Submitted by: V. M. R. B. (name deleted) Alleged victim: The author State party: Canada Declared inadmissible: 18 July 1988 (thirty-third session) Subject matter: Resistance of Salvadorian journalist to deportation order under the Canadian Immi-gration Act Procedural issues: Inadmissibility ratione materiae Substantive issues: Right to life, liberty and security of person Arbitrary arrest or detention Deportation of alien on national security grounds Interpretation of notion of "suit at law " Articles of the Covenant: 2, 6, 9, 13, 14, 18, 19 and 26 Articles of the Optional Protocol: 2 and 3 1. The author of the communication (initial letter dated 25 June 1987, and further letter dated 20 April 1988) is V. M. R. B, a journalist and citizen of El Salvador, born in 1948, at present residing in Montreal, Canada. He claims to be a victim of a violation by the Government of Canada of articles 2, 6, 9, 14, 18, 19 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. He is represented by counsel. 2.1 On 5 January 1982, the author entered Canada at Blackpool, on the United States border, without having any visa to enter or stay in that country. He was detained upon entry, but he applied for admission as a refugee under the Canadian Immigration Act of 1976. On 7 January 1982, he was heard for the first time before an Immigration Adjudicator pursuant to article 23 (3) (c) of the Act. The latter decided to uphold the author's detention under article 104 (3) (b) of the Act, on the ground that he represented a "danger to the public" and was likely to stay in Canada and not appear for his deportation hearings. This decision was based on a security certificate dated 14 November 1980 and signed by both the Solicitor General and the Minister for Employment and Immigration of Canada, according to which the author is a person "who there are reasonable grounds to believe will engage in or instigate the subversion by force of any government". Under article 19 (1) (f) of the Act, such persons are to be denied entry into Canadian territory. 2.2 The detention order was extended in a succession of weekly hearings before the Adjudicator (from 14 January to 11 February 1982). On 17 February 1982, the Adjudicator ordered the author deported, purportedly on the sole ground that the Minister's certificate of 14 November 1980 was "uncontestable". Testimony on behalf of the author by witnesses produced by his lawyer was deemed unconvincing. After another hearing on 10 March 1982, during which the Government representative stated that the author could no longer be regarded as a danger to the public, the Adjudicator ordered the author's release on 11 March 1982. The deportation order, however, was upheld. 52