Recent news stories suggest that former Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, under cross-examination, has indicated that information procured from torture may have been relied upon in issuing a Security Certificate against Mohamed Mahjoub.
This is extremely concerning as it contravenes Canada’s international legal commitments to uphold the absolute prohibition against torture. In Canada, our Charter of Rights and Freedoms in section 7 protects the life, liberty and security of the person, and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. In another case dealing with security certificates (Charkaoui 1) , the Supreme Court of Canada stated that the national security context cannot be used to “erode the essence of the section 7 protection”, which is to provide “meaningful and substantial protection” and due process — it is the position of CCLA that depriving a person of liberty by relying upon information procured from torture — which is both illegal and immoral – cannot be reconciled with the principles of fundamental justice.>> To read more on CCLA’s position on Security Certificates click here.
>> To read more on Security Certificates see CCLA’s summary of the case of Hassan Almrei, whose security certificate was vacated by the Federal Court of Canada – this summary also highlights key findings of the Supreme Court of Canada with respect to security certificates as set out in the Charkaoui cases.
