Original author: Andrew Duffy
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link]
Date: December 6, 2004
Security certificate process so secretive, Ottawa man cannot defend himself further, lawyer argues
The lawyer for Ottawa's Mohamed Harkat has launched a constitutional challenge to what he calls the "fundamentally unjust" process the government is using in an effort to brand his client a terrorist threat.
Paul Copeland says the security certificate process is so secretive that it denies Mr. Harkat a basic right: to respond in a meaningful way to the terrorist allegations levelled against him.
In doing so, he argues, the law that gives rise to the process -- the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act -- offends the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which says an individual's liberty or security can only be deprived in keeping with the principles of fundamental justice.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Harkat's lawyer calls law unjust, launches constitutional challenge
posted on December 06, 2004 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLinkMy life is in Canadians' hands, says accused terrorist
posted on December 06, 2004 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink
Original author: Andrew Duffy
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link]
Date: December 05, 2004
'Algeria will assume I'm guilty if deported, Harkat says from jail
Ottawa's Mohamed Harkat says that being publicly branded a terrorist by Canada makes it impossible for him to safely return to Algeria. "Canada is the most trusted country in the world," he told the Citizen in an interview at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, where he has been held for almost two years on the strength of a security certificate. The federal government is attempting to deport Mr. Harkat to Algeria based on the case built by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which alleges he is an al-Qaeda operative.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Ottawa's Mohamed Harkat says that being publicly branded a terrorist by Canada makes it impossible for him to safely return to Algeria. "Canada is the most trusted country in the world," he told the Citizen in an interview at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, where he has been held for almost two years on the strength of a security certificate. The federal government is attempting to deport Mr. Harkat to Algeria based on the case built by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which alleges he is an al-Qaeda operative.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Deportations put Canada at risk of attack
posted on November 23, 2004 | in Category Canada's Immigration Policy | PermaLink
Original author: Stewart Bell, for The National Post
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link] (subscribers only)
Date: November 22, 2004
Report warns retaliation possible for removal of al-Qaeda associates
TORONTO - A new Canadian intelligence report says terrorists might attack Canada in retaliation for the arrests of several al-Qaeda associates who are being deported for reasons of national security. In the report, titled Al-Qaeda: Potential Threats to North American Targets, the federal government's threat analysis unit said Canada's efforts to deport al-Qaeda suspects could trigger a violent response. "Canadian agencies have aggressively pursued removal proceedings against inadmissible classes of foreign nationals associated with al-Qaeda constituents, which may also provide extremists with an impetus to attack Canadian interests." The report by the Integrated National Security Assessment Centre (INSAC) was labelled Restricted Distribution because of its "sensitive nature," but a copy was disclosed to the National Post under the Access to Information Act.
[ Read the rest ... ]
TORONTO - A new Canadian intelligence report says terrorists might attack Canada in retaliation for the arrests of several al-Qaeda associates who are being deported for reasons of national security. In the report, titled Al-Qaeda: Potential Threats to North American Targets, the federal government's threat analysis unit said Canada's efforts to deport al-Qaeda suspects could trigger a violent response. "Canadian agencies have aggressively pursued removal proceedings against inadmissible classes of foreign nationals associated with al-Qaeda constituents, which may also provide extremists with an impetus to attack Canadian interests." The report by the Integrated National Security Assessment Centre (INSAC) was labelled Restricted Distribution because of its "sensitive nature," but a copy was disclosed to the National Post under the Access to Information Act.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Parliament to review terror law
posted on November 20, 2004 | in Category Bill C-36 | PermaLink
Original author: Janice Tibbetts
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link] (subscribers only)
Date: November 15, 2004
Lawmakers to decide if 'draconian' law should be altered or even scrapped
Parliament will embark within weeks on an expansive review of Canada's anti-terrorism laws to examine whether extra powers given to police and government in the emotional months after the 2001 U.S. terror attacks should be softened or scrapped. The anti-terrorism bill, introduced when the World Trade Center rubble had barely stopped smouldering, was one of the fastest pieces of legislation ever passed by the government of former prime minister Jean Chretien, despite being a lengthy 171 pages long and containing 146 provisions.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Parliament will embark within weeks on an expansive review of Canada's anti-terrorism laws to examine whether extra powers given to police and government in the emotional months after the 2001 U.S. terror attacks should be softened or scrapped. The anti-terrorism bill, introduced when the World Trade Center rubble had barely stopped smouldering, was one of the fastest pieces of legislation ever passed by the government of former prime minister Jean Chretien, despite being a lengthy 171 pages long and containing 146 provisions.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Secrets that haunt our courts
posted on November 16, 2004 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink
Original author: Stuart Trew
Source: Ottawa XPress
URL: [link]
Date: November 11th, 2004
Adil Charkaoui and the security certificate
The scary logic of security certificates: If the government says you're guilty, you must be guilty.
Friends of Adil Charkaoui try again to show how un-Canadian those security certificates are
Downtown workers will have to get used to a few new spooks outside the federal court building at 90 Sparks Street. We're not talking the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) spies either, although they're involved. Members of the Coalition for Justice for Adil Charkaoui are in Ottawa from Montreal for the next few weeks, or as long as it takes the Federal Court of Canada to decide whether Canada's security certificate process is constitutional. Mary Foster from the coalition, who along with the other members was covered by a white ghost-like sheet, told XPress she would be "haunting the court," until it issued a verdict. Charkaoui, a Montreal resident, has been in jail for 17 months after being arrested on suspicion of terrorism. He has been charged with no crime...
[ Read the rest ... ]
Downtown workers will have to get used to a few new spooks outside the federal court building at 90 Sparks Street. We're not talking the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) spies either, although they're involved. Members of the Coalition for Justice for Adil Charkaoui are in Ottawa from Montreal for the next few weeks, or as long as it takes the Federal Court of Canada to decide whether Canada's security certificate process is constitutional. Mary Foster from the coalition, who along with the other members was covered by a white ghost-like sheet, told XPress she would be "haunting the court," until it issued a verdict. Charkaoui, a Montreal resident, has been in jail for 17 months after being arrested on suspicion of terrorism. He has been charged with no crime...
[ Read the rest ... ]
CSIS has easy time getting warrants, documents reveal
posted on November 15, 2004 | in Category CSIS | PermaLink
Not So Fundamental Rights: CKUT Radio Documentary
posted on November 15, 2004 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink
More News:
For those of you who missed this excellent two-part documentary on security certificates and secret trials you can download both parts here, in MP3 format: PART I and PART II
They are excellent teaching tools. 'Really great interviews with Sophie, Mary Foster, Diana Ralph, Matthew Behrens, Mahmoud Jaballah's son Ahmed, Roch Tasse and others.
For those of you who missed this excellent two-part documentary on security certificates and secret trials you can download both parts here, in MP3 format: PART I and PART II
They are excellent teaching tools. 'Really great interviews with Sophie, Mary Foster, Diana Ralph, Matthew Behrens, Mahmoud Jaballah's son Ahmed, Roch Tasse and others.
Group protests use of security certificates
posted on November 10, 2004 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink
Original author: CBC News Staff
Source: CBC.CA
URL: N/A
Date: November 8, 2004
OTTAWA - Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside a Federal Court building in downtown Ottawa Monday to protest against Canada's security-certificate process.
That's the law the federal government can use to detain non-citizens on suspicion of terrorist ties, and deport them without revealing the evidence against them.
Lawyers for a Moroccan man, Adil Charkaoui, challenged the process, Monday, in Federal Court. Charkaoui has been held in jail under a security certificate since May 2003
Supporters of that challenge include Monia Mazigh, the wife of Maher Arar, the Syrian-born Canadian who was held in a Syrian jail for a year because of alleged ties to Al-Queda.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Source: CBC.CA
URL: N/A
Date: November 8, 2004
OTTAWA - Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside a Federal Court building in downtown Ottawa Monday to protest against Canada's security-certificate process.
That's the law the federal government can use to detain non-citizens on suspicion of terrorist ties, and deport them without revealing the evidence against them.
Lawyers for a Moroccan man, Adil Charkaoui, challenged the process, Monday, in Federal Court. Charkaoui has been held in jail under a security certificate since May 2003
Supporters of that challenge include Monia Mazigh, the wife of Maher Arar, the Syrian-born Canadian who was held in a Syrian jail for a year because of alleged ties to Al-Queda.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Security certificates 'against justice', appeal court told
posted on November 10, 2004 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink
Original author: Elizabeth Thompson
Source: The Montreal Gazette
URL: N/A
Date: November 9, 2004
Lawyer argues for terror suspect's release; government counters law isn't unconsititutional
Maher Arar's wife, Monia Mazigh and Adil Charkaoui's sister, Hind, were among protesters who say security certificates are unfair. The security certificate system used to detain suspected terrorists isn't perfect, but it shouldn't be declared unconstitutional, lawyers for the federal government argued yesterday. Presenting his arguments before the Federal Court of Appeal in the case of Montrealer Adil Charkaoui, Daniel Latulippe said a good judge, willing to play an active role, can go a long way to ensuring that someone detained under a security certificate gets a fair hearing.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Lawyer argues for terror suspect's release; government counters law isn't unconsititutional
Maher Arar's wife, Monia Mazigh and Adil Charkaoui's sister, Hind, were among protesters who say security certificates are unfair. The security certificate system used to detain suspected terrorists isn't perfect, but it shouldn't be declared unconstitutional, lawyers for the federal government argued yesterday. Presenting his arguments before the Federal Court of Appeal in the case of Montrealer Adil Charkaoui, Daniel Latulippe said a good judge, willing to play an active role, can go a long way to ensuring that someone detained under a security certificate gets a fair hearing.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Protest condemns detentions under federal security certificates
posted on November 08, 2004 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink
Original author: Canadian Press (CP)
Source: The Montreal Gazette online
URL: [link]
Date: November 08, 2004
OTTAWA -- About two dozen people demonstrated outside a federal office building Monday, protesting the use of security certificates which have been used to jail suspected terrorists without trial or charges.
Then demonstrators braved a bitter November wind on the street outside a courtroom where the Federal Court of Appeal was hearing a constitutional challenge against the certificates.
A three-judge panel heard an application brought on behalf of Adil Charkaoui, a Montreal man accused of being an al-Qaida sleeper agent. He has been held in jail since May 2003 and has lost three bids for bail.
[ Read the rest ... ]
Source: The Montreal Gazette online
URL: [link]
Date: November 08, 2004
OTTAWA -- About two dozen people demonstrated outside a federal office building Monday, protesting the use of security certificates which have been used to jail suspected terrorists without trial or charges.
Then demonstrators braved a bitter November wind on the street outside a courtroom where the Federal Court of Appeal was hearing a constitutional challenge against the certificates.
A three-judge panel heard an application brought on behalf of Adil Charkaoui, a Montreal man accused of being an al-Qaida sleeper agent. He has been held in jail since May 2003 and has lost three bids for bail.
[ Read the rest ... ]
