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Report of the Eminent Jurists Panel on terrorism, counter-terrorism and human rights
The case of Adil Charkaoui 230
The Panel heard from Adil Charkaoui, a permanent resident in Canada from
Morocco who is subject to a security certificate. In May 2003, after several
interviews with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) agents,
he was arrested, and was held in detention for twenty-one months. During
his detention, he was told that he constituted a security threat, and that he
would be deported to Morocco, on the basis of diplomatic assurances from
the Moroccan authorities that he would not be tortured. Mr Charkaoui was
released in February 2005, after a decision by the Canadian Supreme Court
that the legal regime governing his detention was unconstitutional. At the
time of the Panel Hearing in Canada, Mr Charkaoui was subject to twenty-four
separate and specific living conditions that amounted to severe limitations
on him leading a normal life. For example, Mr Charkaoui was not permitted
to leave the Island of Montreal without special permission; he was obliged
to wear a GPS-tracker bracelet; and he was living effectively under curfew,
since he could only leave his home with designated chaperones, and then
for limited times. In order to attend the EJP Hearing in Ottawa, Mr Charkaoui
had to obtain special permission to leave the Island of Montreal.
In explanation of this restrictive regime, Adil Charkaoui was provided with
400 pages of “public” evidence against him – only 14 pages of which referred
specifically to him. Most of the references said little more than how Mr
Charkaoui fitted the stereotype of an al-Qaeda sleeping agent – in other
words, he is Arab, Muslim, educated, practises martial arts, married with
three children, self-employed, and has “contacts” at his mosques. According
to investigative media sources, testimony from the witnesses against him has
either been publicly retracted (in one case) or (in the other two cases) was
allegedly obtained by torture in Morocco.
Due to recent amendments to the law, the Canadian authorities have now
announced that they will cease reliance on the testimony from Abu Zubaydah,
one of the “high-level detainees” who had been held in secret CIA detention,
subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques” and transferred in 2006
to Guantánamo Bay.
The “secret” evidence against Mr Charkaoui includes summaries of his own
interviews with CSIS intelligence agents, to which he had been denied access.
In June 2008, the Supreme Court ordered the CSIS to disclose material that
could help Mr Charkaoui rebut the allegations against him.231
230 See EJP Canada Hearing and oral testimonies provided by Adil Charkaoui and Paul Copeland.
231 Supreme Court of Canada, Charkaoui v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2008 SCC 38, 26 June 2008,
para. 77: “The only appropriate remedy is to confirm the duty to disclose Mr. Charkaoui’s entire file to the
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