Detainees' families protest lengthy lockups

3 men held over alleged terrorism

`I miss hugging him,' says son, 6

Ibrahim Mahjoub misses his father's touch.

Kasan Jaballah wishes she had her father around to help with her homework.

The children of Mohammad Mahjoub and Mahmoud Jaballah want to know when their fathers will come home.

Mahjoub, Jaballah and Hassan Almrei are being held without charge or bail on national security certificates, on secret evidence neither they nor their lawyers are allowed to see.

Almrei, 30, has been detained since October, 2001.

Federal officials allege he was part of an international document-forgery ring, with connections to a business in Saudi Arabia that American authorities say was used to funnel money to Al Qaeda.

Jaballah, 41, was denied bail last month. He has been detained since August, 2001 on government claims that he is a member of Egyptian Al-Jihad.

And Mahjoub, 44, has been detained since June, 2000 for allegedly associating with terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) does not often comment about suspected terrorism activity in Canada.

"I miss hugging him," Mahjoub's son, 6-year-old Ibrahim, said outside Union Station yesterday at a protest by friends and families of the detainees.

The boy, like many others, does not understand why his father hasn't returned home in almost four years, but he explained why he was at the gathering.

"I'm here to get good people's fathers out," he said while climbing on a sculpture on Front St. He was part of a crowd of about 30 who joined in a "March break march" to the Toronto office of CSIS, organized by the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada.

"The government made a mistake."

Ibrahim and his 4-year-old brother visit their father at the Metro West Detention Centre about once a week, but instead of climbing into his lap, they must communicate through a glass window and a telephone.

Shaymaa Jaballah, 17, one of Mahmoud Jaballah's six children, said she feels like she's growing up without a dad.

"It's been really hard.

"For me, I'm at an age where I should be going out and having fun with my friends. Instead I'm sitting at home and helping my mom with my brothers," she said.

Normally the family would enjoy the March break together, but this year — like the past two years — they are unable to do so.

Shaymaa's sister, Kasan, said life is boring without her dad.

"What I miss most is going out and having fun," said Kasan, 10.

And not having her father around is adding to her struggles at school.

"He would always sit with us and help us with our homework. Now I'm failing. I need my dad," she said. "... This country isn't really free."

Mahmoud Jaballah's wife, Husmah, called allegations about her husband false.

"People who know my husband know he's a good person," she said.

"It is very, very difficult.

"All my kids love their father and like to be with their father. My kids need my husband."

Mahjoub's wife, Mona Elfouli, said she too struggles to sustain a good life for her children.

"You are the mother, the father, everything," she said.

"You have to answer the questions of the children and you have to try to comfort them when they ask about their dad, when he is coming home and why he is in jail."