TEHRAN IRIB recently interviewed Mr. Safari Bandish, editor in chief of **** Crescent International****, on the subject of the recently proposed draft (C-16) which has been presented to the Canadian Parliament. C-16 is meant to prohibit fund-raising for terrorist movements.

Q. Mr. Safari Bandish, would you please explain the new C-16 draft and its objectives?

A. This draft is aimed at charitable organizations that are accused by the Canadian secret service of funding terrorist activities. The legal consultants of the Canadian government claim that this draft is based on the antiterrorist act which is currently part of Canadian law.

They also reason that the Canadian government should not support terrorist-affiliated organizations and such organizations should not be tax-exempt.

If this draft is approved by the Parliament, the national finance minister would be required to testify to the alleged link of certain charitable organizations with terrorist organizations based on reports he receives from security and intelligence sources. His testimony would then be sent to the Federal Court which is the final arbiter in any case. If the Federal Court rules in favor of the minister's testimony, the alleged charitable organization will no longer benefit from being tax-exempt.

The Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) reacted to this proposal by giving a press conference in Ottawa. In this press conference, the CIC asked the government to send the draft to the Canadian Supreme Court for review before it is raised in the Parliament. The CIC view the draft as undemocratic and 70 Islamic and non-Islamic charitable organizations have unanimously voiced their opposition to this draft and asked for its withdrawal. Their opposition is based on two principles.

The charter of the Canadian Constitution has defended the rights and liberties of all citizens. These rights cannot be violated by any government and the C-16 draft is counter to this charter. According to this draft, the Canadian Court will assess allegations based on classified documents. Hence the accused or their layers will not have access to the evidence which has been given against them. Consequently, they are effectively deprived of the right to defend themselves. It is due to this evident breach of civil rights that even non-Islamic organizations are protesting the draft.

Q. Apart from C-16, there are other bills and legislation that are aimed at putting pressure on Muslims, such as the antiterrorist acts in Britain and in the U.S. What is your opinion about the objectives of such legislation?

A. They are trying to put pressure on Muslims to force them to yield to their policies. For example, the antiterrorist act in the U.S. is commonly used against Arabs and Muslims.

The officials of these countries do not even allow those accused of supposed terrorist acts to know who accused them and what the evidence against them is. Thereby they are deprived of the right to defend themselves and they are arrested and imprisoned arbitrarily.

Today, as you surely know, immense pressure is being leveled against Muslims and a clear example of such pressure is the daily massacre of innocent Palestinians which is being conducted without any protest from Western countries. The main reason for such double standards is the influence of Zionists.

By such policies they aim to discourage Muslims from supporting their brothers in different regions of the world. They wish to prevent Muslim countries from supporting legitimate resistance movements such as Hamas, Islamic jihad and Hizbollah. But their efforts are bound to fail because not only will Islamic countries continue their support for the legitimate resistance, but other non-Islamic countries and human rights organizations will also support the righteous cause of the Islamic resistance.