Your High Excellencies
President Obama, Président Sarkozy, Bundeskanzlerin Merkel, Prime Minister Cameron,

by Kevin Galalae

It is with a heavy heart and a deep sense of responsibility that I deem it necessary to write to you on my 28th day of hunger strike at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, where I have so far failed to compel Commissioner Hammarberg and the Council of Europe to exercise their authority to condemn and shut down a covert program of surveillance and censorship (SAC) of students in universities that operates in the UK since 2007 and in the EU since 2010 under the cover of Resolution 1624 (2005), with the blessings of the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) and under the supervision of the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED).

The very existence of this unlawful, unethical, divisive and discriminatory program demonstrates that the safeguards put in place to prevent violations of international law and the European Convention are ineffective and that neither the people in charge of the greater counter-radicalization agenda nor the supervisory bodies charged with enforcing respect for the law and democratic values are willing to admit that human rights, civil liberties and protection under the law are being trampled on with impunity and without accountability for questionable objectives that fall far outside the scope of the counter-radicalization strategy.

The powers accorded to the CTC and the CTED are being grossly abused with dire consequences for free speech, freedom of conscience and religion, freedom of association, the right to privacy and family life, and academic freedom, to name but a few. Their brazen actions show that nothing is sacred for the self-serving cabal of international corruption and global autocracy that has taken root at the UN and that has begot a global industry of absolute control and oppression.
The damage they have done is incalculable. The freedom of the press, the integrity of civil society and the independence and impartiality of the courts have been annihilated to protect the operations, violations and secrecy of illegal and immoral programs like SAC that have been let loose on our societies, on our values, on our freedoms and on our children. Unless stopped, there will be nothing left of our democracies except empty shells and hypocrisy.

The forces of autocracy – empowered and emboldened by the self-serving indifference and incompetence of UN and EU high officials, who refuse to fulfill their duties; by the silence of the press and civil society, who are afraid to tell the truth; and by the perversion of the judiciary, who have been coerced to stand idle while violations are endemic – have most recently launched a vicious attack on the people’s court of last resort, the European Court of Human Rights, in an attempt to make justice unreachable to the ever-growing number of victims of abuse by State Parties that routinely violate their people in order to stifle legitimate dissent and democratic aspirations, defend the interests of the elites, silence criticism of misguided policies and political corruption, and reduce the poor the weak and the foreign to second class status under the cover of countering terrorism and radicalization.

I ask you as a father, as a Canadian and as a global citizen to halt the onslaught on our democracies and democratic aspirations, the debasement of our fundamental rights and liberties, the annihilation of good will among peoples and nations, and the destruction of our children’s futures committed by State actors in the name of countering radicalization. The powers granted by Resolution 1624 are too great to be controlled, too broad to be contained and too intrusive not to be abused. If the UK could not help but fall victim to its own creation, Resolution 1624, and Britain’s legal system and civil society could not confront its violations and defend the innocent, who are but children, then what hope is there for nations that lack democratic institutions and a legal culture or that are torn by ethnic divides, poverty and ignorance?

Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, the time has come to turn a new page and return to the values and norms we have abandoned and on which our freedom and dignity rest; values and norms that we have no right to proclaim and promote in the world when we no longer abide by them.

Not resurrecting democracy and freedom, truth and decency, the rule of law and due process would be pure folly since the damage done to our rights and freedoms and to our democracies by the bodies meant to protect us is far greater than the damage done by terrorists or the threat they pose. The only way to stop terrorism and radicalization is by tempering the excesses of capitalism and by creating societies of inclusion that are respectful of our inalienable rights, tolerant of differences, mindful of clashing worldviews and that welcome each and all in the fold of economic security and political self-determination.

Do not let institutional repression intimidate and deceive you as they have intimidated and deceived us and sully your reputations and legacies the way they have sullied our values and rights. You have the power to act and are the only people left who can restore our democracies and the rule of law.

Disband the CTC and CTED, scrap the counter-radicalization deception, and condemn and punish those responsible for debasing free speech and freedom of conscience on their most sacred ground, the universities, where they must be protected like humanity’s greatest treasures. As heads of state and close allies you have the authority to coordinate such a change of direction. You have tied the Gordian knot, you must now untie it. History will look harshly upon you if you don’t.

I shall stand guard at the gates of power, ragged and hungry, until you do.

(More from Kevin at Cryptome.org)