Coalition for Justice for Adil Charkaoui, 24 July 2004

Montreal, 24 July 2004 – Supporters of justice for Adil Charkaoui received a few surprises as they read yesterday’s Federal Court decision to uphold the imprisonment of the 30-year old Montrealer. The decision followed an attempt by Charkaoui to clear himself of the suspicions that have fallen on him, in order to be released on bail.

Supporters welcomed Judge Simon Noel’s decision to set aside information against Charkaoui provided by Al Qaeda member Abu Zoubaida, which was probably extracted under torture. The testimony about the probable use of torture on Mr. Zoubaida was given in open court by Abdurahman Khadr, called as a witness by Charkaoui.

However, the unusual victory was mitigated by the fact that CSIS subsequently gave additional secret evidence about the Zoubaida testimony to the judge in a closed hearing. According to the judge, this related to assurances that Zoubaida was not ill-treated in detention by US forces. Based on the secret information, the judge only set aside Zoubaida’s information “temporarily”.

Charkaoui and his lawyer were also concerned that the decision failed to acknowledge their request to cross-examine Ahmed Ressam, the “millenium bomber”. Charkaoui had argued that Ressam’s testimony against him is not credible because of Ressam’s arrangement to reduce his sentence in the United States in exchange for information. Rejecting the argument, the judge not only failed to provide an opportunity for cross-examination of Ressam, but also introduced new details about the testimony of Ressam. It is irregular for a judge to use new information in a decision without having first divulged it to the defendant in order to give him a chance to respond.

The key testimony provided by Abdurahman Khadr – that he did not know Charkaoui, and that he would have known him, had CSIS’s allegations been accurate – does not appear to have had an impact on the decision. Khadr’s several hours of detailed testimony about the networks in Afghanistan, the camps, the safe houses, and his interest in the few people who entered those networks from Canada is simply not analysed in the decision. Khadr is misrepresented by Judge Noel as saying that he did not see Canadian Ressam in Afghanistan. In fact, in his cross-examination, Khadr stressed the fact that while he did not remember meeting Ressam, he did not say that he did not see the latter.

Charkaoui is asking that the error concerning Khadr’s testimony be corrected and that the request for counter-interrogation of Ressam, who is in prison in the United States, be respected. This might lead to the review being reopened. If yesterday’s decision is not reopened, Charkaoui will remain in jail for another six months before his detention is again renewed.

Charkaoui and his family categorically deny the allegations against him. Charkaoui says that it was his outspoken, unapologetic manner and his refusal to become an informer for CSIS in Canada’s Muslim community that lead to suspicions initially falling on him and to his eventual arrest. However, under a security certificate process, he is not able to defend himself adequately because he is not shown the information being used against him. Fear of similar abuse has prevented many in the Muslim community from coming forward on his behalf.

One of the “secret trial five”, five Muslim men who are imprisoned without charges under secret evidence in Canada, Mr. Charkaoui has been in prison in Montreal since May 2003. If the security certificate under which they are imprisoned is judged “reasonable”, Charkaoui and the other men face deportation to their countries of origin, where they risk further abuse of their rights and even death. A security certificate is a measure of the Immigrant and Refugee Protection Act. It has been described as “fundamentally flawed and unfair” by Amnesty International and is being used in a larger pattern of attacks on Muslim and Arab communities and on civil liberties.
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The Coalition for Justice for Adil Charkaoui formed in Montreal in a matter of days after his abrupt arrest. The Coalition - an alliance of Muslim groups, refugee and immigrant rights organizations, anti-oppression groups and the Charkaoui family - demands the immediate release of all Security Certificate detainees, no deportations, a fair trial, an immediate end to the "Security Certificate" system, an end to scape-goating in response to American pressure, and an end to the harassment of Muslims and Arabs.