Vol. 72/No. 7      February 18, 2008

Harkat was originally jailed under “security-certificate” legislation that allows indefinite detention of “terror suspects” who don’t hold Canadian citizenship on the basis of secret court hearings and evidence. Neither he nor his lawyers have been permitted to see “evidence” under which the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Canadian government deem him a threat to national security as an al-Qaeda agent. Harkat denies any ties to al-Qaeda.

Agents of the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and city cops swooped down on Harkat’s apartment January 29 while he was taking a shower and hauled him off to jail. Harkat shares the apartment with his wife Sophie Harkat, his mother-in-law Pierrette Brunet, and her spouse. Bail terms call for him to be accompanied by either his wife, mother-in-law, or her spouse at all times. There are cameras outside his home, constant physical surveillance by CBSA agents, and he must wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.

His mother-in-law is no longer a full-time resident at the home, which the CBSA claims is a breach of Harkat’s bail conditions. “There was no breach of Mohamed Harkat’s bail conditions… . The arrest constitutes harassment in the context of an unconstitutional law,” said the Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee in a statement.

The committee reports that CBSA officials confirmed to Harkat that a cabinet minister ordered his arrest. It notes that Harkat’s arrest took place a week before a scheduled review of his bail conditions and while Bill C-3, a modified version of Ottawa’s security-certificate law, is before the Canadian parliament. It was also on the eve of a Supreme Court appeal by Adil Charkaoui, one of four other security-certificate detainees the committee is also defending.

Sophie Harkat, along with other opponents of security-certificates, has been campaigning for fair trials for the five and abolition of the security-certificate system. A partial victory was won last February when the Supreme Court ruled that secret hearings in which the accused don’t have access to evidence against them are a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, instead of throwing out the law, the court gave the government a year to reword it.

The revised law was passed by the House of Commons in December, and is currently being debated in the Senate. When it comes into force it will likely mean new hearings for Harkat and the other four.

“We are having an impact! Continue to keep the pressure on members of Parliament and senators to defeat Bill C-3 and abolish security-certificates,” the Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee said in its statement. To send endorsements or for further information contact the committee at (613) 276-9102 or sophielamarche@hotmail.com.  
 
 
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