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.

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