ZGram - 12/11/2004 - "Canadian Security Certificates upheld as justifiable"

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now More than ever!

December 11, 2004

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

This morning, as I opened my e-mail, I found a glimmer of hope that 
the nightmare for Ernst is going to end soon - only to receive 
another blow by the utterly corrupt judicial system in Canada.  I 
assume the challenge on the part of the Arab detainees will now go to 
the Supreme Court of Canada - as it will, separately, under the 
appeal our Canadian legal defense team has filed.

Here we go agin:

[START]

      Secret trials: Canada's worst dirty little secret? Prominent
      Canadians demand abolition of "security certificates"

    OTTAWA, Dec. 10 /CNW Telbec/ - The federal government must abolish
security certificates, hold open trials for all detainees and not deport them,
prominent Canadians demanded today in Ottawa. Across the country, people
staged actions in honour of December 10th, the International Day for Human
Rights, to bolster those demands.

    Five Muslim men have waited a combined total of over 174 months in
Canadian jail cells without bail, charges or evidence that even their lawyers
can't access. All face the risk of deportation into torture.

    "The security certificate process does not conform to a number of
essential international legal standards," said Alex Neve, General Secretary of
Amnesty International Canada (English-speaking branch). "Justice and security
will prevail only when we disallow violations of fundamental human rights such
as arbitrary detention and torture, and instead institute fair proceedings.
But the security certificate denies both justice and security."

    Supporters of Mohamed Harkat and the four other Muslim men being held on
security certificates released a statement signed by over 300 groups and
individuals sharing Neve's concerns.

    Notable signatories include NDP leader Jack Layton, singer Bruce
Cockburn, film-maker Denys Arcand and former Progressive Conservative MP Flora
MacDonald, all of whom share strong concerns about the weakening of
fundamental human rights in Canada in the name of the "war on terror".
Organizational supporters include the Law Union of Ontario, the Canadian
Council on American-Islamic Relations, labour unions, Amnesty International
and nineteen other human rights organizations.

    "These secret trials may be Canada's worst dirty little secret," said
Deborah Bourque, President of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. "This
security legislation clearly comes from a fear-based government agenda that
gives police and courts more power while integrating Canadian and U.S.
policies on immigration."

    Riad Saloojee, Executive Director of the Canadian Council on     
American-Islamic Relations, spoke of the fear that the detentions have evoked
in the Arab and Muslim communities.

    "For many Canadian Muslims and Arabs, security certificates embody an
arbitrary and non-transparent legal process that they never expected to find
in a democratic country they now call home," said Saloojee. "Muslims and Arabs
have unfortunately been the most common casualties under this deeply flawed
process."

    Today's day of action against secret trials sees events and actions
happening in Ottawa, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax, among other
cities.

    The Muslim men being held are: Hassan Almrei, Syrian, held since
October 20, 2001; Adil Charkaoui, Moroccan, held since May, 2003; Mohamed
Harkat, Algerian, held since December 10, 2002; Mahmoud Jaballah, Egyptian,
held for 9 months in 1999, cleared of allegations, held again since
August 2001; Mohammad Mahjoub, Egyptian, held since June, 2000. A sixth man,
Ernst Zundel, a German, has been held since February 2003.

    More information on the Muslim detainees: ://www.zerra.net/freemohamed

For further information: Jessica Squires, Justice for Mohamed Harkat, 
Committee: (613) 328-5831; Pour de plus amples renseignements en 
français, veuillez contacter: Christian Legeais, Comité d'appui à 
Mohamed Harkat,(613) 276-9102

[END]

Item # 2

[START]

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/News/2004/12/11/777232.html

Sat, December 11, 2004

Canada Briefs Column

By SUN NEWS SERVICES

SECURITY CERTIFICATES UPHELD AS JUSTIFIABLE

OTTAWA -- Security certificates won a federal court's stamp of 
approval yesterday, just as critics ramped up a campaign to abolish 
the government's use of the "secret trials" for terrorist suspects.

Yesterday the Federal Court of Appeal upheld a 2003 decision that 
declared the use of security certificates constitutional.

The ruling was a blow to Adil Charkaoui, a 31-year-old Moroccan 
native accused of being a sleeper agent for terrorist group al-Qaida. 
He is being held under a security certificate with Syrian Hassan 
Almrei, Algerian Mohamed Harkat and Egyptians Mahmoud Jaballah and 
Mohammad Mahjoub.

Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel is also detained under a certificate.

The six men are now indefinitely jailed in Canada and force 
deportation under security certificates -- five of them Muslims 
labelled threats to national security.

Marking International Human Rights Day, advocates lined up to condemn 
the "affront to democracy and justice."

[END]