Following the federal inquiry, Former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Frank Iacobucci’s report has found that Canada must shoulder some of the blame in the torture of 3 Canadian man. Abdullah Almalki, Muayyed Nureddin and Ahmad El Maati, each detained separately while travelling in Syria, spent between 34 days and 26 months in prison due in part to information shared by both the RCMP and CSIS. Among the actions considered contributing factors was the inflammatory label “imminent threat” which Iacobucci noted was used without regard for what it’s impact would be. One can certainly assume that this impact would be high considering all three men were held in the wake of 9/11 when the mere hint of the word terrorist would ensure the rules and liberties of citizens everywhere could be justifiably bent. In the case of Mr. El Maati the RCMP described him as “linked through association to al-Qaeda” and an “Imminent threat to public safety” without taking the steps required to ensure that the description was accurate or proven.
The inquiry, 22 months in the making, was a closed door affair and doesn’t name names. As Iacobucci stated; “It is neither necessary nor appropriate that I make findings concerning the actions of any individual Canadian official, and I have not done so,”
It’s not the first time such a thing has happened to a Canadian in recent years; Maher Arar, a Syrian born Canadian, was detained in New York en route to Canada and then deported to Syria where he was held for almost a year and tortured regularly. He was later exonerated, received a public apology and compensated to the tune of $10 million. The difference between the cases now is that Abdullah Almalki, Muayyed Nureddin have not yet been formally exonerated. Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day states that rather than individual blame “It’s more of a case of good people acting with deficient procedures.” and assures the Canadian public that “those procedures have been corrected.” Day declined to address questions about compensation as the three men are currently suing the Canadian government.
We like to think that this sort of shit can’t happen here–not in Canada. Well, none of the above mentioned men were tortured on Canadian soil, yet in all four cases, that distinction offers no comfort.
