Please visit the website link below and sign on behalf of the three detainees. Also, read Thomas Walkom's article from the Toronto Star regarding this issue.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/end-solitary-confinement-and--respect-the-right-of-detainees.html
Sunday, November 25, 2007
A Weekly Visit that Never gets Easier... Dr Tariq Haleem
Excerpted from Captive in Canada (http://captiveincanada.com/wp/).
Written by Dr Tariq Haleem
Saturday, for most people, is a great day. They sleep in and start the day after a late breakfast, and then plan for the rest of it. They look forward to: shopping, visiting, eating out- all kinds of nice moments to look forward to. Except for me, it isn’t such a great day. It is, in the matter of fact, a day of pain and desperation. It is the day of my scheduled visit to my son, Shareef, in Maplehurst correctional center; where he is detained awaiting the trial.
I go to sleep the day before with the sad expectations of the next day. I wake up thinking of the visit. I haven’t see my son for a week. I want to make sure he is still holding himself together, and that he did not collapse or get a nervous breakdown.
I schedule my day around this event. No matter what other matters I have to attend to, it is paramount to break it at exactly 1:15pm and head to Milton.
I take the drive thinking of what happened. How did we get to this point; why do I have to drive to a jail every week? Is it possible to retract the events and reverse the time to start all over? Why my son? Why me? How my life could have been without such a crisis? How long will this take to go away? When can his life go back to normal? Is he going to get out while I am still alive? Or, will I just spend the last few hours of my life lying on my bed longing to see him standing in front of me holding my hand and helping me at a time where we need our kids most?
Many questions come to my mind in that half-hour trip, every week. They just go unanswered. They stop when I take the turn to the facility, facing the aluminium doors of the front gate. I step out of the car, take off my jacket, check my pockets for metal stuff, go through the doors, and head to the front desk. Behind thick glass, two workers sit in a uniform to register the visitors and take cafeteria cash for the inmates.
It is interesting to watch the faces in that medium size hall, with rows of iron seats. Parents, young wives with kids, friends, and girl friends are waiting their turn to go in. Some look concerned about the visit, and some act as if they are visiting the loved one in the comfort of his own place! Some carry bags for clothes exchange.
After registration and signing in, I sit with my eyes on the wall clock watching for every moment going, and waiting for one of the desk workers to wave me in.
Time goes by very slowly. My mind wonders back to the same thoughts. Many times my eyes get wet. Again, what am I doing here in this room? How come my son, Shareef, the funny, good hearted, professional person ended up in such a mess? Why did they pick him up for such a fake case? I know he is very naïve, and…oh, I finally get the wave from the disk worker to go in.
The door clicks and I go in to a search room, where I empty my pockets and go through a metal detecting frame. After this ritual, I go to a smaller room to wait for a guard to guide me and others through a corridor between two automatic sliding doors, leading to a hall where I take the steps up to the unit K visiting room.
I wait again for a click to go through a door that leads to a room with 8 steel seats facing a double glassed partition which looks over a matching room where, normally I see my son sitting on a seat, wearing this awful orange jumper. My heart breaks, every time I see him this way, I wish I could disappear from the face of Earth. I sit and pick up the phone and start talking.
When the time comes to leave, I feel my life is worthless. I can’t help my own son. No one can, except Allah swt(God Almighty). I know this is his fate and mine. We can’t escape it. I know we have to accept it, as this is a test from Him. No matter what we do, things have to take their own course, and end as was meant. But, the hardest test is the one that involves our own children.
Only those who have gone through it know what I mean. Others only guess.
I go back to my car, driving back to the house. It takes the rest of the day to recover from the pinch I have in my heart. And I start worrying about the next visit!
By the way, I've gone through this 112 times so far..
Written by Dr Tariq Haleem
Saturday, for most people, is a great day. They sleep in and start the day after a late breakfast, and then plan for the rest of it. They look forward to: shopping, visiting, eating out- all kinds of nice moments to look forward to. Except for me, it isn’t such a great day. It is, in the matter of fact, a day of pain and desperation. It is the day of my scheduled visit to my son, Shareef, in Maplehurst correctional center; where he is detained awaiting the trial.
I go to sleep the day before with the sad expectations of the next day. I wake up thinking of the visit. I haven’t see my son for a week. I want to make sure he is still holding himself together, and that he did not collapse or get a nervous breakdown.
I schedule my day around this event. No matter what other matters I have to attend to, it is paramount to break it at exactly 1:15pm and head to Milton.
I take the drive thinking of what happened. How did we get to this point; why do I have to drive to a jail every week? Is it possible to retract the events and reverse the time to start all over? Why my son? Why me? How my life could have been without such a crisis? How long will this take to go away? When can his life go back to normal? Is he going to get out while I am still alive? Or, will I just spend the last few hours of my life lying on my bed longing to see him standing in front of me holding my hand and helping me at a time where we need our kids most?
Many questions come to my mind in that half-hour trip, every week. They just go unanswered. They stop when I take the turn to the facility, facing the aluminium doors of the front gate. I step out of the car, take off my jacket, check my pockets for metal stuff, go through the doors, and head to the front desk. Behind thick glass, two workers sit in a uniform to register the visitors and take cafeteria cash for the inmates.
It is interesting to watch the faces in that medium size hall, with rows of iron seats. Parents, young wives with kids, friends, and girl friends are waiting their turn to go in. Some look concerned about the visit, and some act as if they are visiting the loved one in the comfort of his own place! Some carry bags for clothes exchange.
After registration and signing in, I sit with my eyes on the wall clock watching for every moment going, and waiting for one of the desk workers to wave me in.
Time goes by very slowly. My mind wonders back to the same thoughts. Many times my eyes get wet. Again, what am I doing here in this room? How come my son, Shareef, the funny, good hearted, professional person ended up in such a mess? Why did they pick him up for such a fake case? I know he is very naïve, and…oh, I finally get the wave from the disk worker to go in.
The door clicks and I go in to a search room, where I empty my pockets and go through a metal detecting frame. After this ritual, I go to a smaller room to wait for a guard to guide me and others through a corridor between two automatic sliding doors, leading to a hall where I take the steps up to the unit K visiting room.
I wait again for a click to go through a door that leads to a room with 8 steel seats facing a double glassed partition which looks over a matching room where, normally I see my son sitting on a seat, wearing this awful orange jumper. My heart breaks, every time I see him this way, I wish I could disappear from the face of Earth. I sit and pick up the phone and start talking.
When the time comes to leave, I feel my life is worthless. I can’t help my own son. No one can, except Allah swt(God Almighty). I know this is his fate and mine. We can’t escape it. I know we have to accept it, as this is a test from Him. No matter what we do, things have to take their own course, and end as was meant. But, the hardest test is the one that involves our own children.
Only those who have gone through it know what I mean. Others only guess.
I go back to my car, driving back to the house. It takes the rest of the day to recover from the pinch I have in my heart. And I start worrying about the next visit!
By the way, I've gone through this 112 times so far..
Accused Terrorist gets Bail
After being granted bail yesterday, following 17 months in jail – many of them in solitary confinement – accused terrorist Qayyum Abdul Jamal spent his first minutes of freedom locked in an embrace with his four sons and wife in a Brampton courthouse.
"I'm grateful to Allah, to see my kids and to my community that came forward for me," the emotional 44-year-old said outside, as family and friends stood nearby.
"Hopefully I'll be found innocent."
Jamal, eldest of the 18 arrested in a massive police sweep in June 2006 for allegedly belonging to a terror cell plotting to detonate truck bombs and storm Parliament Hill, was released after the most serious charge against him was dropped.
"I'm elated," said defence lawyer Anser Farooq, shortly after Superior Court Justice Fletcher Dawson delivered his decision, much of it protected by a publication ban.
"It's taken a long time to get to this point and we're looking forward to the ultimate trial," he said, adding it could be years before the case winds through the courts.
Now charged with participating in a terrorist group, and receiving/providing terrorist training, Jamal faces 10 years in prison if found guilty. An additional bomb charge was dropped when the Crown filed a direct indictment in September, halting a preliminary hearing and pushing the case straight to trial.
Because of the direct indictment, the original charges were stayed against the 14 men, and new charges were laid, meaning those still behind bars can again apply for bail. Jamal is the first adult to be granted bail in this second round of bail hearings and joins two co-accused adults out on bail since last year. Another suspect, Steven Chand, was denied bail last month.
"I'm really glad he got out," said defence lawyer Royland Moriah, who represents co-accused Jahmaal James, whose bail hearing has not yet been scheduled. "Hopefully that will bode well for the rest of the accused."
Moriah credited the judge's decision, in part, with the additional evidence heard at the preliminary hearing for the youths and adults. During the first round of bail hearings, immediately after the arrests, most available evidence was contained in the Crown's synopsis, which hadn't been tested by the defence.
"It's heartening that the judge has taken into account the evidence the Crown has against this accused," said Moriah.
"I would expect that there will be more released."
Jamal, originally from Pakistan, was released on a $100,000 bond, nearly three-quarters donated by the Muslim community.
Jamal must remain under the supervision of six sureties. According to some of the bail conditions, Jamal must remain at home except when attending court, his lawyer's office, medical appointments and Friday prayers.
He must surrender his passport, and is barred from using the Internet and communicating with his co-accused, some of whom he met at the Ar-Rahman Islamic Centre in Mississauga.
His wife, Cheryfa MacAulay Jamal, was thrilled to have him return to their Mississauga home and their four sons, aged two to nine.
"I'm relieved," she said.
"I'm grateful to the court for the decision. I look forward to the day that his name will be exonerated."
Of the 14 adults charged, 11 remain in jail. Of the youths, three have had charges stayed and the fourth, out on bail, is set to go to trial in March.
Authorities allege the men, mostly in their 20s, were part of an Al-Qaeda-inspired cell planning to storm Parliament Hill and take politicians hostage.
They were also accused of plotting to bomb targets such as a Canadian Forces base and CSIS offices in Toronto and Ottawa.
A dozen men and youths allegedly attended a so-called terrorist training camp in a wooded area in Washago, near Gravenhurst, wearing camouflage and playing paintball.
"I'm grateful to Allah, to see my kids and to my community that came forward for me," the emotional 44-year-old said outside, as family and friends stood nearby.
"Hopefully I'll be found innocent."
Jamal, eldest of the 18 arrested in a massive police sweep in June 2006 for allegedly belonging to a terror cell plotting to detonate truck bombs and storm Parliament Hill, was released after the most serious charge against him was dropped.
"I'm elated," said defence lawyer Anser Farooq, shortly after Superior Court Justice Fletcher Dawson delivered his decision, much of it protected by a publication ban.
"It's taken a long time to get to this point and we're looking forward to the ultimate trial," he said, adding it could be years before the case winds through the courts.
Now charged with participating in a terrorist group, and receiving/providing terrorist training, Jamal faces 10 years in prison if found guilty. An additional bomb charge was dropped when the Crown filed a direct indictment in September, halting a preliminary hearing and pushing the case straight to trial.
Because of the direct indictment, the original charges were stayed against the 14 men, and new charges were laid, meaning those still behind bars can again apply for bail. Jamal is the first adult to be granted bail in this second round of bail hearings and joins two co-accused adults out on bail since last year. Another suspect, Steven Chand, was denied bail last month.
"I'm really glad he got out," said defence lawyer Royland Moriah, who represents co-accused Jahmaal James, whose bail hearing has not yet been scheduled. "Hopefully that will bode well for the rest of the accused."
Moriah credited the judge's decision, in part, with the additional evidence heard at the preliminary hearing for the youths and adults. During the first round of bail hearings, immediately after the arrests, most available evidence was contained in the Crown's synopsis, which hadn't been tested by the defence.
"It's heartening that the judge has taken into account the evidence the Crown has against this accused," said Moriah.
"I would expect that there will be more released."
Jamal, originally from Pakistan, was released on a $100,000 bond, nearly three-quarters donated by the Muslim community.
Jamal must remain under the supervision of six sureties. According to some of the bail conditions, Jamal must remain at home except when attending court, his lawyer's office, medical appointments and Friday prayers.
He must surrender his passport, and is barred from using the Internet and communicating with his co-accused, some of whom he met at the Ar-Rahman Islamic Centre in Mississauga.
His wife, Cheryfa MacAulay Jamal, was thrilled to have him return to their Mississauga home and their four sons, aged two to nine.
"I'm relieved," she said.
"I'm grateful to the court for the decision. I look forward to the day that his name will be exonerated."
Of the 14 adults charged, 11 remain in jail. Of the youths, three have had charges stayed and the fourth, out on bail, is set to go to trial in March.
Authorities allege the men, mostly in their 20s, were part of an Al-Qaeda-inspired cell planning to storm Parliament Hill and take politicians hostage.
They were also accused of plotting to bomb targets such as a Canadian Forces base and CSIS offices in Toronto and Ottawa.
A dozen men and youths allegedly attended a so-called terrorist training camp in a wooded area in Washago, near Gravenhurst, wearing camouflage and playing paintball.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Confusion, despair from terror suspect isolated in Don Jail - Thomas Walkom
Confusion, despair from terror suspect isolated in Don Jail
Nov 08, 2007 04:30 AM
Thomas Walkom
Fahim Ahmad has decided to break his silence. Seventeen months after he was arrested and jailed as one of the alleged ringleaders of an alleged plot to blow up buildings and behead Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the 23-year-old Mississauga man says he remains baffled by the charges. In his first media interview, Ahmad says he is still waiting for the government to produce a snippet of credible evidence to back up its claims.
Ahmad is one of the so-called Toronto 18, a group of Muslim men and boys arrested in a 2006 sweep that made headlines around the world.
At the beginning, the overarching storyline was that police had managed to derail a homegrown terror plot on the scale of the London bombings
Since then, however, the government's case has begun to fray. First, it was revealed that two police informers had played central roles in the alleged plot. One was reportedly paid $4 million
Second, charges against three juveniles were stayed (effectively meaning that they are off the hook).
Then last month, in the midst of testimony from police informer Mubin Shaikh, the government abruptly halted the preliminary hearing into the charges and announced it would go directly to trial – probably sometime next year.
Ahmad and two other accused men have been moved to the Don Jail where – unlike the remaining eight still in custody – they are kept in strict isolation. Exactly why is unclear. The three are allowed to telephone out, so the rule is clearly not designed to prevent them from talking to other alleged militants – or even to the Toronto Star. They just can't talk face to face with live human beings, which Ahmad says is driving him nuts.
"My whole world now is a 6 by 4 by 10 room," he says. "It's become normal in a not very good sense. You wake up and know you will be in this room the whole day. There's no hope of anything. ... It gets to you mentally. You don't know where you're going, how long it's going to take. It drives you crazy."
This, of course, is the treatment accorded to someone who is still viewed by the law as innocent. By the time his trial is finished, Ahmad figures he'll have been in solitary confinement for 2 1/2 years.
What of the case? He is not allowed to disclose what was heard during the now-torpedoed preliminary hearing. But he says he remains frustrated by his inability to answer the government's case. The reason, he says, is that it has presented no case other than the testimony of the informants – which he insists has no credibility.
"When they first charged me, I never understood them (the charges). I still don't understand them. They seemed completely made up. They made no sense to me. But then when I hear how much the informers were being paid, I said `Hey, when you're being paid $4 million for something it doesn't take too much to make up some kind of story.' Right?
"(The Crown) says I'm part of some group. What group? Nobody answers. They say: `We'll tell you in court.' It's been a year and a half and still no one answers this question. ... I mean, what group is there? They say you planned all these things. I'm just waiting to see some kind of evidence."
And so he waits. Earlier this week, he staged a brief hunger strike to persuade jail authorities to grant the few privileges the court has allowed him (such as longer phone calls). That was one reason. The other was despair.
"No one cares," says Ahmad. "It's lock us up and throw away the key."
Nov 08, 2007 04:30 AM
Thomas Walkom
Fahim Ahmad has decided to break his silence. Seventeen months after he was arrested and jailed as one of the alleged ringleaders of an alleged plot to blow up buildings and behead Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the 23-year-old Mississauga man says he remains baffled by the charges. In his first media interview, Ahmad says he is still waiting for the government to produce a snippet of credible evidence to back up its claims.
Ahmad is one of the so-called Toronto 18, a group of Muslim men and boys arrested in a 2006 sweep that made headlines around the world.
At the beginning, the overarching storyline was that police had managed to derail a homegrown terror plot on the scale of the London bombings
Since then, however, the government's case has begun to fray. First, it was revealed that two police informers had played central roles in the alleged plot. One was reportedly paid $4 million
Second, charges against three juveniles were stayed (effectively meaning that they are off the hook).
Then last month, in the midst of testimony from police informer Mubin Shaikh, the government abruptly halted the preliminary hearing into the charges and announced it would go directly to trial – probably sometime next year.
Ahmad and two other accused men have been moved to the Don Jail where – unlike the remaining eight still in custody – they are kept in strict isolation. Exactly why is unclear. The three are allowed to telephone out, so the rule is clearly not designed to prevent them from talking to other alleged militants – or even to the Toronto Star. They just can't talk face to face with live human beings, which Ahmad says is driving him nuts.
"My whole world now is a 6 by 4 by 10 room," he says. "It's become normal in a not very good sense. You wake up and know you will be in this room the whole day. There's no hope of anything. ... It gets to you mentally. You don't know where you're going, how long it's going to take. It drives you crazy."
This, of course, is the treatment accorded to someone who is still viewed by the law as innocent. By the time his trial is finished, Ahmad figures he'll have been in solitary confinement for 2 1/2 years.
What of the case? He is not allowed to disclose what was heard during the now-torpedoed preliminary hearing. But he says he remains frustrated by his inability to answer the government's case. The reason, he says, is that it has presented no case other than the testimony of the informants – which he insists has no credibility.
"When they first charged me, I never understood them (the charges). I still don't understand them. They seemed completely made up. They made no sense to me. But then when I hear how much the informers were being paid, I said `Hey, when you're being paid $4 million for something it doesn't take too much to make up some kind of story.' Right?
"(The Crown) says I'm part of some group. What group? Nobody answers. They say: `We'll tell you in court.' It's been a year and a half and still no one answers this question. ... I mean, what group is there? They say you planned all these things. I'm just waiting to see some kind of evidence."
And so he waits. Earlier this week, he staged a brief hunger strike to persuade jail authorities to grant the few privileges the court has allowed him (such as longer phone calls). That was one reason. The other was despair.
"No one cares," says Ahmad. "It's lock us up and throw away the key."
Monday, November 5, 2007
Alleged Leader Freed on Bail
Jamaal Abdul Qayuum, father to four, walked out of the Brampton Court under bail conditions yesterday. Having spent the past 17 months in prison, mostly solitary confinement, the alleged 'leader' Jamaal walked out of the Brampton court - the same that was sensationalized with snipers and gunmen last year, with minimal security.
The crown withdrew its charges of 'plotting to bomb' against Jamal. It is to be noted that during the current times of marked injustices, hate crimes and persecution against muslims, charges as serious as that of 'plotting bombs' are serious mistakes and should be carefully looked into before being levied - especially if it involves serious physical and mental torture of the detainees in strict conditions. (Initially addressed by: Political prisoners)
The crown withdrew its charges of 'plotting to bomb' against Jamal. It is to be noted that during the current times of marked injustices, hate crimes and persecution against muslims, charges as serious as that of 'plotting bombs' are serious mistakes and should be carefully looked into before being levied - especially if it involves serious physical and mental torture of the detainees in strict conditions. (Initially addressed by: Political prisoners)
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Trial Proceedings Halted..
Trial proceedings against the Toronto 18 have been unjustly. Guilty until proven innocent, the Toronto 18 will have to now go straight to trial - dates for which have yet to be set. Articles regarding the preliminary hearing linked on the left.
Excerpted from Political Prisoners:
September 25, 2007, brampton ontario: the preliminary hearing against 14 of-age suspects in its fourth month, was ended mid-testimony in court; the judge stayed all charges and all were re-arrested for direct trial without preliminary hearing; this may be part of a federal campaign to maintain secrecy where the allegations have appeared to respected journalists, to be "so bizarre as to be almost unbelievable" ("terror trial proceedings troubling," thomas walkom, sept. 25, 2007, toronto star); court proceedings are hidden by a publication ban; some defense lawyers believe the hearing was abruptly ended because the crown believed all charges against their clients would be permanently dismissed if it continued; the crown's primary known highly paid witness, recently accused of unrelated charges, was on the stand when the crown chose to shut the hearing down; legal preparations for the hearings cost both the suspects and the government (ibid.; "canada bomb plot case goes straight to trial: paper," sept. 24, 2007, reuters canada; "14 terror accused will go directly to trial," melissa leong, sept. 25, 2007, national post); the crown's need to show its effectiveness and commitment to the u.s. "war on terror" has made these suspects, political prisoners; the government's actions, which require the re-arrest of bailed defendents,and re-constitutes charges, unnecessarily inflicts psychological damages and expense on people who are still innocent under law.
Excerpted from Political Prisoners:
September 25, 2007, brampton ontario: the preliminary hearing against 14 of-age suspects in its fourth month, was ended mid-testimony in court; the judge stayed all charges and all were re-arrested for direct trial without preliminary hearing; this may be part of a federal campaign to maintain secrecy where the allegations have appeared to respected journalists, to be "so bizarre as to be almost unbelievable" ("terror trial proceedings troubling," thomas walkom, sept. 25, 2007, toronto star); court proceedings are hidden by a publication ban; some defense lawyers believe the hearing was abruptly ended because the crown believed all charges against their clients would be permanently dismissed if it continued; the crown's primary known highly paid witness, recently accused of unrelated charges, was on the stand when the crown chose to shut the hearing down; legal preparations for the hearings cost both the suspects and the government (ibid.; "canada bomb plot case goes straight to trial: paper," sept. 24, 2007, reuters canada; "14 terror accused will go directly to trial," melissa leong, sept. 25, 2007, national post); the crown's need to show its effectiveness and commitment to the u.s. "war on terror" has made these suspects, political prisoners; the government's actions, which require the re-arrest of bailed defendents,and re-constitutes charges, unnecessarily inflicts psychological damages and expense on people who are still innocent under law.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Charges against three of four youth stayed..
Brampton ontario: Of the 4 minors initially detained in this case, three are now free. Charges against two more youth were stayed on July 31st in a Brampton court. Conditions include that they not associate with other suspects and undergo counselling. Media reporting on the ongoing preliminary trial continues to remain under a publication ban.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Two youth in Toronto Terror bust go free - Omar el akkad
BRAMPTON, ONTARIO — Charges against two more youth suspects in Canada's most high-profile anti-terrorism bust were stayed Tuesday.
While there are still some conditions to which the two young men must adhere, the agreement between Crown prosecutors and defence lawyers to stay the charges effectively means the youths' involvement with the case is over. In total, three of four youths taken into custody in the case are now free, months before trials for any of the remaining 15 suspects are expected to begin.
By law, none of the youths can be named.
The decision to stay the charges became official in a Brampton courtroom comes 14 months after police arrested 17 Toronto-area suspects and charged them with participating in a terrorist training camp and plotting to blow up Canadian landmarks. Another person was arrested later in the year.
The deal had been in the works for several weeks. It is believed there was disagreement between the two parties over some of the conditions that would be imposed on the youths, but defence lawyers and prosecutors managed to reach a deal, thereby avoiding a trial, something that likely would have taken another year or longer.
”The apprehension, arrest and prosecution for terrorist-related offences has had a devastating impact on this young man and his family,” lawyer Nadir Sachak said of his client, one of the young suspects. ”This resolution is the first step toward his recovery from the emotional and psychological scars sustained as a result of this ordeal.
Hopefully, from this moment onwards, my client will be able to lead a normal, productive and meaningful life.”
Both youth suspects will have to abide by relatively minor conditions – they cannot associate with any of the other suspects and must undergo counselling.
By comparison, the bail conditions imposed on Mr. Sachak's client for the past year have been far more harsh: He could not use the phone except to talk with his lawyer, was prohibited from using a computer and could not leave the house unless accompanied by one of the people who stood as his sureties. With the charges stayed, those conditions are lifted.
In June, 2006, a team of police and intelligence agencies conducted one of the biggest and most complex anti-terrorism raids in Canadian history, arresting 17 suspects across Toronto. Toward the end of the summer, an 18th suspect was also arrested.
The charges against the remaining suspects involve two distinct allegations, one relating to a terrorist training camp, the other to a plan to blow up Canadian landmarks using fertilizer-based explosives.
All but four of the suspects were adults, and none of the four youth suspects faced charges relating to the alleged bomb plot.
In the months after the arrests, it became clear to observers that the alleged level of involvement in the various plots was not uniform among all those charged. The Crown's key witness to the alleged training camp, an RCMP informer named Mubin Shaikh, recently told The Globe and Mail that he believes some of the suspects in the case are not guilty and should be released.
In late February, charges were stayed against the youngest of the 18 suspects.With Tuesday's court decision, there remains only one youth suspect facing charges. Neither he nor the 14 adult suspects have begun their trials yet.
The preliminary hearing for the adult suspects continues in Brampton this month. Both Mr. Shaikh and a second agent are expected to testify during the proceedings. The second agent – who may be in witness protection and thus cannot be identified – is believed to have been involved with the alleged bomb plot.
The content of his and others' testimony, however, will not be made available to the public – all evidence from the preliminary hearings is under a publication ban.
While there are still some conditions to which the two young men must adhere, the agreement between Crown prosecutors and defence lawyers to stay the charges effectively means the youths' involvement with the case is over. In total, three of four youths taken into custody in the case are now free, months before trials for any of the remaining 15 suspects are expected to begin.
By law, none of the youths can be named.
The decision to stay the charges became official in a Brampton courtroom comes 14 months after police arrested 17 Toronto-area suspects and charged them with participating in a terrorist training camp and plotting to blow up Canadian landmarks. Another person was arrested later in the year.
The deal had been in the works for several weeks. It is believed there was disagreement between the two parties over some of the conditions that would be imposed on the youths, but defence lawyers and prosecutors managed to reach a deal, thereby avoiding a trial, something that likely would have taken another year or longer.
”The apprehension, arrest and prosecution for terrorist-related offences has had a devastating impact on this young man and his family,” lawyer Nadir Sachak said of his client, one of the young suspects. ”This resolution is the first step toward his recovery from the emotional and psychological scars sustained as a result of this ordeal.
Hopefully, from this moment onwards, my client will be able to lead a normal, productive and meaningful life.”
Both youth suspects will have to abide by relatively minor conditions – they cannot associate with any of the other suspects and must undergo counselling.
By comparison, the bail conditions imposed on Mr. Sachak's client for the past year have been far more harsh: He could not use the phone except to talk with his lawyer, was prohibited from using a computer and could not leave the house unless accompanied by one of the people who stood as his sureties. With the charges stayed, those conditions are lifted.
In June, 2006, a team of police and intelligence agencies conducted one of the biggest and most complex anti-terrorism raids in Canadian history, arresting 17 suspects across Toronto. Toward the end of the summer, an 18th suspect was also arrested.
The charges against the remaining suspects involve two distinct allegations, one relating to a terrorist training camp, the other to a plan to blow up Canadian landmarks using fertilizer-based explosives.
All but four of the suspects were adults, and none of the four youth suspects faced charges relating to the alleged bomb plot.
In the months after the arrests, it became clear to observers that the alleged level of involvement in the various plots was not uniform among all those charged. The Crown's key witness to the alleged training camp, an RCMP informer named Mubin Shaikh, recently told The Globe and Mail that he believes some of the suspects in the case are not guilty and should be released.
In late February, charges were stayed against the youngest of the 18 suspects.With Tuesday's court decision, there remains only one youth suspect facing charges. Neither he nor the 14 adult suspects have begun their trials yet.
The preliminary hearing for the adult suspects continues in Brampton this month. Both Mr. Shaikh and a second agent are expected to testify during the proceedings. The second agent – who may be in witness protection and thus cannot be identified – is believed to have been involved with the alleged bomb plot.
The content of his and others' testimony, however, will not be made available to the public – all evidence from the preliminary hearings is under a publication ban.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Update...
Ali Dirie was also sent to 'the hole' on Monday when he mentioned that he was a witness to the atrocities of the Maplehurst staff against Steven Chand.
Steven Chand appeared in court on Monday morning, barely able to stand or move his head.
'The hole' is a segregation worse than their current one. Apparently it is a tiny cubicle with just concrete slabs.
However, today, four days later, family members say that both Ali Dirie and Steven chand have been returned to their cells.
Furthermore, after an intense 10 days in court, the accused are allowed to pray jummah in congregation, along with university/textbook access approved by Lt. Jones. Steven Chand was also finally able to take a shower today- he was denied access to showering for the last few days.
Steven Chand appeared in court on Monday morning, barely able to stand or move his head.
'The hole' is a segregation worse than their current one. Apparently it is a tiny cubicle with just concrete slabs.
However, today, four days later, family members say that both Ali Dirie and Steven chand have been returned to their cells.
Furthermore, after an intense 10 days in court, the accused are allowed to pray jummah in congregation, along with university/textbook access approved by Lt. Jones. Steven Chand was also finally able to take a shower today- he was denied access to showering for the last few days.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Terror Suspects Ask For Prison Conditions To Be Eased
Melissa Leong and Darryl Konynenbelt , National Post Published: Monday, May 07, 2007
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=f5505f2e-dd4e-4488-9c65-28ac61d97b50&k=50154
BRAMPTON, Ont. - Lawyers for several men accused of plotting to bomb target in southern Ontario were in court Monday requesting their clients be released from solitary confinement, a condition one lawyer called "cruel and unusual punishment."
"Prolonged isolation is torture," Edward Sapiano, a Toronto defence lawyer, said in front of the Brampton courthouse. "The Supreme Court of Canada has expressly stated that prolonged isolation is not something that would survive a charter challenge."
The proceedings which are subject to a publication ban, are expected to last two weeks.
The suspects, held since the "Toronto 17" arrests last summer, are held in isolation at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton; many have been in solitary confinement since then. A court order forbids most of the co-accused from communicating with one another.
Monte Kwinter, Ontario's Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, said Monday he is satisfied the accused are being treated properly.
Outside court, Cheryfa MacAulay Jamal said her husband Qayum Jamal, the eldest of the suspects, spends more than 23 hours a day in a 10-by-12-foot cell with a desk, a toilet and a bed. It leaves him only four feet of room to move, she said.
She is permitted two 20-minute visits with her husband a week, she said. She also said she was able to bring lunch - chicken shawarma, samosas and Coke - for the 11 accused.
They were casually dressed Monday and sat shoulder-to-shoulder inside two glass prisoner boxes. Because the suspects eat together, are transported to Brampton from the federal penitentiary in the same vehicle and are held in the same cell at the court house, their lawyers charge that the non-communication order is fruitless. "With respect to an order that imposes non-communication, the justice system should not be imposing an order that is unenforceable," said Sapiano who represents Yasin Mohamed, charged with smuggling weapons for terrorist purposes.
He said his client has never requested protective custody but the prison authorities do not want the accused to be in the general population. He said he is optimistic their constitutional challenge will be successful. "I anticipate ... I'll be given all that I ask for on behalf of my client that he not be subjected to isolation and be allowed to co-mingle with other human beings."
Seventeen men living in and around Toronto were arrested in a series of raids conducted over two days last June. An 18th man was arrested a month later.
Some have been granted bail. All are charged with belonging to a Canadian terrorist group.
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=f5505f2e-dd4e-4488-9c65-28ac61d97b50&k=50154
BRAMPTON, Ont. - Lawyers for several men accused of plotting to bomb target in southern Ontario were in court Monday requesting their clients be released from solitary confinement, a condition one lawyer called "cruel and unusual punishment."
"Prolonged isolation is torture," Edward Sapiano, a Toronto defence lawyer, said in front of the Brampton courthouse. "The Supreme Court of Canada has expressly stated that prolonged isolation is not something that would survive a charter challenge."
The proceedings which are subject to a publication ban, are expected to last two weeks.
The suspects, held since the "Toronto 17" arrests last summer, are held in isolation at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton; many have been in solitary confinement since then. A court order forbids most of the co-accused from communicating with one another.
Monte Kwinter, Ontario's Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, said Monday he is satisfied the accused are being treated properly.
Outside court, Cheryfa MacAulay Jamal said her husband Qayum Jamal, the eldest of the suspects, spends more than 23 hours a day in a 10-by-12-foot cell with a desk, a toilet and a bed. It leaves him only four feet of room to move, she said.
She is permitted two 20-minute visits with her husband a week, she said. She also said she was able to bring lunch - chicken shawarma, samosas and Coke - for the 11 accused.
They were casually dressed Monday and sat shoulder-to-shoulder inside two glass prisoner boxes. Because the suspects eat together, are transported to Brampton from the federal penitentiary in the same vehicle and are held in the same cell at the court house, their lawyers charge that the non-communication order is fruitless. "With respect to an order that imposes non-communication, the justice system should not be imposing an order that is unenforceable," said Sapiano who represents Yasin Mohamed, charged with smuggling weapons for terrorist purposes.
He said his client has never requested protective custody but the prison authorities do not want the accused to be in the general population. He said he is optimistic their constitutional challenge will be successful. "I anticipate ... I'll be given all that I ask for on behalf of my client that he not be subjected to isolation and be allowed to co-mingle with other human beings."
Seventeen men living in and around Toronto were arrested in a series of raids conducted over two days last June. An 18th man was arrested a month later.
Some have been granted bail. All are charged with belonging to a Canadian terrorist group.
Food..
For the first time in almost a year, the 12 individuals were able to eat food of their choice, in court, on Monday May 7th 2007.
Family members rushed out from the court to bring shawarma, samosas and coke to court for the individuals on Monday. The individuals, teary eyed, mouthed words of thanks across the court to their families.
Previously, the accused would leave Maplehurst Detention Centre early in the morning with a light breakfast often consisting of a hard, pancake type, 'cardboard' bread and would be served one light fish or vegetable sandwich in the afternoon. (Nothing filling). Upon returning to Maplehurst in the evening, dinner would be over (at 4pm) and they would not be served anything until the next morning.
Family members rushed out from the court to bring shawarma, samosas and coke to court for the individuals on Monday. The individuals, teary eyed, mouthed words of thanks across the court to their families.
Previously, the accused would leave Maplehurst Detention Centre early in the morning with a light breakfast often consisting of a hard, pancake type, 'cardboard' bread and would be served one light fish or vegetable sandwich in the afternoon. (Nothing filling). Upon returning to Maplehurst in the evening, dinner would be over (at 4pm) and they would not be served anything until the next morning.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Cheryfa Mccaulay Jamal's car Vanadalised.
Cheryfa Mccaulay Jamal discovered bullets in her car yesterday. Despite having asked for police protection, her request has been denied.
As posted on Political Prisoners Website:
Since all canadians are the object of a neoconservative agenda it needs to be said that the Toronto 18 are innocent because they haven't been proven guilty; even the arrests appear to be for crimes not actually committed and no crime of violence has occurred; evidence against the detained is tainted by the huge sums of money paid government informants or provocateurs; the arrests may be part of what was initially a u.s. and international covert operation; particularly heavy and illegal pressure to cooperate with authorities is placed on a detainee when his wife and children's lives are being threatened; mrs. macaulay jamal says she has asked for and was refused police protection (wilkes, april 17, 2007, toronto star); this is outrageous; it denies the accused his rights; it denies his wife and children their human rights; it subverts the course of justice; it damages the lives of very young children; it's embarrassing to canadians that this mother and her four young children are effectively being terrorized without recourse.
-=-=-=-=
Below is the story:
Terror Suspect's Wife Claims Vandals Won't Intimidate Her Family
(http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_9848.aspx)
Monday April 16, 2007
CityNews.ca Staff
When Cheryfa MacAulay Jamal's husband was hauled to jail last summer on suspicion of being involved in a series of terrorist plots against Canada, her world was shattered.
Since then, things haven't gotten easier for her family. She remains alone at home with her four children, awaiting word on her spouse's fate.
But after a disturbing series of incidents this month, she now has cause to fear for her own safety.
The latest twist in the story began with an Easter weekend newspaper article about what she felt was unfair conditions regarding her husband's detention.
That's when she started having trouble with her van.
As a mechanic worked to repair the vehicle, she took the family's second car, only to have trouble with that one, too.
It didn't take long to discover the reasons: someone had put a bullet into the radiators of both automobiles.
Jamal believes the article led to the unwanted attention and that someone is trying to send her a message.
But she's refusing to be intimidated, holding a press conference on the driveway of her Mississauga home, vowing she won't let anything happen to her or her kids, innocent victims of a situation she's no had no part of.
"I said I felt that the isolation conditions my husband and his co-accused are being held in for the past ten months is not for reasons of security but for the purposes of pressuring the accused into pleading guilty rather than defending themselves through a lengthy trial while being held in such psychologically compromising conditions," Jamal accuses.
"My concern is primarily for my children. This minivan is the vehicle I use to transport them everywhere I go. This act of terrorism committed against us will not deter me in my pursuit of justice."
She calls those responsible 'bullies' and insists she won't be intimidated by their actions.
And she adds one other pointed warning.
"If I end up dead, then you know where it started."
Police have seized the radiator and the air conditioning unit as evidence, but have little to go on. They admit they're looking into a mischief incident at the Jamal home, but won't confirm whether or not they've found any bullet fragments.
Abdul Qayyum Jamal is one of dozens of suspects accused in the shocking case that made headlines around the world last June.
Canada's spy agency CSIS alleges a group of terrorists was planning to blow up iconic Canadian sites, including the Parliament buildings and the CN Tower.
Jamal's statement
"I called a press conference today so that I can directly communicate my concerns rather than have my words misrepresented or reinterpreted.
"At some time last weekend, someone shot two bullets into the front of my Dodge Caravan, and one shot into the front of my husband's Acura. The police have taken the radiator, the air conditioner of the minivan which contained the two slugs and have removed the Acura as evidence.
"I believe this happened due to a Toronto Star article printed on Tuesday, April the 3rd, in which I said I felt that the isolation conditions my husband and his co-accused are being held in for the past ten months is not for reasons of security but for the purposes of pressuring the accused into pleading guilty rather than defending themselves through a lengthy trial while being held in such psychologically compromising conditions.
"My concern is primarily for my children. This minivan is the vehicle I use to transport them everywhere I go.
"This act of terrorism committed against us will not deter me in my pursuit of justice. I will continue to speak out in defence of my husband during his incarceration and trial proceedings, if I feel his rights have been compromised.
"I have called this press conference so that acts of such as these do not go unnoticed by the citizens of this country. If other acts are ever perpetrated on my family, I will subsequently make them public as well.
"Bullies are not successful in their acts when their acts are spotlighted; rather only when they are concealed can they have any power over their victims. Thank you."
As posted on Political Prisoners Website:
Since all canadians are the object of a neoconservative agenda it needs to be said that the Toronto 18 are innocent because they haven't been proven guilty; even the arrests appear to be for crimes not actually committed and no crime of violence has occurred; evidence against the detained is tainted by the huge sums of money paid government informants or provocateurs; the arrests may be part of what was initially a u.s. and international covert operation; particularly heavy and illegal pressure to cooperate with authorities is placed on a detainee when his wife and children's lives are being threatened; mrs. macaulay jamal says she has asked for and was refused police protection (wilkes, april 17, 2007, toronto star); this is outrageous; it denies the accused his rights; it denies his wife and children their human rights; it subverts the course of justice; it damages the lives of very young children; it's embarrassing to canadians that this mother and her four young children are effectively being terrorized without recourse.
-=-=-=-=
Below is the story:
Terror Suspect's Wife Claims Vandals Won't Intimidate Her Family
(http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_9848.aspx)
Monday April 16, 2007
CityNews.ca Staff
When Cheryfa MacAulay Jamal's husband was hauled to jail last summer on suspicion of being involved in a series of terrorist plots against Canada, her world was shattered.
Since then, things haven't gotten easier for her family. She remains alone at home with her four children, awaiting word on her spouse's fate.
But after a disturbing series of incidents this month, she now has cause to fear for her own safety.
The latest twist in the story began with an Easter weekend newspaper article about what she felt was unfair conditions regarding her husband's detention.
That's when she started having trouble with her van.
As a mechanic worked to repair the vehicle, she took the family's second car, only to have trouble with that one, too.
It didn't take long to discover the reasons: someone had put a bullet into the radiators of both automobiles.
Jamal believes the article led to the unwanted attention and that someone is trying to send her a message.
But she's refusing to be intimidated, holding a press conference on the driveway of her Mississauga home, vowing she won't let anything happen to her or her kids, innocent victims of a situation she's no had no part of.
"I said I felt that the isolation conditions my husband and his co-accused are being held in for the past ten months is not for reasons of security but for the purposes of pressuring the accused into pleading guilty rather than defending themselves through a lengthy trial while being held in such psychologically compromising conditions," Jamal accuses.
"My concern is primarily for my children. This minivan is the vehicle I use to transport them everywhere I go. This act of terrorism committed against us will not deter me in my pursuit of justice."
She calls those responsible 'bullies' and insists she won't be intimidated by their actions.
And she adds one other pointed warning.
"If I end up dead, then you know where it started."
Police have seized the radiator and the air conditioning unit as evidence, but have little to go on. They admit they're looking into a mischief incident at the Jamal home, but won't confirm whether or not they've found any bullet fragments.
Abdul Qayyum Jamal is one of dozens of suspects accused in the shocking case that made headlines around the world last June.
Canada's spy agency CSIS alleges a group of terrorists was planning to blow up iconic Canadian sites, including the Parliament buildings and the CN Tower.
Jamal's statement
"I called a press conference today so that I can directly communicate my concerns rather than have my words misrepresented or reinterpreted.
"At some time last weekend, someone shot two bullets into the front of my Dodge Caravan, and one shot into the front of my husband's Acura. The police have taken the radiator, the air conditioner of the minivan which contained the two slugs and have removed the Acura as evidence.
"I believe this happened due to a Toronto Star article printed on Tuesday, April the 3rd, in which I said I felt that the isolation conditions my husband and his co-accused are being held in for the past ten months is not for reasons of security but for the purposes of pressuring the accused into pleading guilty rather than defending themselves through a lengthy trial while being held in such psychologically compromising conditions.
"My concern is primarily for my children. This minivan is the vehicle I use to transport them everywhere I go.
"This act of terrorism committed against us will not deter me in my pursuit of justice. I will continue to speak out in defence of my husband during his incarceration and trial proceedings, if I feel his rights have been compromised.
"I have called this press conference so that acts of such as these do not go unnoticed by the citizens of this country. If other acts are ever perpetrated on my family, I will subsequently make them public as well.
"Bullies are not successful in their acts when their acts are spotlighted; rather only when they are concealed can they have any power over their victims. Thank you."
Sunday, April 8, 2007
'Inhumane' isolation for terror suspects: Lawyers
Apr 08, 2007 11:24 AM
Colin Perkel Canadian Press
Four Canadian terrorism suspects have been held in extreme isolation for almost a year even though the courts have never ordered their segregation and their trials are months, if not years, away, lawyers close to the case say.
The four are among 18 men and boys in southern Ontario arrested in a blaze of national and international publicity last summer. All were charged with various terrorism-related offences.
In most of the cases, prosecutors asked for and were granted an order that forbids the co-accused from communicating with one another.
That order prompted authorities at the Maplehurst detention centre in Milton, Ont., to lock up a dozen suspects, who did not get bail, in small isolation cells for more than 23 hours a day.
Those conditions are now subject to a legal challenge on the basis they amount to cruel and unusual punishment. In four cases, the non-communication order was never requested, several lawyers told The Canadian Press.
"It's appalling," said lawyer Edward Sapiano.
"It's the non-communication order that is responsible for their isolated segregation."
Sapiano, who represents Yasim Mohamed, 25, who is accused of importing weapons to benefit a terrorist organization, called the conditions of detention "inhumane."
The other three accused held in isolation despite the lack of a non-communication order – a situation confirmed in a recent letter to counsel by government lawyer Steve Coroza – are Jamal James, 23, Saad Khalid, 20, and Ali Dirie, 23.
Sapiano said the Crown simply "forgot" to seek the order against the four accused, but it was not immediately clear whether it was in fact an oversight or deliberate.
Some of the lawyers involved were not even aware of the lack of the non-communication order.
Reached by telephone, Coroza said he was discussing the issue with senior Crown counsel and would talk later but then did not return the call.
Conditions of detention for all the accused – most of whom have no criminal record – have become the focus of a legal challenge in Ontario Superior Court on May 7.
The challenge is based in part on the Charter of Rights.
Defence lawyer David Kolinsky, whose client Zakaria Amara, 21, was denied bail, called the segregation cruel and a violation of religious freedoms because the inmates cannot pray together.
The accused are not a threat to one another and could, if needed, be kept apart from the general inmate population without being held in segregation, he said.
William Naylor, acting for co-accused Shareef Abdelhaleen, called the segregation "psychological torture."
"They're locked up in a metal cage with metal walls 23 1/2 hours a day," Naylor said.
"Given the length of time that these men and boys are going to be there, by the time they come out, I don't know if they'll be basket cases if they don't do something about that."
Several defence lawyers called the implementation of the non-communication order a farce.
For example, the accused are transported to court in a single vehicle, housed in a holding cell together at the courthouse in Brampton, Ont., and sit shoulder to shoulder in the prisoner box.
The lack of orders against four of the accused who are nevertheless being held in isolation is
"reflective of the silliness of the whole thing," said Sapiano.
"A court order shouldn't be made silly."
Lawyer Anser Farooq said the non-communication order itself is not at issue, given that it's common when there are co-accused.
It's how it's being enforced, he said.
"It's an impractical order (that) doesn't really serve any purpose," Farooq said.
"It's causing tremendous hardship," said Farooq, noting the families of the accused are not allowed any direct contact with them.
Colin Perkel Canadian Press
Four Canadian terrorism suspects have been held in extreme isolation for almost a year even though the courts have never ordered their segregation and their trials are months, if not years, away, lawyers close to the case say.
The four are among 18 men and boys in southern Ontario arrested in a blaze of national and international publicity last summer. All were charged with various terrorism-related offences.
In most of the cases, prosecutors asked for and were granted an order that forbids the co-accused from communicating with one another.
That order prompted authorities at the Maplehurst detention centre in Milton, Ont., to lock up a dozen suspects, who did not get bail, in small isolation cells for more than 23 hours a day.
Those conditions are now subject to a legal challenge on the basis they amount to cruel and unusual punishment. In four cases, the non-communication order was never requested, several lawyers told The Canadian Press.
"It's appalling," said lawyer Edward Sapiano.
"It's the non-communication order that is responsible for their isolated segregation."
Sapiano, who represents Yasim Mohamed, 25, who is accused of importing weapons to benefit a terrorist organization, called the conditions of detention "inhumane."
The other three accused held in isolation despite the lack of a non-communication order – a situation confirmed in a recent letter to counsel by government lawyer Steve Coroza – are Jamal James, 23, Saad Khalid, 20, and Ali Dirie, 23.
Sapiano said the Crown simply "forgot" to seek the order against the four accused, but it was not immediately clear whether it was in fact an oversight or deliberate.
Some of the lawyers involved were not even aware of the lack of the non-communication order.
Reached by telephone, Coroza said he was discussing the issue with senior Crown counsel and would talk later but then did not return the call.
Conditions of detention for all the accused – most of whom have no criminal record – have become the focus of a legal challenge in Ontario Superior Court on May 7.
The challenge is based in part on the Charter of Rights.
Defence lawyer David Kolinsky, whose client Zakaria Amara, 21, was denied bail, called the segregation cruel and a violation of religious freedoms because the inmates cannot pray together.
The accused are not a threat to one another and could, if needed, be kept apart from the general inmate population without being held in segregation, he said.
William Naylor, acting for co-accused Shareef Abdelhaleen, called the segregation "psychological torture."
"They're locked up in a metal cage with metal walls 23 1/2 hours a day," Naylor said.
"Given the length of time that these men and boys are going to be there, by the time they come out, I don't know if they'll be basket cases if they don't do something about that."
Several defence lawyers called the implementation of the non-communication order a farce.
For example, the accused are transported to court in a single vehicle, housed in a holding cell together at the courthouse in Brampton, Ont., and sit shoulder to shoulder in the prisoner box.
The lack of orders against four of the accused who are nevertheless being held in isolation is
"reflective of the silliness of the whole thing," said Sapiano.
"A court order shouldn't be made silly."
Lawyer Anser Farooq said the non-communication order itself is not at issue, given that it's common when there are co-accused.
It's how it's being enforced, he said.
"It's an impractical order (that) doesn't really serve any purpose," Farooq said.
"It's causing tremendous hardship," said Farooq, noting the families of the accused are not allowed any direct contact with them.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Surviving an Ordeal by Isolation
Lawyers in domestic-terrorism case start constitutional challenge for 12 men kept in segregation at Milton detention centre
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.
-=-=-=-=-=-
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.
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.
-=-=-=-=-=-
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.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
How racism invaded Canada - What is the term 'brown-skinned' doing on the front page of a major Canadian daily?
How racism has invaded Canada
What is the term 'brown-skinned' doing on the front page of a major Canadian daily?
By Robert Fisk - 10 June 2006
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article754394.ece
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13575.htm
This has been a good week to be in Canada — or an awful week, depending on your point of view - to understand just how irretrievably biased and potentially racist the Canadian press has become. For, after the arrest of 17 Canadian Muslims on “terrorism” charges, the Toronto Globe and Mail and, to a slightly lesser extent, the National Post, have indulged in an orgy of finger-pointing that must reduce the chances of any fair trial and, at the same time, sow fear in the hearts of the country’s more than 700,000 Muslims. In fact, if I were a Canadian Muslim right now, I’d already be checking the airline timetables for a flight out of town. Or is that the purpose of this press campaign?
First, the charges. Even a lawyer for one of the accused has talked of a plot to storm the Parliament in Ottawa, hold MPs hostage and chop off the head of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Without challenging the “facts” or casting any doubt on their sources — primarily the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or Canada’s leak-dripping Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) — reporters have told their readers that the 17 were variously planning to blow up Parliament, CSIS’s headquarters, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and sundry other targets. Every veiled and chadored Muslim woman relative of the accused has been photographed and their pictures printed, often on front pages. “Home-grown terrorists” has become theme of the month — even though the “terrorists” have yet to stand trial.
They were in receipt of “fertilizers”, we were told, which could be turned into explosives. When it emerged that Canadian police officers had already switched the “fertilizers” for a less harmful substance, nobody followed up the implications of this apparent “sting”. A Buffalo radio station down in the US even announced that the accused had actually received “explosives”. Bingo: Guilty before trial.
Of course, the Muslim-bashers have laced this nonsense with the usual pious concern for the rights of the accused. “Before I go on, one disclaimer,” purred the Globe and Mail’s Margaret Wente. “Nothing has been proved and nobody should rush to judgment.” Which, needless to say, Wente then went on to do in the same paragraph. “The exposure of our very own home-grown terrorists, if that’s what the men aspired to be, was both predictably shocking and shockingly predictable.” And just in case we missed the point of this hypocrisy, Wente ended her column by announcing that “Canada is not exempt from home-grown terrorism”. Angry young men are the tinderbox and Islamism is the match.
The country will probably have better luck than most at “putting out the fire”, she adds. But who, I wonder, is really lighting the match? For a very unpleasant — albeit initially innocuous — phrase has now found its way into the papers. The accused 17 — and, indeed their families and sometimes the country’s entire Muslim community — are now referred to as “Canadian-born”. Well, yes, they are Canadian-born. But there’s a subtle difference between this and being described as a “Canadian” — as other citizens of this vast country are in every other context. And the implications are obvious; there are now two types of Canadian citizen: The Canadian-born variety (Muslims) and Canadians (the rest).
If this seems finicky, try the following sentence from the Globe and Mail’s front page on Tuesday, supposedly an eyewitness account of the police arrest operation: “Parked directly outside his ... office was a large, gray, cube-shaped truck and, on the ground nearby, he recognized one of the two brown-skinned young men who had taken possession of the next door rented unit...” Come again? Brown-skinned? What in God’s name is this outrageous piece of racism doing on the front page of a major Canadian daily? What is “brown-skinned” supposed to mean — if it is not just a revolting attempt to isolate Muslims as the “other” in Canada’s highly multicultural society? I notice, for example, that when the paper obsequiously refers to Toronto’s police chief and his reportedly brilliant cops, he is not referred to as “white-skinned” (which he most assuredly is). Amid this swamp, Canada’s journalists are managing to soften the realities of their country’s new military involvement in Afghanistan.
More than 2,000 troops are deployed around Kandahar in active military operations against Taleban insurgents. They are taking the place of US troops, who will be transferred to fight even more Muslims insurgents in Iraq.
Canada is thus now involved in the Afghan war — those who doubt this should note the country has already shelled out $1.8bn in “defense spending” in Afghanistan and only $500m in “additional expenditures”, including humanitarian assistance and democratic renewal (sic) — and, by extension, in Iraq. In other words, Canada has gone to war in the Middle East.
None of this, according to the Canadian foreign minister, could be the cause of Muslim anger at home, although Jack Hooper — the CSIS chief who has a lot to learn about the Middle East but talks far too much — said a few days ago that “we had a high threat profile (in Canada) before Afghanistan. In any event, the presence of Canadians and Canadian forces there has elevated that threat somewhat.” I read all this on a flight from Calgary to Ottawa this week, sitting just a row behind Tim Goddard, his wife Sally and daughter Victoria, who were chatting gently and smiling bravely to the crew and fellow passengers. In the cargo hold of our aircraft lay the coffin of Goddard’s other daughter, Nichola, the first Canadian woman soldier to be killed in action in Afghanistan.
The next day, he scattered sand on Nichola’s coffin at Canada’s national military cemetery. A heartrending photograph of him appeared in the Post — but buried away on Page 6. And on the front page? A picture of British policemen standing outside the Bradford home of a Muslim “who may have links to Canada”. Allegedly, of course.
What is the term 'brown-skinned' doing on the front page of a major Canadian daily?
By Robert Fisk - 10 June 2006
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article754394.ece
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13575.htm
This has been a good week to be in Canada — or an awful week, depending on your point of view - to understand just how irretrievably biased and potentially racist the Canadian press has become. For, after the arrest of 17 Canadian Muslims on “terrorism” charges, the Toronto Globe and Mail and, to a slightly lesser extent, the National Post, have indulged in an orgy of finger-pointing that must reduce the chances of any fair trial and, at the same time, sow fear in the hearts of the country’s more than 700,000 Muslims. In fact, if I were a Canadian Muslim right now, I’d already be checking the airline timetables for a flight out of town. Or is that the purpose of this press campaign?
First, the charges. Even a lawyer for one of the accused has talked of a plot to storm the Parliament in Ottawa, hold MPs hostage and chop off the head of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Without challenging the “facts” or casting any doubt on their sources — primarily the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or Canada’s leak-dripping Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) — reporters have told their readers that the 17 were variously planning to blow up Parliament, CSIS’s headquarters, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and sundry other targets. Every veiled and chadored Muslim woman relative of the accused has been photographed and their pictures printed, often on front pages. “Home-grown terrorists” has become theme of the month — even though the “terrorists” have yet to stand trial.
They were in receipt of “fertilizers”, we were told, which could be turned into explosives. When it emerged that Canadian police officers had already switched the “fertilizers” for a less harmful substance, nobody followed up the implications of this apparent “sting”. A Buffalo radio station down in the US even announced that the accused had actually received “explosives”. Bingo: Guilty before trial.
Of course, the Muslim-bashers have laced this nonsense with the usual pious concern for the rights of the accused. “Before I go on, one disclaimer,” purred the Globe and Mail’s Margaret Wente. “Nothing has been proved and nobody should rush to judgment.” Which, needless to say, Wente then went on to do in the same paragraph. “The exposure of our very own home-grown terrorists, if that’s what the men aspired to be, was both predictably shocking and shockingly predictable.” And just in case we missed the point of this hypocrisy, Wente ended her column by announcing that “Canada is not exempt from home-grown terrorism”. Angry young men are the tinderbox and Islamism is the match.
The country will probably have better luck than most at “putting out the fire”, she adds. But who, I wonder, is really lighting the match? For a very unpleasant — albeit initially innocuous — phrase has now found its way into the papers. The accused 17 — and, indeed their families and sometimes the country’s entire Muslim community — are now referred to as “Canadian-born”. Well, yes, they are Canadian-born. But there’s a subtle difference between this and being described as a “Canadian” — as other citizens of this vast country are in every other context. And the implications are obvious; there are now two types of Canadian citizen: The Canadian-born variety (Muslims) and Canadians (the rest).
If this seems finicky, try the following sentence from the Globe and Mail’s front page on Tuesday, supposedly an eyewitness account of the police arrest operation: “Parked directly outside his ... office was a large, gray, cube-shaped truck and, on the ground nearby, he recognized one of the two brown-skinned young men who had taken possession of the next door rented unit...” Come again? Brown-skinned? What in God’s name is this outrageous piece of racism doing on the front page of a major Canadian daily? What is “brown-skinned” supposed to mean — if it is not just a revolting attempt to isolate Muslims as the “other” in Canada’s highly multicultural society? I notice, for example, that when the paper obsequiously refers to Toronto’s police chief and his reportedly brilliant cops, he is not referred to as “white-skinned” (which he most assuredly is). Amid this swamp, Canada’s journalists are managing to soften the realities of their country’s new military involvement in Afghanistan.
More than 2,000 troops are deployed around Kandahar in active military operations against Taleban insurgents. They are taking the place of US troops, who will be transferred to fight even more Muslims insurgents in Iraq.
Canada is thus now involved in the Afghan war — those who doubt this should note the country has already shelled out $1.8bn in “defense spending” in Afghanistan and only $500m in “additional expenditures”, including humanitarian assistance and democratic renewal (sic) — and, by extension, in Iraq. In other words, Canada has gone to war in the Middle East.
None of this, according to the Canadian foreign minister, could be the cause of Muslim anger at home, although Jack Hooper — the CSIS chief who has a lot to learn about the Middle East but talks far too much — said a few days ago that “we had a high threat profile (in Canada) before Afghanistan. In any event, the presence of Canadians and Canadian forces there has elevated that threat somewhat.” I read all this on a flight from Calgary to Ottawa this week, sitting just a row behind Tim Goddard, his wife Sally and daughter Victoria, who were chatting gently and smiling bravely to the crew and fellow passengers. In the cargo hold of our aircraft lay the coffin of Goddard’s other daughter, Nichola, the first Canadian woman soldier to be killed in action in Afghanistan.
The next day, he scattered sand on Nichola’s coffin at Canada’s national military cemetery. A heartrending photograph of him appeared in the Post — but buried away on Page 6. And on the front page? A picture of British policemen standing outside the Bradford home of a Muslim “who may have links to Canada”. Allegedly, of course.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Top judge sounds alarm on trial delays
Top judge sounds alarm on trial delays
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070309.wjustice09/EmailBNStory/National/home
KIRK MAKIN
From Friday's Globe and Mail March 9th 2007.
The Chief Justice of Canada's Supreme Court warned Thursday that the justice system is increasingly plagued by trials that drag on too long, litigants who cannot afford a lawyer and unjustifiable delays.
The problem of sprawling trials has become “urgent,” Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin said in a speech to Toronto's Empire Club. “Not too many years ago, it was not uncommon for murder trials to be over in five to seven days. Now, they last five to seven months.”
Civil trials have also ballooned in length, Chief Justice McLachlin said. In just six years, she said, the average length of a trial in Vancouver expanded to 25.7 hours from 12.9 hours.
Delays in simply getting a case to the trial stage come at a tremendous cost to both those caught up in the justice system and to the notion of true justice, she added.
“Not only is there an erosion in the witnesses' memory with the passage of time, but there is an increased risk that a witness may not be available to testify through ordinary occurrences of sickness or death. As the delay increases, swift, unpredictable justice — which is the most powerful deterrent to crime — vanishes. These personal and social costs are incalculable.”
In recent years, eroding access to justice has been a concern for the Canadian Bar Association and most other lawyers' groups. Senior judges at every level have expressed alarm about the erosion of the court system. Coming from the country's top judge, yesterday's statement carried particular weight.
In her speech, Chief Justice McLachlin deplored the fact that courtrooms are “filled” with litigants who cannot afford lawyers and instead try to navigate complicated legal procedures and arguments on their own.
“Others simply give up,” she said.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070309.wjustice09/EmailBNStory/National/home
KIRK MAKIN
From Friday's Globe and Mail March 9th 2007.
The Chief Justice of Canada's Supreme Court warned Thursday that the justice system is increasingly plagued by trials that drag on too long, litigants who cannot afford a lawyer and unjustifiable delays.
The problem of sprawling trials has become “urgent,” Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin said in a speech to Toronto's Empire Club. “Not too many years ago, it was not uncommon for murder trials to be over in five to seven days. Now, they last five to seven months.”
Civil trials have also ballooned in length, Chief Justice McLachlin said. In just six years, she said, the average length of a trial in Vancouver expanded to 25.7 hours from 12.9 hours.
Delays in simply getting a case to the trial stage come at a tremendous cost to both those caught up in the justice system and to the notion of true justice, she added.
“Not only is there an erosion in the witnesses' memory with the passage of time, but there is an increased risk that a witness may not be available to testify through ordinary occurrences of sickness or death. As the delay increases, swift, unpredictable justice — which is the most powerful deterrent to crime — vanishes. These personal and social costs are incalculable.”
In recent years, eroding access to justice has been a concern for the Canadian Bar Association and most other lawyers' groups. Senior judges at every level have expressed alarm about the erosion of the court system. Coming from the country's top judge, yesterday's statement carried particular weight.
In her speech, Chief Justice McLachlin deplored the fact that courtrooms are “filled” with litigants who cannot afford lawyers and instead try to navigate complicated legal procedures and arguments on their own.
“Others simply give up,” she said.
i (Picture: Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin speaks in Toronto on Thursday). (Aaron Harris/CP)
She said that wealthy litigants can generally afford private lawyers, and those at the lowest income levels tend to qualify for legal aid. “Hard-hit are average, middle-class Canadians,” she said. “They have some income. They may have a few assets, perhaps a modest home. This makes them ineligible for legal aid.
“But at the same time, they quite reasonably may be unwilling to put a second mortgage on the house or gamble with their child's education or their retirement savings to pursue justice in the courts.”
Chief Justice McLachlin said that, in many cases, people simply cannot wait years to obtain a resolution to a business dispute or a family matter. The end result is that parents may consume precious family assets fighting for the custody of a child, or they may give up altogether.
“Such outcomes can only with great difficulty be called ‘just,'” she said. “It is not only the self-represented litigants who are prejudiced. Lawyers on the other side may find the difficulty of their task greatly increased, driving up the costs to their clients. Judges are stressed and burned out, putting further pressures on the justice system. And so it goes.”
Chief Justice McLachlin added that the presence of a self-represented litigant has the undesirable effect of forcing a judge to abandon his or her role as impartial arbiter to help the litigant present his case.
The sources of a great many trial delays include increasing complexity of legal motions under the Charter of Rights, the use of expert witnesses and unnecessary adjournments, the chief justice said.
Chief Justice McLachlin also expressed concern about the number of mentally ill people who are cycled through jails. However, she noted that more and more special courts are being created to deal with their problems.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Please write regarding the treatment of prisoners & their families
Superintendant Dalgleish
MapleHurst Correctional Complex
661 Martin St. P.O. Box 10
Milton, Ontario
L9T 2Y3905-878-8141
fax 905-878-5363
doug.dalgleish@jus.gov.on.ca
Deputy Minister Deborah Newman
Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services
18th Floor
25 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1Y6
416-325-0408
fax 416-325-6067
jus.g.sgcs.webmaster@jus.gov.on.ca
Amnesty International
14 Dundonald Street
Toronto, Ontario Canada
M4Y 1K2
416-363-9933
fax 416-363-3103
toronto@amnesty.ca
MapleHurst Correctional Complex
661 Martin St. P.O. Box 10
Milton, Ontario
L9T 2Y3905-878-8141
fax 905-878-5363
doug.dalgleish@jus.gov.on.ca
Deputy Minister Deborah Newman
Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services
18th Floor
25 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1Y6
416-325-0408
fax 416-325-6067
jus.g.sgcs.webmaster@jus.gov.on.ca
Amnesty International
14 Dundonald Street
Toronto, Ontario Canada
M4Y 1K2
416-363-9933
fax 416-363-3103
toronto@amnesty.ca
Less Than One in 20 Held Under Anti-Terror Laws is Charged
By Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent
Less than 4 per cent of the people arrested under anti-terror laws since the September 11 attacks five years ago have been convicted of terrorist offences, it was disclosed yesterday.
Following warnings from Muslim groups over the growing alienation of large sections of the community, the Government faced demands for an overhaul of anti-terrorist legislation.
Ministers also came under sustained fire in the House of Lords for their use of control orders against terrorist suspects, with peers warning that the policy could backfire by attracting support for extremism.
Statistics released by the Home Office disclosed that 1,166 people were detained between 11 September 2001, and 31 December last year on suspicion of involvement in terrorism.
These arrests have so far led to 221 charges and just 40 convictions, although some other prosecutions are still in the pipeline.
Massoud Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said that families had been destroyed, children traumatised and innocent people criminalised as a result of the legislation. "These are not just empty statistics but innocent human beings whose lives have been shattered by such heavy-handed and discriminatory policies," he said.
SOURCE: The Independent
Less than 4 per cent of the people arrested under anti-terror laws since the September 11 attacks five years ago have been convicted of terrorist offences, it was disclosed yesterday.
Following warnings from Muslim groups over the growing alienation of large sections of the community, the Government faced demands for an overhaul of anti-terrorist legislation.
Ministers also came under sustained fire in the House of Lords for their use of control orders against terrorist suspects, with peers warning that the policy could backfire by attracting support for extremism.
Statistics released by the Home Office disclosed that 1,166 people were detained between 11 September 2001, and 31 December last year on suspicion of involvement in terrorism.
These arrests have so far led to 221 charges and just 40 convictions, although some other prosecutions are still in the pipeline.
Massoud Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said that families had been destroyed, children traumatised and innocent people criminalised as a result of the legislation. "These are not just empty statistics but innocent human beings whose lives have been shattered by such heavy-handed and discriminatory policies," he said.
SOURCE: The Independent
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