Amnesty International's Canadian branch is urging the federal government to allow more openness in its controversial security certificate system. The certificates are a counter-terrorism measure which allow for the arrest, detention and deportation of non-citizens deemed to be threats to national security. Evidence and allegations against them may be kept secret. In a paper to be presented at a UN human rights committee meeting in Geneva on Monday, Amnesty says the security rules should be changed to allow more openness. "The process does not conform to a number of essential international legal standards, which are meant to safeguard against the very possibility of arbitrary detention," the paper says.It points out that detainees are not informed of the precise allegations against them, they see only a summary of the evidence and evidence can be presented to a judge in the absence of both the detainee and counsel. REVIEW REASONS

It urged the feds to change the law to ensure a substantive review of reasons for such detentions and by making all evidence available to people being held. Four people are being held under security certificates as the government tries to deport them, including Ottawa's Mohamed Harkat. He's been in jail since his arrest in December 2002 on suspicion of being an al-Qaida sleeper agent and is facing deportation to his native Algeria. His wife, Sophie, said while she has great faith in Amnesty, the government doesn't seem to grasp the reality of what's wrong with the certificate process, despite the criticism levelled against it. "It has ruined our lives, first of all. It has violated our civil liberties and taken all of his rights. (Moe) hasn't been treated like a human being in the past three years." Changes aren't good enough, she said. "In my opinion it needs not to exist. You cannot change something that is already not working." Harkat will seek leave later this month while he appeals his case to the Supreme Court of Canada. This month marks his 34th in custody and his wife said there's no resolution expected soon. "That's the problem," she said. "It's an ongoing process that doesn't seem to have an end." Copyright © 2005, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved.