BILL CURRY, Globe and Mail, December 7, 2007 at 5:05 AM EST

OTTAWA — Adil Charkaoui chastised a House of Commons committee of MPs yesterday for reviving an immigration security bill that he says is virtually identical to the one he and others successfully defeated in the Supreme Court of Canada.

Mr. Charkaoui and Mohamed Harkat, who also made an appearance, are alleged to be members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network. They are currently living under strict bail conditions after security certificate detentions.

They won their Supreme Court case in February challenging an immigration security law. In a 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court justices said secret hearings in which the accused do not have access to the case against them is a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The court gave Parliament one year to come up with a new law or see the certificates expire. In October, the Conservative government responded with Bill C-3, which the House is expected to pass next week with the support of the Liberal Party.

The two men urged MPs to at least amend the bill so that the accused can see the evidence against them. They dismissed the bill's introduction of "special advocates" into the process as essentially meaningless.

"Perhaps I've given you the impression that I'm disgruntled, that I'm disappointed and frustrated," Mr. Charkaoui told MPs toward the end of the committee hearing. "But you should understand that I've been fighting this for four years, even in the Supreme Court, defending my constitutional rights, and Bill C-3 is a terrible disappointment. It is the mirror image of previous legislation. It has cosmetic amendments that do not guarantee protection of the justice system. But I would thank you nevertheless for having listened to me."

Like four other men, Mr. Charkaoui remains under the security certificate process because of government claims that he is a member of al-Qaeda.

The men and their advocates said they will challenge the proposed law in court unless it is significantly rewritten. Critics of the law said it creates two levels of justice: security certificates for immigrants who are not Canadian citizens, and the regular criminal process for Canadians.

Bloc Québécois MP Serge Ménard and Conservative MP Gord Brown noted that the certificates are sometimes referred to as a "three-wall prison" because detainees always have the right to return to their home country.

But Mr. Harkat said that in a police state such as Algeria, where he grew up, it would be impossible to return without first having cleared his name.

"Algeria's just going to let me go free like that? For sure I'm going to get tortured," said Mr. Harkat, who lives under house arrest in Ottawa with his wife, Sophie. Ms. Harkat told reporters after the meeting that her husband is allowed to be interviewed only over the phone, which is tapped by security authorities.

The Federal Court of Canada has declared Mr. Harkat a threat to the security of Canada based largely on secret intelligence. Summary documents accuse Mr. Harkat of being an important member of the bin Laden network who has supported terrorism while in Canada and Pakistan.