Original author: unknown
Source: Justice for Adil Charkaoui Listserv
URL: [link]
Date: December 21 2003
These days we are being told that we must chose between "our" security and "our" rights. But what is security without rights? If we are not securing our rights, what are we securing? And how can "we" have security if some are denied their rights? Whose security are we being asked to protect and whose are we being asked to deny?
Please consider signing on to the statement below, demanding a fair and just trial for Adil Charkaoui and the other refugees and immigrants held under Security Certificates. OUR rights and OUR security are at stake.These days we are being told that we must chose between "our" security and "our" rights. But what is security without rights? If we are not securing our rights, what are we securing? And how can "we" have security if some are denied their rights? Whose security are we being asked to protect and whose are we being asked to deny?
Please consider signing on to the statement below, demanding a fair and just trial for Adil Charkaoui and the other refugees and immigrants held under Security Certificates. OUR rights and OUR security are at stake.
BACKGROUND
Adil Charkaoui, a student at the University of Montreal, was arrested in May 2003 under a Security Certificate, a provision of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The Security Certificate denies Refugees and Permanent Residents like Charkaoui certain basic rights in the name of national security. They are detained without specific charges being laid against them. They are not given access to the full evidence that CSIS is using against him. The process includes closed sessions in which the detained and his lawyer cannot participate.
The court is not given the mandate to decide whether the allegations are in fact true, but only whether CSIS has reasonable grounds to suspect they are true. If the judge decides, on the basis of information secretly presented by CSIS, that there are "reasonable grounds" to suspect that Charkaoui is a threat to national security, he will be deported to his country of origin, without appeal. In the current climate, being deported on suspicion of having links to organisations identified by the USA as terrorist amounts to a death sentence. In Morocco, Charkaoui is likely to suffer further violations of his human rights, including incarceration, torture and even death.
A press release issued shortly after Charkaoui's detention, by the Ligue des droits et libertés, Amnesty International-Canada, the Association of American Jurists and the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG), denounces the use of Security Certificates as having "dramatic" consequences for rights and liberties (27 May 2003). (Full release, [link] )
Federal Court Justice James K. Hugessen said, "We do not like this process of having to sit alone hearing only one party ... we do not have any knowledge except what is given to us and when it is only given to us by one party we are not well suited to test the materials that are put before us. We greatly miss ... the adversary system ... that ... is for most of us, the real warranty that the outcome of what we do is going to be fair and just ..." (Montreal, 2002). (Full quote, [link] )
YOUR SUPPORT
1. Please sign the statement (below), as soon as possible. Send your response to [email] or call 514 859 9023
2. Other ways you can support a fair trial for Charkaoui:
a. Financial Support. The lawyer's fees are very costly. Please consider making a donation, no amount is too small. Cheques should be made out to "JFM" and sent to Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM), P.O. Box 5286 STN St-Laurent, St-Laurent, Québec, H4L 4Z8.
b. Host a presentation. Invite a member of the Coalition to give a presentation to your organisation, school, or other association.
c. Become an active member. Contact us to discuss more active support for the campaign.
SIGN-ON STATEMENT
A Fair and Just Trial for Adil Charkaoui!
We, the undersigned organisations and individuals, denounce the use of Security Certificates against Adil Charkaoui and all others.
We believe the process violates Charkaoui's right to a fair and just trial. Denying the detained access to the precise allegations and the full information being used against him, the process amounts to a secret trial, in which he is detained without charges and subject to a judicial decision based on one-sided information. Denying the court the power to decide on the truth of the information against him, the process leads to a decision based on allegations and suspicions - a standard of evidence which falls far short of the requirements of justice. Denying Mr. Charkaoui the right to appeal the decision, the process permits no challenge to a faulty decision.
Security Certificates apply only to Permanent Residents and Refugees and thus deny certain classes of people in Canada their fundamental rights. This discrimination is completely unacceptable. Human rights are inalienable and do not depend on legal status.
If the Security Certificate is upheld, Charkaoui will face deportation to Morocco. Deported on suspicion of having links to organisations identified by the USA as terrorist, Charkaoui would be very likely to face incarceration without trial, torture and even death. We vehemently oppose this under-handed death sentence.
Believing that an attack on the rights of some is an attack on the rights of all, we call for a fair and just trial for Charkaoui and the others detained under Security Certificates, an end to deportations under Security Certificates, and the abolition of Security Certificates.
For more information: Coalition for Justice for Adil Charkaoui, tel 514 859 9023, justiceforadil at riseup dot net website [link]
The Campaign for Justice for Adil Charkaoui formed in Montreal in a matter of days after his abrupt arrest. The Campaign - an alliance of Muslim groups, refugee and immigrant rights organizations, anti-oppression groups and the Charkaoui family - demands the immediate release of all Security Certificate detainees, no deportations, a fair trial, an immediate end to the "Security Certificate" system, an end to scape-goating in response to American pressure, and an end to the harassment of Muslims and Arabs.
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Justice Coalition For Adil Charkaoui // la Coalition pour la Justice pour Adil Charkaoui
E-mail: justiceforadil at riseup dot net
Website: [link]
Subscribe to list: [link]
Phone: (514) 859 9023