Dear friends,

As you probably know, Hassan Almrei and Mohammed Majoub are both on hunger strike to demand minimally decent conditions of detention.

Hassan Almrei is now on Day 57 of his hunger strike and Mohammed Mahjoub on Day 42. According to Matthew Behrens of TASC their condition is deteriorating, particularly that of Hassan Almrei.

Some of you may remember the case of Bobby Sands and other IRA prisoners who went on hunger strike in 1981. Ten of these hunger strikers died after periods varying from 46 to 73 days (with an average around 60 days), after first sustaining serious organ damage such as blindness.

PLEASE TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO WRITE OR CALL MONTE KWINTER, the provincial minister in charge of their conditions of detention.

Monte Kwinter
Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services
18th floor, 25 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, ON
M7A 1Y6

Phone: (416) 325-0408
Fax: (416) 325-6067
mkwinter.mpp@liberal.ola.org

PLEASE CC correspondence to tasc@web.ca or fax
(416) 651-9770 or by mail to

PO Box 73620
509 St. Clair Ave. West
Toronto, ON
M6C 1C0

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Here is a copy of an email that I sent to Mr. Kwinter.
Feel free to use it as a model if you wish.

August 19, 2005

Monte Kwinter Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services
18th floor, 25 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, ON
M7A 1Y6

Object: Hunger strike of Hassan Almrei and Mohammed Mahjoub

Dear sir,

I am writing to urge you to take immediate action to meet he legitimate demands of Hassan Almrei and Mohammed Mahjoub, who have been detained without trial in Ontario prisons for several years and are both on hunger strike to demand minimally decent conditions of detention.

Almrei has been held in solitary confinement for 4 years; he is asking for the right to have one hour a day of exercise outside of his cell. Mahjoub, who had been detained for 5 years, is asking for contact visits with his wife and children. Almrei and Majoub have never been charged with any crime, much less found guilty. Even if Almrei and Mahjoub were guilty of some misdeed (which remains to be proved), their detention conditions are totally unacceptable, far worse than those of most convicted criminals. Indeed, being detained in solitary confinement for four years (in the case of Almrei) meets international definitions of torture.

As of today (August 19), Hassan Almrei is on Day 57 of his hunger strike and Mohammed Mahjoub on Day 42. Matthew Behrens (TASC) reports that their condition is deteriorating, particularly that of Hassan Almrei. Mr. Almrei was already in poor health before beginning his current hunger strike and is imminently at risk of serious and permanent damage to his health.

Please intervene immediately to try to find a humane solution to this situation. Failure to act quickly could have grave and irreversible consequences. As Canadians, we pride ourselves on respecting basic human rights. Please remain true to this fundamental value.

Sincerely,

Janet Cleveland, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Canada Research Chair on International Migration Law
Université de Montréal