US Activist Barred From Entering Canada By SEAN FARRELL Associated Press Writer http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CANADA_US_PROTESTERS?SITE=DCUSN <http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CANADA_US_PROTESTERS?SITE=DCUSN&SECT ION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT> &SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT <http://te.ap.org/tte/blank.gif?0.19341849981479175&snippet_version=1.3.a&re ferrer=http%3A//hosted.ap.org/lineups/LATESTWORLD-rss_2.0.xml%3FSITE%3DDCUSN %26SECTION%3DHOME%26TEMPLATE%3DDEFAULT&page=http%3A//hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s tories/C/CANADA_US_PROTESTERS%3FSITE%3DDCUSN%26SECTION%3DHOME%26TEMPLATE%3DD EFAULT&timezone=420&clist_TID=0tvdv5310rrun8&var_SECTION=INTERNATIONAL%3B%20 CANADA> OTTAWA (AP) -- A U.S. peace activist who was barred from Canada after past arrests for anti-war activities was denied entry to the country again Thursday, despite having an invitation from several members of parliament. Retired U.S. Army Col. Ann Wright was to speak at an anti-war news conference at the invitation of the left-leaning parliament members who sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper last week advising him that they had invited Wright and another activist. But while other passengers passed through customs at Ottawa's airport, Wright was held back and told to return to the U.S. Wright was to have been accompanied on the trip by fellow activist Medea Benjamin, but Benjamin was arrested and jailed Wednesday during a protest in Washington. The two were refused entry at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, Ontario, earlier this month because their names are on an FBI crime database. The women say they should not be on the database - which is supposed to inform border officials about serious crimes - and that the FBI has not explained why they are on it. The pair believe it's because they have been arrested at peaceful protests against the war in Iraq. Wright called the database listing "political intimidation." She said six of her convictions for protesting are listed in the FBI crime database. "If you get arrested just for protesting policies, Canada will exclude you," Wright said. "They said it was their purpose to enforce the law and if you are convicted of a misdemeanor it doesn't matter. They said if the FBI has it on their database they accept it." Wright said she is now banned from Canada for a year because she knowingly failed to bring proper documentation that might have allowed her into the country despite the convictions. "I failed to produce proper documentation, which is the court documents about these convictions and a temporary resident permit from a Canadian embassy. They said by my failure to bring those with me I was purposefully flouting the Canadian law," Wright said. On Tuesday, the activists and their supporters presented petitions at Canadian consulates in several U.S. cities, demanding that Canada reverse what they say is a policy that keeps opponents of the Iraq war from visiting. Chris Williams, a spokesman with the Canada Border Services Agency, defended the policy. "All travelers that arrive in Canada must satisfy the border services officer that they meet the requirements for entry into Canada," Williams said. "Several factors are used to determine admissibility. They include involvement in criminal activity, human rights violations, organized crime, security, health reasons and financials reasons." Williams said he could not comment on individual cases but added that any criminal conviction is used to determine admissibility. Alexa McDonough, a member of Parliament who had invited the women to Canada, scoffed at the notion Canada needs protection from peaceful anti-war protesters. "I've heard from a great many Canadians how distressed they are that this is another worrisome example of the increasing integration of Canada and U.S. policies," McDonough said. Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau declared his homeland "a refuge from militarism" during the Vietnam War and allowed 30,000 to 50,000 American draft resisters to settle there. But the Canadian government has denied political asylum to U.S. soldiers who sought it after deserting from duty in Iraq. --- Associated Press Writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report. Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. (F)AIR USE NOTICE: All original content and/or articles and graphics in this message are copyrighted, unless specifically noted otherwise. All rights to these copyrighted items are reserved. Articles and graphics have been placed within for educational and discussion purposes only, in compliance with "Fair Use" criteria established in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976. The principle of "Fair Use" was established as law by Section 107 of The Copyright Act of 1976. "Fair Use" legally eliminates the need to obtain permission or pay royalties for the use of previously copyrighted materials if the purposes of display include "criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research." Section 107 establishes four criteria for determining whether the use of a work in any particular case qualifies as a "fair use". A work used does not necessarily have to satisfy all four criteria to qualify as an instance of "fair use". Rather, "fair use" is determined by the overall extent to which the cited work does or does not substantially satisfy the criteria in their totality. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml THIS DOCUMENT MAY CONTAIN COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. COPYING AND DISSEMINATION IS PROHIBITED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNERS. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
