Thanks very much to all of you who came out to court for Adil Charkaoui on Thursday. **There will be no hearings Friday! **

During Thursday's hearings, Federal Court Judge Tremblay Lamer removed all the interim conditions placed on Charkaoui:

Read more: Montreal Gazette, "Charkaoui says 'au revoir' to bracelet"

There will be a secret hearing on Wednesday, after which the judge will render her decision on the security certificate itself.

By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service, September 22, 2009

Supreme Court Justice Beverley McLachlin. Her warning that lawmakers, judges and citizens must heed the big picture comes as the federal government's war on terror is taking a beating in the nation's courts.

OTTAWA — Canada's most senior judge cautioned Tuesday against going overboard in the fight against terrorism by putting too much emphasis on the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. at the expense of sacrificing civil rights and charter protections.

Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin's warning that lawmakers, judges and citizens must heed the big picture comes as the federal government's war on terror is taking a beating in the nation's courts.

"The fear and anger that terrorism produces may cause leaders to make war on targets that may or may not be connected with the terrorist incident," McLachlin told the Ottawa Women's Canadian Club in a luncheon speech Tuesday.

"Or perhaps it may lead governments to curtail civil liberties and seek recourse in tactics they might otherwise deplore . . . that may not, in the clearer light of retrospect, be necessary or defensible."

To the Editor

In his article "Divisive terror law losing traction," Colin Freeze (Globe and Mail, 21 September 2009) repeats assertions by government lawyers that, out of concern for human rights, the Federal Court is bent on forcing CSIS to "spill state secrets" in the Charkaoui case, to the detriment of the spy agency's sources of information and relationships with foreign spies.

This misrepresents the situation. It was not a zealous application of human rights principles which lead the Federal Court to order the disclosure of secret information in the Charkaoui case. It was a simple calculation, in which the two special advocates assigned to Charkaoui concurred, that the disclosure of that information would in no way compromise the national security of Canada. Judge Tremblay Lamer in fact goes out of her way in a court directive of 5 August 2009 to underscore the court's opinion that disclosure, in this case, would not affect national security.

CALL TO ALL FRIENDS AND ALLIES OF THE CHARKAOUIS AND TO THOSE WHO CARE ABOUT JUSTICE

Thursday, September 24 and Friday, September 25, 2009, starting at 9:30am
Federal Court, 30 McGill Street (Square Victoria metro), Montreal
*Call to confirm hearing and time: 514-222-0205, 514-813-4918

After six years of subjecting Montrealer Adil Charkaoui to surveillance, imprisonment, and house arrest, the Canadian government admitted on July 31st, 2009 that they don't have the evidence to uphold the "security certificate" against Adil.

Federal Court Judge Tremblay-Lamer, issued a directive on August 5th stating that, “in light of the admission by the Ministers that the evidence is insufficient to meet their burden of proof," she will convene court hearings to determine whether she should quash the certificate or order the Ministers to revoke it themselves. These hearings will take place on 24 and 25 September (see more background and court directive here).
 

Thomas Walkom, Toronto Star, Aug 26, 2009

In the topsy-turvy world of security, few stories are more bizarre than that of Adil Charkaoui. Six years ago, the federal government jailed him as an alleged Al Qaeda sleeper agent. Now, it turns out, the government admits it has no credible evidence of that or indeed anything else against him that it's willing to test in court.

But the government still wants the 36-year-old Montrealer – who has applied for but not yet been granted Canadian citizenship – deported to his native Morocco.

Charkaoui is one of five Muslim men, non-citizens all, caught up in the Catch-22 web of Canadian immigration law. This allows the government – under judicial oversight – to jail without charge and eventually deport any non-citizen it deems a security risk.

The judicial oversight clause is important. Even though the law is stacked against detainees (secret evidence is permitted), all five have managed to convince judges that they are not as dangerous as the government claims and need not be kept in jail.

Charkaoui, however, is the legal star of the five. He's won two Supreme Court challenges and, as he gradually demolished Ottawa's case against him, managed to make the government look like an idiot.

Laura-Julie Perreault, La Presse, 21 août 2009

Le certificat de sécurité qui pèse contre le Montréalais Adil Charkaoui pourrait être bientôt levé. Dans un document déposé à la Cour fédérale et dont La Presse a obtenu copie, le gouvernement canadien admet que la preuve au dossier de l'immigrant d'origine marocaine est aujourd'hui «insuffisante» pour justifier son renvoi du pays.

Judge to decide in September whether to quash certificate or order Ministers to withdraw it

Read court directive here: page 1; page 2; page 3; page 4.

The Federal government has admitted that there is insufficient evidence in Adil Charkaoui’s file to uphold the security certificate against him. The startling admission was filed with the Federal Court on July 31st.

In a directive issued on August 5th, Federal Court Justice Tremblay-Lamer, who is presiding in the case, wrote that, “in light of the admission by the Ministers that the evidence is insufficient to meet their burden of proof,” she will consider whether she should quash the certificate or order the Ministers to revoke it themselves on her return from holidays, in early September.

April 2, 2009

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has filed a complaint against the Canadian Security Intelligence Service for using information it knows is derived from torture. The complaint was filed with the Security Intelligence Review Committee early this morning. “Canada’s laws and international commitments say that we will never condone torture, no matter the public emergency,” says Gratl. “Canada must be unambiguous about opposing torture in all circumstances, or else we risk the greater use of torture by countries who believe Canada is not opposed to this repugnant practice.”

New Brunswick Federation of Labour, June 2009

Resolution No. 49 Submitted by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers

SECURITY CERTIFICATES

The Federation will:

Support the fight to abolish the security certificate system and will continue to work, through the CLC with human rights groups and civil liberties organizations opposing the violations of human rights and civil liberties involved in so-called “national security” initiatives.

Because security cannot be separated from human rights;

Because the “special advocate” provision in the new security certificate legislation strengthens the security certificate system and continues to allow for indefinite imprisonment, secret evidence and the threat of deportation to countries where individuals face probable torture or death;

Because history shows that when due process and fundamental justice is denied to a specific group of people it is soon denied to trade unionists and others.