by Andrew Duffy
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link]
Date: December 14, 2010

The federal case against Mohamed Harkat makes him out to be not only a terrorist, but also a dishonest schemer who sought to marry a woman in Algeria, cheat his way to a taxi licence and collect government benefits to which he was not entitled.

Those allegations -- they were never proven in court -- are contained in legal disclosures made to Harkat as part of his security certificate case.

Federal Court Justice Simon Noel made them public last week in ruling against a defence motion to have the case thrown out as an abuse of process.

To support his contention that Harkat had enough information to properly defend himself, Noel detailed the legal disclosure in the case. It offers new details about Harkat's life in Canada.

In Ottawa, the government alleges, Harkat looked for someone to take a taxi driver's exam on his behalf in December 1999. A few months later, an acquaintance told Harkat that he had found someone willing to take the test for him, according to the disclosure document. (His wife Sophie Harkat said her husband did not hire anyone to take his taxi exam and only passed it on his fifth attempt.)

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by News Release
Source: National Union of Public and General Employees Website
URL: [link]
Date: December 14, 2010

'The inability of an accused to challenge and question the evidence held against them is an affront to the fundamental principles of justice.' - NUPGE president James Clancy.

James Clancy, president of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE)Ottawa (14 Dec. 2010) - The decision of the Federal Court of Canada in the Mohamed Harkat case fails to justify the morality of using security certificates that allow the government to try individuals in secret without accused persons knowing all of the evidence against them, says the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE).

James Clancy, president of the 340,000-member union, sent a letter on Dec. 10 – International Human Rights Day – to Mohamed Harkat and his wife, Sophie, following the decision by Federal Court Justice Simon Noel last week.

The judge determined that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Harkat is a security threat and to uphold the security certificate process being used by the Harper government to remove him from Canada.

Some of the evidence presented in the case was kept secret not only from the public but from Harkat and his legal counsel.

"It deeply saddens me that we spend yet another December 10th with Canada's justice system still conducting secret trials," Clancy said in his letter.

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by Tonda MacCharles
Source: The Toronto Star
URL: [link]
Date: December 10, 2010


[Photo: Mohamed Harkat, right, wells up with tears as his wife Sophie Harkat looks on during a press conference in Ottawa on Friday Dec. 10, 2010. Harkat said he will appeal a Federal Court ruling Thursday that he remains a threat to national security.]

OTTAWA—A combative Sophie Harkat lashed out at a federal court judge for relying on secret evidence from an unnamed informant whom she said was a witness at her and Mohamed Harkat’s wedding.

Thursday’s ruling, which upheld CSIS’ claims that Mohamed Harkat is a terrorist supporter who should be deported, was like a “punch in the guts,” Sophie Harkat said.

“My husband said to me, ‘I am dying inside,’” she said while sobbing at a news conference. She said the two were “devastated” upon learning the judge had ruled against him on the basis of evidence that was never revealed to him or his lawyer, but seen only by government-appointed “special advocates.”

In broken English, Harkat said “I swear on my life” that he is innocent of all allegations against him. He said he was “never” involved in terrorism in the past or in the future. “I never be a part of bin Laden network in my life.” He said he fears prison, torture or death if returned to Algeria.

Harkat said he never denied using a fraudulent Saudi passport to enter Canada. His wife said the government acknowledged in court that 80 per cent of refugee claimants use false documents to enter.

He also said he never intended to end up here upon leaving Algeria, but his attempts to build a life in Pakistan faltered when “the situation got worse” there in the mid-90s.

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by Mike Larsen Source: email fwd URL: N/A Date: December13, 2010 ATTN: Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee RE: Federal Court Decision 12/2/2010

It was with shock and sorrow that I read last week’s decision by the Federal Court, which represents a judgement without justice. For Sophie and Mo’s sake, I wish with all my heart that the outcome had been different. But I also recognize that any decision about the reasonableness of a security certificate is ultimately the outcome of a fundamentally unjust process. In a democratic society, no single judge should have the ability to make such sweeping decisions about a person’s fate without affording that person the opportunity to meet the case against them in open court. Last week’s decision reinforces the fact that Canada’s courts are willing participants in a two-tiered system of justice that is deferential to the claims of the national security state. The Federal Court has had numerous opportunities to take a pro-active stance in support of human rights, but has instead worked to support the unconstitutional security certificate regime. The result is a hollowing-out – an evisceration – of the rule of law. The need to push for the abolition of security certificates has never been more apparent. This mechanism is incompatible with fundamental principles of justice, equality, transparency and due process. No amount of tweaking and tinkering will be able to ‘fix’ a system that can subject a person to eight years of imprisonment, control, and uncertainty on the basis of a secret file. Let’s harness our shock and indignation and channel it towards the abolition of secret trials and an end to the politics of fear and exclusion. Forever in solidarity, Mike Larsen Mike Larsen, Researcher, York Centre for International and Security Studies [link] Managing Editor, Journal of Prisoners on Prisons [link]

by Matthew Behrens
Source: Rabble.ca
URL: [link]
Date: December 13, 2010


It was ironic that on International Human Rights Day, Dec. 10, family, friends, and supporters of secret trial detainee Mohamed Harkat gathered with him and his wife, Sophie, to weep and reflect on three federal court decisions against him. The latest decision upheld the regime of secret hearings and judicially sanctioned rendition to torture; and Harkat's supporter's recommitted to ending what domestic and international critics have labelled a star chamber process.

Due to a system based on secret allegations that neither accused nor lawyers can contest, Harkat has, for eight years, been subject to a "security certificate," a measure by which individuals can be detained, held indefinitely without charge, and ultimately be deported, despite the risk of torture.

The standard of proof in such hearings (which only apply to refugees and immigrants) is the lowest of any court in Canada, and a judge may accept as evidence anything not normally admissible in a court of law.

Despite a unanimous 2007 supreme court ruling that found the secret-trials process to be unconstitutional, parliament simply reintroduced new legislation that mirrored the old. Despite a limited (and many claimed a sham) process of consultation with parliamentarians, during which leading legal experts, academics, and human rights organizations showed in stark terms how the new law would not withstand a Charter of Rights and Freedoms challenge, the bill sailed through parliament and, in 2008, resulted in new certificates being issued against Harkat and four other Muslim men. Two of these certificates have since been quashed.

Last Friday, a day after the new security certificate against Harkat was found to be "reasonable," the Algerian-born refugee and his wife spoke of their devastation. Harkat stated he felt as if he were "dying inside," and Sophie declared "this is a punch in the guts that will leave marks for a very long time." Holding aloft the thick judicial rulings, Sophie said "this document is a load of bull."

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by Paul S. Graham
Source: Paul S. Graham Blog
URL: [link]
Date: December 13, 2010


I don’t know whether Mohamed Harkat is a terrorist or not. Neither do you. How could we? Harkat was convicted in a secret trial, based on secret “evidence” provided by shadowy sources who will remain unknown to Mr. Harkat and the rest of us unless we overturn the unjust, draconian laws that made this travesty of justice possible.

Yesterday Federal Court Justice Simon Noel upheld the security certificate issued against Mohamed Harkat in 2002, opining that ” . . . although the danger associated to Mr. Harkat has diminished over time, he still poses a danger to Canada, but at a lesser level . . .” This decision makes it possible for Immigration Canada to deport Mr. Harkat to his native Algeria where he would face imprisonment and torture, if not death.

A security certificate according to Public Safety Canada is a document issued by the immigration minister to force the “removal from Canada of non-Canadians who have no legal right to be here and who pose a serious threat to Canada and Canadians.”

Under the legislation governing security certificates (Bill C-3), courts are permitted to consider secret information in closed sessions. The defendant is not permitted to see this information or to question it. “Special advocates,” appointed by the minister who issued the certificate, are allowed to see the secret information, but they are not allowed to disclose it to the defendant or his lawyer. (See this in-depth analysis of security certificates.)

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by Unsigned editorial
Source: The Globe and Mail
URL: [link]
Date: December 13, 2010


Security certificates have a secure future in Canadian law, after the group of decisions last week about Mohamed Harkat by Mr. Justice Simon Noel of the Federal Court of Canada, though the enduring conundrums around the certificates mean that they will not often be used.

The judge concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Harkat, an Algerian citizen, has been a terrorist and indeed that his behaviour in Canada is consistent with his being a sleeper agent.

The federal government should now work hard to enter into an agreement with the Algerian government, to make sure that, once Mr. Harkat is deported to his native country, he will not be killed, tortured or otherwise unjustly treated. The British have successfully made such an agreement for the return of terrorists and terror suspects to Jordan, with the highest level of assurance, that is, a commitment by King Abdullah.

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-- Thank you to Philippe Parent for taking these photos on a cold and snowy December evening in Ottawa.
The banner reads "LES CERTIFICATS DE SÉCURITÉ VIOLENTS LES DROITS HUMAINS." "Security Certificates are a violation of human rights."

To view more photos from the rally visit THIS page. To browse all the photos in our Web gallery visit THIS page.

by Stephen Lendman Source: Stephen Lendman Blog URL: [link] Date: December 12, 2010 An earlier article explained. Like in America, Canada is waging war on Islam, Mohamed Harkat one of many victims used for political advantage to incite fear and mask Ottawa's support for US imperialism and war on terror, a bogus one affecting innocent victims like Harkat. Based on spurious allegations of ties to Al Qaeda and the Armed Sayyaf Group (GIA), he was arrested on December 10, 2002 and imprisoned for the next four and a half years under Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act provision pertaining to the "security certificate" process. Until Canada's Supreme Court (in October 2007) ruled it unconstitutional in Charkaoui v. Canada, it let authorities detain and/or deport foreign nationals and other non-citizens suspected of human rights violations, alleged threats to national security, or claimed affiliation with organized crime, using secret evidence (like in America) withheld from counsel. The same month, however, Canada's House of Commons passed Bill C-3 (a so-called anti-terror measure), amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act by introducing a special advocate into the certificate process on the pretext of protecting subjects during secret proceedings. This and other policies are troubling, including indefinite detentions, whether or not charged, draconian house arrest, and deportations to despotic states, ensuring torture, imprisonment or death, the reason people flee to Canada, believing they'll be safe.

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by Don Butler Source: The Ottawa Citizen URL: [link] Date: December 12, 2010 ========= See also two video clips at the Ottawa Ciitizen link above. One video of the press conference and one at the Rally at the Human Right's Monument;

========= OTTAWA - Mohamed Harkat's family and supporters vowed Friday to fight on despite this week's Federal Court finding that the Ottawa man is a member of the Osama bin Laden terrorist network. "This fight is just beginning," Harkat's wife, Sophie, said at an emotionally charged news conference. "I will stand by my husband to the end. My husband will never admit to things he did not do, or to knowing people he did not know." Norm Boxall, one of Harkat's lawyers, said almost all of Noël's findings were based on information that was kept secret, even from Harkat's own lawyers, on national security grounds. "We will be doing everything we can to challenge this judgment," he vowed. Harkat, 42, who repeatedly dabbed his eyes with tissue throughout the hour-long event, again denied that he'd ever been part of bin Laden's network. He said his life is now in danger because Noël put a terrorist "stamp" on his face. Since learning of Thursday's decision, Harkat said, "I can't sleep, I can't think straight. I have a pain in my side. I'm really devastated." When he heard the decision, his wife said, he told her, "I am dying inside." Thursday's 186-page decision means Harkat, who has lived in Ottawa since September 1995, faces the prospect of being deported to his native Algeria where, he contends, he will be tortured or killed.

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