CHICAGO – Members of area social justice organizations will join U.S. citizens convicted of non-violent civil disobediance at the Canadian government’s Chicago Consulate at 1PM on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 to petition Canadian officials to stop barring peaceful political activists whose names are in a new FBI database from entering their country. The Consulate is located at Two Prudential Plaza, 180 N. Stetson in Chicago. Attorneys will describe the impact of the FBI database, and U.S citizens who have civil disobedience arrests on their records will describe the humanitarian work they do that will be impacted by this policy.

The FBI database in question was originally created to help U.S. law enforcement agencies find fugitives, convicted sex offenders, missing persons, and members of terrorist organizations and violent gangs, but has since been “enhanced” to include convictions for minor offenses related to non-violent protest.

On October 3, Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK and founding director of Global Exchange, and Colonel Ann Wright, retired U.S. army colonel and former diplomat who quit in opposition to the Iraq war, were denied entry to Canada, based on peaceful disobedience arrests that appear on the new FBI database. Both women were told to apply at a Canadian Consulate for “criminal rehabilitation” – a cumbersome and costly process with a 5-year waiting period between conviction and application. Instead, Wright and Benjamin are joining Canadian Parliamentarians to challenge the policy. Both women will attempt entry into Canada this Thursday, Oct. 25 as part of an invitation to address the Canadian Parliament, and Tuesday’s Chicago action is part of the international effort to support this campaign.

Groups attending Tuesday’s event include the American Friends Service Committee, Chicago Jobs with Justice, Christian Peacemakers Teams, CODEPINK, 8th Day Center for Justice, the National Lawyers Guild and Voices for Creative Non-violence. Many of these groups perform humanitarian work outside the U.S. Christian Peacemakers Teams, for example, has members in Columbia working for a peaceful end to the 40-year-old civil war, and also has members in Palestine standing with Palestinian and Israeli peace groups. If the new FBI policy is enforced, these projects would be impossible.

Activists argue that non-violent civil disobedience was crucial to the non-violent resistance movements in India, South Africa, and the Civil Rights Movement. They charge that this Bush administration policy is designed to intimidate activists who disagree with their policies by criminalizing civil disobedience -- an unprecedented assault on civil liberties that would have barred activists including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from traveling outside of the United States, and likely prevented political leaders like Nelson Mandela and Gandhi from entering the country. Activists believe Canada is the first country that has implemented the new FBI database, and fear that the Bush administration will pressure other countries to follow.

Chicago Area CodePink is a local chapter of CODEPINK: Women for Peace, a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education and other life-affirming activities.

Media Contacts: Rachel Herbener, 773-620-9930, RachelHerbener (at) gmail.com, www.codepinkalert.org/Canada.