Une pétition pour abolir les certificats de sécurité

posted on January 21, 2011 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink

Source: Radio-Canada
URL: [link]
Date: 18 janvier 2011


Le comité Justice pour Mohamed Harkat lance une pétition en ligne pour réclamer l'abolition des certificats de sécurité au Canada.

La cour fédérale a confirmé en décembre la validité du certificat de sécurité dont il fait l'objet, en raison de ses liens avec des terroristes et des extrémistes islamistes reconnus, dont le réseau Al-Qaïda.

Les avocats du citoyen d'Ottawa ont décidé de contester le jugement du juge Simon Noël et évoquent maintenant la possibilité de porter l'affaire en Cour suprême.

La femme de Mohamed Harkat, Sophie, ajoute de son côté que le comité tente de mobiliser la population contre les certificats de sécurité. « On trouve que la loi est anticonstitutionnelle et qu'elle doit être abolie complètement. On trouve que des procédures secrètes n'ont pas leur place dans la démocratie au Canada », dit-elle.

Amnistie internationale, Maher Arar, Monia Mazigh et Alexandre Trudeau sont au nombre des 1000 personnes et organismes qui ont signé la pétition jusqu'à présent.

TOUS DROITS RÉSERVÉS © CBC/RADIO-CANADA 2010

Ottawa man challenges security-certificate system

posted on January 19, 2011 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink

by The Canadian Press
Source: CTV News Toronto
URL: [link]
Date: January 14, 2011


OTTAWA — Canada's controversial national security-certificate system faces a new constitutional challenge from Mohamed Harkat -- one month after a court declared the Ottawa man a danger to the country.

Lawyers for Harkat, who is accused of links to terrorists, want the Federal Court of Appeal to determine whether the security certificate being used to deport him is consistent with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

It is one of several questions they're asking Judge Simon Noel, who heard the original case, to approve for examination.

Harkat, a former gas attendant and pizza delivery man, was arrested more than eight years ago under a security certificate on suspicion of being an al Qaeda sleeper agent. He denies any involvement in terrorism.

Harkat, 42, says he's merely a refugee who fled strife-torn Algeria and worked with an aid agency in Pakistan before coming to Canada. He argues he will be tortured if returned to his homeland.

[ Read the rest ... ]

Some Harkat secrets released but many still hidden: Lawyer

posted on January 18, 2011 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink

by James Long
Source: The Ottawa Sun
URL: [link]
Date: January 14, 2011


Top secret materials in the terrorism case of Mohamed Harkat were released Friday by the federal court but Harkat’s lawyer said key details remain hidden.

The Algerian-born Harkat, 42, is a former Ottawa pizza delivery man who was deemed a threat to national security last month by judge Simon Noel.

He could be deported depending on the strength his lawyers’ appeal to the ruling.

The documents do show that Noel struggled with the secret witnesses’ credibility.

But he ultimately decided testimonies related to the reasonableness of the security certificate was reliable since it was corroborated.

The legal team of Matthew Webber and Norm Boxall both pleaded with the court for the release of those testimonies from the at least two “human sources” during the long, drawn out case but it never happened.

Harkat’s legal team has launched an appeal of the decision, where they cite a series of problems, including how the court dealt with CSIS informants.

The amount of information kept from the public is shocking, said Webber, but at least it will help Harkat’s team in the appeal process.

“There is little here that we don’t already know. Weapons, Afghanistan...it is all just blackout,” he said.

“This weekend we will spend time discussing if this enhances questions for appeal.”

jamie.long AT sunmedia.ca

Copyright © 2011 Ottawa Sun All Rights Reserved.

Judge wrestled with credibility of CSIS informants against Harkat, documents show

posted on January 16, 2011 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink

by Andrew Duffy
Source: The Vancouver Sun
URL: [link]
Date: January 14, 2011

OTTAWA — Previously secret documents released in the Mohamed Harkat terrorism case reveal that the judge wrestled in closed court with how to gauge the credibility of spy agency informants.

Harkat, 42, has been declared a security threat and faces deportation to his native Algeria, where he says he will be tortured or killed.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) relied on at least two "human sources" in building its case against Harkat, a former Ottawa pizza delivery man.

One of the sources failed a lie-detector test in 2002, a fact that was not disclosed in court until May 2009.

Judge Simon Noel ultimately decided that the source's information could only be relied upon if corroborated.

Another CSIS source was deemed sincere and reliable after Noel reviewed his file.

[ Read the rest ... ]

Harkat Once Again Challenging Certificates

posted on January 14, 2011 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink

by Jason McIntyre
Source: CFRA News
URL: [link]
Date: January 13, 2011


Mohamed Harkat wants the Federal Court of Appeal to review the country's security certificate system.

Investigators used the controversial item in December 2002 to detain the Ottawa resident.

Harkat was suspected of being an al-Qaida sleeper agent.

Judge Simon Noel ruled last month that the former pizza delivery man maintained ties to the global terror organization.

He also decided that the certificates were constitutionally valid.

Harkat's lawyers suggest the documents - which can be employed as part of deportation procedures - might not be consistent with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

They argue, among other things, that special advocates fail to ensure the process is constitutional.

The watchdog officials were added following a 2007 Supreme Court declaration.

Harkat denies any terrorism claims.

The 42-year-old has previously stated that a forced return to Algeria will lead to torture.

The federal government will reply to all legal statements before Judge Noel announces whether he'll submit any questions to the appellate court.

© 2010 CTVglobemedia All Rights Reserved.

Harkat's lawyer says judges need to talk

posted on January 12, 2011 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink

by Andrew Duffy
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link]
Date: January 11, 2011


OTTAWA —_Lawyers for Ottawa's Mohamed Harkat say an Appeal Court must settle a dispute among judges about the legacy of Chechen rebel leader Ibn Khattab.

In appeal documents filed in the Federal Court of Canada, Harkat's lawyers call Judge Simon Noel's conclusions about Khattab "unreasonable and unsafe," given the mixed expert opinion about the Saudi-born jihadist.

Harkat, 42, has been declared a security threat and now faces deportation to his native Algeria, where he says he will be tortured or killed.

Federal lawyers have announced they will not seek stricter release terms for Harkat while the security certificate case moves forward.

Harkat must now wear a GPS ankle bracelet whenever he leaves his Ottawa home.

In upholding the security certificate against Harkat last month, Noel declared Khattab a terrorist who shared ideology, training and money with al-Qaida.

The judge linked Harkat to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network through his association with Khattab.

One year earlier, however, another federal judge, Richard Mosley, dismissed the terrorism case against Toronto's Hassan Almrei, ruling that Khattab "could not reasonably be said to be part of al-Qaida."

[ Read the rest ... ]

Judges differ in their view of jihadist

posted on January 09, 2011 | in Category War on Terror | PermaLink

by Andrew Duffy Source: The Ottawa Citizen URL: [link] Date: January 8, 2011 One declared Ibn Khattab a terrorist, the other didn't and, writes Andrew Duffy, that divergence could lead to the deportation of Ottawa's Mohamed Harkat

[PHOTO: CSIS alleges that Mohamed Harkat operated a guest house in Pakistan for Ibn Khattab, shown above. There is conflicting evidence whether Khattab was part of the bin Laden network.] In the Federal Court of Canada, one judge's terrorist is another's jihadist warrior. In two security certificate cases, two federal judges have drawn vastly different conclusions about Ibn Khattab, a Saudi known as "the lion of Chechnya." The judge who upheld the certificate against Ottawa's Mohamed Harkat earlier this month deemed Khattab an al-Qaeda linked terrorist. Last year, however, another judge dismissed the case against Toronto's Hassan Almrei, ruling that Khattab "could not reasonably be said to be part of al-Qaeda." Their conflicting views highlight the complexity of certificate cases, in which judges must often decide hard questions of history.

[ Read the rest ... ]


‘Security’ law in Canada targets immigrant worker

posted on January 09, 2011 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink

by Michel Prairie Source: The Militant URL: [link] Date: January 17, 2011 MONTREAL - A federal judge declared December 9 that Algerian-born Mohamed Harkat “is a danger to Canada and that the security certificate against him should be maintained.” The Canadian government has announced its intention to deport Harkat back to Algeria. Harkat was given refugee status in 1997 on grounds that he faced political persecution if he returned home. Harkat was arrested in 2002 after being labeled an al-Qaeda sleeper agent by the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service. Before his arrest he worked in Ottawa as a pizza delivery man and a gas station attendant. Since then Harkat and his wife Sophie Harkat-Lamarche have been waging a broad campaign both to clear his name, lift the security certificate against him, and abolish the entire security certificate process. The certificates are used to detain and deport refugees and immigrants the Canadian government deems a threat to “national security.” The system is based on secret evidence that the accused can neither see nor challenge in court. In 2007, under pressure from Harkat’s campaign and others victimized by such certificates, the federal Supreme Court ruled the security certificate process “invalid” under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In response, Ottawa made a number of cosmetic changes to the process a year later. The ruling against Harkat is the first time a court has validated the “new” security certificate system. Harkat’s defense campaign, which has won wide support among civil libertarians, unionists, and others, led to his release from house arrest in 2006. When a “new” security certificate was issued against him in 2008 under the revised law, he appealed the decision. In the meantime courts have since invalidated and lifted security certificates of two other victims of this anti-working-class judicial procedure, Adil Charkaoui in Montreal and Hassan Almrei in Toronto. In a message issued December 22, the Justice for Mohamad Harkat Committee stated, “We are still standing, and stronger and more determined to fight this injustice than ever.” In a widely reported Ottawa press conference December 10, Harkat announced that he will appeal the constitutionality of the new security certificate law to the Federal Court of Appeal and, if necessary, to the Supreme Court of Canada. Information about the Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee is available at [link] John Steele contributed to this article.

More Determined Than Ever - Plus déterminés que jamais!

posted on January 05, 2011 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink

by Justice For Mohamed Harkat Committee Source: Harkatjustice mailing list URL: N/A Date: December 19, 2010 (français dessous) Message from the Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee More Determined Than Ever!

To all supporters of Justice for Mohamed Harkat: The December 9, 2010 ruling by Federal Court judge Noel that the Security Certificate against Mohamed Harkat is "reasonable" was, as many have stated, a punch in the gut. But we are still standing, and stronger and more determined to fight this injustice than ever. Legally speaking, Mohamed Harkat is now in exactly the same situation as he was in 2005, when the first Security Certificate against him was ruled reasonable and a pre-removal risk assessment was produced. Those proceedings were frozen as his appeal made its way to the Supreme Court; in 2007 the Supreme Court agreed with him. But a new certificate was issued in 2008 after the government made cosmetic changes to the process. At the same time, the political situation is very different. Along with our success in the Supreme Court, we have succeeded in building broad, mass support for our position against secret trials. Mohamed Harkat and the other detainees are no longer behind bars, which is significant, although they still live with monitoring bracelets and restrictions on their movements. The Government's use of Certificates has come under scrutiny and fire from politicians, the media, and the general public; as a tool for deportation its use has been severely curtailed.

[ Read the rest ... ]


Recommended Website: www.SecretTrial5.com

posted on December 31, 2010 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink

There is a new film project called "THE SECRET TRIAL 5" and a brand new Website that you must check out: www.secrettrial5.com

The documentary is not completed yet. It's a work in progress. It will examine the human impact of security certificates in Canada. It is also a "crowd-funded" project which is very cool. Visit the filmmaker's Website to learn more.


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