Cumberland BC: The Cumberlander Articles Section
Uncategorized · 6th November 2007
Comox Valley Peace Group
DEMONSTRATION AGAINST SECURITY CERTIFICATES AND SECRET TRIALS
On October 22nd, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day introduced Bill C-3, the new security certificate legislation, which they hope to pass into law in the coming months. The Liberals immediately signaled their intention of supporting the bill.
The new bill was prompted by a Supreme Court ruling that the security certificate procedure, officially part of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, is unconstitutional and gave the government one year to revise the procedure.
Mr. Day is trying to create the impression that this new legislation makes the security certificate procedure “more fair” while it is a violation of due
process and fundamental justice just like the legislation it is to replace.
Amnesty International says that Bill C-3 "falls dismally short of what would be required to meet minimal international and constitutional fair trial guarantees.
Amnesty International is deeply disappointed that the government has imported the United Kingdom’s Special Advocate model in responding to the Supreme Court’s concerns. Under the proposed new system, Special Advocates would be appointed to look out for the interests of individuals who are the subject of security certificate proceedings. However, once a Special Advocate is given access to the evidence in government files he or she would be barred, absent court approval, from further communication with the individual whose interests they are expected to represent. When the Special Advocate’s ability to communicate with the person named in the certificate is seriously restricted in this way, the Special Advocate is severely constrained in his or her ability to respond in any meaningful way to the government’s secret evidence."
This secret trial process, using suspect "evidence" gathered from domestic and foreign police agencies, is seriously flawed. Furthermore, as Amnesty International's critique of Bill C-3 states unequivocally, "Deporting anyone to
a situation of likely torture clearly contravenes Canada’s international human rights obligations." Legitimate refugees face the horror of being sent back to the despotic regimes they are fleeing.
The minister is speaking at a Conservative Party luncheon in Courtenay on Wednesday, November 7. The Comox Valley Peace Group invites everyone to join us in according Mr. Day an appropriate welcome at 11:30 at the Best Western across from Safeway on Cliffe Avenue. We will have available postcards to be sent to MPs urging them to vote against the legislation.
SCRAP THE SECURITY CERTIFICATES!
NO TO SECRET TRIALS!
AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL!
On October 22nd, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day introduced Bill C-3, the new security certificate legislation, which they hope to pass into law in the coming months. The Liberals immediately signaled their intention of supporting the bill.
The new bill was prompted by a Supreme Court ruling that the security certificate procedure, officially part of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, is unconstitutional and gave the government one year to revise the procedure.
Mr. Day is trying to create the impression that this new legislation makes the security certificate procedure “more fair” while it is a violation of due
process and fundamental justice just like the legislation it is to replace.
Amnesty International says that Bill C-3 "falls dismally short of what would be required to meet minimal international and constitutional fair trial guarantees.
Amnesty International is deeply disappointed that the government has imported the United Kingdom’s Special Advocate model in responding to the Supreme Court’s concerns. Under the proposed new system, Special Advocates would be appointed to look out for the interests of individuals who are the subject of security certificate proceedings. However, once a Special Advocate is given access to the evidence in government files he or she would be barred, absent court approval, from further communication with the individual whose interests they are expected to represent. When the Special Advocate’s ability to communicate with the person named in the certificate is seriously restricted in this way, the Special Advocate is severely constrained in his or her ability to respond in any meaningful way to the government’s secret evidence."
This secret trial process, using suspect "evidence" gathered from domestic and foreign police agencies, is seriously flawed. Furthermore, as Amnesty International's critique of Bill C-3 states unequivocally, "Deporting anyone to
a situation of likely torture clearly contravenes Canada’s international human rights obligations." Legitimate refugees face the horror of being sent back to the despotic regimes they are fleeing.
The minister is speaking at a Conservative Party luncheon in Courtenay on Wednesday, November 7. The Comox Valley Peace Group invites everyone to join us in according Mr. Day an appropriate welcome at 11:30 at the Best Western across from Safeway on Cliffe Avenue. We will have available postcards to be sent to MPs urging them to vote against the legislation.
SCRAP THE SECURITY CERTIFICATES!
NO TO SECRET TRIALS!
AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL!