treatment.147 In March 2004, Human Rights Watch submitted a letter on Charkaoui’s behalf for use in the security review based on primary research undertaken in Morocco in January-February 2004. The letter concluded that Charkaoui would be at risk of torture and ill-treatment if returned to Morocco. A lengthy report issued by Human Rights Watch in October 2004, based on field research in Morocco, charged the government with “backsliding” on human rights progress and detailed serious rights abuses, including torture and ill-treatment, targeting suspected terrorists in violation of Morocco’s international treaty obligations: Morocco must do far more to reverse the deterioration in human rights that has occurred in the treatment of persons suspected of involvement in terrorist crimes. Given the pattern of human rights violations emanating from the crackdown on suspected Islamist militants and the application of the 2003 counter-terror law, Moroccan authorities should take immediate steps to bring all practices and laws into compliance with both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture and other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). Above all, law enforcement agents must be held accountable when they violate laws governing the detention and treatment of suspects.148 The United States Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, released on February 28, 2005, also contains details of torture, mistreatment, and denial of rights during the judicial process of detainees in the aftermath of the May 2003 terrorist attacks in Casablanca. The report states, “The Government [of Morocco] generally rejected these allegations” and “[t]here was no indication that the Government took any further action in response to claims of torture, made at the Court of Appeal in Fez, by 29 persons accused of terrorism, and reportedly judicial authorities refused to order any medical examinations.”149 Assurances from the Moroccan government that it will comply with its international human rights obligations cannot be trusted in the face of substantial evidence to the contrary. The Canadian government cannot point to the Moroccan government’s unconvincing promises as evidence of Canada’s or Morocco’s general commitment to 147 Charkaoui submitted evidence of such abuses from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, among other human rights groups. 148 Human Rights Watch, Morocco: Human Rights at a Crossroads, October 2004 [online] http://hrw.org/reports/2004/morocco1004 (retrieved March 1, 2005). 149 U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004: Morocco, February 28, 2005 [online] http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41728.htm (retrieved March 2, 2005). 51 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOL. 17 NO. 4(D)