LEBANESE-CANADIAN NGOs DENOUNCE THE ARBITRARY CHARGES LAID BY THE SYRIAN-APPOINTED
LEBANESE GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE CANADIAN CITIZEN MR. BRUCE BALFOUR
Toronto - Canada
2/8/03
PRESS RELEASE
Lebanon's politicized judiciary & Mr. B. Balfour's arbitrary detention
Once again, we the undersigned Canadian-Lebanese groups and organizations strongly urge
our Canadian government to adopt a more aggressive policy towards the Syrian-appointed
Lebanese regime in regards to the violations it is committing against Canada and the
Canadians, both in Canada and in Lebanon. It is well known from current and past political
experience that dictatorships, like the one imposed by Syria on the Lebanese, respond only
to serious and determined firmness.
We all regretfully recall the humiliating and threatening comments made last year by
Beirut's ambassador to Canada after the banning of the terrorist organization Hizbollah
sponsored by the Lebanese regime. Although his comments were a frontal attack on Canada's
democracy and civil peace, as well as against the Lebanese-Canadian community, the
ambassador was not expelled and his case was handled very leniently.
Now the Beirut regime has arbitrarily jailed a respected and law-abiding Canadian citizen,
Mr. Bruce Balfour, and kept his detention secretive for almost two weeks before notifying
the Canadian government, infringing on his basic human rights and breaching international
covenants. Mr. Balfour is now charged by the Lebanese judiciary with collaboration with
Israel.
We strongly believe that Mr. Balfour's case is a fabricated one, a payback to Canada for
banning Hizbollah, and a retaliation message from both Syria and Iran in regards to the
unresolved cases of the two Canadian citizens, Maher Arar (imprisoned in Syria) and Ms.
Kazemi's (murdered in Iran). Mr. Balfour's case is no more than an arm-twisting
Syrian-Iranian strategy against bold and courageous Canadian foreign policy.
It is worth mentioning that after invading Lebanon in 1976, Syria completed its occupation
of the entire country in 1990 by using military force to expel the country's legitimate
government into exile, murdering hundreds of Lebanese civilians, and installing a puppet
subservient regime. Since that time Lebanon's judiciary has completely lost its
independence and credibility and has become yet another tool of repression and revenge
against all those Lebanese citizens and leaders who oppose the status quo of the Syrian
occupation. Lebanon's judiciary is indeed biased and politicized, and lacks
impartiality on account of it having being Syrianized and Iranized. It is used to
oppress, harass, intimidate, torture, imprison, persecute and subdue.
We again urge our Canadian government to utilize all available means and resources to
secure the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Bruce Balfour and to start dealing
with this Syrian-appointed Lebanese regime for what it is, an oppressive collaborator
traitor that does not represent its own people, but rather the interests of its puppeteer
in Damascus, the Baathist regime of Bashar Assad.
The Canadian-Lebanese community greatly appreciates Mr. Bruce Balfour's volunteer work
aiming at restoring Lebanon's national symbol, the famed Biblical Holy Cedars.
Long Live Canada, Long Live A Liberated Free Lebanon
Canadians For Lebanon 10452 km2/ Yehya Mahmoud
Lebanese Information Centre (LIC)/ William Azzi
Council Of The Lebanese Canadian Organizations (COLCO)/ Robet Hanna
Canadian Lebanese Cultural Club (CLCC)/ Maroun Aoun
World Lebanese Organization (WLO)/ Charbel Barakat
Canadian Lebanese Human Rights Federation (CLHRF)/ Edmond El Chidiac
LebaneseCanadian Coordinating Councel (LCCC)/ Elias Bejjani
N.B:
Phone & Fax (905) 272 9389
E.Mail phoenicia@hotmail.com
Web sites
http://www.10452lccc.com
http://www.clhrf.com