Statement by Hon. Andrew Telegdi

on the Occasion of:

News Conference regarding Security Certificate Hunger Strikers

I call on the Conservative Government to address the problems related to the detention conditions of security certificate detainees Mohammad Majoub, Mahmoud Jaballah and Hassan Almrei. They have been held for up to six and a half years without criminal charges, most recently at the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre, have been on a 70 day hunger strike to protest their detention conditions and their situation could become life threatening.

These men have had their most basic rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms abrogated. As if being denied their right to due process of law and access to medical treatment was not bad enough, they have been forced to live under inhumane detention conditions that isolate them from their families, limit their right to practice their religious rituals and restrict their ability to exercise.

I voted against the Anti-Terrorism Act in 2001 because of my strong belief in civil liberties and human rights and voted against the Immigration Act because it allowed for the issuing of security certificates to detain Canadians without charge, conviction or knowing the evidence against them.

When C-36 was passed I said:

"I have a deep and abiding fear that in the name of national security, we may sacrifice civil liberties, and in so doing endanger our democracy and the democratic process."

The situation we have today with these three detainees is exactly what I feared could happen. I ask the Conservative Government to immediately take action to redress their detention conditions.