Original author; Canadian Press (CP)
Source: The National Post
URL: [link]
Date: September 6, 2005


OTTAWA -- Mohamed Harkat, an Ottawa man jailed for nearly three years on suspicion of terrorist ties, is headed for the Supreme Court of Canada in an effort to stave off deportation.

Lawyer Paul Copeland says the high court will be his next stop, now that the Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a constitutional challenge by his client.

A three-judge panel took only 90 minutes to uphold a security certificate filed by the government against Harkat.

Under the certificate, defence lawyers are not allowed to see most of the intelligence gathered to support the claim of terrorist links, nor to cross-examine security officials.

The Supreme Court has already agreed to review that controversial process in a challenge brought by Adil Charkaoui of Montreal.

Copeland will file for leave to join the challenge and present Harkat's case to the high court. He will try to get Harkat freed on bail in the meantime.

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Original author: Sophie Harkat Source: Harkat Email List (Riseup.net) Date: September 5, 2005

Dear Friends and Supporters, (circulate far and wide or post) Mohamed Harkat's legal team is going to the Federal Court of Appeal this (tomorrow)Tuesday, Sept. 6th at 10 am. The hearing will take place at 90 Sparks Street (Royal Bank building) on 10th floor, on a corner across the street from a small Tim Horton's/gift shop. Ask the security officer at the elevator for directions for FCA when you sign in. Urgent...Please attend and fill up those seats !!!

We already know what the outcome of the decision will be...but we have no choice to go through the appeal in order to join the Supreme Court of Canada at a later date. It is VERY important the supporters show that they are concerned by the Security Certificate process by their presence. Come for an hour or two when Paul Copeland makes his constitutional arguments at 10am sharp ! Please arrive a good 15-20 minutes ahead of time to go through security check. I am counting on you to fill that court room ! Hope to see you there. Thank you for your continued support and dedication. Moe has been detained 1000 days today !!! Sincerely, Sophie Harkat Wife of Mohamed Harkat who has been detained under a Security Certificate since Dec. 10th, 2002 without any charges or access to the evidence.

Original author: Hunger strikers support Montreal psi at riseup dot net Source: Coalition Justice pour Adil Charkaoui listserv Date: September 4, 2005 (Also a statement by Hassan Almrei, below) Health Professionals urge Prime Minister to act now: Situation dire for hunger strikers in Toronto prison

By: Samir Shaheen-Hussain September 3, 2005 [Please note that according to a statement read at a rally held in Toronto today (September 3, 2005: see statement below), Hassan Almrei, on the 73rd day of his hunger strike, expressing his sorrow that the government will not give him his rights, expressing his faith in the people of Canada, said that the outcry following his hunger-strike has given him enough new hope that he will end his hunger-strike, but not the struggle for his rights. Mohammad Mahjoub continues with his hunger strike, having completed his 59th day today.] On Friday, September 2nd, 2005, a group of health professionals made up of nurses and medical doctors formed a delegation to Prime Minister Paul Martin's office in Old Montreal. We wanted to present the PM with a letter outlining our grave concerns about the health and well-being of Mr. Hassan Almrei and Mr. Mohammad Mahjoub who, along with 3 other Muslim men, make up the "Secret Trial Five". Mr. Almrei and Mr. Mahjoub are currently being detained under a security certificate process in Metro West Detention Centre in Toronto and had been on a hunger strike for 72 and 58 days, respectively, as of September 2nd. The goal of the delegation was to focus attention on the prolonged hunger strike of these two men, while urging the PM to act immediately to have their demands met so that their health and lives are no longer at risk. Their demands are modest, to say the least, given that they have been held without charges and without having access to any evidence that may be being used against them as part of the security certificate process for four and five years, respectively; Mr. Almrei's principal demand is to be allowed to have one hour outside his solitary confinement cell while Mr. Mahjoub's is to have contact visits with his wife and children. Although two men are not convicted of any crime, they are demanding no treatment beyond that which is accorded to most federal prisoners!

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Original author: Heather Mallick
Source: The Globe and Mail (?)
URL: N/A
Date: September 3, 2005


Two weeks ago, I woke at 7 a.m. with more than my usual "Oh what is the point of it all, do tell me" torpor. I was preparing to arise and go to a courthouse on University Avenue in Toronto where one of five men imprisoned without trial by the Canadian government would beg a judge for a hearing seeking access to a bail hearing. The accused-of-something was Mahmoud Jaballah. Some of his six children were to be there. I was planning to offer moral support, the polite Canadian kind which translates as radiating thought waves at the judge: "This Canadian-born citizen opposes internment without trial and so should you."

The reason I was comatose was that I knew I was not going to go to that courtroom. My motives were selfish. I knew that if I went, I would fall out of love, sorry, like, with Canada. I knew Mr. Jaballah would basically get nowhere. I did not know that, as justice activist Matthew Behrens told me, the lawyers representing CSIS, Immigration and Justice could not even bring themselves to look into the eyes of Mr. Jaballah's playful, naive little kids, aged 7 to 11, one of whom looked at them and asked with genuine curiosity, "Are those the guys that are against us?"

Do I love Canada? No. Why would I? It's a country, not someone I'm sleeping with. I was born here, have lived all over the country and think it is a pleasant place populated with good, intelligent people. There are Canadian things I love: Edmonton skies, Scotty Bowman, Margaret Atwood, skiing on Lake Louise, the béchamel sauce crepes at Au Petit Coin Breton in Quebec City, the CBC (locked-out employees only). And it is a fact that Newfoundlanders are the best people in this country. Put it this way. I like Canada.

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Original author: Canadian Press (CP) Source: The Ottawa Citizen URL: [link] Thursday, September 01, 2005

OTTAWA -- Human-rights watchers say the Maher Arar inquiry isn't enough to get to the bottom of whether Ottawa is sub-contracting the torture of Canadian citizens to oppressive regimes in other countries. Warren Allmand, a former Liberal cabinet minister, says he fears the government is either deliberately co-operating in human rights abuses or is turning a blind eye to them. Alex Neve, of Amnesty International, says an independent investigator should be appointed to go beyond the work of Justice Dennis O'Connor, who heads the Arar inquiry. Arar was arrested by U.S. authorities in 2002 and deported to Syria, where he says he was tortured into false confessions of terrorist activity.

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Original author: Sheema Khan
Source: [link] (subscribers only)
URL: The Globe and Mail
Date: September 2, 2005


Clifford Olson. Paul Bernardo. Michael Briere. Names that evoke loathing. It seems that our justice system is doing its job by finding the suspects, laying charges, trying the accused in open court, and confining the guilty to prison. Built into the judicial process is the opportunity for adversarial review -- a system of checks and balances to minimize human biases and errors.

Now consider these five names: Hassan Almrei. Adil Charkaoui. Mohamed Zeki Mahjoub. Mahmoud Jaballah. Mohamed Harkat. All are non-citizens, Arab and Muslim. They, too, are behind bars. For murder? Terrorism? Pedophilia?

Investor fraud?

Actually, we don't know. Neither do they. None has yet to be charged with committing any crime. Our government and its security agencies -- paragons of transparency and trust -- have deemed each a threat to national security. According to the law, the government has the right to put each behind bars indefinitely, until he can be deported or charged. Furthermore, he has no right to see the evidence against him, due to "national security" -- that catch-all phrase invoked in the name of justice. The men are held in solitary confinement, or incarcerated with hardened criminals, without the right to appeal.

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Original author: Craig Forcese, Hilary Homes
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link] (subscribers ony)
Date: September 1, 2005


One measure of a society's values is how it treats those it fears most, including suspected terrorists. Four events now unfolding will determine what sort of civilization Canada has become: Adil Charkaoui's Supreme Court case, underway as of last week; Parliament's review of Canada's anti-terrorism law; the Maher Arar inquiry; and several anticipated Federal Court decisions on whether alleged terrorists will be deported to countries likely to torture them.

Let's review what is at stake:

- Does an accused terrorist have a right to due process?

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Original author: op/ed by Riad Saloojee Source: The Toronto Star URL: [link] (subscribers only) Date: August 31, 2005 It's about time: Our Supreme Court will finally review the constitutionality of security certificates.

In last week's decision, the court granted that opportunity to Moroccan Adil Charkaoui, currently on bail after being held for two years on terrorism allegations. Four other Muslim non-citizens held under the certificates have already lived in limbo for a total of more than 14 years. And they have been subjected to conditions, as the U.N. Committee on Arbitrary Detention recently noted, that are more severe than those imposed on convicted killer Karla Homolka. Two men on certificates, Hasan Almrei and Mohammed Mahjoub, have complained about systemic prison abuse during their nine-year tenure and are on prolonged hunger strikes. Almrei, held in solitary confinement for four years, is on day 69 of his hunger strike. He is not even asking for freedom; he is asking for an hour a day of exercise to keep his legs working properly.

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Original author: Jeff Sallot Source: The Globe and Mail URL: [link] Date: August 31, 2005

OTTAWA -- Amnesty International asked Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan nine months ago to investigate possible federal complicity in the Syrian interrogation and torture of Abdullah Almalki, an Ottawa businessman, but the minister has not yet responded to the human-rights group. "It is regrettable that correspondence on a range of issues sometimes takes as long as it does to get through the system," Alex Swann, a spokesman for Ms. McLellan, said yesterday, denying the delay was a way to avoid a controversy.

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Original author: Alex Neve
Source: The Globe and Mail
URL: [link] (subscribers only)
Date: August 31, 2005


No one can now say that what happened to Maher Arar in the U.S. and Syria in 2002/2003 was an unfortunate misadventure beyond Canada's control, or the result of a series of mistakes due to poor training or inadequate resources. Abdullah Almalki and Ahmad El Maati's harrowing descriptions in this newspaper of arrest, torture and months of imprisonment without charge in Syria and Egypt make that wrenchingly clear.

Considered alongside testimony of imprisonment and torture in Syria provided by Muayyed Nureddin last year, it adds up to this: These are not tragic coincidences. Throughout 2001, 2002 and 2003, something was at play. A number of Canadians suspected as possible supporters of terrorist activities, either on the basis of undisclosed allegations or by virtue of whom they knew, ended up in foreign jails where torturers did their work -- with the apparent indifference of Canadian security agencies. Who allowed this to happen? And why?

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