PRESS RELEASES

An Open and Detailed Response to Khalid Mouammar, President of the Canadian Arab Federation and member of Global Social Justice Network

Dear Mr. Mouammar,

The Canadian Somali Congress is responding to your circulation of a press release titled “Act now to stop Canadians from committing war crimes in Somalia.”  This message informs the recipients about the assertion that “18 members of the TFG call Canada home when they are not in Somalia aiding in the death of their own citizens and that people should contact MPs who have been associating with these 18 individuals to enlighten them of the reality of the conflict and dissuade then from meeting with these “war criminals.”  The message goes on to state that “together we can bring justice to the innocent civilians of Somalia and charge these 18 with war crimes in Canada.”  Your circulation and support of this message is in our opinion very misguided at best and irresponsible at worst.  

The claim made in the press release is misguided and/or irresponsible due to a number of reasons.   First it is simply an assertion without any factual basis that has been provided by the accuser(s).   This leads to the potential character assassination of Canadian citizens who have exercised their choice to go back to their birthplace and contribute to its development in a way that they see fit.   While it is not for this organization to on the one hand endorse or on the other hand second-guess their choice, it is well within our mandate to strongly defend the presumption of innocence that these 18 individuals are entitled to under our Canadian justice system.   You are violating this principle by circulating the statement accusing them of being war criminals.   Second, whether these individuals deserve to be charged with a speeding ticket, let alone war crimes is something that is within the mandate of our security services and is the role that our system of government in Canada has already entrusted to these professional organizations.  

We also want to take this opportunity to respond to a previous intervention that you made in the work of the Canadian Somali Congress.   On May 23, 2007, you sent this organization an email criticizing our decision to take on patrons of the organization who were Canadians of non-Somali heritage.   We did not respond at the time because we felt that you would in time increase your respect for this community and realize the futility of lecturing an entire community of Canadians on how to conduct their advocacy affairs.   It seems that we were too optimistic and we didn’t realize the importance that Somalia played in your larger fight against what you consider to be American “imperialism.”  While we were hoping that you would expend more of your efforts towards advocating for the rights of people like Huseyin Celil, the Canadian Islamic scholar unlawfully arrested and tried in China, it goes without saying that it is the right of every Canadian regardless of their background to comment on the affairs of Somalia but when this commentary morphs into a call for the charging of individuals with war crimes without providing the factual basis to do so then it becomes an entirely different matter.   This organization is committed to advocating on behalf of Canadians of Somali heritage and will not shy away from that task.

Ahmed Hussen
National President
Canadian Somali Congress

Tel: 613-523-2656
Email: ahmed@canadiansomalicongress.com
Website: www.canadiansomalicongress.com