Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui, 9 June 2006

9 June 2006, Montreal – Adil Charkaoui is permitted to travel to Ottawa for three days to attend his constitutional challenge to the “security certificate” process at the Supreme Court, the Federal Court announced on Wednesday. Charkaoui’s conditions, imposed on him without charge or trial, would normally prevent him from leaving the island of Montreal.

“I am heading to the Supreme Court with optimism,” stated Mr. Charkaoui. “Despite the difficulty, we have succeeded in bringing this issue to the fore and gaining an impressive level of support, both in Canada and internationally. Now we are heading to the top court. I do not believe Canadians want measures such as security certificates.”

The Supreme Court will consider Charkaoui’s challenge to the security certificate process, along with a challenge by Hassan Almrei to conditions of detention, and a challenge to secret hearings by Mohamed Harkat from13 to 15 June. Family members of the other security certificate detainees will also join “Camp Hope”, a popular presence in front of the Supreme Court during the hearings. Charkaoui launched the challenge shortly after his May 2003 arrest under a security certificate, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear it in September 2005. Charkaoui will be represented by Me. Johanne Doyon, who will argue that the process constitutes a denial of Charkaoui’s rights, particularly his right to a fair hearing in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice for the determination of his rights and obligations, the right to liberty and security of the person, the right to be free from arbitrary detention, and the right to equal treatment before the law. The arguments are based on the Constitution, including the Charter of Rights, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

In a separate decision issued on Tuesday, the Federal Court of Appeal declared that they were not convinced by arguments that CSIS had the right to destroy evidence being used in court proceedings against Charkaoui. Charkaoui had contested the fact that CSIS had destroyed transcripts of interviews with him, while providing summaries of the interviews to the judge. Although the appeal judges did not find that this provided sufficient grounds to throw out the certificate, the decision provided a basis for hope: “We will seek leave to appeal,” said Me. Dominique Larochelle, one of Charkaoui’s lawyers.

Three of the men who will be affected by the outcome of next week’s Supreme Court hearings – Mahmoud Jaballah, Mohammad Mahjoub and Hassan Almrei - are currently on hungerstrike in a new detention centre in Kingston, dubbed “Guantanamo North” and built specifically to hold immigrants without charge. A fourth man, Mohamed Harkat, will be in court today as the government appeals the decision to release him under house arrest. The Supreme Court is expected to take at least half a year before rendering its decision.

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