Security Certificates

Source: The Mississauga News
URL: [link]
Date: February 15, 2009


Mississauga resident Hassan Almrei, pegged by CSIS after 9/11 as a terror suspect linked to terror kingpin Osama Bin Laden, celebrated the defeat of the federal government's deportation case against him by having a non-alcoholic drink yesterday with his lawyers.

His team of lawyers, however, toasted victory with champagne.

"This is a huge decision," said lead lawyer Lorne Waldman.

Yesterday, more than eight years after Almrei's arrest, a Federal Court of Canada judge threw out the security certificate against him, concluding the evidence — both secret and public — against the Syrian native does not hold up to scrutiny.

In a landmark ruling, Justice Richard Mosley declared "unreasonable" the security certificate that deemed Almrei a threat to national security.

Almrei was first arrested in October 2001 in his Cooksville apartment. He as released last March under strict monitoring conditions that include an electronic tracking bracelet on his leg.

He said yesterday he had waited a long time for this day.

"I'm glad. I cannot describe how happy I am," he said from his lawyer's office. "At the same time, I'm sad it took me more than eight years."

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by The Canadian Press Source: CTV News URL: [link] Date: February 14, 2009 Minister eyes changes to security certificate

OTTAWA — The federal government has launched a sweeping review of a crumbling anti-terrorist law, acknowledging the system needs fixing, The Canadian Press has learned. "We are working on it actively, very actively, and recognize that the current situation is not ideal -- and that there is a need for change," Peter Van Loan, Canada's public safety minister, said in an exclusive interview. The review of the rickety national-security certificate system could scrap or revamp a law used to arrest and deport non-Canadians considered a threat to national security. Certificates have existed for three decades, and more than two dozen have been issued since 1991, when they became part of federal immigration law.

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By Janice Tibbetts
Source: Canwest News Service
URL: [link]
Date: December 14, 2009

[PHOTO: Hassan Almrei was arrested in 2001 after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service alleged he was part of a Sunni extremist network.]


OTTAWA — The Federal Court has dealt another blow to the federal government's effort to deport foreign terrorist suspects in a ruling that quashed a security certificate against Hassan Almrei.

"I am satisfied that Hassan Almrei has not engaged in terrorism and is not and was not a member of an organization that there are reasonable grounds to believe has, does, or will engage in terrorism," Justice Richard Mosley wrote in a ruling released Monday.

Security certificates, which empower the government to detain non-Canadian suspects without charge or without knowing the case against them are one of the key federal tools in fighting terrorism.

On the approval of two cabinet ministers, the government can issue the certificates, which permit the incarceration of a suspect in "administrative detention" until a Federal Court judge determines whether he or she should be returned to his or her home country.

Almrei, a Syrian, came to Canada in 1999 as a refugee claimant. He was arrested in Toronto in 2001 after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service alleged he was part of a Sunni extremist network.

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Source: CBC News URL: [link] Date: November 30, 2009 Egyptian al-Qaeda suspect released from holding centre,

A judge has ruled that Mohamed Zeki Mahjoub, accused of having links to an Egyptian terrorist organization, can once again be freed from custody under strict conditions, ending Mahjoub's months-long hunger strike. Federal Court Justice Edmond Blanchard ruled Monday that the Egyptian-born immigrant can leave the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre in Bath, Ont., as long as he wears an electronic bracelet and adheres to other conditions. Last month, Mahjoub said he had lost more than 50 pounds while on a hunger strike to protest conditions at the holding centre, which is on the grounds of the Millhaven maximum-security prison near Kingston, Ont.

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by Janice Tinnetts, Canwest News
Source: The montreal Gazette
URL: [link]
Date: October 17, 2009

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson says he has no immediate plans to rewrite Canada's laws for deporting foreign terrorism suspects, despite a string of cases in the nation's courts that have left the government's "war on terror" in tatters.

Despite mounting evidence that a key government tool intended to fight terrorism is losing traction, Nicholson said the government has secured some legal victories and will work within the framework of existing laws to evict non-Canadian suspects.

"We have won some, we've lost some when it comes to the whole question of security," Nicholson said in an interview yesterday with Canwest News Service.

"This is a priority with the government, and we will continue to move against people who are threatening security."

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Source: Radio-Canada
URL: [link]
Date: 14 octobre 2009


Adil Charkaoui affirme que le certificat de sécurité qui pesait contre lui depuis mai 2003 a été révoqué.

Le Montréalais d'origine marocaine a reçu, mercredi, le jugement de 68 pages de la juge Danièle Tremblay-Lamer de la Cour fédérale. S'appuyant sur ce jugement, Adil Charkaoui affirme que le certificat de sécurité est abrogé et que la décision est définitive et sans appel.

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La décision est claire: les ministres ont perdu, ils ne peuvent plus aller en appel, le certificat est déclaré nul, j'ai ma liberté et, aujourd'hui, je suis libéré de ce certificat de sécurité qui m'a envenimé la vie pendant des années, six ans et demi de ma vie. — Adil Charkaoui

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Dans une déclaration écrite, le ministre de la Sécurité publique Peter Van Loan a toutefois indiqué que « le gouvernement étudie la décision. Notre objectif est de s'assurer que les Canadiens soient protégés de toutes menaces terroristes. Nous examinons les effets de la décision en ce sens. »

Le 24 septembre dernier, la juge Tremblay-Lamer de la Cour fédérale a levé les dernières conditions qui restreignaient la liberté d'Adil Charkaoui. Ce dernier a d'ailleurs coupé, devant les caméras de télévision, le bracelet muni d'un GPS qu'il était forcé de porter à la cheville depuis 2005.

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by Monia Mazigh
Source: Rabble.ca
URL: [link]
Date: October 6, 2009

The week of September 21 was an important one. Well, it is true that it is a special week when Muslims celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr and were happy congratulating and visiting each other. But for two other Muslim families, one in Ottawa and another in Montreal, this week had a special meaning.

I am speaking about Sophie Lamarche and her husband Mohamed Harkat who live in Ottawa, and about Adil Charkaoui and his family who live in Montreal. For Harkat and Charkaoui this week meant an extraordinary change in their lives.

For the first time Harkat was able to take his 10 year-old niece for a walk without any approval from the CBSA (Canadian Border Services Agency) agents and for the first time Charkaoui was able to remove his GPS ankle bracelet that monitored his movements for many years.

Those light bail conditions for Harkat and the removal of security certificate for Charkaoui did not happen suddenly. They came after about seven long years of detention, extremely harsh bail conditions and of course sorrow and hardship for the detainees and their families.

In December 2002, Mohamed Harkat, an Algerian refugee who worked in pizza delivery, was arrested in front of his house. Two Canadians Ministers signed a security certificate against him. He was designated as a threat to the security of Canada and proceedings were initiated against him to remove him to his homeland.

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by Jim Bronskill (CP) Source: The Canadian Press URL: [link] CSIS enlists technical wizardry to eavesdrop abroad

OTTAWA — CSIS has recruited some Defence Department wizardry to sidestep legal limits on its ability to spy on Canadians travelling abroad. Details of a Federal Court ruling released Tuesday provide a glimpse of the high-tech tools used by spies in the fight against terrorism and espionage. The reasons for a potentially groundbreaking decision by Justice Richard Mosley reveal the Canadian Security Intelligence Service obtained a warrant to monitor two suspects considered threats to Canada late last year. When it got wind the pair were leaving the country, CSIS won court approval to employ the secretive Communications Security Establishment, a wing of National Defence, to ensure the interceptions could continue.

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by James Morton, opinion piece Source: The Toronto Star URL: [link] Date: October 2, 2009 Courts have maintained proper balance between rights of the accused and national security

James Morton past president of the Ontario Bar Association Just a few weeks after Prime Minister Stephen Harper raised fears of left-wing ideologues on the bench, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said he fears for the government's ability to fight terrorism. Van Loan complained of "an increasingly complex legal environment" in which judges are no longer deferring to the government in its efforts to deport foreign suspects. "It raises questions about whether we can protect national security," he said. Certainly it has been a difficult few months for the government's anti-terrorism policy. Judges have not been notably supportive of government positions. The Federal Court of Appeal recently upheld a ruling requiring the government to ask the Americans to bring Omar Khadr to Canada. That case is going to the Supreme Court but most observers do not see a government victory as likely. Three security certificate cases, in which non-Canadians are subject to deportation on ministerial certificates, also look close to collapse. But in each of these cases – the very cases Van Loan was commenting on – collapse has not been the result of judicial activism but because of weaknesses in the cases themselves.

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by Colin Freeze Source: The Globe and Mail URL: [link] Date: October 1, 2009 Ottawa's controversial security-certificate program to rid Canada of alleged spies came with a multimillion-dollar price tag

Ottawa has spent $60-million over the past two years in its failed attempts to deport a handful of immigrants accused of having ties with al-Qaeda, The Globe and Mail has learned. According to sources, the money has been used to fund legal cases involving five men detained under security certificates – a long-standing program that Ottawa has used in the hopes of ridding the country of suspected terrorists. Security-certificate cases have become paralyzed in the courts and polarizing for the public, and are on the verge of becoming obsolete. On Wednesday, a Federal Court judge formally quashed the case against Adil Charkaoui, the Montreal-based Moroccan being detained on a security certificate, after lawyers representing the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said the spy agency could not abide court-ordered disclosures of its secrets. Mr. Charkaoui is contemplating a multimillion-dollar lawsuit for the six years he spent under a federal detention and surveillance regime. While public discussion of security certificates has long centred on legal principles, budgetary officials are now conducting a review to determine whether taxpayers are getting value for the money spent on litigation.

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