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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