Conservatives accused of forcing Bill C-3 through Parliament despite broad public opposition

Ottawa, 27 November 2007 – Groups who have been on the forefront of the campaign against security certificates are demanding an opportunity to be heard in public hearings on the proposed new legislation, Bill C-3. The request was made in a strongly-worded letter sent today to the Parliamentary Committee charged with reviewing C-3. The letter accused the Conservative government of attempting to force the unpopular bill through Parliament without public debate.

Community organizations and human rights groups are normally allowed to comment on proposed legislation before it is adopted. However, groups who applied to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security were informed on Friday that the application process had closed. It closed on Thursday, less than two days after the bill was referred.

“We were more than disappointed to learn that we are being denied the opportunity to appear before the standing committee,” said Adil Charkaoui, whose constitutional challenge led to the Supreme Court ruling in February.

“It is shocking that no Muslim community association, none of the groups who work directly with the detainees - Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee (Ottawa), the Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui (Montreal) and the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada (Toronto) – no family members, and none of the detainees’ lawyers are being given a chance to respond,” said Mary Foster of the Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui. “They have the most intimate knowledge of these cases, they are the most immediately affected. They are in a position to speak about the serious social consequences to targeted communities. They brought the issue to the attention of the public. But now they are being shut out and silenced.”

Supreme Court strikes down security certificates

TORONTO STAR/CP FILE PHOTOS
The Supreme Court of Canada has struck down a law that allowed the government to hold terror suspects, from left, Hassan Almrei, Adil Charkaoui and Mohammed Harkat without charge. Only Almrei remains in jail.

The country’s top court has declared unconstitutional the overly-secretive “security certificate” system used to deport non-citizens suspected of terrorism ties.
But in a unanimous 9-0 ruling released this morning, the Supreme Court of Canada pointed to different ways the law might be re-written to comply with the Charter of Rights’ guarantees of fundamental justice, and given the federal government 12 months to do so.

Until then, the now-tainted provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act remain valid. None of the men subject to deportation under the law is free to go, but their lawyers say the ruling is - in the words of one - “a nearly total victory.”

Of the three who challenged the law - Adil Charkaoui, Mohamed Harkat and Hassan Almrei - only Almrei remains in jail. Lower courts ordered the other two released into house arrest under extremely strict bail conditions: Charkaoui of Montreal first arrested in May 2003, and Harkat of Ottawa arrested in December 2002.

Conservative House leader Peter Van Loan told the House of Commons this morning the government would review the decision and “follow through on the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision.”

The Liberals and Bloc Québécois said they would wait to see what the government introduces, but in theory support a new security certificate system. However, the NDP says it believes the court didn’t go far enough, and that people suspected of terrorist ties should be charged under criminal law, not detained without charge under immigration law.

On Day 83 of his hunger strike, good news finally arrives.

On Day 83 of his hunger strike, secret trial detainee Mohammad Mahjoub has finally received the news he has been waiting for since June, 26, 2000, when he was arrested on a secret trial security certificate. Federal Court judge Richard Mosley has ordered Mahjoub released, under strict house arrest conditions, to his family.

"The applicant today is an ailing and aging man preoccupied with his health and the lack of contact with his family apart from telephone calls and occasional visits," Mosley found, acknowledging the tremendous toll detention has taken on Mahjoub. "The conditions of his detention have exacerbated that problem."

Significantly, Judge Mosley also found that "his detention might reasonably be described as indefinite."

Mosley also found that Mahjoub, "at this stage of his life and with the interests of his family and health at stake, he has simply too much to lose should he be released and violate the terms and conditions." Friends and community supporters have pledged over $100,000 in cash and performance bonds to secure his release.

(In this email, brief backgrounder, what you can do, and letter from health
professionals)

Secret trial detainees Mohammad Mahjoub, Mahmoud Jaballah, and Hassan
Almrei are still on a punishing hunger strike. As of Tuesday January 23,
2007, Mohammad Mahjoub has been on hunger strike for 60 days, while Mahmoud
Jaballah and Hassan Almrei have been on hunger strike for 49 days. The
federal government is refusing to negotiate with the men. During all this
time, the men have been drinking only orange juice and occasionally clear
broth. The men are not being medically monitored and the failure to provide
appropriate medical monitoring and care could lead to very serious
consequences.

In response to this critical situation, a group of health workers have
written and released a letter (included below) to Minister Stockwell Day
stating their concerns and the urgent need for all three men to undergo a
thorough medical examination by a qualified independent physician, as well
as being monitored on a daily basis.

Monday, January 8, 2007

We are writing to you because the government of Canada will not speak with us. We are three Muslim men who have been detained under a security certificate, without charge or bail, for between 5 and 6 and a half years. We are not allowed to know the evidence against us.

Many groups such as Amnesty International have called security certificates fundamentally flawed and unfair. The United Nations has criticized Canada for this practice. Right now, the Supreme Court is deciding what Canada should do about them.

We are held at a place called the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre (KIHC), located on the grounds of Millhaven Penitentiary. Some people have called this place Guantanamo Bay North. Like the detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, we are held indefinitely. This is a kind of psychological torture that is almost unimaginable. We do not know when, or if, we will be released from jail.

We still have many months, and possibly years, of jail before us while our cases go through different court proceedings.