Dear Prime Minister Martin,

We are writing as family and supporters of five Muslim men who have been subject to the secret trial process of the discriminatory security certificate measure. When Mr. Adil Charkaoui was released two weeks ago, these men had collectively been detained 184 months without charge or bail on secret evidence neither they nor their lawyers have been allowed to see.

Hassan Almrei, a Syrian refugee, has spent 42 months in solitary confinement in Toronto; Egyptian refugees Mahmoud Jaballah and Mohammad Mahjoub have been detained, respectively, since August, 2001 and June 2000; and Mohamed Harkat has been detained in Ottawa since December 10, 2002. Charkaoui was imprisoned from May 2003 to February 2005 in Montreal and still lives under the heavy weight of this abusive process.

We will be in Ottawa on March 7, 8 and 9th and are eager to meet with you or a member of your staff to discuss the urgent matter of their indefinite incarceration on secret evidence. Just as importantly, we would like to discuss the federal government's ongoing efforts to deport these men, even after acknowledging that they face further abuses of their rights, torture or death if deported.

The use of security certificates has drawn severe criticism from Amnesty International, and earned Canada censure in its 2004 annual international report. The Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Labour Council, Canadian Auto Workers, AQOCI, Canadian Arab Federation, former Solicitor-General Warren Allmand, former cabinet minister Flora MacDonald, David Suzuki, Bruce Cockburn, June Callwood, Denys Arcand, Monia Mazigh and Alexander Trudeau are among the thousands of other organizations and concerned residents of Canada and Quebec who have spoken out against security certificates in recent months.

Over the past few years, we have tried to meet with former Prime Minister Chretien, but were refused; we have tried to meet with your office, but were referred to the office of Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, who also refused to meet with us.

Mr. Martin, you have taken a stand internationally for human rights, and you were elected with the pledge to uphold Charter Rights and values. We hope that you can set aside a few minutes from your schedule to hear from the friends and families of people whose fundamental rights are being violated here in Canada. We can assure you that these men and their families have been living through a nightmare that seems to have no end. We hope that meeting with you can help to rectify this intolerable situation.

A number of us will be available at 12 noon on Monday, during which there will be a vigil at your office. This would be a perfect time to meet.

We look forward to hearing from you very soon about our urgent request.

In hope

Matthew Behrens for Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada
Mary Foster for Justice for Adil Charkaoui
Sophie Harkat Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee