Terror Suspect Ordered ReleasedThe Globe and Mail, February 16, 2007
By Colin Freeze,Toronto, and
Alex Dobrota, OttawaA Federal Court judge ordered an Egyptian al-Qaeda suspect to be released from jail and placed under house arrest yesterday, a decision that will end his seven years of imprisonment.
The ruling highlights growing tension between national-security concerns invoked by Ottawa and civil-liberties arguments that are increasingly swaying Canadian judges and politicians.
It wasn't long ago that Mohamed Zeki Mahjoub -- a fundamentalist who admits he ran a farming operation in the early 1990s for Osama bin Laden in Sudan - was viewed as anything but a cause célèbre in this country.
But this week, a parliamentary committe visited him and two other prisoners staging hunger strikes in a new prison unit built specifically to hold them in Kingston. The House of Commons voted to endorse the detainees' pleas for better treatment. Three opposition MPs have even offered to serve as Mr. Mahjoub's bail references.
Ottawa, however, defends the prison and the "security-certificate" law used to hold the detainees.
Three men suspected of ties to al-Qaeda and held in a maximum-security prison in Kingston have access to cable TV, a microwave oven and fitness equipment, a confidential draft study leaked to The Globe and Mail says.
The document, prepared by the House committee on immigration, provides an in-depth look at the controversial prison unit, which human-rights activists have dubbed Guantanamo North.
While the picture painted by members of Parliament is a far cry from the harsh conditions at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the draft study also mentions claims of beatings and humiliation.
the study to be presented to the House of Commons in it's revised version, comes at a time when the three terror suspects are staging a hunger strike to protest against their conditions. They complain about mistreatment by the guards and poor medical care.
When MPs visited the special multibillion-dollar prison unit in October, they found that the detainees lived in a portable trailer, which is divided into cells that contain a bed, a desk, a shelf and a toilet. The men can open windows with a view to a concrete yard.
"Detainees are entitled to have a 13-inch TV in their cells, and [prison] is responsible for paying the costs of the cable," the MPs wrote in their draft study.
The three men have access to a washer and dryer. They can walk in a concrete yard and exercise in a nearby trailer with fitness machines. They can spend time with each other in the common room.
And they can talk on the phone for one hour with their family, and for an unlimited period of time with their lawyers.
Until about three months ago, when they initiated their hunger strike, a registered dietician was planning the detainees' meals. Now they are only drinking water, juice and, occasionally, clear broth.
The draft study also states medical facilities are available on site and that a nurse is to check on the men daily during hunger strikes.
The three men want a bigger yard and some grass on it, the study says. They also complain the chairs in the common room are uncomfortable and that the powerful security lights shine into their cells at night.
They have requested access to a correctional investigator to complain about ill-treatment by the guards.
Officials have already granted some of their requests, the study says. For instance, the detainees, all Muslim, can now see their families in the presence of a woman guard, which enables the wives to remove their veils during visits.
Despite some improvements, the men insist that their conditions remain deplorable. In a memo to MPs, which was reproduced partly in the draft study, they describe their living quarters as "small portable unit, which creaks with every movement. All night, whenever one person rolls over, we all hear it."
The draft study also quotes allegation of abuse, though it does not substantiate the claims. "We also have endured humiliation, tauntings, beatings, and threats because of the terrorism label," the detainees wrote in thememo quoted by MPs.
Yesterday, the same House committee that wrote the draft study decided not to question the five guards alleged to have abused the detainees.
Some of the opposition MPs on the committee said they were not interested in hearing the "nitty-gritty" details of the alleged abuses.
"The committee is not a court," said Omar Alghabra, the Liberal immigration critic, who voted against the motion brought forward by his colleague, Jim Karygiannis, Liberal MP for Scarborough-Agincourt. "We have to be careful not to let those things drag [us] into nitty-gritty details.
Bloc Québécois MP Meili Faille shares Mr. Alghabra's opinion. "the information we have in front of us is sufficiently credible," Ms. Faille said of the interviews with guards and detainees.
Ms. Faille stopped short of saying whether detainees had suffered ill-treatment. But she noted that the guards' habit of observing and making notes on the men's most minute movements could be perceived as abusive.
None of the Detainees has been chargedCanada's controversial security-certificate process is being used in six ongoing cases and in one that was recently resolved.
None of the detainees has ever been charged with a crime. They face Immigration Act charges only, and deportation is the ultimate goal.
Most suspects spend years in jail battling Ottawa's attempt to send them back to their homelands. Concerns about overseas torture under repressive governments stall most cases.
In security-certificate cases, Canadian cabinet-ministers and Federal Court judges who see secret intelligence need to be convinced there is "reasonable suspicion" someone is a threat. This is a far lower threshold than the "proof beyond reasonable doubt" standard used in criminal cases.
Those in jail:
- Mohamed Zeki Mahjoub, alleged to be an al-Qaeda operative, who admits he once ran a farming operation for Osama bin Laden. Ordered today to be moved to house arrest, he was first detained in 2000 and is in the midst of an 84-day hunger strike protesting against the conditions he endured in prison.
- Mahmoud Jaballah, suspected of being an al-Qaeda operative from Egypt, is alleged to have played some kind of undefined "communications relay" role in African embassy bombings in 1998. He has been on a hunger strike for more than 70 days. A hearing on his bail case is imminent.
- Hassan Almrei, a Syrian who admits he spent time in Afghanistan training camps, has been jailed since October, 2001. His hunger strike has also passed the 70 day mark, but he will remain in prison for the forseeable future.
Those released on forms of house arrest:
- Adel Charkaoui, a Morroccan who was also arrested on allegations he trained in Afghanistan. Jailed in 2002, he made headlines in 2005 for being the first al-Qaeda-accused to be transferred to house arrest
- Mohamed Harkat, an Algerian, is alleged to be a graduate of the training camps. He was jailed in 2003, but released on house arrest last year.
- Manickavasagam Suresh is often overlooked because he is not an al-Qaeda suspect. This toronto resident was arrested in 1995 on allegations he was a major fundraiser for the Tamil Tigers. Three years later he was granted bail. Concerns he'd be tortured in Sri Lanka have kept him in Canada ever since.
The recently departed:
- Paul William Hampel, alleged to be a Russian spy, was removed to Moscow this fall. There were no concerns he'd be tortured, and he didn't fight the removal.
