Source: CBC News
URL: [link]
Date: June 30, 2009



Canada's spy agency says it failed to tell a Federal Court judge that an informant against a Syrian-born terror suspect failed a lie detector test, and that a second informant didn't undergo a polygraph examination that CSIS claimed was given.

Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley disclosed the information in two letters to lawyers for Hassan Almrei, a refugee claimant CSIS believes has links to al-Qaeda.

The revelations come less than a month after another Federal Court judge criticized CSIS for providing questionable evidence in another case.

On June 5, the spy agency told Federal Court Justice Simon Noël that a confidential informant who provided evidence against Algerian refugee Mohamed Harkat had failed a lie detector test.

Almrei, Harkat and three other Muslim men were released under strict terms of house arrest after being held on controversial national security certificates. CSIS believes all five men are Islamist extremists with past connections to terrorism.

Almrei's lawyer, Lorne Waldman, said the latest disclosures are grounds for quashing his client's security certificate.

"I think it's extremely serious, and we'll be seeking … a stay of proceedings," he said.

Waldman says he'll argue that the failure to disclose the information to the court constitutes an abuse of process.

Harkat's lawyer, Norm Boxall, said he's also considering asking the court to have his client's security certificate lifted.

"This does affect the credibility of the material that [CSIS] is putting before the court, he said.

Boxall said it's important to find out whether CSIS was simply careless when it failed to tell the court about information that could undermine the credibility of its informants, or whether the spy agency withheld the information deliberately.

"Now to see it occurring in a second case, it certainly leads to the inference there's a systemic problem at CSIS," he said.

There are five security certificate cases, and a Federal Court judge has ordered CSIS to review its evidence in all of them.

Copyright © CBC 2009

by Michelle Shephard and Tonda Maccharles
Source: The Toronto Star
URL: [link]
Date: June 29, 2009



Canada's spy agency mishandled evidence in a second high-profile terrorism case, the Star has learned, prompting calls for an independent investigation.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service admitted it failed to disclose evidence that a confidential informant was "deceptive" in answering questions and that a second source was not subjected to a lie-detector test as the agency had claimed.

The disclosures were made in two letters written by Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley to lawyers for Syrian refugee Hassan Almrei. They come just weeks after another Federal Court judge slammed CSIS for omitting evidence.

Almrei, who was detained in October 2001, was the first person arrested in Canada on a national security certificate. He was accused of belonging to a forgery ring that provided documents to terrorists.

The federal government alleges that Almrei and four other men are threats to national security, and is using extraordinary immigration warrants that permit secret evidence to be used against them in deportation proceedings.

[ Read the rest ... ]

by Catherine Solyom
Source: The Montreal Gazette
URL: [link]
Date: June 26, 2009


Flight from Halifax to Montreal passed over Maine

Adil Charkaoui thought he had successfully made the switch from suspected terrorist to public speaker - until U.S. authorities ordered his plane to turn around and kick him off.

Charkaoui, a Moroccan-born father of three, was on his way home to Montreal June 3 from Fredericton, the second stop on his cross-country speaking tour, with two escorts from the Canada Border Services Agency.

The subject of a security certificate since 2003, it is the first time Charkaoui has been able to travel freely outside of Montreal, to denounce the process that kept him in prison for two years and under strict surveillance for another four years, without knowing the evidence against him.

In February, a Federal Court judge removed most of the conditions imposed on him, including that he be escorted at all times outside his home by a family member. If in 2003 he fit the profile of an Al-Qa'ida sleeper agent, the judge said, he doesn't anymore - he is too well-known.

But in mid-air, as the Air Canada plane flew over northern Maine on its way to Montreal, the lingering consequences of his security status came crashing down.

[ Read the rest ... ]

Source: CBC News
URL: [link]
Date: June 26, 2009


U.S. authorities ordered an Air Canada flight carrying a Montreal man accused of having terrorist links back to New Brunswick, where he was ordered off the flight, the man said Thursday.

Adil Charkaoui was returning to Montreal from Fredericton on June 3 as part of a cross-country tour to denounce Canada's security certificate process and restore his reputation.

The landed immigrant from Morocco spent two years in Canadian detention on a ministerial security certificate after his 2003 arrest on suspicion of links to al-Qaeda. Charkaoui, who denies having any links to the terrorist group, was released under tight restrictions two years later, including wearing a GPS locator on his ankle.

Charkaoui says he was about 45 minutes into the flight, which crossed into U.S. airspace, when U.S. officials ordered it to turn back to New Brunswick.

He and two agents from the Canada Border Services Agency who were accompanying him were removed from the flight when it landed in Fredericton.

[ Read the rest ... ]

by Omar El Akkad
Source: The Globe and Mail
URL: [link]
Date: June 27, 2009


Man accused of terrorist ties booted off plane

Authorities refused to allow Adil Charkaoui to pass through U.S. airspace

U.S. authorities ordered a flight carrying a man accused of ties to terrorism from Fredericton to Montreal to turn around mid-air earlier this month.

Adil Charkaoui, who spent two years in jail despite not being convicted of any crime under Canada's security certificate program, was flying back to Montreal on June 3 when U.S. authorities refused to clear his Air Canada flight through American air space. The flight turned around, and Mr. Charkaoui was asked to get off.

Mr. Charkaoui, a landed immigrant from Morrocco, was arrested in 2003. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service alleges he is an al-Qaeda sympathizer. He is no longer in jail, but faces strict conditions and monitoring. In February, a judge ordered some conditions eased, allowing Mr. Charkaoui to leave his home unsupervised and have access to the Internet. He is still closely monitored, however.

[ Read the rest ... ]

by Garrett Zehr
Source: The Tyee
URL: [link]
Date: June 26, 2009

VANCOUVER - The federal government must abolish security certificates and apologize for its treatment of five men detained under the controversial process, say human and legal rights advocates on a cross-country tour to build public support.

“Secret trials are unacceptable for all Canadians who value the rule of law,” said Fernand Dechamps of the Justice for Adil Charkaoui Coalition. “Our security lies in the defence of the rights of all.”

Montreal resident Adil Charkaoui arrived in British Columbia this week to speak about his own experience under a security certificate and his attempts to clear his name.

“I want to talk directly to Canadians -- to show them that I was treated unfairly by our government,” he said at a press conference yesterday with supporters from the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, the Council of Canadians and Amnesty International.

Charkaoui was arrested and detained in 2003 under the security certificate process, a special deportation proceeding used only against non-citizens. The accused are usually denied the right to see evidence against them and can face indefinite detention.

Four other men -- Mohammad Mahjoub, Mahmoud Jaballah, Hassan Almrei and Mohamed Harkat -- have also been imprisoned in Canada using security certificates in recent years. All remain under some form of house arrest, monitoring or detention.

After being released from prison in 2006, Charkaoui continued to face strict house arrest conditions, many of which were finally removed by the Federal Court of Canada last year.

“It’s a lot of progress from a small cell of two metres to [being allowed to fly on a] plane,” Charkaoui said.

However, he still faces some restrictions, including a requirement to wear an anklet monitoring device. He also must advise the Canadian Border Service Agency 48 hours in advance of any travel plans outside Montreal.

His coalition of supporters is calling for the complete removal of all these restrictions and a vindication of his name. They are also demanding a full public apology from the federal government and the abolition of the security certificates.

[ Read the rest ... ]

by Kirk Makin
Source: The Globe and Mail
URL: [link]
Date: June 25, 2009


Police must return everything seized from the Ottawa home of terrorism suspect Mohamed Harkat and his wife during an "excessively intrusive search into the most intimate details of their private life," a Federal Court of Canada judge has ruled.

"This court cannot condone the type of intrusive search undertaken by the Canadian Border Service Agency," Mr. Justice Simon Noel said yesterday. "Mr. Harkat may have a diminished expectation of privacy, but that does not give the state a 'carte blanche' to unreasonably intrude on what privacy is left to him."

Mr. Harkat was named in a 2002 security certificate as being inadmissible to Canada on grounds of national security. He remained in detention until 2006, when he was released on strict bail conditions that included CBSA being permitted to search his home.

During the search of his residence on May 12, 2009, 16 police and three canine units spent six hours searching for explosive devices, currency or weapons. Police seized several boxes of floppy discs, CDs, videotapes and printed records - including documents protected by solicitor and client privilege.

"The seizure of out-of-date agendas, video cassettes, CDs and any document with Arabic writing on it was excessive," Judge Noel said. "The use of male officers to search through Mrs. Harkat's private drawers was unreasonable and surely not minimally intrusive."

[ Read the rest ... ]

by Andrew Duffy
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link]
Date: June 22, 2009


Public phase of Harkat case delayed

[PHOTO: The Canadian Security Intelligence Service claims Mohamed Harkat, 40, is an al-Qaida sleeper agent who poses a danger to national security. He was first arrested in Dec. 2002 and has been living under strict bail conditions in Ottawa for more than two years.]


OTTAWA — The public phase of the government's troubled case against terrorism suspect Mohamed Harkat will be delayed, possibly until January.

The case was to be heard in Federal Court this month and next, but those dates were abandoned after Canada's security agency revealed it had failed to disclose key evidence.

Judge Simon Noel has been hearing evidence in camera on the Harkat case since September, 2008.

He's now holding secret hearings to get to the bottom of the mishandling of evidence by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. As part of that effort, the judge is recalling three CSIS witnesses to understand why he was not told, until earlier this month, that a key source in the Harkat case had failed a lie-detector test in 2002.

Noel is also scheduled to host a conference call next week to set a new date for a public hearing in the case. Harkat's legal team is expected to argue for dates in January, 2010.

[ Read the rest ... ]

Source: CTV News
URL: [link]
Date: June 23, 2009

Mohammad Harkat's wife says the couple is happy with a court ruling that said a search of their home was unconstitutional -- but she still feels they were robbed of their privacy and dignity.

The search by the Canada Border Services Agency was carried out on May 12, when a dozen CBSA agents along with RCMP and local and provincial police, raided their Ottawa home.

The Federal Court of Canada ruled Tuesday that agents must return all items that were taken and destroy copies of any documents taken from the home, because the search breached Harkat's Charter rights.

Sophie Harkat said the raid was the "second worst day of my life" -- behind the day her husband was first arrested in December 2002 by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service on allegations he is an Islamic extremist.

"I'm not a rape victim but I think I felt pretty close to what it is to be raped of your privacy and dignity," Sophie told CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday.

"I felt humiliated and degraded. We had to get permission to go to the washroom, I had to get permission to get dressed because I was in the shower when they came to the house. It was a very difficult experience for us...this was the second worst day of my life."

[ Read the rest ... ]

by "TASC", tasc AT eb dot ca
Source: Stop Canadian Involvement in Torture
URL: N/A
Date: June 23, 2009


Demand an Apology, Accountability, and Compensation for Three Canadians Targetted for Torture

As Canada Marks the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture June 26, Contact Prime Minister Stephen Harper, "Public Safety" Minister Peter Van Loan to Demand Canada End its Involvement in Torture (contact details below)


IN THIS EMAIL
1. BRIEF SUMMARY
2. BACKGROUND
3. TAKING ACTION


BRIEF SUMMARY

Three Canadians -- Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati, and Muayyed Nureddin -- were tortured overseas with the complicity of their own government. We are calling on the Government of Canada to issue an apology, provide compensation, ensure that all officials responsible are held accountable, take steps to eliminate false information about these men and their families from Canadian and international databases, and demand that the federal government issue a clear ministerial directive against torture and the use of information obtained from torture.

BACKGROUND

Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati, and Muayyed Nureddin are Canadian citizens who were targetted for torture by agencies of their own government.

All were falsely labelled as alleged threats to Canada's "national security," and all wound up in Syrian torture chambers (and, in one case, Egyptian torture chambers as well) where they were interrogated and tortured based on questions that came from Canada. A problematic secret federal review of their cases (The Iacobucci Inquiry, which unfortunately excluded the men, their lawyers, the press, and public from participating) nonetheless found that Canadian agencies were complicit in the men's overseas detention, interrogation, and torture.

[ Read the rest ... ]