Communication No. 1341/2005 Submitted by: Ernst Zundel (represented by counsel, Barbara Kulaszka) Alleged victim: The author State party: Canada Declared inadmissible: 20 March 2007 company on what he describes as anti-German propaganda. In the 1980s, he published a booklet entitled “Did six million really die?”, exploring the historical issue of the treatment of Jews during World War II by Germany, and expressing doubt that six million Jews were killed by the Nazis. It also questioned whether gas chambers ever existed in concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Birkenau. In 1984, he was privately charged by Sabina Citron, the head of the Canadian Holocaust Remembrance Association, with the criminal offence of spreading false news in this booklet. These proceedings were taken over by the Crown as a public prosecution. Subject matter: Holocaust denial, deportation of persons representing a threat to national security Procedural issues: Exhaustion of domestic remedies, abuse of the right of submission, inadmissibility ratione materiae Substantive issues: Arbitrary detention, detention conditions, fair hearing by a competent and impartial tribunal, presumption of innocence, undue delay, freedom of opinion and expression, discrimination, notion of “suit at law” Articles of the Covenant: 7; 9, paras. 1 and 3; 10; 14, paras. 1, 2 and 3; 18; 19; and 26 2.2 According to the author in 1984, shortly before his trial began, a bomb exploded outside his house, damaging his garage. No one was charged with this offence. He was beaten on the steps of the courthouse allegedly by members of a violent Jewish group when he appeared for court dates. No one was convicted for these attacks. Articles of the Optional Protocol: 3 and 5, para. 2 (b) 1.1 The author of the communication is Ernst Zundel, a German citizen born in 1939, currently imprisoned in Germany after his deportation from Canada to Germany. He claims to be a victim of violations by Canada 1 of article 7; article 9, paragraphs 1 and 3; article 10; article 14, paragraphs 1, 2 and 3; article 18; article 19 and article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. He is represented by counsel, Barbara Kulaszka. 2.3 The author was convicted as charged and sentenced to fifteen months’ imprisonment, plus three years’ probation with the condition that he “not publish in writing or by speaking in public by word of mouth, directly or indirectly, in his name or in any other name, corporate or personal, anything on the subject of the Holocaust or on any subject related directly or indirectly to the Holocaust”. The author appealed his conviction and was granted a new trial. In May 1988, he was convicted on the charge of spreading false news in the above-mentioned booklet and sentenced to nine months imprisonment. An appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal was dismissed on 5 February 1990. However, on appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, the author was acquitted in 1992, on the ground that the “false news” law was in violation of the author’s guarantees to freedom of expression. 1.2 On 10 January and 1 March 2005, the Special Rapporteur on New Communications and Interim Measures denied the author’s requests for interim measures to prevent his deportation from Canada to Germany. 1.3 On 11 March 2005, the Committee’s Special Rapporteur on New Communications decided to separate the consideration of the admissibility and merits of the communication. The facts as presented by the author 2.1 The author lived in Canada for 42 years, from 1958 to 2000, as a permanent resident. In 1959 he married a Canadian and has two sons in Canada and several grandchildren. Towards the end of the 1960s, the author’s application for Canadian citizenship was refused by the Minister for Immigration, without any reason being given to him. He has written and published materials from his own publishing 2.4 In 1993, the author applied for Canadian citizenship again. When this was revealed by the press, various newspaper stories and editorials demanded that he not be given citizenship because of his revisionist views. According to the author, in the spring 1994, several Marxist street groups attempted to drive him out of his neighbourhood. Pamphlets were distributed calling him a “hatemonger” and “white supremacist”. Posters were put up across Toronto with his face in a “rifle sight”, 1 The Covenant and the Optional Protocol entered into force for Canada on 19 August 1976. 20