Prominent legal scholar detained at Canadian border while on his way to a conference on Palestine | CBC News

"A prominent academic and former UN special rapporteur says he was detained by customs agents in Toronto while on his way to speak at a conference on human rights violations against Palestinians. Richard Falk, a retired Princeton University professor who was a special rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, was on his way to Ottawa to speak at the Palestine Tribunal on Canadian Responsibility on Friday and Saturday."

"But upon arriving at customs at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Thursday with his wife, he says border agents took their passports and led them to an interview room. He said border agents told him they needed to determine whether he and his wife were a national security threat to Canada. That never happened to me in my long life, said Falk. Thursday also happened to be his 95th birthday, he said."

"Asked about the incident, a Canada Border Services Agency spokesperson said they could not comment on specific cases, citing privacy legislation, but went on to say that all travellers entering Canada are subject to secondary inspection. This is a normal part of the cross-border process and should not be viewed as any indication of wrongdoing, the spokesperson said. There are many reasons why a border services officer may determine that an individual, or the goods they are carrying, require further processing or inspection."

Richard Falk, a retired Princeton University professor and former UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, was detained at Toronto Pearson Airport while traveling to Ottawa for the Palestine Tribunal on Canadian Responsibility. Border agents took passports and led Falk and his wife to an interview room, questioning them about conference participation, his involvement in the Israel-Palestine conflict, and his position on Israel. Agents said they needed to determine whether the couple posed a national security threat. After roughly four hours they were released and allowed to enter Canada. A CBSA spokesperson said secondary inspection is a normal cross-border process and specific cases cannot be commented on.

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