by Monia Mazigh
Source: The Toronto Star
URL: [link]
Date: January 12, 2009
Last week, the last person held under a security certificate in Canada was ordered released by an Ontario judge under strict conditions. Hassan Almrei, a Syrian national, was held in solitary confinement for almost eight years under the controversial security certificate process.
He protested the conditions of his incarceration with the only tool that he had, launching several hunger strikes in an attempt to have his most basic rights respected.
He is suspected of terrorism but was never charged with any crime and was never given the opportunity to defend himself in an open trial.
Two years ago, the federal government decided to build a facility segregated from other inmates on the grounds of Millhaven penitentiary in Kingston, Ont.
This small maximum-security prison for foreign terror suspects detained in Canada cost $3.2 million to build and millions more to run.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Canada's shameful security legacy
posted on January 12, 2009 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLinkJail for terror suspects could soon be empty
posted on January 03, 2009 | in Category Close Gitmo North | PermaLink
by Colin Freeze
Source: The Globe and Mail
URL: [link]
Date: January 2, 2009
Canada's controversial prison for terrorism suspects will soon be without a single inmate.
Even so, it might be premature to call the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre a white elephant from the war on terror.
Records show that officials, who opened the prison only three years ago, always expected it might have a “dormant period.”
Even so, they anticipate it still might come in handy – after all, they might have to rejail a prisoner who has been ordered let go.
“If there comes a time when there are no detainees remaining in the KIHC … this agreement will continue,” reads a government memo.
It adds that in the event federal officials “must rearrest and redetain” a freed prisoner, there would be only one place to send him: “The detainees would be detained at the KIHC.”
[ Read the rest ... ]
Source: The Globe and Mail
URL: [link]
Date: January 2, 2009
Canada's controversial prison for terrorism suspects will soon be without a single inmate.
Even so, it might be premature to call the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre a white elephant from the war on terror.
Records show that officials, who opened the prison only three years ago, always expected it might have a “dormant period.”
Even so, they anticipate it still might come in handy – after all, they might have to rejail a prisoner who has been ordered let go.
“If there comes a time when there are no detainees remaining in the KIHC … this agreement will continue,” reads a government memo.
It adds that in the event federal officials “must rearrest and redetain” a freed prisoner, there would be only one place to send him: “The detainees would be detained at the KIHC.”
[ Read the rest ... ]
Final national security certificate suspect released
posted on January 03, 2009 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink
by Canwest News Service
Source: The Calgary Herald
URL: [link]
Date: January 2, 2009
[PHOTO: Hassan Almrei was arrested in 2001 after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service alleged he was part of a Sunni extremist network. A Federal Court judge ruled Jan. 2 Almrei can no longer justifiably be detained.]
A Federal Court judge ruled Friday that the final terrorism suspect being held in Canada on a national security certificate be released.
Justice Richard Mosley ruled Hassan Almrei, who has been in custody since October 2001, can no longer justifiably be detained.
"I have concluded that his continued detention can no longer be justified and that he should be released under strict conditions pending a determination of the reasonableness of the security certificate under which he is presently detained, and if the certificate should be found to be reasonable, until a determination is made whether he can be removed from Canada to his country of nationality or some other country," Mosley wrote.
Almrei, a Syrian, came to Canada in 1999 as a refugee claimant.
He was arrested in Toronto in 2001 after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service alleged he was part of a Sunni extremist network. He initially denied the allegations against him, but later explained he had taken part in paramilitary activities in Afghanistan until 1995.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Source: The Calgary Herald
URL: [link]
Date: January 2, 2009
[PHOTO: Hassan Almrei was arrested in 2001 after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service alleged he was part of a Sunni extremist network. A Federal Court judge ruled Jan. 2 Almrei can no longer justifiably be detained.]
A Federal Court judge ruled Friday that the final terrorism suspect being held in Canada on a national security certificate be released.
Justice Richard Mosley ruled Hassan Almrei, who has been in custody since October 2001, can no longer justifiably be detained.
"I have concluded that his continued detention can no longer be justified and that he should be released under strict conditions pending a determination of the reasonableness of the security certificate under which he is presently detained, and if the certificate should be found to be reasonable, until a determination is made whether he can be removed from Canada to his country of nationality or some other country," Mosley wrote.
Almrei, a Syrian, came to Canada in 1999 as a refugee claimant.
He was arrested in Toronto in 2001 after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service alleged he was part of a Sunni extremist network. He initially denied the allegations against him, but later explained he had taken part in paramilitary activities in Afghanistan until 1995.
[ Read the rest ... ]
VIDEO: CBC News on Bill C-3 from last year
posted on December 24, 2008 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink
Source: CBC News
URL: [link]
Date: December 23, 2008
News on BillC-3 from one year ago
I found this Julie Van Dusen (CBC) report posted on Youtube.com. It's an old one, from October 2007 when the conservative government first introduced Bill C-3. It had not been rammed through the legislature just yet.
News on BillC-3 from one year ago
I found this Julie Van Dusen (CBC) report posted on Youtube.com. It's an old one, from October 2007 when the conservative government first introduced Bill C-3. It had not been rammed through the legislature just yet.
Solicitor-client privilege at issue in Harkat hearing
posted on December 23, 2008 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink
by Andrew Duffy
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link]
Date: December 16, 2008
The issue of solicitor-client privilege took centre stage in Federal Court yesterday when it was revealed that Canada's spy agency has intercepted conversations between accused terrorist Mohamed Harkat and his lawyers.
Mr. Harkat, 40, has been living under strict bail conditions in Ottawa for more than two years. He has asked a Federal Court judge to soften those conditions.
Under terms of his June 2006 bail, Mr. Harkat must wear a GPS monitor and be in the presence of a supervising surety inside and outside his home. His mail is intercepted and his telephone is tapped.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) intercepts all conversations conducted on Mr. Harkat's home phone and turns over recordings to Canada Border Services Agency, the federal agency responsible for monitoring Mr. Harkat's bail.
Court heard yesterday that a conversation between Mr. Harkat and one of his lawyers was listened to in its entirety by a border services official working in a regional office, in breach of an unwritten policy that requires border services officials to respect solicitor-client privilege.
Elizabeth Snow, manager of the agency's counter-terrorism unit, testified that analysts who listen to the CSIS recordings are instructed to "disengage" as soon as it's clear that Mr. Harkat is speaking with someone from his legal team.
That directive, she said, is not part of a policy manual or set out in any written guidelines.
She did not know why the phone call at issue was listened to by a border agent, Ms. Snow said, because it happened in a regional office, rather than at the agency's Ottawa headquarters.
Ms. Snow told the court that all of the phone calls placed on Mr. Harkat's home phone -- whether placed by him, his wife, Sophie, or a visitor -- are monitored for breaches of his bail conditions.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link]
Date: December 16, 2008
The issue of solicitor-client privilege took centre stage in Federal Court yesterday when it was revealed that Canada's spy agency has intercepted conversations between accused terrorist Mohamed Harkat and his lawyers.
Mr. Harkat, 40, has been living under strict bail conditions in Ottawa for more than two years. He has asked a Federal Court judge to soften those conditions.
Under terms of his June 2006 bail, Mr. Harkat must wear a GPS monitor and be in the presence of a supervising surety inside and outside his home. His mail is intercepted and his telephone is tapped.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) intercepts all conversations conducted on Mr. Harkat's home phone and turns over recordings to Canada Border Services Agency, the federal agency responsible for monitoring Mr. Harkat's bail.
Court heard yesterday that a conversation between Mr. Harkat and one of his lawyers was listened to in its entirety by a border services official working in a regional office, in breach of an unwritten policy that requires border services officials to respect solicitor-client privilege.
Elizabeth Snow, manager of the agency's counter-terrorism unit, testified that analysts who listen to the CSIS recordings are instructed to "disengage" as soon as it's clear that Mr. Harkat is speaking with someone from his legal team.
That directive, she said, is not part of a policy manual or set out in any written guidelines.
She did not know why the phone call at issue was listened to by a border agent, Ms. Snow said, because it happened in a regional office, rather than at the agency's Ottawa headquarters.
Ms. Snow told the court that all of the phone calls placed on Mr. Harkat's home phone -- whether placed by him, his wife, Sophie, or a visitor -- are monitored for breaches of his bail conditions.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Lawyers ask if CSIS is listening in
posted on December 21, 2008 | in Category CSIS | PermaLink
by Isabel Teotonio
Source: The Toronto Star
URL: [link]
Date: December 20, 2008
Defence counsel in the high-profile terror case of the Toronto 18 are concerned conversations with their clients are being monitored after it was revealed this week that Canada's spy agency had been intercepting the calls between another terror suspect and his lawyers.
"How can we trust that the system is working appropriately?" asked Dennis Edney, who represents the ringleader of an alleged homegrown terror cell that was arrested in the summer of 2006.
"Every lawyer in this country who's involved in issues of national security has no way of knowing whether (the Canadian Security Intelligence Service) is monitoring their calls," he said yesterday.
Edney's comments came after he wrote to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada asking it to determine if CSIS has monitored conversations between the 10 terror suspects and their lawyers.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Source: The Toronto Star
URL: [link]
Date: December 20, 2008
Defence counsel in the high-profile terror case of the Toronto 18 are concerned conversations with their clients are being monitored after it was revealed this week that Canada's spy agency had been intercepting the calls between another terror suspect and his lawyers.
"How can we trust that the system is working appropriately?" asked Dennis Edney, who represents the ringleader of an alleged homegrown terror cell that was arrested in the summer of 2006.
"Every lawyer in this country who's involved in issues of national security has no way of knowing whether (the Canadian Security Intelligence Service) is monitoring their calls," he said yesterday.
Edney's comments came after he wrote to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada asking it to determine if CSIS has monitored conversations between the 10 terror suspects and their lawyers.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Seething lawyers demand answers over spy agency phone tapping
posted on December 20, 2008 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink
by newswire (?)
Source: The Sault Star
URL: [link]
Date: December 19, 2008
TORONTO — Lawyers still seething after learning Canada's spy agency had been listening to their phone calls with their suspected terrorist clients were demanding answers from the government Friday along with assurances the practice would cease in three other cases.
In addition, they demanded to know on an "urgent basis" how the government planned to destroy records of already intercepted calls.
"We have no explanation yet but I am not finished with this," said lawyer Marlys Edwardh.
Edwardh, who along with Barb Jackman represents Mohammad Mahjoub, said she was "just apoplectic" when she discovered the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had been listening in on their calls with their client.
The information emerged publicly Thursday when Federal Court Judge Carolyn Layden-Stevenson released information supplied at a secret hearing by a senior spy-service agent.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Source: The Sault Star
URL: [link]
Date: December 19, 2008
TORONTO — Lawyers still seething after learning Canada's spy agency had been listening to their phone calls with their suspected terrorist clients were demanding answers from the government Friday along with assurances the practice would cease in three other cases.
In addition, they demanded to know on an "urgent basis" how the government planned to destroy records of already intercepted calls.
"We have no explanation yet but I am not finished with this," said lawyer Marlys Edwardh.
Edwardh, who along with Barb Jackman represents Mohammad Mahjoub, said she was "just apoplectic" when she discovered the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had been listening in on their calls with their client.
The information emerged publicly Thursday when Federal Court Judge Carolyn Layden-Stevenson released information supplied at a secret hearing by a senior spy-service agent.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Lawyers furious that spy agency listening to calls with terror suspects
posted on December 19, 2008 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink
by Colin Perkel
Source: The Canadian Press
URL: [link]
Date: December 18, 2008
TORONTO - Lawyers defending terrorism suspects expressed outrage Thursday that Canada's spy agency has been listening in on their telephone conversations with their clients.
Court documents show the Canadian Security Intelligence Service has been monitoring the calls to ensure the suspects don't breach stringent bail conditions. "I was flabbergasted when I was informed," said Matt Webber, an Ottawa lawyer for Mohamed Harkat, a suspected Algerian terrorist released from custody in May 2006.
"My client's consent never for a moment contemplated the invasion of solicitor-client privilege."
Federal Court Judge Carolyn Layden-Stevenson publicly released information about the wiretapping in a Toronto court Thursday.
"The CSIS analyst ... listens to all intercepted communications, including solicitor-client communications if any," Layden-Stevenson wrote.
Her summary pertains to phone tapping that occurred in the case of Mohammad Mahjoub, an Egyptian detained as a threat to public safety because of his alleged ties to al-Qaida.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Source: The Canadian Press
URL: [link]
Date: December 18, 2008
TORONTO - Lawyers defending terrorism suspects expressed outrage Thursday that Canada's spy agency has been listening in on their telephone conversations with their clients.
Court documents show the Canadian Security Intelligence Service has been monitoring the calls to ensure the suspects don't breach stringent bail conditions. "I was flabbergasted when I was informed," said Matt Webber, an Ottawa lawyer for Mohamed Harkat, a suspected Algerian terrorist released from custody in May 2006.
"My client's consent never for a moment contemplated the invasion of solicitor-client privilege."
Federal Court Judge Carolyn Layden-Stevenson publicly released information about the wiretapping in a Toronto court Thursday.
"The CSIS analyst ... listens to all intercepted communications, including solicitor-client communications if any," Layden-Stevenson wrote.
Her summary pertains to phone tapping that occurred in the case of Mohammad Mahjoub, an Egyptian detained as a threat to public safety because of his alleged ties to al-Qaida.
[ Read the rest ... ]
CSIS taping conversations between lawyers, terrorism suspects, judge says
posted on December 19, 2008 | in Category CSIS | PermaLink
by Colin Freeze
Source: The Globe and Mail
URL: [link]
Date: December 18, 2008
CSIS taping conversations between lawyers, terrorism suspects, judge
says
Update: Spies to stop wiretapping lawyers
Canada's spy agency is taping conversations between men held as terrorism suspects and their defence lawyers, according to a Federal Court Judge, who suggests state agents cease such wiretaps and delete the tapes.
Madame Justice Carolyn Layden-Stevenson's written summary of secret evidence released Thursday left defence lawyers saying they were "apoplectic" with rage that hundreds of their conversations had been snooped on, and that one of the most basic and fundamental legal protections, solicitor-client privilege, is being flouted by the government.
Reviewing the case of an Egyptian living under house arrest because he once ran a farming operation for Osama bin Laden, Judge Layden-Stevenson released a summary of secret testimony given by a Canadian Security Intelligence Service agent.
The testimony revealed just how CSIS is helping another federal agency keep tabs on the security-certificate detainee, Mohammad Zeki Mahjoub.
"The CSIS analyst listens to all intercepted communications, including solicitor-client communications, if any, to the extent of being satisfied that the communication does not involve a potential breach of the terms of release of a threat to national-security," the judge's summary reads.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Restrictions on special advocates unfair, judge told by lawyer representing Harkat
posted on December 17, 2008 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink
by Andrew Duffy
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link]
Date: December 16, 2008
OTTAWA — A special advocate for accused terrorist Mohamed Harkat says government lawyers hold a “massive advantage” in Canada’s five security certificate cases because of their ability to consult with other federal lawyers.
Paul Cavalluzzo is one of two court-appointed lawyers responsible for protecting Mr. Harkat’s interests during secret evidentiary hearings.
But Mr. Cavalluzzo told Federal Court on Tuesday that restrictions imposed on special advocates make the new security certificate regime unworkable.
Special advocates were created by Parliament after a Supreme Court ruling that said the security certificate process was constitutionally unfair.
There are now seven special advocates working for five men the government wants to deport as terrorists. The special advocates are not allowed to discuss their cases with anyone, including each other.
Mr. Cavalluzzo asked Justice Simon Noel Tuesday to partially lift that gag and allow them to consult with each other on matters of law.
Federal lawyers regularly meet, he said, with colleagues who have full knowledge of all five cases.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link]
Date: December 16, 2008
OTTAWA — A special advocate for accused terrorist Mohamed Harkat says government lawyers hold a “massive advantage” in Canada’s five security certificate cases because of their ability to consult with other federal lawyers.
Paul Cavalluzzo is one of two court-appointed lawyers responsible for protecting Mr. Harkat’s interests during secret evidentiary hearings.
But Mr. Cavalluzzo told Federal Court on Tuesday that restrictions imposed on special advocates make the new security certificate regime unworkable.
Special advocates were created by Parliament after a Supreme Court ruling that said the security certificate process was constitutionally unfair.
There are now seven special advocates working for five men the government wants to deport as terrorists. The special advocates are not allowed to discuss their cases with anyone, including each other.
Mr. Cavalluzzo asked Justice Simon Noel Tuesday to partially lift that gag and allow them to consult with each other on matters of law.
Federal lawyers regularly meet, he said, with colleagues who have full knowledge of all five cases.
[ Read the rest ... ]
