The “very confident” lawyer a foreign opponent attacked Canadian diplomats in Cuba – National

A lawyer for Canadian diplomats and their families says that he thinks that the mysterious affections they have suffered from Cuba were caused by a foreign adversary, despite a report by the federal government that rejects theory.

Eight years after managers of the external service and their dependent people began to report symptoms such as headaches, memory loss, mood changes, vision problems, nausea and nose bleeding, legal action against Ottawa on health problems is still hanging before the Federal Court.

The 17 complainants, who are looking for millions of dollars in damages, alleged that the Canadian government has not protected, hidden crucial information and minimized risks. The government has denied negligence and reprehensible acts.

Several American staff who worked in Cuba reported similar health problems, commonly known as Havana syndrome. The theories on the cause have included the spraying of pesticides, the effect of chirping crickets, dysfunction listening devices and targeted attacks or sound attacks by an enemy state.

The Canadian government says he has found no evidence of unfair game by a foreign opponent.

A report on global affairs of Canada ended in August 2024 indicates that the ministry concluded that unexplained health incidents “were not the result of a malicious actor of a foreign actor”.

The report, based on the work of an interministic working group and external experts, says that pre -existing medical conditions, environmental factors and conventional diseases “were likely to have been significant factors in most of the symptoms felt.”

The report adds that the results “no doubt about the authenticity of the symptoms reported by staff members and their dependents”.

Paul Miller, lawyer for complainants, told the Canadian press that he was “very confident” that a foreign player is to blame for the health difficulties of Canadians.

“I really trust the people I spoke with and whom I met,” he said.

“I have absolutely no confidence in the report (Global Affairs Canada) because they try to turn off the story that works for them.”

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The action of the applicant court, submitted in 2019, remains unresolved.

Three years ago, the parties agreed with the appointment of a former judge of the Supreme Court to mediate the allegations of nine family members in the case.

Miller said the two days of talks at the beginning of 2023 “came only nowhere.”

He said he had made efforts to file new information in the case, but that the material is processed as confidential pending the resolution of concerns concerning the disclosure of sensitive or potentially harmful information, as defined by the Evidence Act of Canada.

The report on global affairs traces the various stages that federal agencies have taken over years in response to disease complaints, including safety, medical and environmental assessments.

A multi-agencies of national security team, led by the RCMP, opened an investigation in June 2017.

Global affairs and RRC officials began to go to Cuba regularly as part of the investigation to examine the possibility of malicious attacks, the report said. Canadian officials have also shared information with foreign partners, including the United States.

In 2019, instruments designed to detect and capture evidence of acoustic overvoltages and radiation, and to measure environmental effects – such as temperature, humidity, barometric pressure and ozone levels – were installed in the living districts of Canadian staff in Havana.

“The data collected from the instruments did not provide relevant and convincing information to identify a cause of symptoms,” said the report on global affairs. “As such, in 2022, the instruments were deleted.”

The integrated national security team concluded “that there was no crime and no proof attributing these health symptoms to a foreign actor,” added the report.

“In their conclusions, the RCMP and other agencies of domestic partners assess that there is no known crime, no known attribution for (unexplained health incidents) and no model linked to symptoms, age, sex, location or another variable.”

The American intelligence community has examined the possible evidence of the involvement of a foreign opponent, the feasibility of the tools that could cause the reported symptoms and if medical analysis could help to find answers.

A report of March 1, 2023 of the National Council for US Intelligence said that these investigatives led most of the community intelligence agencies to conclude – with different levels of trust – that it was “very improbable” that a foreign opponent was responsible for the health problems reported by the American staff.

Global Affairs, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP then gathered to discuss the conclusions of the American Council.

The RCMP said that “as no crime has been discovered, its criminal investigation would be concluded”, and the CSIs also advised to complete its surveys for similar reasons, the report on global affairs.

Overall, Canadian efforts “did not discover a clear common cause of the symptoms felt by employees of the Government of Canada,” added the report. “Canada’s conclusions are aligned with the United States’s conclusions on its various health studies and the security report published by the National Intelligence Council.”

Miller highlights other research and testimonies that question these results.

Lawyer Mark Zaid, representing several American staff members with symptoms, told a convention hearing in May 2024, intelligence, scientific and medical evidence justifying abnormal health incident reports, and some were caused by a foreign opponent.

Zaid, who authorized access to secret details, said he was convinced that “the proof that exists in the classified arena directly contradicts public conclusions” provided by American federal agencies on the cause of health symptoms.

Global Affairs indicates that it respects the conclusions of its 2024 report.

Department spokesperson John Babcock said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to support Canadian diplomats and their dependents.

“For reasons of confidentiality and security, Canada World Affairs cannot comment on the details of current surveys, individual cases, or specific security measures,” he said in an e-mail answer to questions.

“We cannot make additional comments on this issue as before the courts.”

Internal global affairs notes – prepared last year to help answer questions about the Ministry’s report – say that unexplained health incidents, “said the challenges of providing health care to diplomats and their families in the context of unexpected crisis situations abroad.

The grades, obtained through the Access to Information Act, indicate that the ministry had launched an “in -depth examination” of the Ministry’s Health Program abroad for employees and their dependents in missions around the world.