Original author: Sophie Harkat
Source: Harkat Email List (Riseup.net)
Date: August 6, 2005
Friday, August 5, 2005
(please forward or post)
Dear Friend and Supporter,
We need not tell you that Canadian's civil liberties are under attack. As politicians and the media call for further restrictions on our legal and political rights, you have repeatedly stepped forward and provided an important voice for justice and reason. For this we want to thank you.
Unfortunately, as we all know, it is a difficult battle between unequal opponents. The federal government and right wing politicians and organizations have considerable resources at their disposal. We are writing to you to on behalf of the Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee seeking financial assistance to continue our campaign against arbitrary detention and secret trials in Canada.
Mohamed Harkat, has been held under a security certificate since December 10th, 2002 - International Human Rights Day. He is being held without charge, and our legal counsel has been denied access to all of the purported "evidence" being used against him. Recently Amnesty International cited Canada's use of security certificates as a serious matter of concern.
Peter Mansbridge recently wrote an opinion piece in Macleans in which he makes a strange and insensitive comparison between his interview with Moe and his potential future interview with serial rapist and murderer Paul Bernardo.
Below are some reader's responses that have been forwarded to me by email:
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July 28, 2005
Peter Mansbridge is right about one thing. Few - if any - of us have enough sympathy for Paul Bernardo to want him granted a television interview. But a growing number of people understand the injustice of racial profiling and terrorism-driven fear mongering that has led to the incarceration of Mohammad Harkat and the other "Secret Trial Five" Muslim men, without trial and without charge for a total of over 211 months (as of July 2005). For Mansbridge to compare Bernardo and Harkat is misleading and inaccurate - one is a proven sexual predator - the other is a man fighting for his life against horrific allegations that have destroyed him and his family without ever having being proven in a court of law. That one of Canada's most acclaimed journalists cannot differentiate between the two is an unfortunate but rather telling comment on the state of media bias in this country. Stories like Harkat's must continue to be told for the sake of truth and human rights, not to mention journalistic integrity.
Ayesha Adhami
Toronto, Ontario
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July 28, 2005
Sent to Maclean's and posted on my website:
"Prime-time killers - How much can you believe when you interview vicious criminals on the air?"
How much can one believe of what Mansbridge says in his newscasts? I've heard him state a number of things as fact that were - too late to change the public perception - proven false.
But what point is Mansbridge attempting to make in his rather sulky article? That it's not worth the trouble to interview high profile jail inmates? I doubt it, since I'm sure he is well paid for doing so, and it attracts viewers who might not otherwise tune in.
I'm glad to see him admit that he was aggressive with Harkat - he should interview CSIS that aggressively - but the reason he learned nothing new was because there wasn't anything to learn. It was vital, however, that the public have a chance to see that Harkat was a human being, not just a secret CSIS file or some kind of monster. Paul Bernardo is a different kettle of fish altogether, and it was crass of Mansbridge to imply otherwise.
Corinne Allan
http:/www.yayacanada.com
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July 27, 2005
The article was rather decent of Mansbridge, that Mansbridge mentioned that people were unhappy with his "aggressive" coverage of Harkat, and that Bernardo would not generate the negative response against mansbridge's comments, since being aggressive towards a murderer doesn't generate the same kind of sympathy.
The article could have been worse, like his interview with Harkat for instance. Being "aggressive" in a human rights situation especially violation of international law is not particularly an intelligent way of doing interviews.
In Solidarity,
Maria Al-Masani
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One thousand and one nights: A tale from Canada's security certificates
Original author: Maha Zimmo Source: MediaMonitors.net URL: [link] Date: July 21, 2005
"As of September 6th 2005, Sophie will have spent one thousand and one nights living under the shadow of destruction that began when her husband Mohamed was arrested via the auspices of the CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) Certificate, accused of having ties to terrorists. Within moments, anyone associated with a man detained behind the secret evidence of the Security Certificate has a new descriptive. In the case of Sophie, she has gone from being the wife of Mohamed or “Moe” as she calls him, to being the wife of a “terrorist” as he is being called."
On one of the hottest and most humid evenings Ottawa has experienced this summer, I sit across a patio table from Sophie Harkat, watching her wipe her brow and fan herself as students chatter around us. She is irritated and tired after a long day and warns me that I "don't want to catch [her] in a bad mood on a hot day". I take this as my cue to not engage in an interview just yet, and instead listen to her recount some wildly funny moments about a day that included two documentary film makers, a lawyer, a motorcycle and an interesting bus ride.
Original author: Sophie Harkat Source: Justice for Mohamed Harkat Listserv justiceformohamedharkat at lists dot riseup dot net Date: May 13, 2005
Dear Friends and Supporters, (sorry no french translation)
We are having a protest on this upcoming Wednesday, May 18th from 8-9 AM !!, and we need your help. We will be having a silent protest in front of the National Archives representing a "tableaux". We need 27 people to fill up orange suits (like prison suits) to represent the amount of individuals that have been detained and deported under Security Certificates. One of whom is my husband Mohamed Harkat detained since Dec. 10th, 2002. This protest can be very significant if we can make it happen. You have more details below on why we are having this protest. Please respond to [email] if you are free that morning to fill a suit ! We really want this event to be a success. Hope you can help us make it happen....please tell your friends. Hoping to hear from you !
PS....we would meet at 7:45am across the street at the church to get ready. Please let me know by Monday 7PM.
Original author: Andrew Duffy
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
Date: April 27, 2005
Harkat faces torture, death in Algeria
experts: Alleged terrorist would meet same fate as 'thousands' of others if deported
Ottawa's Mohamed Harkat would likely face torture or death if deported to his native Algeria, according to a leading authority who has worked as a consultant for the CIA and the U.S. State Department.
In an affidavit recently filed with the federal government, Fordham University professor John Entilis says the "absolute nature" of Federal Court Judge Eleanor Dawson's decision last month puts Mr. Harkat at risk in Algeria.
Judge Dawson ruled that Mr. Harkat actively supported terrorist activity as a member of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Mr. Entelis said much lesser findings have doomed terrorist suspects in Algeria.
"(It) leaves no doubt in the minds of those to whom he will be returned that he constitutes a clear and present danger to the national security of the Algerian state," wrote Mr. Entelis, director of the Middle East Studies Program at Fordham University in New York.
"Thousands of presumed terrorists have been killed or made to disappear at the hands of the national security forces who have invoked little to none of the kind of legally binding evidence being produced by Canadian authorities in justifying Mr. Harkat's expulsion from the country."
OTTAWA - Thirty people demonstrated in support of Mohamed Harkat Wednesday in downtown Ottawa, urging the government not to deport the Algerian man who has been held for over two years on a security certificate.
Security certificates allow the government to detain suspected terrorists indefinitely without charge.
Harkat is an Algerian refugee arrested in December 2002 after CSIS accused him of being an al-Qaeda "sleeper." The security agency alleges that Harkat is an Islamic extremist who trained under Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants in Afghanistan.
Evan Dyer talked with Mohamed in jail and it was broadcast early this morning on the Ottawa Morning show.
The interview is available on our Web site in MP3 format HERE.
Also, on the CBC TV national news at 6:00PM there was a story about the
new Human Rights Watch report.
The 91-page report, Still at Risk: Diplomatic Assurances No Safeguard against Torture, documents the growing practice among Western governments "including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands" of seeking assurances of humane treatment in order to transfer terrorism suspects to states with well-established records of torture. The report details a dozen cases involving actual or attempted transfers to countries where torture is commonplace.
It chastises Canada for its attempts to deport detainees to torture.
Mahmoud Jaballah was shown briefly in the CBC news item.
Original author: Andrew Duffy
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link] (subscribers only)
Date: March 24, 2005
Harkat's wife says 'Oh my God. Oh my God,' Mohamed Harkat repeated upon hearing a judge had labelled him a terrorist based on evidence he was never allowed to see. As he waits to learn his fate, the Algerian native and wife, Sophie, now feel let down by that system, she tells Andrew Duffy.
When told that a Federal Court judge had labelled him a terrorist, Mohamed Harkat banged his head against the glass partition that separated him from his wife, Sophie, at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre.
"Oh my God. Oh my God," he repeated as he absorbed the meaning of the judgment.
Tuesday's decision by Judge Eleanor Dawson means Mr. Harkat will likely remain in custody while government officials decide whether he can be deported to Algeria, where he believes he will be tortured or killed.
Sophie Harkat told the Citizen in an interview yesterday that Tuesday's meeting with her husband was more difficult than the one after his sudden arrest in December 2002.
"It was horrible ... for me to face him and tell him he's a terrorist in the eyes of the government," she said yesterday. "We both had faith in the court system; we both believed he could finally be getting out. That was the biggest disappointment."
Original author: Canadian Press (CP) URL: [link] Source: The Globe and Mail Date: March 24, 2005
Ottawa -- Supporters of terror suspect Mohamed Harkat vowed yesterday to keep battling federal security certificates such as the one that has kept Mr. Harkat in prison for more than two years.
A Federal Court judge on Tuesday upheld a security certificate issued against Mr. Harkat, setting the stage for his deportation to Algeria.
Madam Justice Eleanor Dawson concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe Mr. Harkat had "supported terrorist activity" as a member of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, based on her assessment of secret evidence against him.
Mr. Harkat's supporters denounced the decision as another step in an unjust process.
Click on the photo of Mohamed to see all items related to him. JUNE 2017: Mohamed Harkat once again faces deportation to his native Algeria after the Supreme Court of Canada declared the federal government’s security certificate regime constitutional.
This fight is not over. The Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee will re-double its efforts to see that justice is done for Mohamed Harkat and that the odious security certificate system of injustice is abolished once and for all.
