Torture survivor turned author voices fears over Bill C-51 | National Observer

10.6.15

Torture survivor turned author voices fears over Bill C-51 | National Observer: But for a political prisoner in Evin nothing was free. Nemat was forced to marry Moosavi and spent a total of two years, two months, and 12 days as a prisoner. She was only released after Ali was assassinated and his family intervened on her behalf.

Seven years later, she arrived in Canada with her young family where they were finally able to live in freedom, but for a torture survivor turned author, Bill C-51 casts a dark cloud.

“I was a student activist. I had never been violent. My crime was protesting the new laws that had been imposed by Iran's newly formed Islamist regime.

"I do not underestimate the threats that the world faces today, including the Islamic State (IS), Al Qaeda, the Islamic Republic of Iran [IRI], and Putin's Russia, to name a few.

"To me, the IRI and IS are two sides of the same medieval coin, and we should be very worried about them. Yet, I believe that we cannot fight such threats by becoming reactionary and squashing the democratic freedoms that represent our values. Those freedoms are an important part of who we are and protect us from becoming, in all practicality, similar to our enemies who have no respect for human and civil rights.