Original author: Jeff Sallot Source: The Globe and Mail URL: [link] Date: August 29, 2005 Once a mujahed who took flying lessons, Ahmad El Maati seemed to fit the profile of a terrorist Toronto - Looking back, Ahmad El Maati is not surprised that Canadian authorities were interested in him after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. After all, he is a Muslim man who had taken five flying lessons at Buttonville airport near Toronto. He and his older brother had once served with a mujahedeen militia in Afghanistan. And U.S. customs officers in Buffalo, N.Y., had found a curiously marked map of Ottawa in the cab of his truck during a border crossing a month before the Sept. 11 attacks. But Mr. El Maati, who is telling his story for the first time, says none of these things added up to his being a terrorist. And when two officers from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service came calling just hours after the attacks, he was apprehensive. His imperfect English made him hard to be understood. He didn't know much about Canadian law.

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Original author: Jeff Sallot Source: The Globe and Mail URL: [link] Date: August 27, 2005 OTTAWA - Abdullah Almalki says he spent almost two years living in squalor at Syrian prisons where he was routinely subjected to physical and psychological torture at the hands of interrogators who knew things that only Canadian authorities would have known. [PHOTO] shows Abdullah Almalki hugging his sleeping son Zackarya in his Ottawa home

Like his friend Maher Arar, Mr. Almalki believes that the federal government was complicit in an international anti-terrorist operation that ultimately resulted in Canadian citizens being tortured in Syria to elicit answers to questions that both Canadian and American authorities wanted addressed. "If you're going to chop off my head, at least do it here in Canada," he says. But while Mr. Arar now has a federal inquiry looking into his case - why was he allowed to be tortured in Syria - Mr. Almalki's complaint is getting decidedly less scrutiny. The 34-year-old Ottawa man faces no charges anywhere, but his name is frequently brought up at the Arar inquiry as the man the RCMP say was the primary target of its counterterrorism investigation. A third target was Ahmad El-Maati, a Toronto truck driver who also was imprisoned in Syria. Until now, Mr. Almalki and Mr. El-Maati have been reluctant to talk publicly about their ordeal. But they have broken their silence in exclusive interviews with The Globe and Mail because they feel they are still shadow boxing, fending off hints and unproven allegations, innuendoes and suspicions about their loyalty to Canada.

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Original author: unsigned editorial
Source: The Montreal Gazette
URL: [link] (subscribers only)
Date: August 27, 2005


In the highly charged atmosphere after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, countries cast around desperately for mechanisms that would allow them to contain the previously little-noticed threat of large-scale terrorism.

It's safe to say that none of the resurrected or newly created mechanisms has proven over the past four years to be proof against legal challenge. In Canada, the Supreme Court this week agreed to hear a challenge mounted by Montreal resident Adil Charkaoui against the national security-certificate law.

This law, which actually dates back to 1991, allows Canada to declare non-citizens a danger to national security. Such a person can then be jailed for an indefinite period while the government seeks to have him or her deported. A critical safeguard is included in the legislation: A judge must rule that there are reasonable grounds for thinking the person poses a risk to national security.

The government can ask that portions of evidence be kept secret, on the grounds that doing so protects either individuals or national security. It is the judge who is empowered to rule on whether secrecy is indeed required for the purposes the government says it is needed. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, in practice the law appears to have been used to keep people under indefinite detention. There seems to have been no sense of urgency on the government's part to prove that a detention is justified on security grounds.

For example, Charkaoui, a Moroccan-born permanent resident of Canada, was held by immigration officials for 21 months on the allegation that he was an agent of Al-Qa'ida. Another suspected Al-Qa'ida member, Hassan Almrei, has been imprisoned for 31/2 years. That is long enough for Canada's security apparatus to find out if he poses a threat. Canadians need to be able to rely on security officers to do their job. And they must do it in a timely fashion.

After a number of legal appeals, Charkaoui was freed under strict bail conditions in February. In his Supreme Court appeal, he argues that the security-certificate system violates his right to a fair hearing under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The appeal will deal with the issue of whether secret procedures are constitutionally acceptable.

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Original author: Paul Copeland, lawyer for Mohamed Harkat Date: August 26, 2005

To: [email] Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2005 Your editorial on leave to appeal being granted by the Supreme Court of Canada on the constitutional issues in the Charkaoui case is wrong in saying the only alternatives are security certicates as they now stand or nothing. The courts in England thought something similar to our security certificate process was okay. The European Court of Human Rights in 1996 a case called Chahal v. United Kingdom disagreed and forced the Brits to create a Special Immigration Appeal Committee to deal with this type of case. That Committee is assisted by what are called Special Advocates, lawyers who are cleared for national security matters. Those lawyers get to particpate in the secret hearings and challenge the government evidence.

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Original author: Cristin Schmitz, with files from Elizabeth Thompson (Montreal Gazette) Source: The Ottawa Citizen URL: [link] (subscribers only) Date: August 26, 2005 Supreme Court will hear appeal from alleged al-Qaeda sleeper agent

[PHOTO: Adil Charkaoui of Montreal is suspected by Canadian security agencies of being an al-Qaeda sleeper agent.] The Supreme Court will decide whether Canada's controversial security certificate policy, which permits non-citizens to be kicked out of the country based on secret evidence that they endanger national security, should be struck down for violating the Charter of Rights and Canada's international commitments. The high court announced yesterday it will hear the appeal of Moroccan-born permanent resident Adil Charkaoui of Montreal who is accused by immigration authorities of being an al-Qaeda sleeper agent, a charge he denies. Before being granted bail under strict conditions last February, the father of two was detained for 21 months on a security certificate under Canada's immigration laws.

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Original author: Tobi Cohen Source: The Ottawa Sun URL: [link] Date: August 26, 2005 'An ounce of hope' Harkat backers laud decision to hear terror law challenge

A SUPREME Court decision to hear a Montreal terror suspect's challenge to the controversial security certificate process was met with mixed reaction yesterday by those fighting on behalf of local terror suspect Mohamed Harkat. Canada's highest court said yesterday it would hear an appeal by Adil Charkaoui, who was detained for 21 months on allegations of being an al-Qaida sleeper agent. He has argued that the security certificate violates both the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and Canada's obligations under international law, but his earlier challenges to the system were dismissed by a Federal Court judge. The decision was upheld by the Federal Court of Appeal in December. DEPORTATION FIGHT

Charkaoui was released on 50,000 dollars bail in February and is now fighting deportation to his Moroccan homeland. Harkat's lawyer Paul Copeland said the decision was "very good news" given the last time someone tried and failed to get leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada on this issue was in 1996. However, Copeland said it likely won't have any bearing on his client's constitutional challenge slated for Sept. 6 in Federal Court. "I presume I will lose," he said, adding he, too, will likely have to apply for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. Copeland said he'll probably sign up as a co-appellant in the Charkaoui matter when it goes before the Supreme Court.

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Original author: PRESS RELEASE Source: Coalition Justice pour Adil Charkaoui Listserv August 25, 2005 PRESS RELEASE Supreme Court to hear constitutional challenge to Security Certificate ***Press Conference, Thursday, 25 August, 2pm at 2149 McKay*** 25 August 2005, Montreal - Canada's top court announced today that they will consider the constitutionality of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act 's security certificate process, under which non-citizens can be detained indefinitely without charge under secret evidence. The announcement comes after a five-month wait. Similar questions are pitting the Blair government against a British judiciary determined to protect fundamental principles of liberal democracy. "This case will help to determine Canada's future direction," said immigration lawyer Johanne Doyon. "Are we willing to put greater discretionary power in the hands of government officials or will we uphold the fundamental rights of individuals, including non-citizens?" Together with constitutional law expert Julius Grey, Doyon is bringing the appeal on behalf of Montrealer Adil Charkaoui, who was arrested under a security certificate on 21 May 2003.

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Original author: Matthew Behrens Source: TASC Email List Date: August 21, 2005 They Try and Block Your Every Move Mahmoud Jaballah Searches For a Court to Hear His Plea for Bail After Four Years of Detention Without Charge Punishing Hunger Strikes Continue for Hassan Almrei (day 60) and Mohammad Mahjoub (day 45)

AUGUST 21, 2005 -- It's a telling moment on the second day of a complicated legal hearing to determine whether Mahmoud Jaballah, a secret trial detainee held four years without charge or bail, will be granted an opportunity in the Superior Court of Ontario to hear his case. It's nearing the end of the lunch break, and the government lawyers who do their best to make life hell for people like Mr. Jaballah and his family -- including their spirited, unashamed efforts to deport him to torture -- are sitting in a row of seats, chatting, laughing, waiting for court to begin. Three of Jaballah's six young children, aged 7 to 11, walk down the hallway and sit across from the lawyers in another row of seats. The lawyers, who represent CSIS, Immigration, and "Justice," suddenly stop speaking and look away, mostly at their feet. "Are those the guys that are against us?" one of the young kids asks. There is an embarrassed silence from the legal crew. These are three of the six children of a man who, never charged, they are nonetheless prepared to hand over to an Egyptian torturer or executioner, based entirely on secret "evidence" neither he nor his lawyer will ever be allowed to see. The kids look at them, as if expecting an answer, but the government lawyers cannot look at the kids.

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Original author: Andrew Duffy Source: The Ottawa Citizen URL: [link] Date: August 11, 2005 Harkat's wife aids police in bad cheque probe

Supporters of Mohamed Harkat, the Ottawa man accused of being an al-Qaeda operative, have launched a 50,000 dollar fundraising drive in preparation for his bail hearing next month. Mr. Harkat, 37, will mark his 1,000th day behind bars in early September. He has been held without criminal charge since Dec. 10, 2002, when he was arrested on the strength of a security certificate issued by two federal cabinet ministers. Based on information from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service spy agency, the ministers concluded Mr. Harkat was a terrorist and threat to Canadians. Earlier this year, a Federal Court judge endorsed that decision, opening the door to Mr. Harkat's deportation to Algeria, the country from which he fled as a political dissident in 1990. Before deporting him, the federal government must determine whether Mr. Harkat faces a substantial risk of torture in Algeria, and whether such danger is outweighed by the risk he poses to Canadians. As he waits, Mr. Harkat has decided to apply for bail. That hearing is expected to be held next month in Federal Court. "I think he has a good chance; we're well prepared and we have a big support network," said his wife, Sophie Harkat. "It is really impressive. I'm getting offers from people from all over who are willing to help."

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Original author: Sophie Harkat Source: Harkat Email List (Riseup.net) Date: August 6, 2005

Friday, August 5, 2005 (please forward or post) Dear Friend and Supporter, We need not tell you that Canadian's civil liberties are under attack. As politicians and the media call for further restrictions on our legal and political rights, you have repeatedly stepped forward and provided an important voice for justice and reason. For this we want to thank you. Unfortunately, as we all know, it is a difficult battle between unequal opponents. The federal government and right wing politicians and organizations have considerable resources at their disposal. We are writing to you to on behalf of the Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee seeking financial assistance to continue our campaign against arbitrary detention and secret trials in Canada. Mohamed Harkat, has been held under a security certificate since December 10th, 2002 - International Human Rights Day. He is being held without charge, and our legal counsel has been denied access to all of the purported "evidence" being used against him. Recently Amnesty International cited Canada's use of security certificates as a serious matter of concern.

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