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Will Zuzak; DESCROCK.004 = Gazette on Nazi-war-crime hunters; 1995-01-24
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Dear UKES and s.c.u netters:

     The following article appeared in today's Montreal Gazette:

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Ottawa slashing team of Nazi-war-crime hunters
Stephen Bindman, Southam News
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Ottawa - The federal government is slashing the size of the specialized unit
set up to investigate and prosecute suspected Nazi war criminals living in
Canada.
     The Justice Department unit will be cut to 11 employees from 24 on March
31. Two years ago, the team of lawyers, historians and researchers numbered 37.
     Members of the scaled-down unit have been told they will continue to have
jobs for three years, although the funding will be reviewed annually.
     A Justice Department spokesman said the focus of the unit is shifting away
from starting new investigations.
     "There is absolutely no wavering in the government's intention to fulfil
its moral and legal commitment to investigate, and where appropriate, litigate
allegations of war crimes or crimes against humanity," said Sue Barclay.
     "Canada is not and will not become a safe haven for war criminals. Current
investigations of priority files will be completed."
     The Canadain Jewish Congress is alarmed at the cuts.
     "The reduction in the unit appears to be part of a disturbing trend which
puts economic value ahead of bringing murders to justice," said executive
director Jack Silverstone.
     "If the unit had a long and distinguished history of accomplishment with
regard to bringing Nazi-war-crimes suspects  to justice, there would be a
higher level of confidence and there wouldn't be such deep concern."
     "Successive governments and Justice Department officials have indicated a
level of commitment but so far we've seen very little in the way of return for
that purported commitment."
     The cuts come as the Immigration Department considers whether to begin the
process of deporting at least eight suspected Nazi collaborators.
     War-crimes prosecutors believe they have sufficient evidence the eight
either lied or concealed information about their activities during World War II
when they entered Canada.
     Immigration has had reports on the cases from the Justice Department since
last summer, but no formal action has been taken amid a financial turf war
between the departments over who will pay for the costly court cases.
     The Justice Department unit was set up in 1987 after the Criminal Code was 
amended to allow for the prosecution in Canada of war crimes committed
elsewhere.
     But none of the four men charged under the law has been convicted.
     The Justice Department has ruled out further prosecutions as a result of a
ruling last year by the Supreme Court of Canada in the case of retired Toronto
restaurateur Imre Finta.
     In upholding a jury's 1990 acquittal on charges he shipped thousands of
Jews to their deaths, legal experts say the top court has made future criminal
prosecutions virtually impossible.
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Gazette, Montreal, Tuesday, January 24, 1995	page B-1
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     As the above article indicates, the drive to subvert Canada's system of
jurisprudence continues unabated. Having failed to convict their victims in
Canada's criminal courts the "Nazi-hunters" are now attempting the "successful"
American formula of "denaturalization and deportation" under civil (rather than
criminal) rules of evidence.
     In my last posting on the subject on Nov. 6, 1994, Ed Nishnic cited the
John Demjanjuk case as an example of what can go wrong in a denaturalization
case. Denaturalization and deportation is a technicality and has nothing to do
with justice. Indeed, it has proven to be a blueprint for injustice.
     Many of my postings on the John Demjanjuk case, the Deschenes Commission
and war crimes are archived at  in the directory
pub/ukes/demjanjuk. They are available via ftp or via LYNX or MOSAIC from the
UKES WWW home page:
http://soma.crl.mcmaster.ca/ukes/
Readers are encouraged to review them.
     To finish off on a political note, I find it incredible that the federal
government cannot find modest funds to right the historical wrongs of Ukrainian
internment during World War I and the Chinese head tax before world War II, but
contemplates continuing to spend the hundreds of millions of dollars already
wasted on the pursuit of ephemeral "Nazi war criminals" in Canada. The Canadian
Justice Department would perform a much greater service to humanity, if they
turned their attention to crimes against humanity being presently perpetrated
in places like Chechnya, Rwanda and Israel.
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Will Zuzak; DESCROCK.004 = Gazette on Nazi-war-crime hunters; 1995-01-24
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