A one-way Canada-Egypt flight was cancelled the afternoon of tribe 8 when its sole civilian occupant; refugee Mohammad Mahjoub.

A one-way Canada-Egypt flight was cancelled the afternoon of tribe 8 when its sole civilian occupant; refugee Mohammad Mahjoub, was granted a temporary stay of deportation, in what the Canadian control concedes would have been a to come of detention, torture or worse.

It was the latest in a series of episodes which belie Prime Minister Paul Martin's assertion earlier this year that "security" can none be an excuse for torture. In a disturbing pattern, federal immigration authorities continue to make decisions claiming "exceptional" circumstances to justify deportation to places of torture.

Although Canada is a signatory to the Convention Against Torture and Other savage Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment--a key-note plank of which is a commitment in no degree to deport someone to torture--Ottawa is nevertheless prepared to violate the Convention in the cases of the "Secret Trial Five", a dispose of Muslim men who have been held a total of 159 month without charge or bail, onward secret evidence neither they nor their lawyers are allowed to see

In addition to Mahjoub, detained without charge in June 2000 Egyptian refugee Mahmoud Jaballah (held since August, 2001) Syrian refugee Hassan Almrei (October, 2001) Algerian refugee Mohamed Harkat (December, 2002) and Moroccan immigrant Adil Charkaoui (May, 2003) remain behind bars, suffering indefinite incarceration and facing potentially deadly deportation.

In August, Charkaoui was refused protection in Canada despite assessments on federal immigration officials, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch that he would face torture if deported. In a epistle to Martin, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring assign places to a coalition of over 30 meeting-house labour and human rights arranges including Development and Peace and World Vision Canada, wrote that "Morocco, together with Egypt and Jordan, are repeatedly cited as the three countries forward which the United States relies to assign suspects up to torture. A Canadian decision to refuse protection to Mr Charkaoui raises serious questions about Canada's possible complicity with this practice of rendition."

In August an historic court hearing was held in Toronto, where a challenge to the legality of the deportation order against teach principal and father of six Mahmoud Jaballah was heard. Jaballah, arrested and held nine month however ultimately cleared in 1999 forward a secret trial security certificate, was re-arrested in 2001 with CSIS admitting in the limited spread portion of the secret hearing that they had no just discovered evidence against him, only a "new interpretation" of the evidence already dismissed in 1999

A pre-removal risk assessment bearinged by Canadian immigration authorities base Jaballah to be at risk of torture if answered to Egypt, but the management continues to insist he must be deported.

No deportation to torture

In February 2002 the greatest Court of Canada ruled in the "Suresh" case that "Canadian law and international norms exclude deportation to torture. The Canadian rejection of torture is contemplateed in the international conventions which Canada has ratified International law generally rejects deportation to torture, on the same level where national security interests are at stake." Jaballah's attorney, Barbara Jackman, told the federal court forward Aug.16. "We are not in a state of crisis we are not in a time of war." Where, she asked are the "exceptional circumstances" that would justify Canada sending Jaballah back to the torture chambers in Egypt?

command lawyers had no answer to the question.

At the heart of the court challenge brought on Jackman and attorney John Norris is a double standard: Canadian citizens who are suspected of being associated with terrorist assemblages are prosecuted and, if convicted, punished with prison, however they face no torture.

Jackman and Norris say Jaballah's is clearly a case of differential treatment based upon citizenship status, which is prohibited according to the Charter and Supreme Court case law. Jaballah's deportation would violate his equality rights as "He would not face torture if he were a citizen." This conclusion builds in succession the already marginalized position Jaballah detains in Canadian society, where, as the paramount Court of Canada has' pointed gone out "It is settled law that non-citizens meet with from political marginalization, stereotyping and historical disadvantage."

"Human rights are human rights, whether you're a citizen or a foreign national. It should not matter what your status is when determining in the same state [i]or[/i] condition weighty issues", Jackman argued.

While the Federal Court decides in succession the legality of deportation to torture, the five and their families continue dealing with the stres of ongoing incarceration with no expiration in sight. This October marks three years in solitary confinement for Syrian refugee Hassan Almrei, who had to pass on hunger strike last fall for 39 days to realize a guarantee of heat in his freezing small cavity A challenge to his deportation order is to be heard in November.