Canada should follow Britain's example and seek to deport foreign terror suspects, even to states that use torture, but only after officials at the highest levels - the foreign minister or prime minister - extract assurances of humane treatment from their counterparts in the other countries. It is the only way out of the quandary in which democracies find themselves with foreign suspects, and Britain's highest court endorsed it unanimously last week. King Abdullah of Jordan gave his assurance to former prime minister Tony Blair in the case of Abu Qatada, an incendiary preacher, and the British Law Lords said that assurance passed legal muster. Mr. Qatada is appealing the ruling to the European Court of Human Rights. (The Law Lords' ruling also permits the deportation of two other terror suspects to Algeria.) This ruling has a strong message for Canada and other democracies. European law contains an absolute prohibition against deporting to torture. No exceptions are permitted. Canadian law is not as absolute. If it makes sense and is legally possible in Britain, it should make a good escape hatch from the box in which Canada finds itself.

[ Read the rest ... ]