Pubdate: Wed, 25 Jul 2012
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Times Colonist
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/letters.html
Website: http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Lee Berthiaume

MORE THAN 1,700 CANADIANS IN FOREIGN PRISONS

Vast Majority Involve Allegations of Drug Smuggling, Expert Says

OTTAWA - From drug smuggling in Peru to attempted fraud in China to 
murder in the United States, federal statistics show more than 1,700 
Canadians are being held in foreign prisons and detention centres 
around the world.

More than 70 per cent of Canadians held abroad as of July 9 were in 
the United States, though Canada was also represented in more than 50 
other countries' jails, prisons and detention centres.

At the same time, more than a quarter of those detained abroad were 
facing or doing time for drug related charges.

Gar Pardy, former head of consular services at Foreign Affairs, said 
the vast majority of the cases would relate to drug smuggling, 
particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Such was the case for three Canadian women arrested in the Dominican 
Republic in February on allegations they were being used as "mules" 
to carry cocaine to Canada.

Canadians appear to be a major presence in jails throughout the 
hemisphere. "There's hardly a place down there where you don't find a 
bunch of Canadians," Pardy said. "There are also a fair number of 
Canadians involved in the higher levels in drug trafficking."

While Pardy was not surprised that 1,209 of the 1,712 Canadians held 
abroad were in the U.S., the 82 Canadians being detained in China is 
a marked increase over previous years.

Pardy attributed this to the fact commercial relations between the 
two countries are at an all-time high.

"Initially, if you had a dozen in China, that would be it," he said. 
"Now more Canadians are going there. And I think what you're finding 
is a lot more Chinese -Canadians going there and setting up businesses."

And while drug charges were the most common ones facing Canadians in 
many prisons around the world, fraud appears to be the main issue for 
Canadians in China.

"It's very easy to get charged with fraud in China," Pardy said. "A 
lot of them go and set up businesses and work with some local people. 
Then there are disagreements and the local people go to the police 
and the Canadians get detained until it gets worked out."

While the U.S. and China ranked first and second in terms of the 
number of Canadians detained, the federal figures show Australia 
coming in third with 46, followed by Japan with 27.

Rounding out the top 10 were the United Kingdom with 24 detained 
Canadians, 20 in Peru, 16 in Jamaica, and 13 each in the Dominican 
Republic, Spain and Costa Rica.

Foreign Affairs refuses to discuss specific cases due to privacy 
concerns, but there are always a number of ongoing, 
politically-sensitive consular cases involving Canadians detained abroad.

One is that of Huseyin Celil, who is serving a life sentence in China 
for advocating on behalf of the country's Uighur minority.

Naser al-Raas, 29, was detained in the Middle Eastern country of 
Bahrain for nearly a year after participating in pro-democracy 
protests. He was freed after federal lobbying.

Foreign Affairs warns Canadians travelling abroad that they are 
subject to the laws of other countries, and that Canada can't always 
be expected to intervene on their behalf.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom