Not a criminal case
By Kimiko Inouye
April 24,2003
April 24, 2003 -- Mohamed Harkat, an Algerian national with refugee status in Canada, has been in jail since December 10th 2002 without any charges, under allegations that he is connected to Islamic terrorist activities. He is suspected of being an Al Quaeda sleeper cell agent by the Canadian government, and faces possible deportation to Algeria. If the government orders Mr. Harkat’s removal he will likely face death in Algeria.
At Mr. Harkat’s pre-trial on Tuesday March 4th, 2003, his lawyer, Bruce Engel, called on Justice Eleanor Dawson to allow for disclosure of the so-called evidence against his client. He wanted the judge to allow Mr. Harkat due process – the right to a fair trial, the right to know what he is being charged with, the right to hear evidence against him and defend himself in court.
Engel argued that the allegations provided by the government were insufficient for Mr. Harkat’s defense, and that people being treated as criminals in court have the right to meet with their accuser, so why shouldn’t his client be allowed to know the evidence against him. While Engel says that Mr. Harkat’s case is "technically not a criminal charge," he also says, it is "oversimplifying it by saying it’s not a criminal case, he is being accused of what is in effect criminal all within the process of criminal procedures."
James Mathison, one of the lawyers representing the government, said that providing any evidence for Mr. Harkat’s defense would jeopardize national security. He also seemed convinced that Mr. Harkat’s case should not be dealt with as a criminal case, but one of immigration and deportation. According to Engel, "[The government’s] goal is to deport Mohamed."
Various observers at the pre trial found Mathison’s argument contradictory, pointing out that Mr. Harkat is being treated like a criminal. An individual involved with Direct Action Casework Ottawa (DACO), a local group working with Mr. Harkat’s family said, "Mohamed’s been in jail for 3 months without being told exactly why. He had to sit through his pre-trial in handcuffs. He is being treated like a criminal – a criminal without due process." Sohpie Harkat, wife of Mr. Harkat, said, "Mohamed is being treated worse than a criminal."
Mr. Harkat has been in Canada since 1995, and was given refugee status in 1997 after making the claim that he faced persecution from the Algerian government if he were to return. On December 10th, 2002 Mr. Harkat was arrested outside his home in Ottawa by undercover police.
Since then he has been in jail, at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre on Innes Road, without any charges under a 'Security Certificate' authorized by Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Denis Coderre and Solicitor General Wayne Easter. A Security Certificate is a secretive and undemocratic mechanism created and used by CSIS (Canadian Security and Intelligence Service) to gather information against individuals who they consider threats to national security.
The Canadian government is no stranger to racially targeting individuals entering the country. Since the Security Certificate was created in 1990, it has been used against more than 20 people, mostly Muslim. It has only been cancelled once successfully. That was in 1991 when a judge rejected the government’s case that two Iraqi citizens should be deported because of their alleged links to a group that was involved in terrorist acts against Saddam Hussein’s government. The judge ruled that there had to be proof of personal involvement in terrorist acts, not only links to a group involved with terrorist activities. A year later the law was changed. Now it is enough to have "reason to believe" that someone is a member of a group believed to be engaged in terrorist activities to justify removal from Canada.
In December 1999, another security certificate was cancelled for Mahmoud Jaballah after the judge said that the certificate against him was "not reasonable." However, Mr. Jaballah was re-arrested on a second certificate in August 2001. A judge is currently deciding whether Mr. Jaballah’s second security certificate should be canceled. Mr. Jaballah has been in jail for more than two years.
CSIS alleges that Mr. Harkat has connections to groups ranging from Al Quaeda and the Osama Bin Laden Network to the Chechen rebels. Sophie Harkat, Mohamed’s wife, is baffled by these allegations since she has seen no signs of her husband’s involvement with these groups in the three years that she has known him. When asked about what she thinks, Mrs. Harkat says, "this is a racist attack against my husband, at the same time, against other Muslims. These are the most ridiculous allegations. He’s never denied anything about his past. He’s not lying about anything. He is not a terrorist." She also argues that if he were really a threat to the country, then why didn’t anyone from the government ever inform her or her family that they might be in danger.
Sophie Harkat, her family, community members in Ottawa, Toronto, Peterborough and Guelph are working hard to rally support for Mr. Harkat’s stay in Canada and right to a fair trial. People are also writing letters in support of Mr. Harkat to CSIS, Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the Solicitor General, as well as sending letters to Mohamed himself.