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Vid Post

Act of Terror (by 91177info)

 While filming a routine stop and search of her boyfriend on the London Underground, Gemma suddenly found herself detained, handcuffed and threatened with arrest.

Act of Terror tells the story of her fight to bring the police to justice and prevent this happening to anyone else, ever again.

It is easy to forget about the 2005 Terrorism Act and its damaging effect on civil liberties and human rights. Act Of Terror puts the spotlight back on this murky law, and demands that we keep vigilant in the face of ever increasing state power.

An animated journey through the labyrinthine world of English Justice, the sinister caveats of Terrorism legislation, and the shocking cronyism of the police complaints system, Act Of Terror is about strength in the face of powerlessness and finding the courage to fight back.

(Source: youtube.com)

Posted in uk police state security theater security safety gemma terrorism human rights justice abuse police brutality
Photo Post
They are the Alpha Females, Queens of Mean, rhymes-with-witches of the workplace and awesomely powerful. Lifestyle terrorist Martha Stewart, fashion dominatrix Anna Wintour, assault-with-a-cellphone model Naomi Campbell, pulp magazine editor Bonnie Fuller and possibly — a matter of much divided opinion — Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who recently commanded staffers to get their butts back in the office, no more working from home. Those of similar Valkyrie qualities who’ve gone to their (presumably) just rewards include stiletto heeled big-footing hotelier Leona Helmsley, Cincinnati Reds owner and Nazi memorabilia collector Marge Schott and Margaret Thatcher. Add to that list a name that will ring few bells, unless you happen to be conversant with the vast bureaucratic apparatus of the Canadian human rights industry: Shirish Chotalia, until November 2012, chair of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal — the agency which, ironically, convenes quasi-courts to try discrimination complaints. (via One woman’s reign of terror at rights tribunal: DiManno | Toronto Star) Ethiopian-born Chotalia told the investigator, Christian Santarossa, that all of this scrutinizing of her conduct had occurred because “I was chosen by a Conservative government, I am a brown woman from Alberta and the unions want to remove me.” The report uncovered extensive evidence of a toxic, even crazy, environment at the Human Rights Tribunal, Chotalia’s reign of terror marked by the woman in charge harassing, screaming and spying on staff, who were chronically humiliated. Indeed, those staff members had first lodged a complaint three years ago, through their union, with Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, who fobbed it off on the Privy Council Office, which rejected it. Eventually, the matter ended in Dion’s lap. Given all the disturbing evidence of “gross mismanagement” that the whistle-blowing Integrity Commission documented, it’s inexplicable why the ministry and PCO dismissed the allegations out of hand earlier. Chotalia treated staff and appointed members disgracefully: harassing, screaming, spying on staff; speaking to them and about them in derogatory terms; impugning their credibility in front of colleagues; and contaminating the workplace by sowing misinformation about them. She belittled and humiliated, frequently reducing employees to tears. She ordered staff not to cancel a trip to Vancouver for a mediation session, even though the parties involved had come to an agreement. She flew to the West Coast and then transferred to a San Diego-bound flight for a previously planned personal trip. Of course, there’s nothing that can be done about Chotalia now. She’s returned to the private sector, running her own law and mediation business, her website detailing scores of human rights legal cases she’s argued. “The human rights racket created a she-monster.”

They are the Alpha Females, Queens of Mean, rhymes-with-witches of the workplace and awesomely powerful. Lifestyle terrorist Martha Stewart, fashion dominatrix Anna Wintour, assault-with-a-cellphone model Naomi Campbell, pulp magazine editor Bonnie Fuller and possibly — a matter of much divided opinion — Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who recently commanded staffers to get their butts back in the office, no more working from home. Those of similar Valkyrie qualities who’ve gone to their (presumably) just rewards include stiletto heeled big-footing hotelier Leona Helmsley, Cincinnati Reds owner and Nazi memorabilia collector Marge Schott and Margaret Thatcher. Add to that list a name that will ring few bells, unless you happen to be conversant with the vast bureaucratic apparatus of the Canadian human rights industry: Shirish Chotalia, until November 2012, chair of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal — the agency which, ironically, convenes quasi-courts to try discrimination complaints. (via One woman’s reign of terror at rights tribunal: DiManno | Toronto Star)

  • Ethiopian-born Chotalia told the investigator, Christian Santarossa, that all of this scrutinizing of her conduct had occurred because “I was chosen by a Conservative government, I am a brown woman from Alberta and the unions want to remove me.”
  • The report uncovered extensive evidence of a toxic, even crazy, environment at the Human Rights Tribunal, Chotalia’s reign of terror marked by the woman in charge harassing, screaming and spying on staff, who were chronically humiliated. Indeed, those staff members had first lodged a complaint three years ago, through their union, with Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, who fobbed it off on the Privy Council Office, which rejected it.
  • Eventually, the matter ended in Dion’s lap. Given all the disturbing evidence of “gross mismanagement” that the whistle-blowing Integrity Commission documented, it’s inexplicable why the ministry and PCO dismissed the allegations out of hand earlier.
  • Chotalia treated staff and appointed members disgracefully: harassing, screaming, spying on staff; speaking to them and about them in derogatory terms; impugning their credibility in front of colleagues; and contaminating the workplace by sowing misinformation about them. She belittled and humiliated, frequently reducing employees to tears.
  • She ordered staff not to cancel a trip to Vancouver for a mediation session, even though the parties involved had come to an agreement. She flew to the West Coast and then transferred to a San Diego-bound flight for a previously planned personal trip.
  • Of course, there’s nothing that can be done about Chotalia now. She’s returned to the private sector, running her own law and mediation business, her website detailing scores of human rights legal cases she’s argued.
“The human rights racket created a she-monster.”
Posted in shirish chotalia canada human rights chrt tribunal mean bully bullying
Quote Post
On Tuesday, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney tweeted a photo from Miskolc, Hungary, where he was meeting with Roma leaders on the huge numbers of their constituents (once described as “Gypsies”) launching refugee claims — almost all of which are abandoned or unsuccessful — in Canada. It was not your typical happy government photo-op. One fellow seems to be gesticulating angrily toward Mr. Kenney; another seems to be glowering at the camera. Nobody looks even slightly comfortable, and that’s not surprising. Canada is a rare sanctuary for the Roma. Mr. Kenney is basically telling them to stay home and deal with an often horrible situation.
—

How Europe’s Roma problem became ours | Full Comment | National Post

  • If I were a Hungarian or European Union leader, I would be pretty chagrined by Mr. Kenney’s presence in Miskolc. (Imagine if native Canadians were fleeing to Sweden as refugees, and its foreign minister flew in to Attawapiskat, Ont., to view the dire situation first hand.) Canada’s uniquely welcoming refugee system makes the Roma our problem: In the first two quarters of this year, there were an absurd 1,389 claimants from Hungary — 13% of the total and nearly double the second-highest source, which was China. But it is the Roma’s situation in Eastern Europe that drives them abroad. That’s Europe’s problem. And that cradle of modern human rights can’t solve it.
  • Persecution and abuse don’t just infest the former Soviet bloc countries. A harrowing 2010 BBC documentary, Gypsy Child Thieves, detailed the appalling situation on the streets of Madrid: Children sent out to steal by their parents, often meeting with (understandably) violent responses from their adult targets. A developed country such as Spain should be taking these children into care; instead they mostly wind up back in the slums.
  • There is no point sugarcoating the problems. The violence and discrimination the Roma face in Europe is visceral and entrenched in a way that has no analogue in modern Canada. Spend a night in Budapest and you might be shocked by what you hear about the Roma. Spend a week and you’ll likely have a sense of why people talk that way. The Roma street crime pandemic needn’t be a reflection on “all Roma,” but if the only Roma one encounters are street criminals … well, human nature is what it is. It makes it extremely difficult for Roma, especially those who “look” Roma, to lead respectable and prosperous lives.
  • Canada can’t solve that problem. The poorest, most persecuted Roma can’t get here anyway. What Canada can do is make sure that it remains a rare island of tolerance for Roma in a sea of antipathy.
  • Last month, police in Durham, Ont., east of Toronto, reported busting up a massive criminal ring, allegedly run by Romanian Roma, that among other things was practising European-style distraction thefts on the streets of Oshawa, Ont.
  • Roma have lived remarkably quietly in Canada, but this is precisely how a backlash would start. Indeed, Sun News personality Ezra Levant took to the airwaves with a stomach-turning attack — even by his standards — on the entire global Roma community. The Jewish Tribune reports this week that Toronto’s Roma Community Centre is considering pursuing a criminal complaint against Mr. Levant — which is troublesome, regardless of the letter of the law, because that’s likely exactly the battle he seeks.
Great article, National Post! What’s missing is a bit more historical context on the Roma discriminatory and genocidal practices of European powers of modern times. Also, Canada is no stranger to such practices - it fully employed them against its Native peoples. There’s more:

…

Four Toronto churches have agreed to hide asylum-seekers whose refugee claims have been rejected and others say they are considering the request, the Star has learned.

…Jozsef Pusuma, his wife Timea Daroczi and their 4-year-old daughter Viktoria are believed to be the only people currently receiving sanctuary in Toronto. The family has been hiding in an Anglican church in downtown Toronto since December after a federal court judge approved a deportation order against the Hungarian Roma family.

For five years before arriving in Toronto in September 2009, Pusuma, 41, worked as a researcher for Veronika Mohacsi, a prominent Roma and member of the European Parliament. It was a dangerous job. Pusuma frequently received death threats both over the phone and in person.

When Pusuma and his wife appeared for their Immigration and Refugee Board hearing a year and a half after their arrival in Canada, their immigration consultant tried to introduce as evidence a letter from Mohacsi that said Pusuma had worked for her. The IRB panel refused it because the letter had not been translated into English as required, according to court documents.

If he returns to Hungary, he believes he will be targeted.

…“Sanctuary is a stopgap,” said Creal, 85. “We don’t want a million people living in church basements. Our end game is to have revisions to Bill C-31 to make things more fair.”

Creal said the pending refugee legislation would make a rejected asylum-seeker wait for a year before filing a humanitarian appeal. Essentially, that means he or she would be deported from Canada and, months later, file a request from overseas.

…Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says the new restrictions are necessary because Canada is a haven to many false refugees who exploit the social welfare system.

In response, Kenney has created a “safe list” of countries. If an asylum-seeker comes from a country on the list, their case will be fast-tracked in a matter of weeks — meaning rejected applicants will be processed and deported before they can qualify for Canadian social assistance programs.

…
Toronto refugee lawyer Andrew Brouwer, who represents Pusuma, said refugee hearings under the new system would be held within six weeks of a claimant’s arrival in Canada. The problem is, all documents relating to the cases, including police and medical reports, must be submitted more than 20 days ahead of the hearing. That would leave claimants about three weeks to land in Canada, find a lawyer, complete their refugee applications, and obtain the necessary documents from their home country.
Read it in the Toronto Star

Posted in roma gipsy gypsy romani canada immigration discrimination asylum sanctuary xenophobia acceptance tolerance human rights | 6 notes