Secret Canada
Channel: Lillian Boctor
Date: 2012-01-23

A "security certificate" is part of the Canadian immigration system. It has been around since 1976, with the current process adopted in 1988 for non-citizens. The 2002 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act re-introduced the certificate, making the process for permanent residents the same as the process for non-citizens. Security certificates allow the government to deport or detain non-citizens without charge or trial for years, on the basis of secret suspicions, vague allegations and secret trials, indefinitely. Security certificates keeps detainees under threat of deportation, even though there is risk of death, torture or other ill-treatment. Currently three men and their families are living under security certificates in Canada. When this film was made, five men were living under security certificates, but the Canadian government has since dropped the security certificates of Adil Charkaoui and Hassan Almrei. The Supreme Court of Canada declared the security certificate process unconstitutional in 2007, but the Canadian government passed new security certificate legislation in 2008, which does not address the fundamental human rights violations of the previous security certificate legislation. It still includes secret trials based on secret evidence, a two-tiered justice system, and the possibility of indefinite and arbitrary detention and deportation to torture. For more information or to take action: www.justiceforharkat.com/ www.adilinfo.org