Hello, everybody. I'm happy to be here among you today.
I am not an activist. I'm not a member of an organization. I'm just a caring mother and a wife. I am the wife of Mohamed Mahjoub, whom I met in 1997. We got married and now we have two lovely kids, Ibraim and Yusuf. We lived together for four years before Mohamed was picked up off the street on his way to work, not knowing the reason why he was being taken to West Detention. Since then, we've been struggling and trying to find out what the reason was for my husband to be taken.
For almost seven years now, he has been deprived of being with his lovely kids, two little ones who are growing up without a dad. Our sons are wondering what their dad did to deserve to be in West Detention. They hear every day new stories about oppression and mistreatment of their dad in West Detention, and lately in the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre. They're wondering what this is all about and how they can help him. They come up with so many different ideas of how to help their dad. Up to now, their questions have not been answered about why their dad isn't there and why he is being treated that way.
In West Detention, my husband developed chronic hepatitis-C. He had injured his knee and needed an operation urgently. He lost his sight and reading ability. He developed high blood pressure and heart problems. All his medical treatment was denied just because he's under a security certificate. My husband is going through hard medical problems that have not been met until now.
For over five years, we were asking for an operation for his knee, but the answer was they could not help him because he is under a security certificate. Until now, he has not been treated for his hepatitis-C just because he's under a security certificate. It took him eighty days on a hunger strike—and it wasn't only one time, it was a series of hunger strikes—just to try to get it heard that he needs medical treatment. He ended up getting his eyeglasses, and he ended up seeing a specialist for his hepatitis-C, but he had to go through a lot of struggle and trouble that put his life in more risk physically.
And he is not the only one who struggles. We struggle too.
When he moved to Kingston Immigration Holding Centre, he was able to see a specialist. He was able to be assigned medical treatment, but always there was something that acted as a barrier to keep him from getting his treatment.
There is a guard in Kingston Immigration Holding Centre who has accused Mohamed of threatening him. I have the report if anyone would like to see it. It is completely untrue, but at the same time it is a barrier. Mohamed fears for his life because of this, and he fears for his case in court because this is a serious allegation. He doesn't feel like leaving the unit that he lives in to go to the other building for any reason without a supervisor, just to make sure he is in a safe position.
The answer was a refusal. He was refused to get the supervisor to move him from the place he's in to the other building to get treatment. Before this allegation, doctors and nurses used to go where he lives to see him, but after this they refused to send a doctor or a nurse to him or to provide him with a supervisor to be able to go to the other building to receive his treatment. He feels this is a complete violation of his rights as a detainee.
In West Detention he went through a whole lot of trouble, a whole lot of abuse, physically, emotionally, mentally from all the guards. And not only him; I had to go through some of it too, just to access my rights to visit him. One time, my kids were banished from visiting their dad in West Detention, just because they went rallying to ask for their dad to be released. The guard said we were not able to visit. When I asked why he said it was because we rallied around here. I said the kids came all the way, that I'd taken them out of school to visit their dad and they were anxious to see him. I asked if they were rallying too and the guard said they couldn't go in, so they were banished from seeing their dad. The kids were very disappointed.
We believed that transferring them from West Detention to Kingston Immigration Holding Centre was to help better their conditions and situations. We used to visit them weekly, forty minutes a week, every week, unless we had trouble with guards allowing us in, but we used to see them frequently. We used to see my husband frequently. But moving to Kingston Immigration Holding Centre was a complete separation between us and him. It wasn't getting us closer.
We understood when he moved there that he would have the right to education, which we found was completely wrong, because he is denied education. We understood we were supposed to have access to a touch visit like the rest of the detainees, who are criminals. My husband is not a criminal. They have the right to touch visits three days a month or every two weeks. My husband is not allowed to do that.
We happened to be in a very small area. I am sure some of you took a look at the area where four of the detainees' families are supposed to be in if they happen to come together. It is a very, very small area. It is smaller than this area. The chairs are connected to the tables and are very close to the tables. The father cannot even put his child on his lap, which he would love to do. He can't.
If we go with Mr. Jaballah's family, which is a big family, everybody is hitting one another. It's too crowded, too noisy. No one is allowed to have some peace with their own family.
I don't drive on the highway, and there is no transportation. I struggle just to visit my husband. I wait for a ride from somebody who is willing to give me a ride, and when I arrive there, sometimes they let me wait outside for half an hour or more than a half an hour, just because they feel they're not ready to pick me up.
When we go in, we're not allowed to have a cup of water or a bottle of water. They don't provide us with water. We go to the washroom to drink. One time I didn't feel like it, and I asked one of the guards--the one who made this allegation--if I could please have a glass of water because I felt dizzy. He told me I had the washroom. I said I was sorry but I don't drink from the washroom. He told me I had the machine. I said you don't put water in the machine. He said you can drink pop. I said I can't drink pop; I'm sorry, but I can't drink pop. He said if I felt I was dizzy.... He became very upset. His face was red. He started to get up. He was saying he was going to cut my visit short. He was punishing me for asking for a cup of water. He didn't even give me a chance to answer. I told the other guard I couldn't leave, as my ride was not there and the area was not safe. I can't be punished for asking for a cup of water.
Since this allegation, my husband has not come out from where he is living. It has been over two months now, and he's never been out for medication. Even though he makes requests to see the doctor, he needs a supervisor and he can't. Since the end of August we have not visited him, because they don't provide him with a supervisor. I wonder what is going to happen to him.
I believe that anyone who has done anything is entitled to a fair and open trial. Saddam Hussein had an open trial; he got to know the evidence against him. What did these people do to deserve this? They need to be with their families.