"The fact that Abousfian Abdelrazik has been tortured with the active involvement of Canadian
agencies, and that he has not been allowed to return to Canada for almost 6 years now, is utterly
abhorrent. While the Canadian government cannot undo what it has done to Mr. Abdelrazik, it is only
adding insult to injury by coming up with excuse after excuse to avoid facilitating his safe return. The
Canadian government's active complicity in the torture of the people it is supposed to represent and
serve is shocking; meanwhile, the fact that Muslim men seem to be targeted is obvious. However,
while it is easy to denounce the extremist and regressive Conservative government, it is important to
remember that the responsibility for many such cases (including Maher Arar, the Security Certificate 5,
and Abousfian Abdelrazik, among others) also lies with the Liberal government that was in power
before Stephen Harper's Conservatives took over in January 2006. Ultimately, it is a security- and
police-state apparatus -- managed by politicians bent on determing how much they can get away with
by taking advantage of an era characterised by pervasive fear-mongering and paranoia -- that must be
challenged and confronted if we are to have any hope of reversing the on-going curtailment of civil
liberties, as well as putting an end to detentions, deportations, renditions and complicity in torture."
Samir Shaheen-Hussain, Montreal-based social justice activist & pediatrician