From Iran to Toronto: Save Canadian’s Family from Torture

 UPDATE:  The Canadian government has granted the family a permit to come to Canada!!! See here.

Seems that the US hasn’t learned much from the Maher Arar case. And Canada seems to not have learned much from the Zahra Kazemi murder in Iran a few years back. If you haven’t heard, the story we’re talking about is that of Kevin, his dad Majid and his mother. Kevin, 10 years old, is Canadian but his parents are not. They were deported from Canada a couple of years ago after their asylum in Canada was refused. The father was on the radio today telling of how he was tortured when he went back to Iran after his failed asylum attempt in Canada.

The family is now being held in a prison in Houston, TX because the plane they were illegally on trying to get back to Canada was diverted in had to land in Puerto Rico where they were intercepted by US officials. Now, the Americans want to deport the family back to Iran. (See story here and Amy Goodman’s from Democracy Now has written an article on the story as well). You can also read a transcript of the interview here.

We need to stop this continuous disrespect by Americans of Canadian citizens. Let’s try and bring Kevin and his family home to Toronto where he lived for almost all his life and attended elementary school and made friends. The least we can do is write a message to Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and Minister Peter Mackay.