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Israel Holding Over 1,000 Without Charge, Most Since 2003

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(JERUSALEM) — According to an Israeli human rights organization, Israel holds over 1,000 Palestinian detainees without charge or trial, the highest total since 2003.

Israel says that a controversial strategy called “administrative detention” helps stop attacks and keep dangerous militants in jail without revealing information that could be used against them. Palestinians and rights groups say the system is often abused and goes against the law because administrative detainees and their lawyers can’t defend themselves. After all, the evidence is kept secret.

As of April, HaMoked, an Israeli rights group that regularly gets information from prison officials, said there were 1,016 people in administrative detention. Administrative detention is rarely used against Jews, but it is almost always used against Palestinians. Four Israeli Jews are being detained without charge at the moment.

“There’s no telling when the nightmare will end,” said Manal Abu Bakr, 48, of Dheisheh, a refugee camp near Bethlehem in the West Bank. Mohammed, her 28-year-old son, missed four years of college due to administrative confinement. Her spouse, Nidal, a journalist and radio host, is still detained. According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, he has spent 17 years in jail over the last three decades, more than half of it without charge.

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The meeting to renew his detention is scheduled for September. “I’m tired,” Manal admitted. “It’s difficult even to hope.”

According to HaMoked, 2,416 Palestinians are serving prison sentences after being convicted in Israeli military tribunals. An extra 1,409 detainees are being questioned, charged and awaiting trial or are being tried right now.

Administrative prisoners comprise 49 of the 76 Palestinians detained in the last month. Administrative detention orders are valid for six months but can be renewed forever.

“The numbers are shocking,” said Jessica Montell, HaMoked’s director. “There are no limitations on what should be a rare exception.” It’s becoming increasingly common for them to detain individuals without charge or trial.”

The dramatic rise in administrative detentions is partly due to a large-scale military attack on Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank.

According to the Israeli military, the country’s raids into Palestinian cities and towns in response to a series of deadly Palestinian attacks last year resulted in the detention of over 2,400 Palestinians since March 2022. The Shin Bet security service in Israel did not reply quickly to requests for comment on the latest administrative detention figures.

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Israel describes the increased raids as a counterterrorism endeavor to prevent future attacks.

Israel describes the increased raids as a counterterrorism endeavor to prevent future attacks. Residents and critics in Palestine say the operation only adds to the cycle of violence, as the incursions spark violent demonstrations and firefights with Palestinian militants.

According to an Associated Press tally, Israeli fire has slain nearly 90 Palestinians in the West Bank this year. In the same time frame, 15 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks. Although Israel claims that most Palestinians killed were militants, the dead included stone-throwing youths and bystanders who were not violent.

According to HaMoked, the last time the country held this many administrative detainees was in May 2003, during the Second Intifada, a violent Palestinian revolt.

“The numbers always rise when tensions rise on the ground,” said Sahar Francis, head of Addameer, a Palestinian prisoners’ rights organization. Administrative detention “is an effective tool for arresting hundreds of people in a short period.”

Since Israel’s capture of the territory in the 1967 Mideast conflict, the West Bank has been under Israeli military rule. The Palestinians want it to be the centerpiece of their future state.

The nearly 3 million Palestinian residents of the area are subject to Israeli military justice, whereas the nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers who live alongside them have Israeli citizenship and are subject to civilian courts.

SOURCE – (AP)

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Canada to Expedite the Rejection of Bogus Refugee Claims

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Canada to Fast-Tracking Refugee Refusals

Canada’s immigration minister, Marc Miller, has announced that he intends to suggest reforms to the nation’s refugee system. These reforms could expedite the rejection of cases with a low likelihood of success.

“I intend to bring up additional initiatives. I intend to reform the system. “It is not working as it should,” Immigration Minister Marc Miller told a parliamentary committee on Monday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been shifting his government’s friendly posture toward migrants. He promises to limit immigration and Canada’s population over the next two years as his party falls in polls and Canadians express waning support for new arrivals.

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, an independent adjudicator of refugee claims, is receiving claims from “people with increasingly fewer hopes to stay in Canada and being counseled to file, I believe unjustly, asylum claims where they should not be able to do so,” Miller added.

In recent months, Canada has seen an all-time high number of refugee claims. Although the monthly total fell to roughly 17,400 in October from above 20,000 in July, the number of claims pending was the highest ever, at more than 260,000 last month.

Statistics Canada reports that more than 265,000 non-permanent residents arrived in Canada during the second quarter of 2024.

Miller has called into question the legitimacy of thousands of refugee petitions filed by international students.

The reforms would try, in part, to discourage people who planned to utilize their international studies as a gateway to permanent residency in Canada from submitting refugee claims as a last-ditch effort to stay now that new laws have closed that avenue.

According to the Immigration and Refugee Board, 46,736 people have sought asylum in Canada since March of this year. This represents a 62% increase over 2023, with a backlog of 186,000 claimants.

An increase in temporary immigration has been connected to Canada’s housing crisis. In April, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cautioned that the situation needed to be “under control,” claiming that temporary immigration had “grown at a rate far beyond what Canada has been able to absorb.”

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Notorious Serial Killer Paul Bernardo Denied Parole

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Serial killer Paul Bernardo
Serial killer Paul Bernardo makes third attempt at release before Canada parole board

Paul Bernardo, a notorious serial killer, has been denied parole for the third time during a hearing before the Parole Board of Canada.

The parole board stated that, while Bernardo has made some progress while incarcerated, there is still great worry about his potential for sexual recidivism and narcissistic personality disorder, given the “extremely violent” nature of his crimes.

Paul Bernardo, a dangerous offender, is serving an indeterminate life sentence for the kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder of Kristen French, 15, and Leslie Mahaffy, 14, in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ontario.

The 60-year-old told the board that his primary goal was to obtain day parole at a halfway house or, at the very least, escorted absences from jail so that he could attend a community program for sex offenders.

Leslie’s mother, Debbie Mahaffy, arrived in person on behalf of both families. Meanwhile, Kristen’s mother, Donna French, delivered her victim impact statement virtually.

Tim Danson, the families’ lawyer, noted, “Unfortunately, Donna French will be unable to attend the hearing due to PBC’s short notice and last-minute change in position. “She will deliver her victim impact statement virtually.”

Bernardo also killed his sister-in-law, Tammy Homolka. Karla Homolka, his ex-wife, served a 12-year sentence for manslaughter in the French and Mahaffy murders.

Last year, Bernardo’s transfer from a maximum-security prison to a medium-security facility in Quebec sparked widespread outrage.

The victims’ family presented an emotional case against Bernardo’s release, claiming they had been re-traumatized every time his parole hearings came up.

After about 30 minutes of deliberation, the parole board decided at the end of a daylong hearing at the La Macaza Institution in Quebec, where Bernardo is now housed.

About Paul Bernardo

Paul Bernardo is a Canadian serial rapist and murderer. During the 1980s and early 1990s, he committed heinous atrocities alongside his wife, Karla Homolka.

They were jointly responsible for the sexual assault and murder of several young women, including Karla’s sister, Tammy Homolka. Bernardo also became known as the “Scarborough Rapist,” having committed more than a dozen sexual assaults in the Toronto region.

In 1995, he was convicted of many offenses, including first-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault, and sentenced to life. His case is still one of Canada’s most prominent criminal investigations.

 

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‘Keep Calm and Gobble On’: Joe Biden Holds Trump’s Final Turkey Pardon.

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(VOR News) – Vice President Joe Biden delivered a message to the American populace during his concluding Thanksgiving turkey pardon ceremony on Monday, encouraging them to “maintain composure and gobble on.”

Prior to Donald Trump’s potential return to the White House, this communication was conveyed.

The 82-year-old U.S. Vice President Joe Biden guaranteed that the birds Peach and Blossom would not be served at the American dinner table over the forthcoming holiday.

Joe Biden has observed this peculiar tradition for a long time.

Vice President Joe Biden, addressing a large audience on the South Lawn of the presidential palace, asserted that Blossom’s mindset was characterized by “no foul play,” while Peach adhered to the principle of “keep calm and gobble on” in a series of remarks. The audience was the intended recipient of these statements.

The two avian creatures “remained composed and continued to gobble, and they are still gobbling” as they journeyed from the Minnesota farm of their origin to Washington, he elaborated. During their relocation from Minnesota to Washington, he made this statement.

Notwithstanding this, the Democrats’ claims that the turkeys indeed emitted gobbling sounds on multiple occasions conveyed a melancholic sentiment as Obama readies to leave the White House on January 20.

Republican Donald Trump is poised to dismantle numerous programs established by Vice President Joe Biden following his victory over Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, in the November election.

Uncertainty has emerged in the United States and other nations due to Trump’s pledges to execute extensive deportations, dismantle the federal bureaucracy, and levy substantial tariffs on imports from foreign countries.

Biden remarked, in a more solemn tone, that this would be “my final opportunity to address you as your president during this season.” Biden’s address was intended to conclude on a momentous note. He also stated that it was “my final opportunity to address this audience.”

Following a disastrous televised debate with Trump in July, Biden exited the race, stating, “Let me express that it has been the honor of my life, and I am eternally grateful.” “I am eternally thankful,” he stated in conclusion. Finally, he expressed, “I will be eternally grateful.”

Ruffled feathers

Notwithstanding this, the outgoing president has pledged to refrain from creating any complications during the transition to Donald Trump’s government. This stands in stark contrast to his opponent, who persistently claims, without basis, that his loss to Biden in the 2020 race was due to a fraudulent campaign.

The White House confirmed on Monday that Vice President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will attend the Republican swearing-in ceremony on January 20. This occurred despite President Trump’s absence at the Democrats’ inauguration in 2021.

During a Thanksgiving dinner in New York with Vice President Joe Biden, Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates informed reporters, “He perceives this as a significant affirmation of our democratic principles and a tribute to the people’s will.”

In a press conference, Bates and Joe Biden spoke.

Vice President Joe Biden’s attention will soon transition to the personal pardons customarily issued by the president of the United States before leaving the White House, as the conclusion of his one-year term approaches. This is because these pardons are often granted by the President of the United States.

Vice President Biden quipped to reporters, “I am informed that there are 2,500 individuals present today seeking a pardon.” However, Biden has declared that there is one that he would not bestow upon his son, Hunter Biden, at this moment.

One of the gravest offenses is falsifying drug use, a charge for which the younger Biden was convicted this year in relation to a firearm purchase. Moreover, he has admitted guilt in a second legal proceeding for tax avoidance. Both charges culminated in convictions earlier this year.

The determination of whether Hunter Biden, whose little son Beau participated in the turkey pardoning event, will face any punishment remains unresolved in both instances. This matter remains unresolved.

On Monday, the White House issued a statement indicating it had no further remarks regarding Vice President Biden’s previous comments about his son’s prospects for obtaining a pardon.

SOUREC: NDTV

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