Canada Defies United Nations and Paves the way to Deport Secret Trial
Detainee Mahmoud Jaballah to Torture in Egypt;

New Immigration Decision Violates Canada's Legal Obligation NEVER to deport
ANYONE to Torture;

Torture Survivor Maher Arar Calls on Canadian Government to End Practice of
Deportation to Torture

TAKE ACTION (SEE BELOW) TO STOP DEPORTATIONS TO TORTURE

TORONTO, OCTOBER 4, 2005 -- Four months after the United Nations called on
Canada to respect the absolute prohibition on deportation to torture, the
Governmment of Canada has for a second time denied protection to secret
trial detainee Mahmoud Jaballah, paving the way to deportation to that
exact fate in Egypt.

Jaballah, a father of six held without charge or bail since August,
2001, on secret evidence neither he nor his lawyers are allowed to see,
expects to challenge the decision in Federal Court sometime in October.
Jaballah and his family claimed refugee status when they arrived in Canada
in May, 1996, following a decade of persecution, arbitrary arrests and
detentions without charge, and torture in Egyptian prisons.

R.B. Thornton, a delegate of Citizenship and Immigration Minister
Joe Volpe, acknowledges in a 15-page deportation decision that in 2002, a
Government of Canada pre-removal risk assessment officer concluded "there
are substantial grounds for believing that the applicant [Jaballah] would
be killed or tortured should he be required to return to Egypt."

The Federal Court has twice ruled that this assessment constitutes
a final determination as to the risk faced by Mr. Jaballah if deported.
R.B. Thornton writes in the September 23, 2005 decision that "there is the
possibility that Mr. Jaballah will be subject to torture or even the death
penalty if he were to return to Egypt," but proceeds to deny Jaballah's
application for protection.

Mr. Jaballah is one of five Arab Muslim men subject to a security
certificate, which allows the government to hold individuals under
indefinite detention based on secret evidence. Today in Federal Court in
Montreal, Adil Charkaoui, released on bail in February of this year, is
challenging the portion of the immigration act which opens the door to
rendition of non-citizens to torture -- the act explicitly excludes people
who have fallen under security suspicions from protection against
deportation to torture.

The Jaballah deportation decision is the first to be released in
the cases of the Secret Trial Five since the landmark United Nations
Committee Against Torture report, released May 20, 2005, calling on Canada
to comply with the absolute prohibition on deportation to torture (see
http://incat.org/cat_reccomendations.php). Decisions about whether Canada
will grant protection for or deport to torture three other men subject to
security certificate -- Mohammad Mahjoub, Hassan Almrei, and Mohamed
Harkat, all at risk of torture or death if deported -- are expected in the
coming months.

The startling Jaballah deportation decision also comes on the heels
of three judicial reviews of similar decisions which were challenged in
2004. All of them were found to be "patently unreasonable," "unlawfully
made" and, in one case, "perverse." A fourth deportation decision was
withdrawn by the federal government earlier this year as well.

While judges of the Federal Court have yet to rule on the legality
of deportation to torture, the Jaballah case may prove a touchstone that
leads to a final determination about whether such decisions are legal in
Canada. Justice Eleanor Dawson, writing in a January 31, 2005 judgment on
the deportation decision for Mohammad Mahjoub, did, however, note that
there are "powerful indicia that deportation to face torture is conduct
fundamentally unacceptable; conduct that shocks the Canadian conscience and
therefore violates fundamental justice in a manner that can not be
justified under section 1 of the Charter."

While Mr. Jaballah fights the deportation decision, he is also
challenging the provisions of the security certificate scheme which prevent
him from applying for bail while the deportation issue winds its way
through the court system. Arguments in that case resume October 19 in
Toronto.

At a time when Canadians have learned a great deal about the
shocking role of their government in the deportation to torture of Maher
Arar, Ahmed El-Maati, Abdullah Almalki and Muayyad Nureddin, it is
remarkable that this government continues to pretend as if there is nothing
wrong with deporting someone to such a fate, says a spokesperson for the
Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada.

Maher Arar, writing from Ottawa, comments: "As someone who has
suffered and endured physical and psychological torture at the hands of a
regime that does not respect basic human rights, I find it very shocking
that Canada will deport Mr. Jaballah to Egypt, a country it admits,
practices torture on detainees.

"There is nothing on earth that justifies shipping off someone to
torture. The best way to have security is to support and promote justice.
If someone is guilty of breaking the law then he should be allowed to see
the evidence against him and to defend himself in an impartial and fair
manner.

"It is about time for Canada to repair the damage that was done to
its reputation since it was criticized by various human rights
organizations for being directly or indirectly complicit in sending people
to torture. Canada has a choice to make and I hope it chooses the right one
by committing not to send people back to countries where they will face a
substantial risk of being abused and tortured."

For further information, including an analysis of the deportation
decision, background on other secret trial cases in which the government
has reached similar deportation-to-torture conclusions, and related
background material on the issue, visit our website at
http://www.homesnotbombs.ca/jaballah2.htm

Taking Action:
Please send letters to Immigration Minister Joe Volpe (address below),
whose delegates continue making these dreadful deportation decisions, and
cc them to Prime Minister Paul Martin (pm@pm.gc.ca ), Anne McLellan, Deputy
Prime Minister, (McLellan.A@parl.gc.ca), and Justice Minister Irwin Cotler
(cotlei@parl.gc.ca). A sample letter is below. It can be personalized to
suit your own writing taste and style!

Joe Volpe
Room 658, Confederation Building
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Phone: (613) 992-6361
Fax: (613) 992-9791
volpej@parl.gc.ca, Minister@cic.gc.ca


Sample Letter

Dear Mr. Volpe:

I am writing to demand that the Canadian government stop defying
international and domestic law in its efforts to deport to torture Egyptian
refugee Mahmoud Jaballah, as well as the other secret trial detainees --
Mohammad Mahjoub, Hassan Almrei, Mohamed Harkat and Adil Charkaoui. It is
clear both from the Canadian government's own assessments and the opinions
of respected international human rights groups that the lives of these men
are at risk if deported.

Officials in the Canadian government consistently speak out against
torture, yet still make decisions to deport people to torture. Of course,
the fact that deportation to torture hangs over the heads of the Secret
Trial Five -- and that these men have been jailed indefinitely without
charge on secret "evidence" for years on end, separated from their loved
ones, often in solitary confinement, never knowing what will happen -- is a
form of torture as well, which can only be remedied with immediate release
from this unjustified incarceration.

When Prime Minister Paul Martin spoke at the United Nations on September
16, 2005, he said, "Respect for human rights is the living heart of
democracy, the key to unlocking the potential of every person to contribute
to their own welfare and to the prosperity and security of their
communities."

How can that kind of vision be consistent with a government that sends
people to be tortured or killed?

How can Canada say it supports the United Nations and then ignore the
United Nations Committee Against Torture, which called on the Canadian
government in May of this year to respect the absolute prohibition on
deportation to torture that Canada is legally bound to respect?

Justice Minister Irwin Cotler told the Globe and Mail on August 30, 2005
that "as a matter of policy, torture must everywhere and always be
condemned." The Globe then paraphrased Cotler: "And officials must not do
anything that would encourage or make them complicit in acts of torture,
Mr. Cotler said. 'That would be the policy of the government of Canada.'"

How do these comments square with the September 23, 2005 decision to deny
protection to Mr. Jaballah, opening the door to deporting him to torture?
And will your government continue to defy the United Nations and choose to
deny protection to the other men currently subject to secret trial
certificates?

It is time for you as immigration minister to put a halt to these
deportation proceedings and bring Canada in line with international law.
Indeed, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act states that its
provisions must be construed and applied "in a manner that complies with
international human rights instruments to which Canada is signatory." This
would obviously include the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and its absolute prohibition
on deportation to torture.

As Maher Arar wrote on October 2, 2005, "Canada has a choice to make and I
hope it chooses the right one by committing not to send people back to
countries where they will face a substantial risk of being abused and
tortured."

I anxiously await your reply to my letter and hope that you, as Immigration
Minister, and the rest of your government, will make the right choice.

Name and address