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Below is an account of the latest update from the case of Adil
Charkaoui, who was held as a secret trial detainee in Montreal from May,
2003 until his "release" under severe house arrest conditions in February,
2005.

Efforts continue to achieve bail for the remaining secret trial
detainees: Hassan Almrei receive a new consideration of bail in Toronto
June 27-28, in time to mark 3 yerars and nine months in solitary
confinement in Toronto; Mohammad Mahjoub's bail hearing, begun in May,
2003, creeps along at a glacial pace, with new secret hearings at which he
and his lawyer have been prohibited from attending, as he marks 5 years in
detention without charge this month; Mohamed Harkat is still waiting in
Ottawa for the 120 day period to elapse following the upholding of his
security certificate -- based solely on secret evidence -- before he can
apply for bail; and Mahmoud Jaballah (held since August, 2001 on a second
certificate after beating the first one in 1999), who was eligibile for
bail last year, is no longer eligibile, since as a "foreign national" he
must wait until the conclusion of his third security certificate proceeding
to even contemplate the idea.

The Canadian government, in open and, needless to say, blatant
violation of international law, continues its vigorous efforts to deport
these men to torture, despite the May report from the United Nations
Committee Against Torture which called upon Canada to join the ranks of
civilized nations and put an end to this wretched practice of torture and
execution via deportation.

Groups across Canada will join in a national day of action to end
deportation to torture and stop secret trials on Wednesday, June 8. Among
them: In Montreal, a 24 Hours Against Torture vigil will take place at the
office of Prime Minister Paul Martin (contact: 514-859-9023,
justiceforadil@riseup.net) A similar 24-hour vigil will take place in
Toronto at the offices of Deportation Minister Joe Volpe, with the goal of
having him sign a pledge to end secret trials and stop deportations to
torture (416-651-5800, tasc@web.ca). In Halifax, the Halifax Peace
Coalition is planning an information picket on June 8 at 5:30 pm in front
of the public library (hfxpeace@chebucto.ca).

In Vancouver, from 10:00 AM until 1:00 PM, the BC Civil Liberties
Association will conduct a press conference and street
theater event at 300 W. Georgia, outside the offices of local offices of
the Federal Refugee Board (contacts: Jason Gratl, BCCLA president: 604 694
1919 or Tom Sandborn, BCCLA board member, at 604 224 1182). A symbolic
jail cell will be erected and a shackled and hooded prisoner will be on
public display.

Later that day another event is planned by No One is Illegal,
beginning at 4:30 pm in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery (contacts:
noii-van@resist.ca, (604)682-3269 x 7149).

In Ottawa, an outdoor evening event featuring music and poetry is
planned at 7 pm, Human Rights Monument (www.zerra.net/freemohamed)



"Towards a Society of Spies"

On 25 and 26 May, Adil Charkaoui went to court to ask permission to find
books in the library for his university courses, to look for a job, and to
take strolls in the park with his wife.

What happened? Nothing, really. And that is remarkable: Adil, who
has had no trial and has not so much as been charged with a crime, has to
go to court to seek permission to carry out the most mundane activities.
And this is treated as perfectly normal by the court as well as the media
and the public, both of whom are absent. He is forced to swallow the kindly
paternalism of the judge ("we want you to be able to study, to work, to
have a normal family life; we just need to find the means that will allow
this"); to endure the impertinent invasion into what little remains of his
private life; to permit a secret hearing between the Judge and the
prosecution, where his requests are discussed in his absence; to calmly
accept the racism of a legal system which so blatantly discriminates
against him, as a non-citizen who fits a certain politically-established
profile. He is forced to remain polite and calm in the face of all the
humiliation and infuriating unfairness.

As we wade through the swamp of details about Adil's course-work,
about the technicalities of finding a job and updating a CV, about
computers that are and are not hooked to the internet at the library of the
University of Montreal, the important questions, those that matter to us as
individuals with self-respect, and as a society with some vestiges of
solidarity, are not allowed to surface.

Instead of asking how we have come to a point where Adil is not at
liberty to leave his home without being accompanied by his father, we
search for mechanisms and solutions to the "problem". Why can't Adil's
sister look for a job on the internet for him? Why can't Adil's wife spy on
him, as his father has already been forced to do, the price of Adil's
liberty from jail? (Taking the stand at a previous hearing, Mr. Charkaoui
jokingly requested a salary from CSIS, since the accompaniment work
prevents him from working himself, and since he is doing CSIS's job for
them.) Instead of asking what happened to a fair trial, to the presumption
of innocence, to equality; instead of asking whether we really want to be
on the road towards a society in which family members spy on each other,
and electronic tracking bracelets allow the state to monitor every detail
of an individual's life, we ask if there are ways in which Adil can prepare
a bibliography for his thesis without using a computer.

But at two points, more substantial questions pushed themselves
into the courtroom. The crown took advantage of Adil's presence in the
witness stand to question him about his public statements that the court
was not independent. This gave Adil the opportunity to articulate the ways
in which the security certificate process - with its secret evidence,
closed hearings, and lack of review of the merits of the allegations -
prevents the court from remaining independent of the political process. As
the prosecutor pressed on, no doubt hoping to push Adil into a statement
that could be construed as contempt of court, Adil's lawyer objected with a
spirited defense of Adil's right to a political opinion. We returned to
working out the mechanics of total surveillance.

Another break-through occurred when Adil told the court that he
would be meeting with the UN Human Rights committee in mid-June. It seems
that the UN is not only concerned about Canada's policy around deportations
to torture; they are also interested in Canada's arbitrary removal of the
liberty of migrants such as Adil and the other four under security
certificates. Last week, the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT), concerned
about Canada's failure to recognize "the absolute nature of the protection
of article 3 of the Convention that is subject to no exceptions whatsoever"
(that is, the absolute prohibition against deporting people when there is
risk of torture), recommended that Canada bring its laws into line with the
UN Convention against torture. We can hope for a similarly strong report
after the Human Rights committee has had a chance to investigate the way in
which Adil has had his liberty severely curtailed without trial or even
charge, without knowing when it will ever end.

To increase confidence in his willingness to follow the letter of
his conditions, Adil asked the court to understand that he was intent on
respecting his conditions not only for his own sake, but with the awareness
that his was being treated as a test case for the four who remain in prison
under a security certificate. In the same vein, the lawyer elaborated on
the deep insecurity in which Adil and his family are living - under the
constant stress of threat of deportation where the fate that awaits him is
all too brutally certain.

The decision was that Adil could use library computers which are
not connected to the internet, and that he could ask his sister or father
to look for a job on the internet and to fax a CV for him. Apparently the
court was satisfied that these activities will not result in any breach of
his conditions, nor be prejudicial to the continued existence of Canada or
the safety of others in his adopted country.

In the meantime, the Coalition for Justice for Adil Charkaoui is
preparing to maintain a 24-hour presence in front of Prime Minister Paul
Martin's office on 8 June, to denounce the "terror of torture" to which
Canada is subjecting people like Adil and his family (see below). Please
join us!


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