Original author: Jim Bronskill (CP)
Source: The Globe and Mail
URL: [link]
Date: January 28, 2006


OTTAWA -- A United Nations working group says it is "gravely concerned" about Canada's use of special security certificates and calls on Ottawa to reconsider the tool for cracking down on suspected terrorists.

The UN working group on arbitrary detention says elements of the certificate regime jeopardize a person's rights to a fair hearing, to challenge the evidence used against them, and to ensure judicial review of their incarceration.

"This procedure allows the government to detain aliens for years on the suspicion that they pose a security threat, without raising criminal charges," says the body's report, made public yesterday.

The group, set up by the UN Commission on Human Rights, toured Canada during the first half of June at the invitation of the government. It visited detention facilities, including police stations, jails, and pre-trial and immigration holding centres in several cities.The report expresses concern that all four men currently imprisoned under security certificates are Arab Muslims. A fifth man, also Muslim, has been released from jail but is strictly monitored by authorities.

Under federal immigration law, the government may use a certificate to deport a non-citizen suspected of being a risk to Canadian security.

A federal judge examines the case, either upholding the certificate as reasonable or quashing it and setting the suspect free.

The security certificate system has become a flashpoint in Canada's fight against terrorism, drawing criticism from human-rights activists, lawyers and scholars.

Amnesty International has also raised concerns about certificates, which have been used in 27 cases since 1991.

Critics say the process is unfair because counsel for the accused is not permitted access to details of evidence, based on secret intelligence, underpinning the case.

As a result, the report says, the lawyers are "not in a position to effectively question the allegations brought against him."

The report notes the only way out of detention is deportation to the person's country of origin. All five men now subject to certificates argue they would be tortured if sent to their homelands.

The Justice Department, which has been leading a review of the certificate regime, had no immediate comment on the report.

The Supreme Court of Canada is slated to hear constitutional challenges of the process in June from three men -- Mohamed Harkat, Hassan Almrei and Adil Charkaoui -- slated for deportation under certificates.

The UN group pointed to another of the five men, Mahmoud Jaballah, in citing one of the "most troubling" aspects of the process -- the difficulty in challenging one's detention.

The report notes that Mr. Jaballah had been detained without criminal charges for five years but received the chance to challenge his detention only once.

The group urges Ottawa to ensure incarceration of terrorism suspects is consistent with standard criminal procedure and safeguards enshrined in international law.

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