Anti-Terrorism and the Security Agenda: Impacts on Rights, Freedoms and Democracy Report and Recommendations for Policy Direction of a Public Forum organized by the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group Ottawa, February 17, 2004 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................................................2 ABOUT THE ICLMG .............................................................................................................2 BACKGROUND .....................................................................................................................3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .....................................................................................................4 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY DIRECTION ..........................................................14 PROCEEDINGS......................................................................................................................16 CONCLUDING REMARKS...................................................................................................84 ANNEXES...............................................................................................................................87 ANNEXE I: Membership of the ICLMG ANNEXE II: Program of the Public Forum ANNEXE III: List of Participants/Panelists Anti-Terrorism and the Security Agenda: Impacts on Rights Freedoms and Democracy 2 __________________________________________________________________________________ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Forum session reporting was done by youth reporters Elene Berube, Kirsten Leng, Karen Ostertag, Sulini Sarugaser, and the report written and edited by Patricia Poirier. The ICLMG would like to thank Hilary Homes for chairing the proceedings, the speakers for their presentations and Warren Allmand for his concluding remarks. Thanks also to Roch Tassé and Patricia Poirier for the organization of the forum, with help from Brent Faulkner, France Joncas and Francine Nzounke. For their financial and logistical support, we are grateful to the Canadian Centre for Foreign Policy Development’s John Holmes Fund, the Canadian Council for International Co-operation, the International Development Research Centre, Inter Pares, Rights & Democracy, the Ken and Debbie Rubin Public Interest Advocacy Fund and the National Organization of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women of Canada. ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL CIVIL LIBERTIES MONITORING GROUP The ICLMG is a pan-Canadian coalition of civil society organizations concerned about the impact of anti-terrorism legislation and other counter terror measures on civil liberties, human rights, refugee protection, racism, political dissent, governance of charities, international cooperation and humanitarian assistance. The ICLMG was established shortly after the adoption of Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Act (C-36) and brings together more than thirty NGOs, unions, professional associations, faith groups, environmental organizations, human rights and civil liberties advocates, as well as groups representing immigrant and refugee communities in Canada (See Annex I for a complete list of members). Anti-Terrorism and the Security Agenda: Impacts on Rights Freedoms and Democracy 3 __________________________________________________________________________________ BACKGROUND The International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group organized an international gathering of civil society organizations devoted to Anti-Terrorism and the Security Agenda: Impact on Rights, Freedoms and Democracy, in Ottawa from February 16 to 18, 2004. The aim of the gathering was to provide an opportunity for: • developing a broader understanding and a common analysis of the issues related to security and anti-terrorism; • building relationships and trust among civil society organizations that may share similar concerns, but whose primary focus, sector of interest or field of intervention might be different; • exploring the appropriateness and begin the process of developing joint strategies and actions at an international level; • raising public awareness, generating media interest and informing policy makers in Canada. Two half days – February 16 and 18, 2004 – were dedicated to sharing of analysis and to exploratory strategic discussions among participating organizations on the potential for international networking and cooperation. On February 17, 2004, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group held a Public Forum at the Canadian Conference Centre, in Ottawa, to discuss Anti-Terrorism and the Security Agenda and articulate recommendations for policy direction to help inform and guide civil society and the Canadian government on the impact that such policies have on rights, freedoms and civil liberties. Presenters included: Warren Allmand (past president Rights & Democracy), Khalid Baksh (Muslim Lawyers Association), Walden Bello (Focus on the Global South), Janet Dench (Canadian Council for Refugees), Arnoldo Garcia (National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights), Ben Hayes (Statewatch), Jeanne Herrick-Stare (Friends Committee on National Legislation), Jameel Jaffer (American Civil Liberties Union), Raja Khouri (Canadian Arab Federation), Yap Swee Seng (SUARAM and the Asian People’s Security Network), Roch Tassé (International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group) and Steven Watt (Center for Constitutional Rights). Anti-Terrorism and the Security Agenda: Impacts on Rights Freedoms and Democracy 4 __________________________________________________________________________________ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY “Secret evidence”, “secret trials”, “sneak and peek”, “extraordinary rendition”, “executive detention”, “enemy combatants” and “indefinite detention” are now part and parcel of the new world order lexicon. Under pressure and influence of the United States, many countries, including Canada, have adopted or revived laws and measures to increase surveillance of the lawful conduct of their citizens. Fundamental rights and basic civil liberties are being eroded under the guise of the so-called “war on terrorism” which targets primarily members of Arab and Muslim communities and increasingly puts at risk immigrants and those seeking protection from political strife and persecution. In Canada, the Anti-Terrorism Act (Bill C-36), as the Patriot Act in the United States and the Anti-Terrorism and Security Act (ASTA) in the United Kingdom, was quickly adopted following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Bill C-36 has given police extraordinary powers of preventative arrests that are now being used to threaten and coerce members of visible minorities to “cooperate” with them. This new omnibus law extends and institutionalizes the practice of “secret evidence” to be used in “secret trials” already permitted under provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. It grants a sole cabinet minister the power to issue “security certificates” which can be used to detain non-citizens indefinitely or deport them. Anti-terrorism legislation around the world, along with previously adopted immigration legislation and regulations, has contributed to an increase in racial profiling and institutionalized racism. Guilt by association has had a chilling effect on the fundamental rights of freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of movement as well as on the basic democratic rights to protest and to simply assert one’s rights. Canada, which has always prided itself for its policy of official multiculturalism and its human security policy, has followed the lead of the US and of the UK in replicating and expanding the most controversial parts of their laws designed to wage war on terrorism. Those tough measures, which include the reversal of the burden of proof, contravene Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which it ratified, argues Warren Allmand. And contrary to the infamous 1970 War Measures Act, Bill C-36 and other legislation, are open-ended. The war on terror has no real sunset clause. The trend embodied in the anti-terrorism agenda could modify the Canadian justice and judicial system permanently. It forms a complex web of far-reaching measures that are changing forever the relationship between the State and its citizens. Immigrant and Refugee Rights / Racial Profiling The Muslim Lawyers Association conducted an informal but very revealing survey last Anti-Terrorism and the Security Agenda: Impacts on Rights Freedoms and Democracy 5 __________________________________________________________________________________ year regarding the use and abuse of Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Act. Volunteers contacted 40 Canadian lawyers and asked them if they knew of cases of abuse or cases where police had over stepped their bounds: 10 of the 40 lawyers reported 35 incidents and of those, only seven resulted in formal complaints. Fear and distrust of the system are the overriding reasons why so many complaints go unreported, suggests Khalid Baksh: “Why should someone complain about CSIS (Canadian Security and Intelligence Service) when there will be no follow-up?” The Canadian Arab Federation says the community it represents is suffering from “alienation, marginalization and … a sense of psychological internment akin to what our Japanese compatriots felt during World War II in Canada”. The case of Maher Arar, which will be the subject of a public inquiry later this year, encapsulates many of the wrongdoings of the security agenda, including: racial profiling; the reckless sharing