Source: The Real News URL: [link] Date: February, 2011 A new video report produced by Lia Tarachansky for The Real News:

by Press Release Source: Peoples Commission Network Date: February 3, 2011 Mohamed Harkat barred from attending dinner in his honour Popular Forum: Whose Security? Our Security! Countering the national security agenda

Montreal, 3 February 2011 – A community dinner in Montreal in support of Mohamed Harkat – engaged in an eight-year battle against deportation to torture on the basis of secret suspicions - will have to go ahead without its guest of honour. Mohamed Harkat learned late last week that the Canadian Border Services Agency refused his request to attend the dinner, organized as the closing event of a Montreal conference on national security. CBSA, which is in charge of enforcing the strict bail conditions imposed on Mr. Harkat, stated that Mr. Harkat could not attend because of the “the nature of the proposed event, its anticipated participants, as well as its venue”. The event, a free vegetarian dinner, will take place at a Montreal university. The agency referred specifically to Mr. Harkat’s condition of non-association with “any person whom Mr. Harkat knows, or ought to know, supports terrorism or violent Jihad or [...] who poses a threat to national security.” "The way in which national security can be used as a blanket justification for such abusive, arbitrary decisions is exactly why it is necessary to hold this important forum," stated the People's Commission Network, which is organizing the Whose Security? Our Security! conference.

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by The Canadian Press
Source: CBC News
URL: [link]
Date: January 27, 2011

The federal government is quietly studying alternatives to deporting terrorism suspects under the much-maligned national security certificate as attempts to remove them get bogged down in the courts.

The effort reflects candid federal admissions that it's almost impossible to send non-citizens with alleged terror links to their home countries because they may be tortured or killed.

Currently, three people arrested under security certificates — Mohamed Harkat of Algeria, and Mahmoud Jaballah and Mohamed Zeki Mahjoub, both from Egypt — are out on bail under strict surveillance as their cases slowly grind through the courts.

Harkat was recently served with a deportation order, but his lawyers argue he should not be removed while the security certificate system is still under judicial review.

A federal interdepartmental body known as the Alternatives to Removal Working Group began meeting in March 2009 to explore policy options for managing people deemed a threat to national security, documents disclosed under the Access to Information Act show.

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by Mohammed Adam
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link]
Date: January 27, 2011


OTTAWA — Even as the federal government was aggressively pursuing security certificate cases against Mohamed Harkat and others in court, senior officials were quietly reviewing the system and considering alternatives, newly released access to information documents show.

Highlighting the dilemma facing the government on the controversial security certificate system, the documents show that a number of high-level inter-departmental meetings were held in 2009 and last year to consider changes. The working groups, which included assistant deputy ministers, discussed:

• Alternatives to Removal (of people considered a threat, from Canada).

• Diplomatic Assurances (from countries that they will not torture returned detainees.)

• Evaluation of the Security Certificate Initiative and

• Alternatives to Removal Options in the Criminal Law, an attempt to explore criminal code provisions that could be used against those who pose a threat to the country.

Large sections of the documents from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, obtained by York University researcher and PhD student Michael Larsen, are heavily redacted. But it is clear that the meetings were seeking new ways to deal with people held under the security certificates.

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by: Jim Bronskill, CP
Source: The Winnipeg Free Press
URL: [link]
Date: January 27, 2011


OTTAWA - The government is quietly studying alternatives to deporting terrorism suspects under the much-maligned national security certificate as attempts to remove them get bogged down in the courts.

The effort reflects candid federal admissions that it's almost impossible to send non-citizens with alleged terror links to their home countries because they may be tortured or killed.

Currently, three people arrested under security certificates — Mohamed Harkat of Algeria, and Mahmoud Jaballah and Mohamed Zeki Mahjoub, both from Egypt — are out on bail under strict surveillance as their cases slowly grind through the courts.

Harkat was recently served with a deportation order, but his lawyers argue he should not be removed while the security certificate system is still under judicial review.

A federal interdepartmental body known as the Alternatives to Removal Working Group began meeting in March 2009 to explore policy options for managing people deemed a threat to national security, documents disclosed under the Access to Information Act show.

The group, which includes the RCMP, Citizenship and Immigration, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Canada Border Services Agency, Justice, Public Safety and Foreign Affairs, has "produced a detailed body of work" on tools available under the law, says one internal memo.

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by Sean McKibbon
Source: Metro News
URL: [link]
Date: January 24, 2011


An Ottawa man labelled a threat to Canadian security should be allowed to stay in Canada while his legal challenge works its way through courts, his lawyer says.

“His bail is still active and we’re hopeful we’ll be able to complete the appeal process,” said Matt Webber, defence lawyer for Algerian-born Mohamed Harkat. “But we haven’t reached any formal arrangement with the government yet.”

Harkat’s legal team is challenging the deportation order and the constitutionality of the original security certificate process at the Federal Court of Appeal.

Webber said the process isn’t fair because it uses secret evidence so an accused person can’t make a full answer in defence. The legal team will also challenge the fact that secret informants are not subjected to cross examination either by an accused’s defence team or the newly appointed special advocates who are allowed to see the secret evidence but not talk about it with accused persons.

Harkat, 42, was arrested eight years ago on suspicion of being an al-Qaida sleeper agent, but he denies any involvement in terrorism.

On Friday he was served with deportation papers. In December, a federal court judge ruled he was a security threat who maintained ties to Osama bin Laden's terror network.

Copyright 2001-2011, Free Daily News Group Inc.

Mohamed Harkat (center)and lawyer Matt Webber (right). Photo by Shannon Mannion.

To see more photos taken at this event CLICK HERE. Thank you Shannon.

by Mohammed Adam
Source: The Montreal Gazette
URL: [link]
Date: January 21, 2011


[PHOTO: Mohamed Harkat talks to the media after leaving the Canadian Border Services Agency in Ottawa, January 21, 2011.]

OTTAWA — Saying his client is innocent, Ottawa lawyer Matt Webber vowed Friday to fight a deportation order against Mohamed Harkat all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, if necessary.

Harkat, 42, the former pizza deliveryman branded a terrorist by a Federal Court judge, was served with a formal notice of deportation Friday that could see him returned to his native Algeria, and potential torture. But Webber said his client is not going anywhere, adding that he has been given permission to file an appeal against the judgment of Justice Simon Noel, and will do so in "short order."

The presiding judge has to "certify" the issues being appealed, and Noel agreed to some of the issues, including the constitutionality of the security certificate system under which Harkat was declared a danger to Canada. The breadth of the appeal is to be revealed when it is filed in a "couple of weeks."

Webber said he hasn't been given any assurances by the federal government that Harkat won't be removed from Canada.

"I have not received any assurances from the Canadian Border Services Agency, but in a country that embraces due process and has a charter of rights, you don't remove people from the country to potential danger when they have an ongoing appeal," he said.

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by Gord McDougall
Source: CFRA Radio News
URL:
Date: January 21, 2011


Mohammed Harkat has been served with deportation papers.

While the man, who has been declared a threat to Canadian security, says he continues to worry, his lawyer is calling today's action "a formality".

Matthew Webber says he's confident his plans to appeal this deportation order will work.

"We've been down this road before," says Webber. "In a country that embraces due process and has a Charter of Rights, you don't remove people from the country to potential danger when they have an ongoing appeal. It's not gonna happen."

Webber says even if everything the government says about his client were true, his client should not be deported to a country where they maintain he would be tortured. Harkat denies alleged ties to terrorism, and says he would be tortured if deported to his native Algeria.

The deportation order has no timeline attached, and Webber expects the appeals process will be a lengthy one.

© 2011 CTVglobemedia All Rights Reserved.

CFRA.com is a CHUM Radio website, a division of CTVglobemedia.

by The Associated Press Source: The Washington Post URL: Date: January 21, 2011 Suspected al-Qaida collaborator fights deportation

TORONTO -- An Algerian immigrant who has been accused of being an al-Qaida sleeper agent continues is fighting deportation to his homeland, his lawyer said Friday. Mohamed Harkat, who has lived in Ontario since 1995, was arrested in December 2002 on suspicion of being a member of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. He has denied the allegations. Harkat, 42, has never been charged but spent 3 1/2 years in an Ontario jail under controversial anti-terrorism legislation. The measure allows authorities to issue a national security certificate under which non-citizens can be held indefinitely without being charged and be deported, with the government allowed to keep any evidence secret. Harkat has been under house arrest since his release on bail in 2006. Lawyer Matthew Webber said Harkat was formally served deportation papers on Friday. In December, a federal judge ruled him a security threat who maintained ties to al-Qaida. Harkat's lawyers want the government to stay the deportation order so he can continue his legal challenge to the anti-terrorist security measures being used to deport him. "While they may be serving the paperwork, we fully expect and are confident the Canadian government respects due process," said Webber. "He's not going anywhere or being deported until we finish appealing the matter." Harkat's lawyers are asking the Federal Court of Appeal to rule on whether the security certificate being used to deport him violates Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The certificate process, a seldom-used tool for removing non-citizens suspected of terrorism or espionage, was revamped in 2007 after the Supreme Court of Canada declared it unconstitutional. A key change was the addition of special advocates - lawyers who serve as watchdogs and test federal evidence against the person facing deportation. However, the special advocates do their work behind closed doors due to the sensitive nature of the classified information before the court in such cases. Harkat's lawyers argue that much of the evidence federal Judge Simon Noel consulted in weighing the validity of the certificate against Harkat remains secret and has never been tested under cross-examination. Harkat insists he is a refugee who fled strife-torn Algeria and worked with an aid agency in Pakistan before coming to Canada. He also claims he will be tortured if he is returned to Algeria. © 2011 The Associated Press.