The Freedom-Site: The Radical Press latest victim of the Canadian Human Rights Commission

B’nai Brith and Harry Abrams accuse the website of promoting “ongoing hatred affecting persons identifiable as Jews and/or as citizens of Israel ”

On January 3, 2008, Arthur Topham, Editor of the Radical Press responded to yet another politically motivated complaint – the type the Canadian Human Rights Commission love. The complainant this time is Harry Abrams and the misnamed League for “Human Rights” of B’nai Brith.

In their typical Orwellian way, the CHRC demanded answers to 10 questions, whose answers they will later use to send this case to a tribunal. From past experience the only answers they care to see are that your responsible. Whatever defence the victims puts up is just ignored. After all, with show trials, a defence is of little help.

1. Do you own and/or control radicalpress.com? If not, do you know who own’s [sic] and/or controls this website?

The Radical Press is a Sole Proprietorship business registered with the provincial government in Victoria , B.C. It was formed in 1998 when I began publishing a monthly alternative tabloid known as The Radical. The online version of this hard copy newspaper is known as Radicalpress.com . The purpose of the Radical Press and Radicalpress.com, like all news services, is to present to the general public news, information and opinions with which readers can better understand the world they are living in. The forum is provided, as is/was a Letters to the Editor page in The Radical, for public input, debate and feedback.

3. What is the intent of the information/documentation posted on this website?

4. Who is responsible for editing and/or posting the content of the information/documentation on this website?

Documents are received from various writers on the net either via email or from their own websites or listserv or in hardcopy format or else written by myself and then republished on my site.

The Radical Press is my voice on the world wide web and the vehicle that I use to exercise my human right to freedom of the press and self-expression.

8. Who is responsible for monitoring the forums on your website? What are your rules and regulations concerning the postings of messages on the forums? What is the criteria used to remove postings?

I am responsible for all aspects of monitoring the Radical Press forum. The rules and regulations are simple: no racist comments or articles are allowed. If this is discovered on the forum the post is removed and the poster is given a fair warning to not repeat their error. If they do they are deleted from the forum.

9. In reviewing your website, it would appear that radicalpress.com active [sic] links to organizations such as http://www.Stormfront.org . What is the purpose of making these links available and active?

10. Who is your present Internet Service Provider (ISP)? Where is it located? Please provide a copy of the ISP’s arrangement. Please provide a copy of the agreement with ISP.

All information regarding my ISP, its location and whatever agreements I have with it, are of a private business nature no different than my bank account and credit card information and passwords, etc. No organization, including the CHRC, has a right to this information. I have committed no criminal act and therefore am entitled to retain my legal business rights.

Date	Case #	Respondent	Complainant	Grounds	Status	M ore info	Website
6- M ar-07	2005 2462, 2006 1236	Craig Chandler	Rob Wells	sexual orientation	Settlement Reached	Appology has been posted online: (Settlement same as Freedom Radio Network)	concernedchristians.ca and freedomradionetwork.ca
6- M ar-07	2006 1187	Freedom Radio Network	Rob Wells	sexual orientation	Settlement Reached	Settlement is: 1: The respondents publicly declare and affirm that they understand the purpose of the Canadian Human Rights Act 2: Respondents agree to remove letter entitles “Homosexual Agenda Wicked” 3: Cease and Desist order to not “expose homosexual persons to hatred or contempt” 4: Cease and Desist order to not “retaliate or threaten retaliation against complainant” 5: Letter of apology posted to the website of: Concerned Christians Canada and Freedom Radio for a period of not less that TWO years 6: Take an educational seminar on human rights law with staff at CHRC 7: Craig Chandler agrees to cooperate with complainant to “ensure that the material referred to in paragraph 2 above is not posted on other internet sites.	concernedchristians.ca and freedomradionetwork.ca
6- M ar-07	2006 1215	Concerned Christians Canada Inc	Rob Wells	sexual orientation	Settlement Reached	same as Freedom Radio Network	concernedchristians.ca and freedomradionetwork.ca
2007		Christian Heritage Party	Rob Wells	sexual orientation		Rob Wells is a Homosexual Activst from Edmonton , Alberta and is associated with Edmonton Pride Centre	chp.ca and worldnetdaily.com
		Ron Gray (CHP Leader)	Rob Wells	sexual orientation			chp.ca and worldnetdaily.com
7-Feb		Catholic Insight M azine	Rob Wells	sexual orientation		http://catholicinsight.com/online/features/article_772.shtml: In February 2007, Rob Wells, a member of the Pride Centre of Edmonton, filed a nine-point complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, alleging that C.I. has targeted homosexuals as being a powerful menace, made negative generalizations about them, portrayed them as preying upon children, blamed them for problems in society and the world, portrayed them as dangerous or violent by nature, conveyed the idea that they are devoid of any redeeming qualities and are innately evil, used inflammatory and derogatory language to create a tone of “extreme hatred and contempt,” trivialized or celebrated past persecution or tragedy involving them and called for action to be taken against them.
2007		FreeDomion website ( M ark Fournier and Connie Wilkins)	M arie-Line Gentes	religion, race, national or ethnic origin and sexual orientation	case withdrawn by Gentes on August 1, 2007	Background to Complaint 2. The complainant alleges that the respondent has communticated or caused to be communicated discriminatory material on www.freedominion.ca Free Dominion is a Canadian website that was inspired by Free Republic in the United States . It is described as a Canadian conservative news forum for the discussion of conservative philosophy and activism. http://www.freedominion.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=84457	freedominion.ca
7- M ay		Prometheus Institute (runs the Peace Earth and Justice News website)	Harry Abrams (B'nai Brith)	(Jewish) national or ethnic origin		Backgroud: In December 2006, PEJ asked Harry Abrams to inspect the website. Instead of complaining to them, Abrams went to the CHRC	www.pej.org
7- M ay		Chris Cook (then Editor of Peace Earth and Justice news)	Harry Abrams (B'nai Brith)	(Jewish) national or ethnic origin		The complaint is based on 18 articles. PEJ News has since withdrawn the articles from its website. M ajority of the articles are on the State of Israeli	www.pej.org
7-Sep		M acleans (Rogers Publishing Ltd)	Canadian Islamic Congress ( M ohamed Elmasry)	religion (muslim)		From complaint: ... that the Respondents discriminated against me and the Canadian M uslim community, by publishing on the internet an article likely to expose us to contempt and hatred on the grounds of our religious identity. (…) “The future belongs to islam” authored by M ark Steyn	macleans.ca
7-Sep		Brian Segal	Canadian Islamic Congress ( M ohamed Elmasry)	religion (muslim)			macleans.ca
7-Sep		Kenneth Whyte	Canadian Islamic Congress ( M ohamed Elmasry)	religion (muslim)			macleans.ca
7-Sep		M ark Stevenson	Canadian Islamic Congress ( M ohamed Elmasry)	religion (muslim)			macleans.ca
7-Oct		Bruce Allen	B.C.'s Indo-Canadian community (unknown what the specific group was)	religion		http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/Story.html?id=23565 - M r. Allen raised the ire of B.C.'s Indo-Canadian community when he referred to religious headgear as "handkerchiefs" and said those who don't respect the customs and laws of Canada should go home. "We don't need you here," he said during the segment, which aired Sept. 27
20-Nov-07	2007 1016	The Radical Press	Harry Abrams (B'nai Brith)	“hatred toward Jews and citizens of Israel ”		In initial response by website owner claims Abrams is vexatious, spurious, and disingenuous. Website run by Arthur Topham	radicalpress.com
20-Nov-07	2007 1016	The Radical Press	League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada	race/religion		From website the complaint is about: “promote ongoing hatred affecting persons identifiable as Jews and/or as citizens of Israel ”	radicalpress.com