From: "Janet Dench" <[email]> To: <[email]> Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 8:57 AM Subject: [CCRLIST] Gov't response on detention conditions for security certificate detainees The government has submitted its response to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration's report on security certificate detention. The response is available at: link expired et en français à link expired The response rejects most of the recommendations, including all the more significant ones (e.g. to use criminal prosecutions rather than immigration procedures, to have the Correctional Investigator oversee the Kingston facility, to have a complaints mechanism for CBSA). They report having made some changes in line with some recommendations (e.g. improved telephone access, canteen facilities, suspending the head count - but they might start it up again at any time, to "count" the one remaining detainee). The only recommendation that they are really enthusiastic about is the one calling for adequate resources for police and intelligence services.The article below discusses the report.

Globe and Mail
KINGSTON FACILITY
Sex, cooking not allowed for detained terrorism suspects

DANIEL LEBLANC

August 28, 2007

OTTAWA -- Current and future terrorism suspects at the controversial
Kingston detention facility can forget about conjugal visits or cooking
their own food.

In response to a House of Commons committee report, the federal
government said it has made many adjustments to the living conditions of
detainees at the year-old facility, but will not agree to a number of
additional proposals.

Detainees at the facility - nicknamed "Guantanamo North" by critics -
have complained of the living conditions they must endure as they are
incarcerated without criminal charges, and staged hunger strikes earlier
this year in an effort to improve their lot.

But the government rejected a number of proposed changes that were put
forward this year by members of the citizenship and immigration
committee. In particular, MPs failed to persuade the government to
provide additional privacy to non-citizens who are subject to security
certificates and expulsion orders.

"Any activity such as conjugal visits, education and work program that
contribute to reintegration into Canadian society is inconsistent with
the [Canada Border Services Agency] objective of removal. In addition,
there is no international obligation to provide conjugal visits," said
the government in its response.

The government rejected the MPs' request to allow detainees private
face-to-face meetings with visitors. It said that detention officers
must be present during visits "to ensure safety and security."

The Kingston facility, the government added, was only designed to reheat
food, not to cook it.

"For health and safety reasons and because fire regulations do not allow
cooking on the premises, the CBSA will not provide a stove," the report
said, while adding that halal foods are now on the menu for Muslims.

The federal facility in Kingston, with room for six detainees, was
opened in the spring of 2006 to house non-Canadian citizens who are
facing expulsion as threats to national security. It was built adjacent
to Millhaven Penitentiary, but constitutes a distinct facility with its
own exercise area.

Detainees have access to small televisions and a phone. In addition,
there are visiting hours from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. every day.

The government also said that staff in Kingston are trained on
immigration issues, as well as religious and cultural sensitivities.

The government said the fact there is only one individual currently held
in Kingston - Hassan Almrei of Syria - does not constitute "solitary
confinement" in the legal sense.

"Whether there are one or six persons in detention ... they will
continue to have telephone and video-conferencing access, including one
free hour of long distance per day, canteen privileges and generous
visiting and recreation hours," the report said.

While the government is not promising further improvements in Kingston,
it said it will comply with a Supreme Court ruling that struck down the
secret hearings used by government lawyers to present their cases
against suspected terrorists. Still, the government said it will not
decrease its reliance on security certificates - which must carry the
signature of two ministers - to deal with potential terrorists.

--
Janet Dench
Canadian Council for Refugees/
Conseil canadien pour les réfugiés
6839 Drolet #302
Montréal, QC, H2S 2T1
(514) 277-7223
fax (514) 277-1447
[email]
[link]

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