Canadian Ethnic Cleansing Team

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The Canadian Ethnic Cleansing Team (CECT) was an Ontario-based hate group lead by Alexan Kulbashian and associated with fellow CECT member James Scott Richardson and his neo-Nazi organization, the Tri-City Skins [1].

The group was active in the late 1990s until soon after the September 11 attacks when the CECT wrote on their Internet newsletter: "B’nai B’rith offices, Mossad temples and any Jew [or] Arab Temple, building, house and cars. There are no innocent Jews especially in a time of war." As a result, CECT members were arrested and charged with making death threats against individuals of Islamic and Jewish background. [2].

With Kulbashian, Richardson operated two websites which brought the two men to the attention of Richard Warman who filed a human rights complaint against the two men and their organization. The two websites were found by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to have encouraged violence against immigrants and visible minorities. The Tribunal found that Richardson was "directly involved in the drafting, editing, and posting of the Hate Messages in the Canadian Ethnic Cleansing Team's newsletter.[3] " Richardson was fined $1,000 in what Canadian Press described as a "landmark ruling" on hate and the internet[4].

The Kitchener-Waterloo Record reported on October 3, 2001 that Richardson had been charged in London, Ontario with making death threats and counselling members of his organization to murder Jews and Muslims. His charges were withdrawn less than two years later without any apparent explanation.

Staff Sgt. Dan Anderson was quoted saying "They're all very troubling if you look at the rubbish they're spouting... We feel they're all potentially violent."

Richardson identified himself to the Record as both a leader of the Canadian Ethnic Cleansing Team and a member of the Tri-City Skins. The newspaper quoted him as saying:

"My ultimate goal is a totally white country...(m)ost of the problems in society stem from immigration. I will not be happy until every (non-white person) is gone from this country."

On March 10, 2006, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled that Richardson and Kulbashian were liable for violating the Canadian Human Rights Act and were ordered to pay $8000.00 in fines and compensation. Kulbashian's Internet service provider, Affordable Spaces, was fined a further $3000.00. This case marks the first time in Canadian history that an Internet service provider has been found quilty of hosting a websites promoting ethnic hatred against visible minorities.

The CECT, Tri-City Skins, Kulbashian and Richardson were subject to a human rights complaint by Richard Warman. On March 10, 2006, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found that Richardson and Kulbashian were liable in violating the Canadian Human Rights Act . The two men were fined $8000.00 as a result of the decision. Kulbashian's Internet service provider, Affordable-Spaces.com, was fined an additional $3000.00. This case marked the first time in Canadian history that an Internet service provider has been found guilty of hosting a websites promoting ethnic hatred against visible minorities. [5]

Alexan Kulbashian has filed an Appeal in Federal Court on the grounds of error in judgment as well as challenging the constitutionality of section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act[6].