Innocent Enabler of Murderous Regime

"Individuals may be criminally culpable despite engaging in activities that are seemingly indirect and remote from a crime."

"{The earlier decision by the government's refugee appeal division failed to explain why Alamri was not complicit in wrongdoing by Gaddafi or the Guard, particularly when he was in the outfit for two decades] and knew or was wilfully blind to the Revolutionary Guard's crimes against humanity."

Federal Court Judge Michael Manson

"He has never arrested anyone, never interrogated anyone, never hurt or killed anyone, never fired a gun."

"He said he was willing to die for Gaddafi if he was attacked and he was willing to kill if somebody attacked Gaddafi. Well, that is the job description of any bodyguard."

Marianna Jasper, lawyer for refugee claimant Gamal Ali Faraj Alamri

Irmgard Furchner, seen here in court in Itzehoe, Germany, was convicted on Tuesday of being an accessory to murder for her role as a secretary to the SS commander of the Nazis' Stutthof concentration camp during the Second World War. Her face is obscured in this photo by order of the court. (Christian Charisius/DPA)

 

 In December a German court placed an elderly woman on trial for her part as an accessory to the murder of thousands of people during World War Two, mostly Jews, convicting 97-year-old Irmgard Furchner of being an accessory to murder in over 10,000 cases for her role as a secretary to the SS commander of the Nazis' Stutthof concentration camp during the Second World War. She was accused of being part of the apparatus that helped the camp function.

 

People are ineligible for refugee status if complicit in crimes against humanity, under Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. If claimants are complicit only if they make a "significant and knowing contribution" to an organization's criminal purpose, rather than just having an "association or passive acquiescence", a Supreme Court of Canada decision in 2013, adds nuance and complexity to the Immigration Act. 

People gather with Libyan national flags at the Martyrs' Square in the centre of Tripoli on August 20, to mark the 10th anniversary of the city's capture from the forces of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.  Mahmud Turkia, AFP/File

On the other hand it is beyond ingenuous to argue that someone dedicated to the protection of a powerful dictator known for his deadly brutality, with the responsibility of countless deaths on his hands, is not himself complicit in those deaths. Protecting the life of a mass murderer equals complicity in the gross human rights abuses that the former leader of Libya was accountable for.

Bamal Ali Faraj Alamri arived with his wife in 2212 to claim refugee status in Canada. A year following the overthrow of the former Libyan dictator. Initially the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada turned away his claim in reflection of the crimes-against-humanity issue involved with the Supreme Court's 2013 decision. 

A 2012 United Nations report cited evidence of Revolutionary Guard members shooting unarmed protesters during the anti-government uprising that led to the downfall of the regime and Muamar Gaddafi's death, once the UN and NATO member-countries intervened giving air cover to opposing tribal militias, those opposing Gaddafi and those supporting his continued reign.

The Federal Court of Canada noted that the Revolutionary Guards was implicated in kidnappings, disappearances and incidents of torture with a purpose to eradicate resistance to Gaddafi's rule. Among the group's repressive tactics, public hangings in the streets and in stadiums were cited by Justice Manson.

Members of General Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), who are currently controlling Sirte where most of Libya’s oilfields are based. Photograph: Abdullah Doma/AFP/Getty Images

 

The former member of the Guard, now refugee claimant Alamri, spent two decades as a voluntary member of Muamar Gaddafi's Revolutionary Guard, even though the now-resident of British Columbia claims to never have committed, witnessed or aided in any of the many atrocities committed by the unit he was an integral part of. For the most part, he insisted, he worked in a completely separate civilian workplace.

He has been arguing for a decade that although he was acting protectively for the mercurial, brutal leader he was not directly involved in crimes against humanity and he should be absolved of responsibility, making him eligible for refugee status in Canada. His argument failed to convince the Federal Court. An earlier decision granting him asylum, has been overturned by a new ruling noting granting asylum failed to adequately address whether acting as a Gaddafi bodyguard did not make him complicit in crimes of the regime.

And so a new assessment was ordered. His lawyer argues that her client's minimal involvement in the regime makes the man, now50 years of age, eligible for asylum in Canada. When claimant Alamri and his wife appealed for refugee status, his wife's status as a refugee was not in dispute, only his. The Immigration and Refugee b\Board's appeal division reversed the ruling and following that the government took their decision to the Federal Court. 

 

Troops loyal to Libya’s internationally recognized government prepare themselves before heading to Sirte. Photograph: Ayman Al-Sahili/Reuters

 

According to lawyer Jasper her client's principle motive in joining the Guard was to gain access to perquisites that came with the post, like a better education, health care, and future job prospects. He was given opportunity to attend university and qualify as an engineer. As though his self-serving motivation somehow excuses a position he took of his own initiative that would protect and prolong the Gaddafi tyranny,

The Gaddafi Revolutionary Guard, pointed out lawyer Jasper, had a dual purpose; violent repression that was "horribly illegitimate" on the one hand, and protecting the Libyan leader, a legitimate function, irrespective of what one might have felt about the man himself. Her client, who lives in greater Vancouver, took part only in the guarding function, she emphasized.

Since arriving in Canada he and his wife have added three children to their family. The mother, a traditional Arab woman with limited English, pointed out the lawyer, would be hard pressed to raise the children herself if her husband was deported; it would mean the return of the entire family to Libya, including the three children born in Canada, with Canadian citizenship.

Justice Manson ordered a new panel of the refugee appeal division to consider the case anew given that the first one had incorrectly claimed Alami's lack of participation in crimes against humanity was a mitigating factor. They failed to fully address his status as a bodyguard with the Revolutionary Guard failed to make him complicit in its crimes.

Gamal Ali Faraj Alamri says he never committed, witnessed or aided in any of the various atrocities blamed on Muammar Gaddafi’s Revolutionary Guard in Libya. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images