Security Certificates

Source: Justice Coalition for Adil Charkaoui
Date: February 3, 2008

A week in Kafka land
UPDATE and CALL TO ACTION on "security certificates"
February 3, 2008

Last week was an exceptionally busy one in the Kafka-world of home-prisons, vanishing secret evidence, and déjà vu laws that is the campaign against so-called "security certificates". Here is an overview of the week's main developments, ending with a renewed call for your much needed and deeply appreciated solidarity and support.

::::Harkat released!::::

The Federal Court ordered Mohamed Harkat released from prison on Friday
(decision: [link] )
He is again at home under house arrest with his wife Sophie Harkat. Though he has never been charged with any crime, let alone convicted, Harkat has been forced to live under an extremely repressive control scheme since his release from prison in summer 2006. Last Tuesday, Harkat was arrested at his home in Ottawa, as he took a shower, on allegations that he violated some of those bail conditions. The move on the part of the government exposed just how deeply invasive the conditions are - not only into Harkat's life, but into the lives of his entire family. The arrest, it turned out, centered on the love-life of Harkat's mother-in-law, who was literally called into court to account for where she sleeps.

Though any real concerns on the part of Stockwell Day's Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) could have been resolved through discussion with the family, the CBSA chose the high-profile, media-worthy method of arresting Harkat instead. The arrest, and attendant media storm, came just two days before the Supreme Court hearing into the destruction of evidence in the Charkaoui file, and as Parliament prepared to vote on the "new" security certificate law. The timing, as Harkat's lawyers pointed out, was interesting.

Harkat will be in court again on Monday, 4 February for a pre-scheduled bail review, in which he will ask the court to allow him to stay at home alone. The Harkat committee is asking people to come out to support Mohamed and Sophie (at Supreme Court building at 301 Wellington St.; court starts at 9:30am (arrive early for security). Further details on the Harkat website:
[link]

[ Read the rest ... ]

Source: Justice pour Adil Charkaoui
Date: 3 février 2008

Une semaine dans le monde de Kafka
MISE À JOUR et APPEL À L'ACTION sur les certificats de sécurité
3 février 2008

La semaine dernière a été particulièrement occupée dans le monde kafkaïen de la campagne contre les certificats de sécurité, faite de maisons-prisons, de disparition de preuves secrètes et de lois que l'on pourrait qualifier de déjà vue. Voici donc un survol des événements de la semaine passée ainsi qu' un rappel de l'importance de votre solidarité, grandement appréciée.

::::Libération de Mohamed Harkat !::::

La Cour fédérale a exigé la libération de Mohamed Harkat vendredi (décision disponible au [link] Il retourne chez lui, toujours en détention à résidence, avec son épouse Sophie Harkat. Même s'il n'a jamais été accusé d'aucun crime, ni même reconnu coupable, M. Harkat doit vivre avec des mesures contrôle extrêmement répressives depuis sa libération à l'été 2006. Mardi dernier, M. Harkat a été arrêté dans sa résidence à Ottawa, alors qu'il prenait une douche, en vertu d'allégations de ne pas avoir respecté certaines de ces conditions de libération. Ce geste de la part du gouvernement a démontré à quel point les conditions sont envahissantes, non seulement pour M. Harkat, mais aussi pour sa famille entière. L'arrestation s'est révélée tourner autour de la vie amoureuse de la belle-mère de M. Harkat, qui a même dû expliquer à la Cour où elle passe la nuit.

[ Read the rest ... ]

Source: The Marxist-Lenist Daily URL: [link] Date: January 30, 2008 Our Security Lies in Our Fight for the Rights of All No to the Arrest of Mohamed Harkat! Down with Security Certificates and State Impunity! Oppose Bill C-3, Renewed Security Certificate Legislation!

TML vehemently denounces the arrest of Mohamed Harkat by the Canadian Border Services Agency and Ottawa Police on Tuesday, January 29. In a move designed to create maximum humiliation, Mohamed Harkat, subject to a security certificate and held under house arrest yet charged with no crime, was re-arrested at his home while in the shower, allegedly because of a breach of bail conditions. The timing of the arrest is a cynical and vengeful ploy on the part of the state. It comes at a time when there is broad and militant opposition to security certificates and the Harper government's attempt to push through new security certificate legislation Bill C-3, with the existing law set to expire on February 23. There is also a recent favourable ruling for security certificate detainee Adil Charkaoui in his case against the CSIS secret police, his January 31 appearance before the Supreme Court and an upcoming court date for Mohamed Harkat to review his bail conditions.

[ Read the rest ... ]

By Richard Foot, Canwest News Service
Source: Canada.com
URL: [link]
Date: January 28, 2008

The federal government is having trouble recruiting an experienced pool of lawyers to work as "special advocates" on behalf of terror suspects under Canada's security certificate law.

So far, only 50 lawyers have responded to a month-long, national recruitment campaign by the Department of Justice, aimed at finding a list of experienced practitioners who can defend people facing deportation in secret judicial hearings.

Those 50 applications may be enough from which to find a list of advocates, but they represent only a tiny fraction of the 57,000 practising lawyers in Canada.

Last week, as a result of the poor turnout, the Justice Department extended the application deadline from Jan. 15 to Feb. 1.

[ Read the rest ... ]

By Tamara Shepherd Source: The Etobicoke Guardian URL: [link] Date: January 22, 2008 Wife of Mahammad Mahjoub urges MPs to vote against legislation

A security certificate system is needed in Canada say two Etobicoke MPs after the wife of a terrorism suspect held for more than six years without charges called on them to vote against proposed legislation on the issue. Mona Elfouli and a half dozen supporters protested against secret trials in a so-called Freedom Caravan last week outside the offices of local Liberal MPs Michael Ignatieff (Etobicoke-Lakeshore and deputy Liberal leader), Borys Wrzesnewskyj (Etobicoke Centre) and Roy Cullen (Etobicoke North). A federal court ruling last February granted Elfouli's husband, Mahammad Mahjoub, release on strict bail conditions that amounts to a form of house arrest.

[ Read the rest ... ]

By Matthew Behrens Source: The Campaign to Stop Secret Trials In Canada URL: N/A Date: January 21, 2008 Hooded Detainees “Stand-In” at the Federal Liberal Caucus to Say No New Secret Trials in Canada Martin Luther King Day Event in Kitchener Reminds Liberals that Security Certificates Represent Gross Inequality Secret Trial Opponents Urge People to Contact Their MPs and Say No to C-3 (report from Matthew Behrens of the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada)

KITCHENER, JANUARY 21, 2008 -- It’s Martin Luther King Day, and I’m sitting in a bathroom stall at the Kitchener Holiday Inn, waiting to hear Stephane Dion’s voice. Not in the sense of wise words suddenly descending from a deity -- though such occurrences are not uncommon in public privies -- but rather, because the leader of the opposition Liberal Party of Canada is slated to speak to the gathered national media in an open area just outside the men’s room. Along with my co-conspirator Tracey, I intend to join Mr. Dion on his platform to make a surprise “stop secret trials in Canada photo-op” where we will present the self-described next prime minister with a Martin Luther King Day gift. We also plan to ask him one simple question: why are Dion and the Liberals, who always campaign on their alleged respect for the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, prepared to vote in favour of new secret trials legislation (Bill C-3) that will continue the ugly regime of indefinite detention without charge, the use of secret “evidence,” a two-tier system that condemns permanent residents and refugees to the lowest standards of justice, and deportation to torture. Hardly the stuff of Charter values.

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By Matthew Behrens - [email] Source: Secretrials-org Email List URL: N/A Date: January 14, 2008 Please forward to Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Hamilton, and other area lists! RSVP if you can make it! Rides from Toronto area available

Kitchener-Waterloo Says: Stop Secret Trials in Canada and End Deportations to Torture Martin Luther King Day Walk and Peaceful Vigil at Liberal Party Caucus Meetings Monday, January 21, 12 Noon Meet at Fairview Mall (on Fairway Road South) Walk to Holiday Inn, 30 Fairway Road South Call (519) 569-8085 if you need help getting there or for more info.

The Liberal Party of Canada is holding a two-day caucus in Kitchener Waterloo January 21-22. On Martin Luther King Day, we are gathering in the spirit of the U.S. civil rights movement's call for equality to demand that the Liberals oppose Bill C-3, which will continue two-tier justice, racial profiling, indefinite detention without charge, the use of secret evidence, and deportation to torture through the use of what are known as security certificates. WHY NOW?

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Par "Justice pour Adil" Source: Coalition Justice pour Adil Charkaoui URL: N/A Date: 9 janvier 2008 Nouvelle loi des certificats de sécurité : maintenez la pression ! Mise à jour et actions à venir Ci-dessous : 1. CAMPAGNE DE PRESSION SUR LES DÉPUTÉS 2. JOURNÉES NATIONALES D'ACTION : 25 ET 26 JANVIER 3. MANIFESTATION CONTRE LE SCRS DEVANT LA COUR SUPREME À OTTAWA LE 31 JANVIER (réservez maintenant votre place sur l'autobus qui partira de Montréal!)

Comme vous le savez sûrement, le vote final de la Chambre des communes sur le " nouveau " processus des certificats de sécurité (projet de loi C-3), qui devait avoir lieu avant le congé du temps des Fêtes, a été reporté. La Chambre des communes reprendra ses activités le 29 janvier prochain. Si la loi C-3 est adoptée à la Chambre des communes, elle passera ensuite par le Sénat et traversera le même processus qu'aux Communes, c'est-à-dire une première et une deuxième lecture, ensuite des audiences devant un comité, une troisième lecture et, finalement, le vote final.

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By Sara Falconer Source: Ottawa XPress URL: [link] Date: January 3, 2008
Community Garden
by Sara Falconer "The people of Canada don't want secret trials," says Christian Legeais, a spokesperson for Ottawa's security certificate detainee Mohamed Harkat. Which seems like a bit of a no-brainer, especially after the Supreme Court deemed security certificates unconstitutional last year. Yet the Conservatives tried to quietly pass Bill C-3, their update to that controversial section of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, just before the holidays. For now, it has been stalled at the House of Commons. Legeais says that while the Commons public safety committee was reviewing the new bill, public pressure made a difference. MPs received "dozens and dozens" of calls from concerned citizens. The Secret Trial Five, as they have come to be known, are Muslim refugees who were imprisoned indefinitely without being charged with a crime, and face deportation to torture or worse in Algeria, Morocco, Egypt and Syria. In February, after the Supreme Court abolished the existing legislation, the Tories were given one year to rewrite it, and eight months later, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day unveiled C-3. However, as activists campaigning against the certificates had predicted, the proposed law changed little except for the addition of special advocates. According to the Conservatives, special advocates will give those held under security certificates more representation in the proceedings against them. But the accused will still not be able to see the evidence against them. In Britain, where special advocates were first introduced in similar cases, lawyers recused themselves in protest.

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By "TASC" - [email] Source: The Campign to Stop Secret Trials In Canada URL: N/A Date: December 14, 2007 (Please distribute far and wide!)

Secret Trials Bill Stalled in House Likely Due to Public Pressure! Update and January 25-26 Days of Action to End Secret Trials in Canada

UPDATE AND CALL TO ACTION

The final Parliamentary vote on the “new” security certificate process, Bill C-3, expected to take place earlier this week, was postponed at the 11th hour, and will not be considered until the week of January 28, 2008. Congratulations to everyone who marched, participated in community delegations, sent emails or phoned MPs - together, we have won the first round in the fight against new security certificate legislation! But there is still much to do. PUBLIC OUTRAGE STALLS THE BILL!

After the Conservatives made a major point of trying to ram the bill through the House before the holiday break, one might conclude that their apparent reticence to put the bill to a final vote was in part due to public outrage and pressure and perhaps what the polls were telling the government (the Conservative Party, it was revealed yesterday, has spent $31 million on polling since coming to office, an average of two polls per business day while in office).

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