Canada's Anti-terrorism oriented Bill C-3 - 'Virgin on the Ridiculous'
posted on February 23, 2008 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLinkSource: The Canadian
URL: [link]
Date: February 22, 2008
On another one of the many days of infamy in the world's history, Feb 6th, 2008, by a vote of 191 - 54, the minority Canadian Parliament thoughtlessly passed legislation that smelled like a kangaroo in a Star Chamber - Bill C-3. The stench rivalled that of the U.S. Patriot Acts it emulated.
Okay, so for those Canadian citizens who weren't paying attention in class or haven't yet been bothered to become aware of the odious content, C-3 is the so-called Security Certificates Legislation, the latest reincarnation of the Terrorism Bill that replaced the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) that was passed in the aftermath of 9/11. This is the bill that denies Canadians the presumption of innocence, an open trial, the right to know one's accusers, to have equal access to evidence presented against an accused - in short the abrogation of the rule of law as we have come to know it.
[ Read the rest ... ]
G+M: Legislation bans use of evidence tied to torture
posted on February 22, 2008 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLinkSource: The Globe and Mail
URL: [link]
Date: February 22, 2008
OTTAWA - The Canadian government will reintroduce a controversial anti-terrorism measure as early as today in a bid to comply with a Supreme Court ruling that has forced Parliament to give more rights to immigrants accused of links to terrorist groups.
In addition to assigning so-called "special advocate" lawyers to act for defendants in closed hearings, the new law bans making detainees answer allegations flowing from torture in foreign jails.
Further, government officials have privately signalled they will no longer use evidence from alleged al-Qaeda trainer Abu Zubaydah. The Guantanamo Bay detainee's statements had figured in two of Canada's six ongoing "security-certificate" proceedings.
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency this month admitted to "waterboarding" Abu Zubaydah to get information about possible terrorist cells. The interrogation method is designed to make a suspect talk by inducing fears he is drowning.
"I can confirm that the Minister of Public Safety and the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration will not rely upon information provided by Mr. Zubaida," John Sims, deputy minister of Justice Canada, wrote in a Jan. 11 letter.
The correspondence was sent to defence lawyer Paul Copeland, who represents an Algerian held under a security certificate. Mr. Sims's letter pointed out that Canadian judges were already giving "no weight" to the Abu Zubaydah evidence.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Court won't hear security certificate case until 2009: lawyer
posted on February 21, 2008 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLinkAfter an earlier challenge by Charkaoui, the Supreme Court ruled last year that while security certificates are necessary in an age of terrorism, the current system is unconstitutional because it violates the right of suspects to know the government's secret evidence against them. However, it also gave Ottawa one year to put replacement legislation into effect. The federal government has made the deadline. Thursday morning Charkaoui called the changes "cosmetic." He, Doyon and others said the new legislation remains contrary to the federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms. © Montreal Gazette 2008
Torture-tainted evidence
posted on February 21, 2008 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLinkThere is no place in Canada's legal system for information obtained through torture. At a time when two men are being held on Canadian security certificates based partly on intelligence gained through waterboarding, the federal government must make that clear. In 2002, the Americans arrested Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan, took him to a secret CIA prison, and waterboarded him, a procedure that makes prisoners think they are drowning. CIA director Michael Hayden has defended the action, saying it was necessary because U.S. officials had little intelligence about al-Qaeda and feared another attack. The fruits of that interrogation are now working their way through Canada's legal system, as the government figures out what to do with Ottawa's Mohamed Harkat and Montreal's Adil Charkaoui, both of whom have been deemed security threats and their freedom curtailed. There has been an ongoing debate in the United States about the morality of waterboarding. Human rights scholars, and many military experts, consider waterboarding to be torture, but the Canadian government and security establishment seem to have no opinion on the matter, and nor are they saying whether Canada will continue to use evidence obtained through its use. It would be one thing for Canadian counterterrorist agents to use such intelligence in order to prevent an immediate threat. If Syria tips Canada off that a bomb is going to go off today in downtown Toronto, we can't ignore the information simply because we don't know how Syria got it. But if later on we're going to use that information to prosecute, imprison or deport suspects, the government needs to ask questions. The lawyers for Messieurs Harkat and Charkaoui have a right to know if the intelligence against their clients is tainted by torture. © 2008 Canwest Interactive, a division of Canwest Publishing Inc.. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited.
[MONTREAL, FEB 21] Press Conference: Security Certificates - Round Two
posted on February 21, 2008 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLinkSpeakers: Hon. Warren Allmand, International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG) Mr. Adil Charkaoui Mr. Gaétan Châteauneuf, President, Conseil centrale de Montréal (CSN) Me. Johanne Doyon, Quebec Immigration Lawyers' Association (l'AQAADI) Sheikh Salam Elmenyawi, Muslim Council of Montreal Mr. Mostafa Henaway, Immigrant Workers' Centre Ms. Marie-Eve Lamy, Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui Mr. Charkaoui and several Quebec organizations who have been involved in the campaign against security certificates will react to the passage of new security certificate legislation and discuss next steps. They will also call on the government to refrain from issuing new certificates against Charkaoui and the other detainees under the new law. Mr. Charkaoui was arrested under a certificate in May 2003, and has remained under severe "preventive conditions" since his release from prison in February 2005. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled last year that the old security certificate legislation was unconstitutional. The decision will enter into effect at the end of this week, on 23 February 2008. A new law was adopted by Senate last week despite the prospect of another constitutional challenge. Media contact: cell 514 222 0205 Source: Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui [link] [email] tel 514 848 7583
Mohamed Harkat demeure en liberté
posted on February 19, 2008 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLinkLa juge Eleanor Dawson, de la Cour fédérale, a ainsi rejeté une requête de l'Agence des services frontaliers et du ministère fédéral de la Sécurité publique de le remettre en prison parce que sa belle-mère, qui s'était portée garante de son cautionnement, avait quitté le domicile des Harkat sans en informer les autorités.
Elle a également rejeté la requête de la Couronne voulant que soit saisi son cautionnement de 100 000 $, estimant qu'un tel geste serait injuste à la lumière des circonstances exceptionnelles qui ont mené à son arrestation le 29 janvier dernier.
«Le bris des conditions de remise en liberté est sérieux, a dit la juge Dawson. M. Harkat a droit à une libération s'il est possible de contenir le danger qu'il représente. De telles mesures existent. Les conditions de remise en liberté imposées à une personne doivent être proportionnelles au danger ou à la menace qu'elle représente.»
La juge Dawson a décidé que Harkat pourrait demeurer en liberté aussi longtemps qu'il respectera les conditions émises à son endroit lors de procédures précédentes.
Elle a par ailleurs refusé de se rendre à la requête de Harkat qui demandait un assouplissement des sévères conditions entourant sa remise en liberté, afin qu'il puisse se trouver chez lui sans supervision.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Harkat wins, loses
posted on February 19, 2008 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLinkThe Canadian government lost its bid to have suspected terrorist Mohamed Harkat thrown back in jail yesterday even though a Federal Court judge said that there was a "serious breach" of his bail conditions.
But Harkat did lose his bid to ease the strict conditions of his release order so that he can stay at home unsupervised.
The Canada Border Services Agency had alleged there was a breach because the status of one of the sureties changed and they weren't informed, leading to Harkat being rearrested on Jan. 29.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Special advocates to defend terror suspects
posted on February 19, 2008 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLinkSource: Canwest News Service
URL: [link]
Date: February 17, 2008
The federal Justice Department will open its doors on Monday to a handful of independent lawyers - branded as traitors by many of their colleagues - for a crash course on the workings of Canada's notorious, new anti-terrorist law.
After a week of lessons in Ottawa, the lawyers will become the country's first official team of "special advocates," appointed to represent terror suspects targeted under one of the most contentious national security laws in Canadian history.
The "special advocates school" is the result of a landmark Supreme Court ruling that struck down the law last year, saying it violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Terror suspect Harkat wins bid to stay out of jail
posted on February 19, 2008 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLinkDespite a "serious" breach of his bail conditions, terror suspect Mohamed Harkat will not be returned to jail, a Federal Court judge has ruled.
However, the violation did set back his request for a relaxation of some of the conditions imposed on him almost two years ago.
Mr. Harkat had asked the court to be allowed to stay in his home and yard without one of his three court-approved supervisors -- his wife, Sophie, his mother-in-law, Pierrette Brunette, and her former partner, Alois Weidemann.
Justice Eleanor Dawson denied the request because the breach eroded her confidence in the judgment of Mr. Harkat, his wife and his mother-in-law, who failed to report a change in Mr. Harkat's living situation.
[ Read the rest ... ]
C-3 passes with contention
posted on February 18, 2008 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLinkDespite voicing strong reservations regarding the constitutionality of the revised security certificate legislation, Bill C-3, Canada’s Senate approved the bill Tuesday, leaving just the ceremonial procedure left before it becomes law.
Advocacy groups and security certificate detainees were shocked that the bill was rushed through without substantial amendments.
“It’s enraging that it not only got through [the House of Commons] with just a few minimal, really meaningless changes, and then pushed through Senate with barely even a gesture into making it a legitimate-looking process,” said Mary Foster, a spokesperson for the support group Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui, who attended the Senate hearings.
[ Read the rest ... ]