Apr 03, 2007 04:30 AM (http://www.thestar.com/News/article/198797)
Michelle Shephard, Isabel Teotonio. staff reporters.
It's known as the "special unit" at Maplehurst's detention centre and at least one of the guards there is fond of greeting callers with feigned ignorance.
"Special? But all our prisoners are special," the guard tells the wife of one of those in the "special unit."
The inmates housed there now, however, are unlike any the guards have dealt with before at this detention centre in Milton.
This is home to 12 of the adult suspects of an alleged homegrown terrorism cell arrested last summer and accused of plotting bombing attacks destined for targets in Toronto and southern Ontario.
They've been in segregation for 10 months since their June 2 arrests – allowed out for 20 minutes a day, their lawyers say.
With their trial still months, if not years, away – one defence lawyer suggests it may be up to four years before the trial begins – the detention conditions are starting to raise concerns.
Lawyers for the men are slated to go before Brampton's Superior Court next week to launch a constitutional challenge, arguing that the terror suspects should live in the general population of the prison and take advantage of programs available to other prisoners awaiting trial.
Edward Sapiano, who represents one of the accused, says officials at Maplehurst have given various reasons for the suspects' segregation.
"... those officials have refused to discuss their excuses and reasons on any record, and they have declined to put them in writing," Sapiano wrote in his submission to the court.
One of the reasons cited is that due to a court-imposed "non-communication order," the suspects are forbidden from interacting with each other.
But the suspects do interact each time they're brought to court – during transport, in the holding cells and then, sitting side by side in the prisoners' dock. Their lawyers are now asking that this provision be dismissed, which would remove one obstacle cited by the prison.
Even if the lawyers are successful, Sapiano says officials have also cited security concerns as a reason for segregating them.
Government officials would not comment. Doug Dalgleish, superintendent of the Maplehurst Correctional Complex, said he could not discuss the centre's conditions. Stewart McGetrick, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, also refused comment since the matter is before the court.
However, Cheryfa MacAulay Jamal, the wife of one of the accused, has been very vocal.
"This is not a security concern," says MacAulay Jamal, married to Abdul Qayyum Jamal, 44, eldest of the accused.
"This is about putting a mental strain on them so that they'll give up and say, `Fine, I don't want to be here years. ... Let me plead guilty.'"
MacAulay Jamal believes her persistent questioning of the prison's rules is what led to her two-week ban from attending the facility last month. A letter from the prison states that because of her behaviour, visiting privileges were suspended to "ensure the safety of employees and inmates and the security of the institution." She denies doing anything to warrant the ban.
Although MacAulay Jamal has never spoken publicly before, she broke her silence after her husband spoke of the deep strain the communication ban is having on the men housed in 1K, dubbed the Special Unit.
"It's killing everyone in there, that's what's causing the stress," says MacAulay Jamal, recounting conversations with her husband about his co-accused. "He's seen their personalities change and has seen them lose their tempers, curse and swear. He's seen them fight with each other and scream at the guards, even though they'll get punished for it."
But, she says, they find solace in the Qur'an: "It teaches them to be patient and to know that their suffering has a purpose. ... The rewards they'll get after Judgment Day is worth the suffering."
MacAulay Jamal says she has repeatedly spoken with jail officials about the situation. She says prison officials have told her that keeping them in isolation is the only way to abide by the court order and keep them safe.
This isn't the first time the detention of terrorism suspects has been the focus of court actions.
Three Toronto men the government is trying to deport as security risks were held for more than five years in Toronto's West Detention Centre, much of it in segregation.
Eventually the men were able to live communally in a special portable at a Kingston-area prison. Two have since been ordered released on strict bail conditions that amount to house arrest.
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RICHARD LAUTENS/TORONTO STAR
Cheryfa MacAulay Jamal struggles to raise her four children as her husband remains in the isolation unit at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton. Yusuf 1.5, is in her arms, while Abdullah, 2.5, is at her feet, and Tayyab, 8 (top left), and Tashy, 6, are at rear.
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