 2014 / Insights / Home – Monitor Global Outlook | A Premium Service of The Christian Science Monitor.

Misbahuddin Ahmed found guilty of 2 terrorism charges and ISIS Recruitment Video with Canadian

Yet another terrorism conviction. Born in Pakistan, raised in Montreal, radicalized in Canada, a likely candidate for citizenship revocation under the new Citizenship Act:

Conspiring to knowingly facilitate a terrorist activity carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison, while participation in the activities of a terrorist group has a 10-year maximum term.

Ahmed will be sentenced on Sept. 15.

Mark Ertel, Misbahuddin Ahmeds lawyer, said after the verdict that his client was misguided for a short period of his life but is a good man. “I’m devastated by the verdict, it’s never easy to lose a case and it’s especially hard to see someone like this be convicted of these types of offences,” said Ahmeds lawyer, Mark Ertel.

“He’s a good man, a family man, the jury obviously found that for a short period of time in his life he was misguided but the acquittal on the third count proves they realized if there was any danger to Canadians or anyone he put an end to it.”

Crown lawyers said during the trial that Ahmed was a “committed jihadist” with an eye on potential Canadian targets, pointing to a bag in his basement they alleged held bomb-making materials.

Misbahuddin Ahmed found guilty of 2 terrorism charges – Ottawa – CBC News.

And another example of a terrorist or extremist, born, raised and radicalized in Canada, and would not be subject to revocation (if he were still alive):

An Ontario janitor who died while fighting with an extremist group in Syria said in a posthumous video released Friday that he had left Canada because he could no longer live among non-Muslims.

“Life in Canada was good,” André Poulin, a Muslim convert who fled to Syria following a string of arrests in Timmins, Ont., said in an Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham recruitment video that encouraged others to follow his path.

“I had money, I had good family. But at the end of the day, it’s still dar al-kufr [a land of disbelief] and at the end of the day you cannot obey Allah fully as you can by living in a Muslim country, in an Islamic state,” he said.

…. But Poulin was hardly a regular Canadian. He was a troubled youth who had repeated brushes with the law for crimes such as uttering threats until he left to remake himself as a jihadist fighter. He was killed last summer in northern Syria.

“He accepted Islam in a land at war with Islam,” a narrator said in the video, referring to Canada, “in a land with few Muslims, in a land where evil, kufr [disbelief] and sin called him from every direction and corner to succumb to Satan and to his desires.”

It said he had married after arriving in Syria and that his wife was pregnant when he was killed while trying to capture the Mennegh airport. In his address from the grave, Poulin implored recruits to leave the West and join him.

“My brothers, how can you answer to Allah when you live on the same street, when you’re using their light and you’re paying taxes to them and they use these taxes to assist their war on Islam. You can’t live as a Muslim,” he said, adding those who can’t fight should “give money.”

The flow of radicalized youths to Syria has become a top priority for Canadian security and intelligence officials, who fear recruits could one day return home, bringing their paramilitary training and violent anti-Western ideology with them.

Parents of those lured to Syria have also becoming increasingly vocal, calling for government action to deal with radicalization and recruitment. Several dozen Canadians are fighting in Syria, and some have joined ISIS, which has seized parts of northern Syria and Iraq through a campaign of guerrilla warfare, suicide bombings and mass executions.

Concerned about the number of Canadians leaving to join armed factions in Syria, imams from across the country issued a statement last month warning Muslim youths against traveling abroad to fight in foreign conflicts.

The Canadian Council of Imams denounced the “narrow, bigoted, dogmatic distortions of the purveyors of violence and terror,” and called for “meaningful discussions, to engage in preventative strategies and to find meaningful solutions to this growing threat in our country.”

‘Regular Canadian’ killed in Syria conflict featured in slick, new ISIS propaganda video

Tribunal can deny in-person appeals in disability benefits cases – Citizenship Parallels

Similar situations are likely to occur with respect to the lack of oral hearings in cases of citizenship revocation. A number of witnesses, including some generally supportive of the Government, expressed concern over the lack of oral hearings and relying on a paper process (others argued for full access to the Courts):

And a retired doctor who heard appeals under the previous system says he could not have made fair decisions without meeting claimants face to face.

“I can tell you there were a couple of times when you would say to yourself, ‘This is a slam dunk for denial,’ until the human walked in,” said George Sapp, who lives near Halifax. “Then you would see the person that’s attached to the file. And sometimes it took you back. And you listened.”

Tribunal can deny in-person appeals in disability benefits cases – The Globe and Mail.

Case of Mohamed Fahmy shows failing of new citizenship rules | Macklin and Waldman

More from Macklin and Waldman on C-24 Citizenship Act revocation provisions and the possible implications for cases like Mohammed Fahmy’s, and the discretion it gives the Minister (Government has indicated they will not revoke Fahmy’s citizenship):

These cases are simply three examples that show why the new citizenship law has been condemned as fundamentally flawed and why several organizations have indicated they will challenge it under the Charter. The law will create two classes of citizens: dual citizens who are vulnerable to revocation and those who are not. But the bill is also problematic in other ways. Naturalized citizens unlike citizens by birth will not be able travel and live abroad for extended periods without fear of jeopardizing their citizenship. Other provisions will make citizenship more inaccessible to those who need it most — refugees.

Instead of listening to the legitimate concerns of those who criticized the legislation, the government attacked the messengers and impugned their motives. Undoubtedly the government thinks that this new law will be well received by its conservative base. We think that when most Canadians come to realize the implications of this new legislation they will reject it. Canada is a big country, but there is no room for second-class citizenship.

Case of Mohamed Fahmy shows failing of new citizenship rules | Toronto Star.

Denying dual citizenship is a double-edged sword | The Australian

The Australian debate on citizenship revocation. Similar to that on C-24 revocation provisions. Commentary by Ben Saul, an international law professor at University of Sydney:

Finally, stripping citizenship is unnecessary because Australia has enough laws to deal with the threats. Since 9/11, the Australian parliament has been among the most hyperactive counter-terrorism lawmakers on the planet.

Australians who fight overseas can be prosecuted for innumerable offences, including terrorism, war crimes, crimes against hum­anity and foreign incursion. Prosecution takes terrorists off the streets altogether, and does not ­irresponsibly shunt them on to other countries. It also ensures ­decisions are made based on evidence with judicial safeguards. Stripping citizenship based on untested intelligence about what a person is doing overseas risks miscarriages of justice.

Instead of prosecution, federal police can apply for control orders to prevent terrorism by restricting a person’s freedoms. In emergencies, preventive police detention is available, and ASIO has questioning and detention powers. Other powers range from surveillance to passport cancellation.

Governments are often tempted to reach for new laws when ­security is threatened. Intelligence agencies never say they have enough power or stop asking for more. Giving more power to the government, and making citizenship more provisional, is not the answer.

The answer lies in ­better intelligence and action to prevent people leaving, and in bringing them home to prosecute them.

Denying dual citizenship is a double-edged sword | The Australian.

Rocco Galati launches lawsuit over Citizenship Act changes

No surprise:

Toronto lawyer Rocco Galati is suing Gov. Gen. David Johnston, Immigration Minister Chris Alexander and Justice Minister Peter MacKay over changes to Canada’s Citizenship Act.

In documents filed Wednesday morning in Federal Court, Galati asks the court to invalidate key provisions included in a new law that gives the government the power to revoke the citizenship of Canadian-born citizens convicted of “terrorism, high treason, or spying offences” if they hold dual citizenship.

Rocco Galati launches lawsuit over Citizenship Act changes – Politics – CBC News.