Canada interrogates former UN rapporteur en route to Gaza tribunal

A former UN special rapporteur who documented Israeli violations against Palestinians says Canadian authorities interrogated him on “national security” grounds as he arrived in the country for a Gaza-focused event.

Richard Falk, a US-based international law scholar, told Al Jazeera he was questioned at Toronto Pearson international airport on Thursday alongside his wife, fellow legal expert Hilal Elver.

“A security person came and said, ‘We’ve detained you both because we’re concerned that you pose a national security threat to Canada,’” Falk, 95, said in an interview from Ottawa. “It was my first experience of this sort – ever – in my life.”

The pair, both US citizens, were travelling to Ottawa to take part in the Palestine Tribunal on Canadian Responsibility.

The forum gathered international human rights and legal specialists on Friday and Saturday to scrutinise Canada’s role in Israel’s two-year assault on the Gaza Strip, a campaign a UN inquiry and numerous rights groups have labelled a genocide