Abousfian Abdelrazik - Imprisoned and Then Stranded in Sudan

Imprisoned and Then Stranded in Sudan

In the spring of 2003, Abdelrazik went back to the Sudan. According to Abdelrazik, he returned in order to visit his sick mother, but according to the affidavit of an Abdelrazik associate, he left Canada because of harassment by CSIS agents. In Sudan he was arrested but never charged. According to the Lawyers Weekly, "documents reveal that Sudanese officials arrested him at Canada’s request". The People's Commission on Immigration and Security Measures claims that Mr. Abdelrazik was "repeatedly beaten and tortured" in Sudanese custody. In an affidavit this year, he admits to telling his interrogators "what they wanted to hear", whether or not it was true. He was released in July 2004, having been detained since the previous September. His family bought him an airline ticket to Montreal but the airlines refused to transport him because his name had been place on the US no-fly list. Sudan then forced him to live in a police owned and monitored house. In September, his wife in Montreal divorced him, and the following month Abdelrazik married a Sudanese woman, with whom he had a child the following year. On October 10, 2004, Sudan offered Canada to fly him on a private aircraft if the countries shared the cost. Canada informed Sudan that it would not share the costs or provide an escort. On July 26, 2005, Sudan's Minister of Justice issued Mr. Abdelrazik with a formal document exonerating him. We "did not find any evidence'" linking him to terrorism or crime or al-Qaeda". Abousfian was re-arrested in November 2005, and finally released again in July 2006, Shortly after his second release, the UN's 1267 Committee added him to its list of individuals and entities suspected of belonging to or associated with the Taliban and Al-Qaida. After his second release, Canada refused to renew his passport or provide him with a travel document, leaving him unable to travel on commercial airlines. Canada went so far as to refuse to allow Sudan to transport him to Canada at Sudan's expense on a Sudanese government aircraft. Government aircraft are exempt from the flight ban list which only applies to commercial airlines. Although his Canadian passport had expired, the Canadian government could have issued temporary travel papers to get him to Canada.

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