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Will Zuzak; DESCROCK.013 = Letter to Montreal Gazette; 1996-08-25
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Dear Reader:
Appended below is a Letter to Editor which I attempted to have
published in the Montreal Gazette. Unfortunately, even after contacting
Jennifer Robinson and faxing the material directly to her, the Gazette
appears to be unwilling to do so.
For the past several years, I have repeatedly warned Canadians
of the dangers of Allan Rock's initiative with denaturalization and
deportation corrupting our system of jurisprudence as has occurred in
the United States. Many of my views on the subject have been archived at
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/pakistan/83/demjanjuk/
under the DESCROCK file names. You are invited to peruse these and make
your concerns known to your local newspapers, your members of
parliament, the Justice Department, in particular, and the government of
Canada.
Those in the Montreal area are encouraged to contact the
Montreal Gazette:
Michael Goldbloom, President and Publisher (514)987-2222
Joan Fraser, Editor in Chief (514)987-2500
Jennifer Robinson, Editorial Page Editor (514)987-2462
Thank you.
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Dear Sirs/Mesdames:
Since Emailing and subsequently faxing the appended letter to
you for inclusion in your Letters to Editor section on July 24 and
August 8, 1996, I have not had an acknowledgement/response from you.
Neither (to my knowledge) have you published the letter.
I feel that it is important that the public be informed on all
aspects of the war crimes issue and that the hate mongering of Ms.
Kestelman and Mr. Friedman not go unchallenged. In my opinion, the
Gazette has so far failed to provide fair and balanced information to
the public on this issue.
Could you please publish my letter as requested or, if you have
no intention of doing so, could you please justify your decision such
that I can take further appropriate action.
Respectfully
Will Zuzak; 1996-08-15
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Letters to Editor July 24, 1996
The Gazette
250, ouest rue St. Antoine
Montreal, Quebec H2Y 3R7
Fax:(514)987-2639
Email: [email protected]
Dear Sirs:
In their July 18, 1996 letter to the Montreal Gazette titled "Decision
shows it's time for Federal Court to go", Paula Kestelman and Sam
Friedman are disingenuous in avoiding the two main issues in the war
crimes controversy. The two issues are "denaturalization and
deportation" and "subversion of the Canadian system of jurisprudence".
Canada's war crimes legislation stems from the Deschenes Commission
debacle of 1985-87 during which thousands of innocent Canadians were
defamed and libeled as war criminals. Upon passage of Bill C-71 in
August 1987, the federal government stated that it had opted for a
"made-in-Canada solution". There would be no "denaturalizations and
deportations".
Since then, several cases were tried in Canadian criminal courts using
rigorous rules of evidence in front of a jury. All succeeded in
demonstrating the innocence of the accused victims. Justice was done and
was seen to be done.
Recently, the Justice Department has reneged on its original promise and
is now attempting to denaturalize and deport its victims in civil courts
of law without a jury and using lax rules of evidence. By no stretch of
the imagination can denaturalization and deportation be equated to
justice. In fact, it is a blueprint for injustice, as demonstrated by
the infamous John Demjanjuk case in the U.S. No criminal acts need be
proven; irregularities in immigration procedures are sufficient.
The second, and even more important issue in the long term, is the
integrity of the Canadian justice system. An independent judiciary, free
from political interference or pressure from lobby groups, is one of the
cornerstones of a healthy democracy.
Ms. Kestelman and Mr. Friedman are doing Canadians a grave disservice by
condoning and even promoting the subversion of our justice system.
Because of the very serious impropriety on the part of assistant deputy
attorney-general, Ted Thompson, his conduct, and that of justices James
Jerome and Julius Isaac, is now under judicial review. It is
incomprehensible that Justice Minister Allan Rock would compound this
judicial interference by appealing the decision of Justice Bud Cullen,
and even launching other war crimes cases, while this review is in
progress.
To conclude, it is clear from what has transpired that something is
seriously wrong in the way the Justice Department is run.
Respectfully submitted
Will Zuzak ; Tel:(514)652-8697
604 des Fauvettes
Ste. Julie, Que. J3E 1G1
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Will Zuzak; DESCROCK.013 = Letter to Montreal Gazette; 1996-08-25
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[The original letter of Kestelman and Friedman, referred to above,
is reproduced below as of 2002-01-15]
Montreal Gazette | July 18, 1996 | Kestelman and Friedman
Decision shows it's time for Federal Court to go
Two points must be raised in regard to the July 06, 1996 decision
of Federal Court Justice Bud Cullen to drop the action against three
suspected Nazi war criminals living in Canada.
First, the delays that were tolerated by the Canadian justice system
are absolutely incredulous. Federal Court Justice James Jerome was
assigned to the case in January 1995. He appeared to have no interest
in hearing the case and so seemed to have been playing for time by
delaying procedures in his court.
After 20 months, the case of the three had still not gone to trial.
The lawyer for the Canadian government, fed up with this dilly
dallying, sought to have this affair heard by another justice.
Instead of finally hearing the case, the second justice, Bud Cullen,
giving truly vague reasons, ordered all charges against the three
men stayed.
Our second point refers to the disdain displayed by the federal
justices for victims of war atrocities in the past and in recent
years. The judgment has created a situation where war criminals
from many countries today may find safe haven in Canada. Word gets
around the world quickly.
It is possible that perpetrators of war crimes in the "killing
fields" of Cambodia, Haiti, Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia are
already living in Canada.
After the July 06, 1996 judgment, they probably would notify their
associates back home that in Canada they would be completely safe
from any type of retribution or threat of deportation.
Canada could now join the ranks of Paraguay and Argentina, where
perpetrators of war atrocities could find refuge. Canada, with its
generous social benefits and a lackadaisical judicial system, offers
a comfortable refuge indeed for suspected war criminals.
If the appeal of the Federal Court's judgment is rejected, the
federal Immigration Ministry will be left virtually unable to deport
people suspected of war crimes. Instead, they will be provided with
the same social benefits given to other citizens of our country.
What we would suggest to prevent this from ever happening again is to
simply dissolve the Federal Court and transfer all its jurisdictions
to the provincial courts. Quebec for example, has a truly fine court
structure where cases can be brought to trial quickly if any of the
lawyers involved are serious about doing so.
It is clear from what has transpired that something is seriously wrong
in the way the Federal Court is run.
Paula Kestelman and Sam Friedman
Montreal
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