National Day of Action to Stop Secret Trials in Canada and End Deportations to Torture

Join us Wednesday December 10 (or as near to that date as you can) to call for the
abolition of "security certificates" and deportations to torture As Canada marks International Human Rights Day this December 10, secret
rendition-to-torture hearings will be continuing in the nation's capital. The public
portions of those secret hearings, show trials in which an individual is alleged to
be a threat but is not given any reasons why, have been ongoing, even though the
Supreme Court of Canada declared security certificates unconstitutional in February,
2007. Such hearings have been a hallmark of Canadian immigration law for decades. Many people thought that since four of the five individuals detained (Mohammad
Mahjoub, Mahmoud Jaballah, Mohamed Harkat, Adil Charkaoui) under these medieval
certificates were home with their families that somehow the suffering has ended. Far
from it. The daily humiliation of being forced to wear tracking devices strapped to
their ankles, the inability to go to the corner store to buy a litre of milk without
government permission or having your mother accompany you, the over-the-top
surveillance by state agents (everything from the cameras located both inside and
outside the residence, tapping of phones and opening of mail to constantly snapping
pictures of the men and their families while on approved "outings,") and  the manner
in which these "conditions of release" have actually served to jail the men's wives,
parents, and children, clearly show that the pattern of repression continues to
grow, isolating them from their communities as they fight
deportation to torture. Meanwhile, Hassan Almrei remains indefinitely detained in the most expensive
solitary confinement cell in Canada, Kingston's Immigration Holding Centre (aka
Guantanamo North). Security certificates represent two-tier justice, the lowest-standard available
because of the fact that those affected are refugees and permanent residents. The
addition of a so-called "special advocate" does nothing to address the fundamentally
flawed and unfair nature of the process, because the detainee is no closer to seeing
the basis of the secret file. The fact that the same judges hearing these cases have
all made adverse findings against the secret trial five in the past leaves the door
open to a clear apprehension of bias. And the Chief Justice of the Federal Court
muses aloud about why such hearings need to have the highest standards applied! Join us December 10 to remind the Canadian public, government officials, and federal
court judges that secret trials and deportations to torture cannot be subject to
amendments and tinkering: they must be abolished. Getting Involved.
1. Already, events are planned in London, Toronto, Fredericton, Ottawa, and
Montreal. If you would like to hold an event in your community, contact us at
tasc@web.ca, and we can help you with press releases, handouts for your action, and
specific suggestions. 2. Join Federal Court Watch, a new initiative that invites you as a member of the
public into the courts to monitor and document the abuses that go on in the public
portions of these Kafkaesque trials. See
http://www.adilinfo.org/en/federal-court-watch Endorsed by: Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada, Justice for Adil, Justice for
Mohamed Harkat Committee Toronto Event: Gather at CSIS with Santa Claus on Wednesday, December 10, 4:30-5:30
pm, for a Sing-Out Against Secret Trials. Join us for new renditions of those
holiday favourites, including Rudolf the Racist MP, Struggling in a Winter
Wonderland, CSIS Spies are Tracking You Down, and the classic chestnut, The 12 Days
of IRPA. Info: tasc@web.ca Montreal event: Gather at Federal Court at 12 noon, December 10, details at
www,adilinfo.org, justiceforadil@riseup.net Events also planned in Ottawa, London, Fredericton, and other cities that have yet
to finalize plans. Please join us wherever you are!!