Posted: Tuesday, 16 November 2010

The Canadian Labour Congress and several other labour groups have hired Abousfian Abdelrazik to undertake a five-city speaking tour in Western Canada between November 17-23. 

“We have hired Mr. Abdelrazik for one week so that he can tell his story of torture and exile in Sudan and of his marginalization by the Canadian government,” says Hassan Yussuff, CLC Secretary-Treasurer.

Abdelrazik, a Canadian citizen, returned to this country 16 months ago after six years in exile in Sudan, including a year in which he was trapped within the Canadian consulate in Khartoum. Eventually, the Sudanese government, CSIS and the RCMP all cleared Abdelrazik of any wrongdoing, but after he was released the Canadian government refused to repatriate him until forced to do so by a Federal Court order. His life, however, remains in limbo. Abdelrazik’s name remains on the UN Security Council’s "1267 list". Under these sanctions, he has been subject to a travel ban and a complete freeze of his assets.

Yussuff says, “The way Canada has applied the UN sanctions in this country, it is apparently illegal for anyone to provide Mr. Abdelrazik with any financial aid, including a gift, loan, or salary. We are challenging this arbitrary and unjust persecution by paying him for one week to tell his story on this speaking tour. He has done nothing wrong and has been treated shamefully. He is living in a prison without walls.”

The speaking tour is organized by Project Fly Home and is sponsored by the Canadian Labour Congress, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, the Canadian Auto Workers and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) – Saskatchewan. He will visit Saskatoon, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver and speak to a broad spectrum of groups who supported his return to Canada.  

For more information, contact:
Karl Flecker, National Director, CLC Anti-Racism and Human Rights
Mobile: 613-614-7065