[Bloquez l'empire!] Security certificates: Update and next steps

[Hungerstrike Support Committee]

Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui
UPDATE AND NEXT STEPS FOR THE CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH SECURITY CERTIFICATES
22 March 2007

On 17 February 2007, the Coalition Justice for Adil organized a rally in
Montreal under
the slogan "Close Guantanamo North". Hundreds of people took to the streets
and seventy-five organizations - a broad spectrum of networks
such as Échec à la guerre, Solidarity across Borders, International Civil
Liberties Monitoring Group, TCRI, AQOCI and NEFAC as well as major unions,
student organizations, feminist groups, radical collectives, church-based
organizations, community organizations, federal politicians, political
parties, human rights organizations and many more
(full list below) - supported the rally, with its five demands: 1. close
"Guantanamo North"; 2. abolish security certificates; 3. free the security
certificate detainees or provide them with a fair trial; 4. end deportation
proceedings against the five; and 5. end deportations to torture.

The rally took place on the second anniversary of the release from prison of
Adil Charkaoui, who was subject to almost two years of arbitrary detention,
and is now indefinitely subject to severe conditions in the name of
"national security".

A photo essay of the march is available at:
http://gallery.cmaq.net/close_guitmo_north/close_guitmo_north_024.

*WHAT IS GUANTANAMO NORTH?

It was Federal Court judge Andrew MacKay who first asked, in the course of
one of Mahmoud Jaballah's hearings, if we had our own version of Guantanamo
Bay here in Canada. Indeed we do: a place where law is suspended, where
people are held in total uncertainty, threatened with torture, on the basis
of racist profiling rather than anything they have done.

Canada's Guantanamo took on physical form when a new prison
opened in Kingston, Ontario in April 2006. A six-cell portable set up in the
parking lot of the high security Millhaven Penitentiary, the Kingston
Immigration Holding Centre (KIHC) was built specifically for security
certificate detainees. Four non-citizens detained indefinitely without
charge or trial on secret information were moved into this Guantanamo North
in April 2006:

- Mohammad Mahjoub, an Egyptian refugee and father of two, detained without
charge since June 2000.
- Mahmoud Jaballah, an Egyptian refugee and father of six, who was held 9
months in 1999, released, re-arrested in August 2001 on the same basis and
held without charge ever since.
- Hassan Almrei, a Syrian refugee held without charge since October 2001.
- Mohamed Harkat, an Algerian refugee and married man, held without charge
since December 2002. Moved
to house arrest in July 2006.

Guantanamo North represents a multi-million dollar investment into a legal
black hole for immigrants; it is the physical embodiment of unjust
immigration security measures. The security certificate process violates
principles that are supposed to be basic to Canada's political system:
presumption of innocence, right to a fair trial, right to liberty, right to
protection from
torture, and the right to equal treatment. Whether it consigns them to the
Kingston prison or to house arrest, the security certificate process
tramples on the humanity, dignity and liberty of these men and their
families, keeping them in a nightmare of uncertainty and irrationality,
subjecting them to highly publicized, vague allegations they are left
powerless to challenge, indefinitely.

Further background on Guantanamo North and the recent hungerstrikes:
www.homesnotbombs.ca/Reality%20Check.pdf.

*SUPREME COURT VICTORY

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on 23 February 2007 that the security
certificate process was unconstitutional, re-affirming that the right
to a fair trial applies to everyone in Canada. This was a real victory and
attests to the power of public mobilization to create a climate in which
courts - which had previously upheld the legislation - cannot ignore
injustices.

However, the Supreme Court gave the government another year before the law
(sections 33 and 77 to 85 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
(IRPA)) falls. Thus, for at least one more year, the "secret trial five" and
their families will be in the position of having to remain in prison or
under house arrest, by virtue of a law that has now been recognized by
Canada's own court system as illegal! It is more true than ever to say that
the detainees and their families are trapped in a place with no law.

The Harper government's response to the victory was predictable: they
announced plans to introduce new security certificate legislation. The most
likely scenario is that they will try to push through a new law modelled on
a system in place in the UK. In this system, a security-cleared lawyer has
access to the secret evidence and is mandated to act as an advocate on
behalf of the detainee. This 'special advocate' system is very far from
abolition, and it is very far from a fair trial.

In fact, the special advocate model fails entirely to address several core
problems with the security certificate process:

- It continues a two-tier system of justice in which the freedom of
non-citizens can be infringed more easily than that of citizens;
- It doesn't address the fact certificates are based on vague and broad
allegations aimed at capturing people on the basis of their profiles rather
than any tangible acts that they may have committed or plan to commit;
- It does nothing to reverse the burden of proof, which falls squarely on
the
shoulders of the detainee; and
- It leaves in place the possibility of indefinite detention or indefinite
house arrest.

Furthermore, the proposed reform does not even adequately resolve the one
aspect of the security certificate regime that it purports to address -
the secrecy of the evidence - because it:

- does not allow for a proper defence, as the advocates are not allowed to
divulge the secret information to the detainees;
- does not permit legal counsel of one's choice - instead, the advocate is
appointed by the government, which is not even neutral, but one of the
parties in the case; and
- prevents the advocates from speaking out if they become aware that secret
evidence was unlawfully obtained (for example, obtained under torture).

In many ways, the introduction of a special advocate would only worsen the
situation by providing a veneer of legality to a process that remains
fundamentally unjust.

*HOUSE ARREST: THE NEW GUANTANAMO

A week before the Supreme court victory, a Federal Court ordered that
Mohammad Mahjoub should be transferred to house arrest. The conditions that
are imposed on him and his family are horrific. Mahjoub, Mona El Fouli
(his wife), and their two children will be under constant, intrusive
surveillance by the state. Mahjoub will never be allowed to be alone. At
home, El Fouli or her oldest son will be forced to play jail guard. All
visitors will have to be screened and approved by the Canadian Border
Services Agency (CBSA). Police are to be allowed access at any time, without
warrant. No internet, no cell phone, no telephone except a specially
installed line under surveillance. Mahjoub will only be allowed to go out
three times a week, with prior approval by the CBSA, for a maximum of four
hours at a time. The crowning humiliation is the GPS-tracking bracelet. In
effect, Mahjoub and El Fouli's home is being transformed into a prison, and
El Fouli is forced to become a prison guard, while herself placed under
scrutiny and surveillance.

Two weeks after the Supreme court decision, Mahmoud Jaballah was ordered
released under a similar package of conditions.

Mahjoub and Jaballah are currently waiting to be transferred to house
arrest in the coming weeks. Almrei remains in Guantanamo North, and has not
asked for release on such conditions.

Mohamed Harkat and Sophie Lamarche have already been living this situation
since July 2006.

The Charkaoui family find the conditions under which Adil was released to be
humiliating, a constant, wearying source of stress and fear, an enormous
constraint on their ability to enjoy their leisure time, to work, to
practice their religion, to live and flourish. How much more impossible the
restrictions which have been imposed on the other families.

The danger is that this new form of detention - with its intrusive
surveillance, arbitrary constraints on liberty, and indefinite nature - may
become normalized in Canadian society.

*WHERE NOW FOR THE CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH SECURITY CERTIFICATES

There is much to do over the next months, as the government moves to
introduce new legislation and the security certificate detainees and their
families remain in prison or under heavy surveillance and severe restriction
of their liberty. Five cells are empty in Guantanamo North, which some in
the government may be tempted to fill.

The Coalition will continue its campaign to close Guantanamo North, abolish
the security certificate, free the five, end deportations to torture, and
end the racist scapegoating of the Muslim and Arab communities in Canada.

We are planning a series of events and actions in the next months,
including: a speaking tour in April; a teach-in on Racism, Islamophobia and
'National Security' in May; and a solidarity camp in June. Please stay in
touch for details, to coordinate or to plug in.

==> For more information, or to join in our actions, email us at
justiceforadil at riseup.net or leave us a message at 514 859 9023.

==> To stay in touch, join our newslist by sending an email to
justiceforadil at riseup.net and asking to added to the newslist.


* CLOSE 'GUANTANAMO NORTH' RALLY ENDORSERS

2110 Centre
Action Refugié Montréal
Agir Ensemble pour la Paix (AEP)
Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians
Alternative Perspective Media (APM)
Andrew Telegdi, MP-Liberal
Artistes pour la paix
Association des avocats de la Défense de Montréal
Association des Jeunes Libanais Musulman
Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (ASSÉ)
Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale (AQOCI)
Barnard-Boecker Centre Foundation (Victoria)
Bethune Institute for Anti-Fascist Studies
Bill Siksay, MP, NDP immigration critic
Block the Empire Montréal
Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada
Canadian Arab Federation
Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS)
Canadian Auto Workers Union
Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture
Canadian Council for Refugees
Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN)
Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)
Canadian Muslim Forum (CMF)
Canadian Peace Alliance
Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW)
Centre des femmes d'ici et d'ailleurs
Centre for Constitutional Rights (New York)
Centre justice et foi
Chinese Canadian Redress Alliance
CKUT 90.3 FM Radio
Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees
Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui
Collectif Opposé à la Brutalité Policière (COBP)
Comité pour les droits humains en Amérique latine - CDHAL
Comité des sans-emplois -Montréal Centre
Comité social centre-sud
Council of Canadians
Échec à la guerre
El-Hidaya Association
Elizabeth Fry Society of Quebec
Fédération des Congolais de l'étranger (FCE-Canada)
Fédération des femmes du Québec
Gerald and Maas (Ottawa)
Human Rights Watch
Immigrant Workers Centre
Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Montreal (IPSM)
Institut de recherche et d'information socio-économiques (IRIS)
International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG)
Jesuit Refugee and Migrant Service (Toronto)
Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee
Les Soeurs Auxiliatrices
Ligue des droits et libertés
Monia Mazigh (campaigned on behalf of Maher Arar)
Muslim Council of Montreal
Muslim Presence of Montreal
NDP-Quebec Section
NEFAC
No one is Illegal-Montreal
No One is Illegal-Toronto
No One is Illegal-Vancouver
Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group (NSPIRG)
NOWAR-PAIX Ottawa
Ontario Coalition against Poverty (OCAP)
Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU)
Parole arabe
QPIRG Concordia
QPIRG McGill
Québec Solidaire
Rassemblement Outaouais contre la guerre (ROCG)
Social Justice Committee
Solidarity across Borders
Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes réfugiées et
immigrantes (TCRI)
Toronto Action for Social Change (TASC)
United Muslim Students Association (UMSA)