as read by Fernand Deschamps at a press conference in Vancouver on June 25th 2009

Good morning everyone.

Before speaking, Adil Charkaoui and the Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui would like to warmly thank the local organizations and supporters who went out of their way to give us the opportunity to come to British Columbia and help us break the wall of silence that is imposed on Adil’s conditions and the other four people detained in Canada under security certificates.

As Adil Charkaoui stands publicly here today, everyone should recognize the fact that 1) he can now travel  through this country which he has adopted along with his family since arriving here in 1995 and 2) that he can come here and speak publicly as part of a Cross-Canada Tour on what is the fight that lies ahead.

We have come a long way since 2003 when Adil Charkaoui was unjustly arrested and imprisoned under a security certificate based on so-called “reasonable grounds to believe”. He was released in 2005 but under draconian conditions. At the same time, never has the federal government been able to prove the so-called “reasonable” character of the security certificate issued against him.

Never have Adil Charkaoui’s supporters in Quebec and the rest of Canada, along with his legal team, stopped working to prove the unconstitutional character of the security certificate. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the interveners, amongst them the BC Civil Liberties Union, for their support in this manner. In February 2007, Canada’s Supreme Court judges unanimously declared the security certificate process unconstitutional. The Harper government’s response was to introduce, in late 2007, Bill C-3 that modified the existing law by introducing special advocates.

Around 90 interveners appeared before Parliament’s Standing Committee and the Senate’s Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security to speak against the use of special advocates. They said that special advocates will not solve the fundamental flaw of security certificates, which is that you cannot have a two-tier justice system, one where you are innocent until proven guilty and the other where you are under constant allegations of being a “threat to national security” based on secret evidence, hearsay, information gathered under torture, etc.

That is why a year ago, almost day for day, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously declared CSIS’ methods of gathering and destroying information in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Finally last February, the Federal Court of Canada eliminated most of Adil’s restrictive house arrest conditions, allowing him to travel freely across the country and have a more normal life like all of us.

The fight is not over. What is still missing?

1) First and foremost, a formal apology from the Canadian government for all the years when Adil’s freedoms were taken away;

2) Secondly, that he be vindicated of all the allegations mounted by CSIS against him;

3) Thirdly, as with all Canadians, his constitutional rights must be fully respected;

4) Finally, that security certificates be abolished once and for all, because secret trials are unacceptable to all Canadians who value the rule of law.

In conclusion, our security lies in defense of the rights of all.

Fernand Deschamps is active in the Coalition Justice pour Adil Charkaoui