Charity wrongly linked to al-Qaeda awaits apology
justiceforharkat.com
posted on November 06, 2007 | in Category CSIS | by Brian
Original author: Jim Bronskill (CP)
Source: The Canadian Press
URL: [link]
Date: November 6, 2007
Khadr was a volunteer regional director
OTTAWA -- An Ottawa-based charity is still awaiting a retraction and apology eight months after a watchdog found the Canadian Security Intelligence Service made an "unsubstantiated statement" linking the organization to a terrorist group.
The Security Intelligence Review Committee, which reports to Parliament, recommended in February that CSIS make amends upon finding merit to Human Concern International's formal complaint.
In his ruling, review committee chairman Gary Filmon said CSIS "should have taken care to avoid making an unsubstantiated statement which foreseeably could lead to injury or loss of support and funding suffered by HCI."
Michel Drapeau, lawyer for the charitable organization, said yesterday that Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, the minister responsible for CSIS, should step in. "I think it's now in the political arena."
The matter began in October, 2005, when CSIS prepared a submission to the Federal Court of Canada on behalf of the Public Safety and Immigration departments in the case of Mohamed Harkat, whom the government wants to deport over alleged ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
In the submission, CSIS stated that Canadian Ahmed Said Khadr was the director of HCI, "which worked closely with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan."
The statement was repeated in a December, 2005, court ruling and subsequently in two newspapers that carried an account of the decision.
HCI is a registered charity that aims to "help alleviate human suffering" through emergency assistance and development programs. Its efforts have ranged from medical outreach in Guyana to relief during the 1998 ice storm in central Canada.
In January, 2006, Mr. Drapeau complained to CSIS about the words linking HCI to al-Qaeda, saying his client "objects strongly to this patently false and defamatory statement."
The charity said Mr. Khadr was a volunteer regional director of HCI in Pakistan in the mid-1990s but was never a member of the organization's board of directors.
In 1995, Mr. Khadr was arrested by Pakistani police investigating a bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad.
HCI dismissed Mr. Khadr in April 1996, severing ties with him.
In defence of its actions, CSIS said it submitted classified materials to the review committee that "more than adequately supported" the statement linking HCI and al-Qaeda.
In the review committee's report, however, Mr. Filmon said his investigations "reveal that to date, there is insufficient information to conclude that HCI has worked closely with al-Qaeda."
The committee recommended CSIS apologize to HCI and retract the statement by informing the ministers of Public Safety, Citizenship and Immigration and the relevant newspaper publishers.
In April, federal lawyer James Mathieson wrote to Mr. Drapeau on behalf of CSIS: "At this time, I am not in a position to inform you as to the intentions of my client."
Mr. Drapeau has heard nothing since.
He said HCI simply wanted to clear its name, which the review committee has now done.
But an apology is still in order - and Mr. Day should ensure that happens, Mr. Drapeau added. "I think the minister has to play a role."
CSIS referred inquiries about the case to Mr. Day's office.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Day initially said she could not discuss the matter because it was before the courts. When told that was not so, she had no immediate comment.
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