VIDEO: Filmmaker Amar Wala on CBC's Q
posted on February 18, 2015 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLinkThis interview is from November 2014.
Suspect tortured by CIA figured in Canadian security cases
posted on January 09, 2015 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink[ Read the rest ... ]
[video] The Agenda with Steve Paikin: Secret Trials, Secret Evidence
posted on December 05, 2014 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink
[link]
About the video: The Canadian government can use a legal tool called a 'security certificate' to detain and deport non-citizens suspected of terrorist activities using secret evidence the accused and their lawyers cannot see. Over the last decade, five Muslim men - dubbed the Secret Trial Five - have been detained in Canadian prisons without charges under security certificates. The Agenda convenes a panel to discuss the security and civil liberty issues surrounding this legal tool.
Copyright © 2014 The Ontario Educational Communications Authority (TVO)
Secret Trials, Torture, and Deporting People Under the Radar
posted on December 05, 2014 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink[ Read the rest ... ]
ByTowne to screen film of five terror suspects jailed without trial
posted on November 11, 2014 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLinkNew anti-terror tracking measures will address 'black hole': CSIS
posted on October 16, 2014 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink
Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney has unveiled new federal plans to boost protection for intelligence sources, by giving them the same protections bestowed upon police informants in criminal cases. The new bill, which will likely be tabled next week, is meant to clarify the current laws, the minister told reporters. "CSIS is relying on those sources, since it is an intelligence agency, so that is why it is so critical and important that we enable CSIS with the same authority that other law enforcement agencies have … so CSIS can fully operate and protect Canadians within the scope of the law." In response to a question on how such evidence could be tested in court without giving defence attorneys the ability to cross-examine sources, CSIS assistant director of operations Andy Ellis pointed out that the agency "has a very robust system in place" for gathering information. "We make every attempt to ensure that the information we're getting is corroborated and accurate, and we do not act on single-source information."
[ Read the rest ... ]
[video] The Secret Trial 5 World Premiere at Hot Docs Documentary Festival
posted on May 20, 2014 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLinkIndependent Jewish Voices Appalled by Court Rulings on Hassan Diab and Mohamed Harkat
posted on May 20, 2014 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLinkOTTAWA – With the decision to extradite Hassan Diab to France affirmed by the Ontario Court of Appeal, human rights supporters across the country are appalled by the decision, and fearful of the precedent this sets for Canadian citizens.
“Independent Jewish Voices is stunned by the Kafkaesque trial against Dr. Diab, who has been wrongly accused of a heinous crime committed decades ago,” says IJV spokesperson Sid Shniad.
“Despite the fact that Dr. Diab’s fingerprints, palm prints, handwriting and physical description do not match those of the suspect, he still faces extradition to a foreign country. What kind of democracy are we living in?”
Due to Canada’s extradition laws, it makes no difference that according to an Ontario judge, the evidence levelled against Dr. Diab is “confusing,” “weak,” and “suspect.” The request — however unreasonable — of a foreign country, takes priority over the rights of a Canadian citizen.
Dr Diab’s extradition is opposed by countless civil society organizations that support human rights. There is, however, one organization in particular that has been publicly supportive of Dr. Diab’s extradition: The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).
“Independent Jewish Voices is deeply disturbed that the pro-Israel lobby group CIJA — which falsely claims to represent Canada’s diverse Jewish communities — has been supportive of Dr. Diab’s extradition,” says Shniad. “It is an affront to the Jewish tradition of support for universal human rights, including due process under the law, to support the extradition of a man accused of a crime despite the absence of any valid evidence against him.”
This decision directly follows the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Security Certificate process in the case of Mohamed Harkat.
“Canada’s treatment of Dr. Diab and Mr. Harkat are reflective of the same systemic flaws,” says Shniad. “Our government and judicial system are in the business of violating international law, demonizing Arabs and Muslims, and branding them terrorists while denying them the right to a fair trial. All those who believe in justice should be outraged. We should demand that Parliament intervene immediately to abolish Security Certificates and end unjust practices like the extradition proceedings against Dr. Diab.”
For more information contact:
Sid Shniad, Steering Committee member of Independent Jewish Voices – Canada
604-314-5589, ijv-vancouver AT ijvcanada.org
LETTER: Where's the Justice?
posted on May 18, 2014 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLinkWhere has my Canada gone now that Mohamed and his wife, Sophie, have lost their struggle for justice? As a result of secret trials where he saw neither the evidence nor his accuser, Harkat is to be deported to Algeria, where he may face possible torture and death. Do we really feel safer because their battle for justice has been lost? Is democracy more secure in Canada because secret trials have been Ok'd? Or has democracy been sacrificed to the so-called "war" on terrorism? Oh Canada, my shameful chosen land. Alma Norman
Ottawa
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
Photos from May 14th, outside the Supreme Court
posted on May 18, 2014 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink
Click on the photo above to see more pics from the rally that morning.
Thank you to those dedicated supporters who came out on Wednesday morning to hold up our banners and let the world know that regardless of what 8 Supreme Court judges may think security certificates are not acceptable to Canadians. They are a blight on our reputation as a country that purports to stand for human rights. And they must be abolished.