Gazette, Marian Scott, 5 December 2011

MONTREAL — Advocates for five men arrested under security certificates said they were stunned to learn that Canada’s spy agency believed cases against them could fall apart if it could not use information obtained by torture.

On Saturday, the Montreal Gazette revealed that in 2008, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) warned the minister of public security that it could become impossible to use security certificates to arrest and deport suspected terrorists if it was prohibited from using information from foreign regimes known to use torture.

In a letter obtained by the Montreal Gazette, former CSIS director Jim Judd warned that a proposed bill then before Parliament “could render unsustainable the current security certificate proceedings.” A security certificate is a means by which the government may detain and deport non-citizens perceived as a threat to national security.

The letter calls into question CSIS’s assurances that it did not countenance the use of torture abroad.

On Sunday, an advocacy group representing men who have been detained under security certificates hailed the report as proof that CSIS and top government officials knew terror cases might not stand up without information obtained under duress.

Toronto/Montreal/Ottawa, 4 December 2011 -- Several men whose lives were turned upside down when they were labelled and arrested as “threats to national security” were stunned to learn yesterday that CSIS itself believed that the cases against them would fall apart if CSIS were prevented from using information obtained from the use of torture. The startling admission was made in a secret memo sent from former CSIS head Jim Judd to then Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day in January 2008. Post media made the contents of the memo public yesterday.

“It is unbelievable. CSIS has been lying to us for years! But I don't know which is worse - CSIS's position or the fact that top officials like Stockwell Day were made aware but went ahead and signed the new certificates against us anyway, effectively condoning the use of torture and condemning us to several more years of arbitrary detention,” said Adil Charkaoui. Charkaoui is a Montreal teacher and father of four who won twice at the Supreme Court and was finally freed in 2009. He is currently seeking an apology from the government through court proceedings.

Despite its own evaluation that the cases would not meet new Canadian legal standards, introduced in February 2008, the agency advised Minister Day to issue the certificates. Day complied.

Spy agency worried bill would undercut anti-terrorism work

Catherine Solyom, Montreal Gazette, 3 December 2011
www.montrealgazette.com/news/Torture+strategy+accepted+letter+shows/5805...

Canada's spy agency was so reliant on information obtained through torture that it suggested the whole security certificate regime, used to control suspected terrorists in the country, would fall apart if they couldn't use it.

That's the essence of a letter written in 2008 by the former director of CSIS, Jim Judd, obtained by The Gazette.

It suggests a disturbing acceptance by the national security agency of torture as a legitimate strategy to counter terrorism.

The letter, dated Jan. 15, 2008, was sent from Judd to the minister of public security just as the government was finalizing Bill C-3, legislation to replace the security certificate law which was struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional in February 2007.

The government had been given a year to come up with new legislation that would respect the charter rights of those targeted by the certificates.

Aug 7th, 2011, Maher Arar, Prism Magazine
http://prism-magazine.com/2011/08/bomb-plot-leak-to-la-presse-and-the-mi...

The latest bomb plot information (or misinformation) that was leaked to La Presse implicating both Charkaoui and Abousfian should make every Canadian concerned about how national security information is being disseminated in the public domain without checks and balances, and most importantly, without going through the proper judicial channels.

To start with let us briefly and carefully review this information which is now found on almost every major news web site in Canada.

In summary, the information, part of which seems to be recycled, relates to an alleged “encrypted” phone conversation that took place in the year 2000 during which both Charkaoui and Abousfian discussed a potential bomb plot to blow up an unspecified commercial plane. Moreover, it states that shortly after the interception of this alleged phone conversation CSIS found traces of explosives in Abousfian’s car.

Without arriving to a conclusion on the credibility of this information, which only a judge with full access to all documents can do, the timing and the nature of this leak raises very important questions of national importance:

The Canadian Press, 21 May 2011

OTTAWA — A watchdog report has found that Canada's spy agency -- CSIS -- hasn't lived up to a Supreme Court ruling.

The ruling was from the case of Montrealer Adil Charkaoui, who was arrested for suspected terrorist links.

He was set free in 2009 after the case against him buckled.

The high court ruled that CSIS violated its legal obligation to keep documentation and disclose notes and other material during judicial proceedings.

CSIS made it policy to file notes and other information.
But CSIS inspector general Eva Plunkett says when she asked for original notes cited in agency reports, the spy agency couldn't produce them in some cases.

She says CSIS later determined its own reports were wrong and that no notes had been taken to support the information in them.

CSIS spokeswoman Isabelle Scott says the agency has since corrected the errors in its processes.

En septembre 2009, Adil Charkaoui tient le bracelet de surveillance qu'il devait porter depuis des années. Le nouveau certificat de sécurité imposé à Charkaoui en février 2008 à la suite d'une décision du plus haut tribunal du pays vient d'être révoqué.

Fabrice de Pierrebourg, La Presse, 08 janvier 2011 http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/justice-et-faits-dive...

En juin 2009, tandis qu'il était encore visé par un certificat de sécurité, le Montréalais Adil Charkaoui s'est retrouvé malgré lui pendant 20 heures sans son bracelet GPS de surveillance imposé par la cour, a appris La Presse. Un cafouillage parmi d'autres survenu après son expulsion, à la demande des Américains, d'un avion reliant Fredericton à Montréal. S'en est suivi une odyssée qui aura mobilisé des dizaines de fonctionnaires pendant des jours, généré l'échange de centaines de courriels, et coûté environ 10 000$. La Presse a pu reconstituer ces événements après avoir épluché des centaines de courriels et des rapports obtenus grâce à la Loi sur l'accès à l'information auprès de l'Agence des services frontaliers du Canada (ASFC).

April 2, 2009

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has filed a complaint against the Canadian Security Intelligence Service for using information it knows is derived from torture. The complaint was filed with the Security Intelligence Review Committee early this morning. “Canada’s laws and international commitments say that we will never condone torture, no matter the public emergency,” says Gratl. “Canada must be unambiguous about opposing torture in all circumstances, or else we risk the greater use of torture by countries who believe Canada is not opposed to this repugnant practice.”

The Canadian Press, Jan. 27 2009

OTTAWA -- The committee that keeps an eye on the Canadian Security Intelligence Service has chastised the spy agency for breaking the rules in a probe of suspected extremists.

The Security Intelligence Review Committee's annual report says CSIS had a source gather information on possible homegrown radicals without proper authorization.

The review committee also urges improvements to help CSIS manage its growing activities abroad and to help shore up Canada's security policy after concerns arose about a major military project in North Bay, Ont.

In addition, it reiterated a call for the spy service to implement recommendations from a federal commission of inquiry into the case of Maher Arar, an Ottawa engineer who was tortured in a Syrian jail over false terrorism accusations.

The review committee, composed of civilian appointees, examines CSIS operations and handles complaints about the spy agency. The committee is expected to soon complete a review of the case of Omar Khadr, a Canadian being held by the U.S. in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for allegedly killing an American soldier in Afghanistan.

By Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press, December 18, 2008

TORONTO - Lawyers defending terrorism suspects expressed outrage Thursday that Canada's spy agency has been listening in on their telephone conversations with their clients.

Court documents show the Canadian Security Intelligence Service has been monitoring the calls to ensure the suspects don't breach stringent bail conditions. "I was flabbergasted when I was informed," said Matt Webber, an Ottawa lawyer for Mohamed Harkat, a suspected Algerian terrorist released from custody in May 2006.

"My client's consent never for a moment contemplated the invasion of solicitor-client privilege."

Federal Court Judge Carolyn Layden-Stevenson publicly released information about the wiretapping in a Toronto court Thursday.

"The CSIS analyst ... listens to all intercepted communications, including solicitor-client communications if any," Layden-Stevenson wrote.

Her summary pertains to phone tapping that occurred in the case of Mohammad Mahjoub, an Egyptian detained as a threat to public safety because of his alleged ties to al-Qaida.

Sue Montgomery, Montreal Gazette, December 15, 2008

MONTREAL - Canada's spy agency doesn't verify whether information it receives has been obtained through torture or other human rights violations, even if it comes from the notorious American prison in Guantanamo Bay, an agent for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service revealed Monday.

The agent, known only as Jean-Paul to protect his identity, was testifying at the public portion of hearings to determine whether the security certificate under which Adil Charkaoui has been living for almost six years is reasonable.

If Federal Court Judge Daniele Tremblay-Lamer decides it is, the father of three and permanent resident would be immediately deported to Morocco, the country from which he emigrated in 1995.

The agent said that all information received by CSIS is evaluated and corroborated, but that the agency doesn't always know the conditions under which a source is being detained nor how the interrogation is conducted.

"We're not paid to find out what the conditions are of someone being held in another country," he said. "There is no formal structure for finding out about torture."