12.10.2012

ten years too many: stop secret trials in canada

Today, International Human Rights Day, marks ten years since Mohamed Harkat was arrested under a so-called Security Certificate.

Security Certificates allow for arrests, prosecutions, and imprisonments outside the rule of law. Those people caught in the Security Certificate trap can be detained for indefinite periods of time, including years in solitary confinement (an internationally recognized form of torture), without being charged or granted access to the information used against them. They can be deported to face imprisonment, torture or death after being labelled terrorists. In other words, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms doesn't apply to them.

Right now, three Canadians originally detained under Security Certificates have been released under the strictest bail conditions in Canadian history. They wear GPS tracking devices, they must ask for permission to visit family or friends outside their city of residence, they cannot use telephones or computers.

They were never given a trial.

They were never shown the evidence against them.

If you have not already done so, please sign the "Harkat Statement" opposing these secret trials and extra-judicial detentions in Canada. Please share it with everyone you know.

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