Huseyin Celil is actually a fugitive from a Chinese Jail!

More background on the case. I thought that Celil was actually in jail in China. He escapes from jail and is given refugee status here rather than being extradited. I wonder what would happen if a person jailed for terrorism in the US fled to Canada. Would we give him refugee status and citizenship! In a pig's eye. This is from the Toronto Star

PM vows to help jailed imam


Poor relations with China have hindered efforts to help Canadian, Liberal says

Feb 09, 2007 04:30 AM
Richard Brennan
Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA–Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he won't let Huseyin Celil languish in a foreign jail as the former Liberal government did with Maher Arar.

The opposition Liberals have been pressing the government to contact senior Chinese officials to insist that the Burlington imam's Canadian citizenship be respected.

"We view Mr. Celil as a Canadian citizen. At all opportunities, we have taken the time to raise his case, to express our concerns, to demand justice be done," Harper told MPs yesterday during question period.

"Every single time ... the Liberal party has said we should say nothing, we should do nothing, we should take no action, just like they did with Mr. Arar," Harper said.

The Harper government recently paid $10.5 million in compensation to Arar, who was arrested in New York in 2002 and deported to Syria – where he was jailed for almost a year and tortured – after the RCMP gave U.S. officials incorrect information on his being a terror suspect.

Celil's case has gained renewed national prominence after it was discovered last week that Canadian diplomats in China did not attend a court hearing where Celil described torture he endured at the hands of Chinese authorities trying to extract a confession of terrorism.

Celil, 38, was arrested last March 27 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where he and his family were visiting his wife's relatives. Three months later, he was turned over to the Chinese.

Celil was imprisoned in China in the mid-1990s, allegedly for political activities among the Uyghurs, a minority group of Muslims in Xinjiang province. He escaped and was admitted to Canada as a refugee in 2001.

Liberal MP Dan McTeague (Pickering-Scarborough East) yesterday called on Harper to intervene personally on Celil's behalf, but added such efforts might be hampered by the state of the Conservative government's relations with China.

"We know that (Harper) can admit now his ability to stand up for Mr. Celil was so severely limited when he accused China of spying and turned a recent meeting with the Chinese president into an international farce," McTeague said.


Helena Guergis, secretary of state for foreign affairs, noted China has signed the United Nations convention against torture and "we expect that it will live up to its UN obligations.

"We have, in fact, directed officials there to head to the site ... to gain contact with Mr. Celil in order to give him consular services to which he is entitled as a Canadian citizen," she said.

Harper chides China over economic threats

Harper chides China over economic threats

While it is reasonable that Harper complain about Celil's rights as a Canadian citizen being violated he has been remarkably quiet about condemning the US for nabbing Maher Arar from a connecting flight to Canada in New York and rendering him for torture and interrogation in Syria. He has said nothing about the US authorities lies to Canadian intelligence authorities. They did not admit he was bound for Syria until after he was already on a plane to Jordan. They said he was in jail in the US.

Harper chides China over economic threats
Last Updated: Friday, February 9, 2007 | 5:53 PM ET
CBC News
Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned China Friday not to threaten Canada with economic repercussions for bringing up the Asian country's human rights record and standing up for the rights of Canadians abroad.

"I would point out to any Chinese official that just as a matter of fact, China had a huge trade surplus with this country, so it would be in the interest of the Chinese government to make sure any dealings on trade are fair and above board," Harper told reporters Friday in Halifax.

The prime minister's comments came in response to statements from a Chinese official, who warned that Ottawa's criticism of China's human rights record could be straining relations between the two countries.

'When a Canadian citizen is ill-treated and when the rights of a Canadian citizen need to be defended, I think it's always the obligation of the government of Canada to vocally and publicly stand up for that Canadian citizen.'
—Prime Minister Stephen HarperHarper also dismissed reports suggesting trade between Canada and China has been hurt by a lack of trust between the two countries and hit out at critics from within Canada's own political ranks.

"There are those in the opposition who will say, 'You know, China is an important country, so we shouldn't really protest these things … so maybe someday we'll be able to sell more goods there,'" Harper said.

"I think that's irresponsible. I think the government of Canada, when a Canadian citizen is ill-treated and when the rights of a Canadian citizen need to be defended, I think it's always the obligation of the government of Canada to vocally and publicly stand up for that Canadian citizen.

Continue Article

"That is what we will continue to do."

Harper was referring to the case of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian activist jailed in China for alleged terrorist links.

Diplomatic counsel denied
Celil, 37, was arrested in March in Uzbekistan, then extradited to China three months later to face charges he had originally been arrested for in the early 1990s.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Thursday that Celil's case is being handled according to Chinese law and is not subject to consular agreements.

Harper described the move as illegal and insisted Chinese authorities have yet to provide any evidence of wrongdoing.

"They continue to deny his Canadian citizenship, which was granted under our law and international law," Harper said.

"So we continue to protest this at every level, up to and including my own (recent) meeting with the president (of China). We will continue to vocalize these concerns."

Celil made a court appearance last week in Urumqi, the capital of China's western Xinjiang region. There was no Canadian diplomat present — a violation of Celil's rights as a Canadian citizen.

Celil's relatives have said they believe he is being tortured.

Celil, a member of the Uighur minority group in Xinjiang, was born and raised in China. Chinese authorities have long maintained that Uighur militants are leading a violent Islamic separatist movement.

With files from the Canadian Press

Posted by ken at 6:29 PM 0 comments

Labels: Canada, China, Chinese Canadian relations, Human rights in China