Abousfian Abdelrazik

Abousfian Abdelrazik is a Montreal man whose name may take its place alongside Maher Arar, Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin in a growing list of victims of a Canadian version of ‘extraordinary rendition’. Documents obtained under the Privacy Act seem to indicate that Mr. Abdelrazik, a Canadian citizen, was incarcerated in Sudan on the request of Canadian officials. While in prison in December 2003, he was interrogated by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), despite Canadian doubts about Sudan’s human rights record. Mr. Abdelrazik was held without charge and eventually released. Since his release in July 2006, he has been blocked from returning home to Montreal. Serious and unanswered questions are raised about the role played by Canadian officials in the affair. Since the story became public, government statements have failed to clarify the situation. Mr. Abdelrazik was granted ‘temporary safe haven’ in the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum in late April 2008 but has since been denied access to his legal counsel and to journalists. Mr. Abdelrazik’s family, based in Montreal, has not seen him for more than five years, when he left to visit his mother in Sudan. They remain hopeful that they will be reunited soon.

Press Releases

• Quebec human rights organizations join family and lawyer of Abousfian Abdelrazik in call to bring Montreal man home
  May 8, 2008
  
  
• Les organisations de droits de la personne du Québec se joignent à la famille et à l’avocat de M. Abousfian Abdelrazik afin de réclamer son rapatriement au Canada
  May 8, 2008
  
  
• Montreal Press Release (English)
  
  

Documents obtained from the government under the Privacy Act

The following documents are extracts from documents pertaining to Abousfian Abdelrazik obtained from the Canadian government under the Privacy Act.

• Document sent from the government of Sudan to Canadian Embassy letting them know that they have nothing against Mr. Abdelrazik

  "Thus, what have been arisen around the suspect was merely doubts on his general shape, beard, prayer's mark on his forhead [...] Based upon our investigations, we did not find any evidence that allow condemning him or punishing him."

• Department of Foreign Affairs internal memo concerning the attempts of Mr. Abdelrazik's wife to bring him back to Canada, 2004

  "So, she could get a private plane, there is very little we could do to stop him from entering Canada. He would need an EP and I guess this could be refused but on what ground?"

• Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs "talking points" document to prepare officials to talk publicly about the case of Abdelrazik.

  "Sudanese authorities readily admit that they have no charges pending against him but are holding him at our request"

  "To our knowledge, there are no charges pending against him in Sudan or in Canada. It is the basic priniciple of Canadian society that all people have the 'right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned'."

  "[From government agents] Canada will not issue Mr. Abdelrazik a passport"

The following is the complete 1500+ pages of the documents obtained under the Privacy Act. The file is very big (169 MB) and it is recommended that you download the ZIP compressed version. You can download 7-zip, a free utilty to uncompress the file here.

• Full set of documents obtained under the Privacy Act - ZIP compressed version (52 MB)
  
  
• Full set of documents obtained under the Privacy Act - PDF version (169 MB)
  
  

Media

• Diplomats knew of his torture, Canadian says
  Paul Koring
  Globe and Mail
  June 24th, 2008
  
  
• Trying to get off the UN's terrorist list described as 'Kafkaesque'
  Paul Koring
  Globe and Mail
  May 16th, 2008
  
  
• Family wants man quickly repatriated
  The Ottawa Citizen
  May 9th, 2008
  
  
• Lawyer wants to hasten return of Sudanese-Canadian
  The Chronicle-Herald
  May 9th, 2008
  
  
• Coincé au Soudan, un Canadien poursuit Ottawa
  Le Devoir
  May 9th, 2008
  
  
• Le Canadien coincé au Soudan poursuit Ottawa
  Le Droit
  May 9th, 2008
  
  
• Le Canadien coincé au Soudan veut obliger Ottawa à le rapatrier
  La Presse Canadienne
  May 9th, 2008
  
  
• Montrealer Faces Weeks Of Legal Limbo
  Jan Ravensbergen
  The Gazette
  May 9th, 2008
  
  
• Un autre Maher Arar? Un canadien est bloqué au soudan depuis trois ans
  Fabrice de Pierrebourg
  Le Journal de Montréal
  May 9th, 2008
  
  
• Dion assails Harper over Khadr
  Omar El Akkad
  The Globe and Mail
  May 8th, 2008
  
  
• Brenda Martin Is No VIP
  The Globe and Mail
  May 7th, 2008
  
  
• Eerie echoes of Maher Arar
  Ottawa Citizen
  May 7th, 2008
  
  
• Canada is complicit in the torture of Canadians
  Kingston Whig-Standard
  May 6th, 2008
  
  
• Abdelrazik sues Ottawa to bring him home
  Paul Koring
  Globe and Mail
  May 5th, 2008
  
  
• Colour barrier is shameful
  Kris Kotarski
  Calgary Herald
  May 5th, 2008
  
  
• Canada asks UN to take citizen off terror suspects list
  The Ottawa Citizen
  May 3rd, 2008
  
  
• Ottawa serait prêt à aider Abdelrazik
  La Presse Canadienne
  May 3rd, 2008
  
  
• Canada asks UN to take citizen off terror suspects list
  The Ottawa Citizen
  May 3rd, 2008
  
  
• Pressure mounts to repatriate Canadian citizen
  Paul Koring and Campbell Clark
  The Globe and Mail
  May 3rd, 2008
  
  
• Maybe Ottawa only likes some of us
  Thomas Walkon
  The Toronto Star
  May 3rd, 2008
  
  
• Man's detention means little was learned from Arar inquiry
  Kim Mackrael
  The Ottawa Citizen
  May 2nd, 2008
  
  
• Ottawa wants terrorism suspect taken off watch list
  Paul Koring
  The Globe and Mail
  May 2nd, 2008
  
  
• Ottawa's role in Canadian's exile remains unclear
  Paul Koring
  The Globe and Mail
  May 1st, 2008
  
  
• Secrecy is a nasty virus that can lay low the body politic
  Lloyd Axworthy
  The Globe and Mail
  May 1st, 2008
  
  
• Holed up in embassy, a citizen's fate in limbo
  Paul Koring and Omar El-Akkad
  The Globe and Mail
  May 1st, 2008
  
  
• Bernier n'entend pas intervenir en faveur du Canadien coincé au Soudan
  Gilles Toupin
  La Presse
  May 1st, 2008
  
  
• Canada's baffling exile
  The Toronto Star
  April 30th, 2008
  
  
• Canadian embassy in Sudan gives terror suspect shelter, won't yet send him home
  Paul Koring and Omar El-Akkad
  The Globe and Mail
  April 30th, 2008
  
  
• Man in limbo takes refuge at Canadian embassy
  The Hamilton Spectator
  April 30th, 2008
  
  
• Man stuck in Sudan remains terrorism suspect ! Ottawa
  The Chronicle-Herald
  April 30th, 2008
  
  
• No-fly list maroons Canadian in Sudan
  The Province
  April 30th, 2008
  
  
• Ottawa accusé d'empêcher un homme de rentrer au pays
  Le Droit
  April 30th, 2008
  
  
• Ottawa begged to stop blocking 'peaceful' man's return home; Terror suspect in Sudan allowed to take refuge in Canadian embassy
  Alexander Panetta
  The Toronto Star
  April 30th, 2008
  
  
• Un Canadien se réfugie à l'ambassade de Khartoum; Aux prises avec la justice soudanaise, il réclame l'aide d'Ottawa
  Le Soleil
  April 30th, 2008
  
  
• Un présumé terroriste se réfugie à l'ambassade canadienne à Khartoum
  Alexander Panetta
  Le Devoir
  April 30th, 2008
  
  
• Transcript of CTV News Report with Roger Smith
  Roger Smith
  CTV News
  April 29th, 2008
  
  
• Murky World of Counterterrorism - Hapless victim or terrorist threat? The evidence is unclear
  Paul Koring
  The Globe and Mail
  April 28th, 2008
  
  
• Exiled In Sudan
  Paul Koring
  The Globe and Mail
  April 28th, 2008