Given the circumstances of this case, it makes one wonder: what does it take in order to become a threat to national security to the Canadian Government? We have people in jails overseas, tried by foreign courts, in Third World countries or in backward states in the U.S, there are those who protest their innocence, there are those who, like Sacha, protest their role in criminal responsiblity, in capacity, and the extremity of the sentence.

There are those of us who are adventurous when we travel, willing to embrace the people we meet. There are those who are trusting, there are those who carry special vulnerabilities to travel and the disorientation that can come with it. We had sympathy for the man from Poland who was tazered and died at the hands of our police. Things can happen to people mentally, emotionally and by circumstance, while abroad, and whether they have a mental illness or not, that can put them in jail and in a bad light. That sentence, the evidence, and the portrayal of the person in question will be dictated by the foreign court and polity. Crazy things happen when travelling outside one's nation, this much has been well-documented in travel writing, movies, literature, evidence.

So, add to your risks of travel, the regrettable misuse of transfer laws by the Canadian government - if you're lucky you may be their darling, if not - you're exiled to the foreign jail at the mercy of a foreign prison system. This is what has changed since the Conservative government took office. Don't even expect Amnesty International to intervene, this is a domestic reponsibility and treaties are diplomatic - not under international human rights law. Diplomacy has always been our tool to protect our ctiizens without violating foreign sovereignty.

There is a slim chance of these things happening, but the risks of what can happen to you have just doubled. Find yourself in the wrong crowd, you may be falsely accused, your young adventurous 20 yr old may have been a little reckless while abroad - don't even think of taking any kind of risk when you travel, just stay in your hotel room and bus tour. We've heard of kids locked up in Thai jails with decades-long sentences with Thailand's harsh drug laws. I've had a friend, also bipolar, land in a Thai jail and then a Thai mental hospital, getting sick after doing perfectly for a year teaching English in Korea. Most of the time our government has vigorously pushed for the return of our citizens, sometimes we haven't had the choice, unable to bring them home because the foreign government wouldn't cooperate.

Those kinds of risks have always existed, but at least we could have the security of knowing that our government would be on our side, and we would only have to worry about the foreign one. That has changed. That is a sad day for Canadian freedom to travel, especially for those who carry vulnerabilities. Despite all the precautions we might take, and how well we take care of ourselves and succeed in life, that worry that international travel may disrupt our system, that we may have an 'episode' overseas is always there. We count on luck, the compassion of others, and especially the compassion of our own government to create a floor in facing our worst fears of what could happen. It could happen to anyone travelling abroad, without the protections of our standards of due process, at the hands of police and judges of a foreign country. This is all what we sensed in the case of Brenda Martin. But we never know fully the truth. The reality is that transfer is good for public safety and protecting all of our citizens regardless of whether they are a 'good person' who got wrongfully incarcerated, a 'good person' who made some mistakes, or even the 'bad guy'. These judgments amount to perceptions. Our government has handed over innocent people to Syria for torture, on grounds of perception. A Canadian man was jailed in India for a year, on a bureaucratic mistake.

The only way to deal with this, and ensure that you and your loved ones abroad don't receive the double injury of a foreign judicial system's injustice coupled with PR from our own Minister labeling them 'national security threats'; is to apply the law, the International Transfer of Offenders Act, fairly - not based on public perception, votes, rhetoric, ideology and certainly not to twist 'national security' to fit what those terms were never meant for. Otherwise, we are burdened with the threat of our own government while we travel abroad, and we're burdening ourselves at home to act as judges and juries for people who have already been tried. Some people get special favours, who may be guilty - others get the worst treatment possible by the government, who may not be guilty. Guilt is not at issue in transfer, nor is sympathy. The issues are outlined in the ITOA. For all of the law and order posturing of this government, especially this Minister, they can't even follow their own laws. That's hypocricsy. Stockwell Day, wake up, take the pillow from your head, and put the legislation in it instead.

10:16am Apr 19th
Diane Levesque - Sacha's Mom

I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for keeping up the good work towards giving all that you do to get Sacha back to Canada. He has spent over 4 years incarcerated in a Florida Medium Security Prison. Sacha needs to come back home where he can have the support of family and friends, the therapy and proper medication for his mental disorder "Bipolar"

Don't you think that if Sacha was such a threat to the Security of Canada and it's Citizens that he would also be considered a threat to the Security of the U.S.A, its Citizens and would be kept in a Maximum Security Prison instead of the Medium Security/ Dade C.KI. in Florida City until last week when he was moved to Tallahassee's/ Jefferson's Prison yet another Medium Security Institution?

How about the Recommendations from Correctional Service Canada and the Canadian Justice Dept. who wrote in black and white that Sacha is "NOT A Threat to our Country" and recommended that Sacha be transferred back.

There has been hundreds of letter that have already been written directly to Stockwell Day and to Prime Minister Harper concerning their outrage of his Decision to Deny Sacha's return to Canada and treating him as if he was a Terrorist / Serial Killer which he is not. " NO ONE WAS HURT IN HIS OFFENCE"

How can we as Canadians accept this travesty of Justice. One minister who knows noting about Mental Illness have so much power and overturning the Recommendations of Correctional Service Canada and the Justice Dept Canada;
Friday, April 18, 2008 - 01:00 PM

To Write Sacha:
Sacha Michel Bond DC#K06444
Jefferson C.I.
1050 Big Joe Road
Monticello, Florida 32344-0430

http://www.fpsmagazine.com/blog/2007/05/dear-sacha.php

Dear Sacha is a short film Montreal based animator Eric Bond made for a brother who's serving 20 years in a Florida jail. Sacha Bond is twenty-two years old and has bipolar disorder. In 2004, while intoxicated, he pulled out a gun in a Florida bar. Luckily no one got hurt. Sacha has been in jail since then, without the medication and help that he requires and with no chance for parole. His family is working hard to convince the Canadian government to transfer him to a federal institution in Quebec, his homeland.

The short illustrates the dreary, monotnous and depressing existence of a prisoner. The camera angles and puppet animation put us in direct connection with a lonely human; almost as if it's a real person sitting by himself across the room, being miserable. The filmmaker attempts to understand his brother, console him and imagine what he must be thinking and feeling.

A special on Sacha broadcast two weeks ago (May 17, 2007) on CTV News explains his case and can be viewed here.

The site also features Eric Bond's short and a petition that demands the Canadian government to transfer Sacha to a federal institution here.

Labels: shorts, stop-motion

DADE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION (C.I)
Florida City, Fl. U.S.A.

- Sending money in Sacha’s JPAY account every 2nd week:
(This money is sent to Sacha to buy extras,shaving cream,deodorant, shampoo,multi- vitamins and minerals,juice,snacks etc.) as the only items which are provided by the C.I. are:
1 toothbrush
1 toothpaste
1 comb
1 bar of soap
1 plastic rasor

US $100.00
$7.95 transfer fee
sending Sacha $100.00 costs appr. $138.00

- VISITATION:
Once a year for a duration of 3 weeks;
visitation is only on Weekends and 1 or 2 *special visitation* per week on request:
*special visitation* is 2 hours per visit

3weeks in Florida City = 11 visits max

- Expenses:
Hotel: $1400.00
Flight:$700.00
Car Rental:$475.00
Gaz: $120.00
Groceries - No restaurant: $250.00

Expenses while in C.I.
Food and drinks
per day $25.00 per visit

- Telephone Call expenses:

until July 2007
$23.92 for 15 minute call

From August 2007
$42.90 for a 15minute Call

Average phone bill
$300.00 or more
August Phone Bill” in the amount of
* $316.16 *

ARCHAMBAULT INSTITUTION
Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Québec,Can.
- Sending money in Sacha’s JPAY account every 2nd week:

$100.00 Can
$7.95 transfer fee
sending Sacha $100.00 costs appr. $107.95

- VISITATION:
Twice a month

- Expenses:
Gaz : $25.00

expenses while in C.I.
* to come
- Telephone Call expenses:
*to come

“According to Section 3 of the International Transfer of Offenders Act , “the purpose of this Act is to contribute to the administration of justice and the rehabilitation of offenders and their reintegration into the community by enabling them to serve their sentences in the country of which they are citizens or nationals”.
“The transfer of Mr. Bond will facilitate and enhance his eventual reintegration into the community through appropriate programming, including gradual and supervised relrelease under the jurisdiction of the Correctional Service of Canada. Should a transfer not be grated, Mr will be deported to Canada and will not be under the jurisdiction of the Correctional Service of Canada and will not be subject to any supervision requirements or restrictions. The United States has not yet determined Mr. Bond’s deportation date.”

Injustice and not wanting to see how good a person can be

1 White, hazel eyed,
19 year old CANADIAN,
who suffers from BIPOLAR
10 days out of CANADA
1 BIG mistake
BANNED from his own country
treated like TERRORIST
left to fend for himself
in a USA Jail
NO family
NO friends
BANNED for 20 years
because of a GOVERNMENT that refuses to see that he is a good kid
with a promising FUTURE
yes a great future waiting for him
a GREAT future he will never see
he will never see how great
but only see how BLEAK life can be
by having to live in a PRISON in a foreign country
with KILLERS,
and MURDERERS,
and CHILD MOLESTERS.
He is not a criminal
what he needs is HELP
not 20 years behind BARS
stripped of his RIGHTS and without dignity
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Has taken it upon himself to deem my son as:
“A THREAT to the security of Canada and it’s citizens”
What is wrong with this Government
What is wrong with the people
What is WRONG?
when someone can’t get a second chance
to make things right
to make people see
that it was a MISTAKE
a big mistake indeed
but it was his first and only crime
he had no-one behind him
He left a family; a mother, a father
and a brother who are SUFFERING
right along with him
what is wrong in this world
when people who say
they follow the word of GOD
then speak and act like the DEVIL
The devil himself, who judges and tries
our CHILDREN
How dare you Mister Day
how dare you play
this game with my son’s mind
how dare you play
with my son’s LIFE
and decide his FATE
for the next 7300 days
How dare you Mister Day
PUNISH my son
for so long
when you could have him transferred TOMORROW
To be close to his family his mother and brother
who love him so DEARLY
and MISS HIM SO MUCH
Written by Diane Lévesque
Saturday October 13, 2007 4.00PM

Written by DianeLévesque
Saturday October 13, 2007 4.00PM

I want to say Thank You to everyone who is helping to get my son back safely
★ - Arif and Donna Jinha
★ - Dieter and Colville Doneit-Henderson
★ - Marcel Proulx M.P (Hull/Aylmer/Gatineau)
★ - The Liberal Parti
★ - The NDP
★ - The Bloc
★ - The facebook population
★ - everyone on the list of the Petition
★ - The humanitarians for Social Justice
- Social Workers Class of the Alonguin College Smith Falls Campus.

This is part of the table of contents of the 2003 Human Rights Watch Report entitled Ill-Equipped:
U.S. Prisons and Offenders with Mental Illness

The table of contents is revealing in and of itself. Find the full report at http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/usa1003/

excerpt from TABLE OF CONTENTS

====
INADEQUATE MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT IN PRISONS
Understaffing
Poor Screening and Tracking of Mentally Ill Prisoners
Lack of Timely Access to Mental Health Staff
Diagnoses of Malingering
Medication as the Sole Treatment
Lack of Confidentiality
Medication
Proper Medication
Delivery
Medication Discontinuity
Inadequate Monitoring of Medication Side Effects
Protecting Prisoners on Medication from Heat Reactions
Inadequate Efforts to Ensure Medication Compliance

INSUFFICIENT PROVISION OF SPECIALIZED FACILITIES FOR SERIOUSLY ILL PRISONERS
Crisis Care
Specialized Intermediate Care Units
Expansion of Specialized Care Facilities

CASE STUDY: ALABAMA, A SYSTEM IN CRISIS

V.K., New York

MENTALLY ILL PRISONERS AND SEGREGATION
Overview of Segregation
Mentally Ill in Segregation
Impact of Segregation on the Mentally Ill
Lost in Segregation
The Lack of Quality Mental Health Services for Segregated Prisoners.
From Segregation Units to Psychiatric Centers and Back
Keeping the Mentally Ill Out of Segregation

R.P., New York

L.J., New York

SUICIDE AND SELF-MUTILATION
Self-Mutilation
Suicide
Increased Risk of Self-harm and Suicide in Segregation Units
Suicide Protocols
Punitive Responses to Suicide Attempts

Felix Jorge, New York

FAILURE TO PROVIDE DISCHARGE SERVICES

Recidivism
Discharge Planning
Financial Assistance
States that Confer Eligibility on the Date of Release
States that Help Prisoners Fill Out Applications
States that Provide Minimal Help
Ex-offender Programs

LEGAL STANDARDS

International Protections
The Rights of Prisoners to be Free of Abuse
The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health
The United States and International Human Rights Law
Constitutional Protections for Prisoners with Mental Illness
The Right to Mental Health Treatment
Constitutionally Required Components of Mental Health Services
Americans With Disabilities Act
Prison Litigation Reform Act

I'm not a Christian, but someone with a deep appreciation of the faith. My awareness of the Minister of Public Safety's faith prompted me to look to the Bible. Please do not be offended, this my humble interpretation of Mark V - a passage others have regarded as a story of Jesus' compassion for the mentally ill. I hope you find appreciation of the beauty of this, as I did.

In the Bible, Mark V, there is a passage where Jesus comes upon an island where there is a community having trouble with a man who acts wildly. He has broken restraints they have put him in, he scares the people, he is enormously strong. He cries out and cuts himself with stones. The community believes him to be possessed, as does the man himself. Jesus looks upon this man with kindness, love and compassion. He sends the evil spirits into some nearby pigs instead of him, perhaps by suggestion and deep connection with the man. And so these spirits in the man are asked to go into the pigs and they do. Later, the man appears 'well-dressed and in his right mind'.

Today, we might have someone exactly like the man in the Bible that Jesus healed, who 'cries out and cuts himself with stones'. The community would be afraid of him. Today, instead of what Jesus did without medicine, he might get modern medical treatment. That same gift of modern medicine that fights so many diseases that threaten our lives and security, polio, TB, cholera, HIV/AIDS, diabetes. In the days of the Bible we did not have modern medicine. But what does not change is the attitude of healing, kindness, compassion. The same man would appear well-dressed and in his right mind today, if we treated him for his mental illness. The community need not be afraid of him.