Adil Charkaoui, accompanied by a member of the Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui, flew to Vancouver on 25 June, flying home again to Montreal on 27 June. He participated in three events, and met with many who are working for justice and against racism in Vancouver and Victoria.

Vancouver

A press conference was held immediately after Adil's arrival and generated lots of interest. On Friday, Adil spoke at a public forum, and after was hosted by members of the BC Civil Liberties Union (BCCLU).

• Video link of Friday public forum in Vancouver from Press TV.
• CBC coverage of the press conference.
• Tyee coverage of the press conference.
• Georgia Straight coverage
• CP coverage

Victoria

Udpdate coming soon.

CBC.ca, June 26, 2009

U.S. authorities ordered an Air Canada flight carrying a Montreal man accused of having terrorist links back to New Brunswick, where he was ordered off the flight, the man said Thursday.

Adil Charkaoui was returning to Montreal from Fredericton on June 3 as part of a cross-country tour to denounce Canada's security certificate process and restore his reputation.

The landed immigrant from Morocco spent two years in Canadian detention on a ministerial security certificate after his 2003 arrest on suspicion of links to al-Qaeda. Charkaoui, who denies having any links to the terrorist group, was released under tight restrictions two years later, including wearing a GPS locator on his ankle.

Charkaoui says he was about 45 minutes into the flight, which crossed into U.S. airspace, when U.S. officials ordered it to turn back to New Brunswick.

He and two agents from the Canada Border Services Agency who were accompanying him were removed from the flight when it landed in Fredericton.

Charkaoui and the two agents then drove the roughly 700 kilometres back to Montreal.

U.S. had cleared flight

Garrett Zehr, June 26, 2009, Tyee

VANCOUVER - The federal government must abolish security certificates and apologize for its treatment of five men detained under the controversial process, say human and legal rights advocates on a cross-country tour to build public support.

"Secret trials are unacceptable for all Canadians who value the rule of law," said Fernand Dechamps of the Justice for Adil Charkaoui Coalition. "Our security lies in the defence of the rights of all."

Montreal resident Adil Charkaoui arrived in British Columbia this week to speak about his own experience under a security certificate and his attempts to clear his name.

"I want to talk directly to Canadians -- to show them that I was treated unfairly by our government," he said at a press conference yesterday with supporters from the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, the Council of Canadians and Amnesty International.

Charkaoui was arrested and detained in 2003 under the security certificate process, a special deportation proceeding used only against non-citizens. The accused are usually denied the right to see evidence against them and can face indefinite detention.

Was It Something I Wrote?
     
Hernando Calvo Ospina, Progreso-Weekly, May 4, 2009

Air France Flight 438, from Paris, was to land at Mexico City at 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 18. Five hours before landing, the captain's voice announced that U.S. authorities had prohibited the plane from flying over U.S. territory. The explanation: among the passengers aboard was a person who was not welcome in the United States for reasons of national security.

A few minutes later, the same voice told the startled passengers that the plane was heading for Fort-de-France, Martinique, because the detour the plan needed to take to reach its destination was too long and the fuel was insufficient.

The stopover in that French territory in the Caribbean would be only to refuel the plane. Exhaustion was becoming an issue among the passengers. But the central question, spoken in undertones, was the identity of the "terrorist" passenger, because if the "gringos" say it, "it must be because he must be a terrorist."

Looking at those of us sitting in the back of the plane, two passengers said no terrorist could be there because "nobody there looks like a Muslim."

Flight from Halifax to Montreal passed over Maine
 
CATHERINE SOLYOM, The Gazette, June 26, 2009

Adil Charkaoui thought he had successfully made the switch from suspected terrorist to public speaker - until U.S. authorities ordered his plane to turn around and kick him off.

Charkaoui, a Moroccan-born father of three, was on his way home to Montreal June 3 from Fredericton, the second stop on his cross-country speaking tour, with two escorts from the Canada Border Services Agency.

The subject of a security certificate since 2003, it is the first time Charkaoui has been able to travel freely outside of Montreal, to denounce the process that kept him in prison for two years and under strict surveillance for another four years, without knowing the evidence against him.

In February, a Federal Court judge removed most of the conditions imposed on him, including that he be escorted at all times outside his home by a family member. If in 2003 he fit the profile of an Al-Qa'ida sleeper agent, the judge said, he doesn't anymore - he is too well-known.

Chris Simkins, Voice of America, April 25, 2009

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, says the government's terrorist watch list of known or suspected terrorists has grown to one million entries. The list - used by intelligence and law enforcement agencies to prevent terrorist acts - has been growing steadily since 2003 when the FBI set up a terrorism screening center to store, analyze and share information about suspected terrorists. While the list is touted by the FBI as an important counterterrorism tool, it has generated controversy and complaints.

Caught in a security net

For some travelers, passing through airport security isn't easy. David Nelson says he is often detained at check points. "I said what do you mean, terrorist? Do I look like a terrorist," he asked. "I mean come on now."

Another man called David Nelson also has been routinely detained by security screeners. They are among hundreds of travelers named David Nelson who have been stopped because they are on the U.S. government's so-called "No Fly" list of known or suspected terrorists.

The list has been a source of frequent complaints by thousands of innocent travelers whose names have appeared on the list.

The No Fly list

Dawn Paley, Georgia Straight, 25 June 2009

Adil Charkaoui arrived in Vancouver today (June 25) from Montreal to ask the federal government to abolish the security certificate process in Canada.

“The purpose of this Canadian tour is simple,” said Charkaoui at a news conference this morning. “I want to talk directly to Canadians, to show them that I was treated unfairly by their government, by our government.”

Charkaoui arrived in Canada from Morocco as a permanent resident with his mother, father and sister in 1995. On May 21, 2003, he was arrested after the federal government signed a security certificate against him, and later accused him of being a threat to national security. Charkaoui was jailed for 21 months and released under the strict conditions of a security certificate in 2005. Today, he wears a GPS tracking device and must alert the Canadian Border Services Agency 48 hours before leaving the island of Montreal. As well, he is not allowed to associate with anyone with a criminal record or use the Internet outside of his home.

THE CANADIAN PRESS, 26 June 2009

HALIFAX, N.S. — ... Adil Charkaoui says he was recently asked to leave a flight from Fredericton to Montreal, but wasn't given an explanation for his removal.

Charkaoui, who is on a national speaking tour, says the flight was 45 minutes into a June 3 trip to Montreal when it returned and landed in Fredericton.

He says he was the only person asked to leave the plane.

Charkaoui is a landed immigrant from Morocco who was arrested in Montreal in 2003 under security-certificate legislation.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was asked today about the incident at a news conference in Halifax.

He says he doesn't know much about it but Charkaoui is on a no-fly list in the United States and Canada has a security obligation to enforce it.

Charkaoui wouldn't identify the airline he was travelling on and insists he is not on a U.S. no-fly list.

He says he believes the flight was likely in U.S. airspace when the plane turned back for Canada.

In February, a Federal Court judge eased some of the conditions imposed on Charkaoui.

The judge said some of the restrictions had become disproportionate given the number of years that had passed since he first faced terrorist allegations.

Kingston - 16 June

Adil spoke to a diverse crowd at Queen's University on June 16th. Many people asked what they could do afterwards, and seemed very eager to help out. Kingston is home to Guantanamo North prison, where Mohamed Mahjoub is the sole detainee. Mahjoub is currently on hungerstrike.

• Article from Queen's Journal.
• Report from the Kingston Coalition Against Poverty (scroll down to the June 18, 2009 news entry)

Waterloo - 17 June

Update to follow.

London - 18 June at noon

Adil Charkaoui spoke to a small but supportive crowd on Thursday at the Cross Cultural Learner Centre in London, Ontario.  Sponsored by People for Peace London and Amnesty International London, Mr. Charkaoui told a sympathetic audience about his ongoing struggle for freedom and justice. 

Toronto - 18 June evening

Update to follow.

Mississauga -19 June evening.

Adil spoke to a fundraiser for the Canadian Arab Federation. He received a standing ovation after his talk.

GLORIA ER-CHUA, Whig Standard, 17 June 2009

Adil Charkaoui had mixed feelings about being in town this week.

"I'm excited to be here in the city that has its own 'Guantanamo North,' " he said wryly to a roomful of people at Queen's University.

Kingston is where Charkaoui started the Ontario leg of his cross-country campaign, Justice for Adil, but it's also the site of the notorious Kingston Immigration Holding Centre.

The six-cell facility in Bath was specially built in 2006 for terrorism suspects and has earned the nickname "Guantanamo North" in reference to the U. S.'s detention facility in Guantanamo, Cuba.

Charkaoui, a Canadian permanent resident, is one of five suspects who was issued a security certificate for alleged connections to terrorist organizations.

The others are Mohammad Mahjoub, Mahmoud Jaballah, Hassan Almrei and Mohamed Harkat.

None of them has ever been charged, nor have they been allowed to see the evidence against them.

Mahjoub, Jaballah, Almrei and Harkat were transferred from Ontario detention centres to the special facility, located in Millhaven Penitentiary, when it opened in April 2006.