Security Certificates ruled Constitutional in Landmark Harkat terrorism case

[CougarKing]

The issue of security certificates again in the news...

Mods, please keep this separate from the "They Walk Among Us" thread.

If there is evidence that he had run a terrorism safe house in Pakistan as a teen, he should be deported.

CBC

Mohamed Harkat security certificate upheld by Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the national security certificate against terror suspect Mohamed Harkat, rejecting his constitutional challenge.

The top court decision released Wednesday says the legal process used to detain the Ottawa resident for years was fair and reasonable.

The decision means the government can move to deport Harkat, who has argued he faces torture or even death if he returns to Algeria. The matter of his deportation will be handled by immigration and public security officials.

Harkat, a former pizza delivery man, was born in Algeria, came to Canada in 1995 and was granted refugee status in 1997. He married a Canadian citizen, Sophie Lamarche, who has become an advocate for his cause.

Harkat was arrested in 2002 and accused of being an al-Qaeda sleeper agent. He spent four years in custody, and seven more years under house arrest. Harkat was detained without a trial under the provisions of a security certificate.

(...EDITED)

 

[The Bread Guy]

And if you're interested, here's the Supremes' decision attached (86 pages).

 

[Edward Campbell]

Slightly  ff topic: but related, just enough, I think to avoid starting yet another new thread.

This story, from CBC News about genuine Canadian passports which are fraudulently obtained, shows how easy it is for dangerous people to "walk among us."

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          As a general rule I favour protecting the individual against the state and so I am always suspicious of "star chamber" type proceeding where an individual's right to see all the evidence, etc, is circumscribed.
          But: I accept that, sometimes, the state, the collective, the Great Big We needs extraordinary measures to protect us from individuals and small groups who mean us harm.

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The terrorist, like other criminals, needs to "walk among us," to be, as Mao suggested, a fish who swims, essentially invisibly, in a sea of other people, and we need to make that harder and harder to do.

Security Certificates, problem laden (for civil libertarians) though they are, are one part of the solution; a more vigilant passport control system appears to be another. Kudos to the RCMP for catching this.