Good afternoon. I thank the members of the committee for having come to Montreal to hear what we have to say.
The Ligue des droits et libertés is a non-profit and non-partisan organization founded in 1963. Its objectives are to defend and promote the rights recognized in the International Declaration of Human Rights, and we support its principles of universality and visibility. The Ligue des droits et libertés is a member of the International Federation for Human Rights. Is also one of the oldest rights advocacy organizations in the Americas.
I am accompanied by my colleague Denis Barrette, who is a lawyer and a member of the Ligue des droits et libertés. Regarding the standing committee's interest in public and national security, Mr. Barrette represented the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group—of which the Ligue is a member—at the commission of inquiry on Maher Arar, presided by Judge O'Connor. He will speak to you more particularly about the problems regarding accountability and the mechanisms to monitor the agencies.
We are very pleased that the government has initiated a public discussion on national security. I am aware that we will not be able to cover everything in 10 minutes, but I want to point out today that we would like the national security framework, which goes back to the events of September 11, 2001, to be reviewed.
To provide some context, I want to read two quotes. The first one reads as follows:
“Shall we fail to remember that nothing can so weaken security as the loss of liberty?”
These are the words of Ramsey Clark, the former American Attorney General.
The second quote is from the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan: “Upholding human rights is not only compatible with successful counterterrorism strategies. It is an essential element.” Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, anti-terrorism measures have generally been adopted in fear and haste in the wake of specific events, without substantive discussions on the appropriateness of these measures, and what is more important, without assessing their impact on our human rights regime and on the freedoms which must be protected.
Some of the rights that have been put at risk are the presumption of innocence; the right to privacy and protection against searches and invasions of privacy; the right not to be harassed, questioned, arrested or detained on the basis of suspicion or racial, religious or ethnic profiling; the right of everyone to a fair and equitable public trial, and the right of appeal; the right to a full and complete defence; the right to be protected against arbitrary imprisonment and torture; the right of asylum; the right to information and freedom of the press; and freedom of expression, including the right to demonstrate publicly and collectively.
All of these rights have been affected in one way or another since the attacks of September 11, 2001. The idea that has been promoted among the population is that if we want more security, we have to sacrifice freedoms and that this is a matter of balance. We want to emphasize that this is a profoundly erroneous and dangerous idea. We will not obtain greater security by sacrificing our rights. Rights and freedoms are the basis of security.
I quoted Kofi Annan, but in a United Nations report on terrorism, it was pointed out that the societies that have the greatest respect for rights are the ones where there is the greatest security, and where there is the least violence and the fewest attacks.
Moreover, we wish to reiterate our position that the Criminal Code prior to 2001, as well as the 12 international treaties against terrorism which Canada subscribed to, already allowed us to fight effectively against terrorism. In its brief tabled when Bill C-36, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, was adopted, the Canadian Bar Association reminded us quite rightly that the Canadian government already has many legal tools to repress terrorist offences, and that the Criminal Code contains a solid arsenal of provisions aimed at fighting terrorist organizations.
We also wish to point out that the terrorist threat, as well as the search for security, have to be evaluated in a broader context. In a report submitted to the Secretary General of the United Nations in 2004 entitled “A more secure world: our shared responsibility”, an impressive list of threats to international peace and security was drawn up. The report also identified the main challenges, including war between states, and violence within states; poverty, infectious diseases and the deterioration of the environment; nuclear, radiological, chemical and biological weapons; terrorism; and organized transnational crime.
In other words, terrorism is a threat to security, but there are many others, that in fact cause the deaths of many more people throughout the world.
Moreover, it is quite dismaying to note to what extent governments refuse to learn lessons from the past 15 years. Western countries, including Canada, have waged many wars against Muslim countries. These wars have sown death, destruction and chaos, and have created conditions conducive to the development of terrorist breeding grounds. Rather than revising this disastrous policy, which only leads to endless war on terrorism, governments persist in making us believe that our security rests with the surveillance of populations and extraordinary police powers.
In this short presentation, we cannot critique all of the anti-terrorism laws and measures that exist in Canada. However, the law based on Bill C-51 adds a particularly worrisome level to the measures that already exist. The power to minimize the measures granted to CSIS reminds us of the abuses uncovered by the McDonald Commission, such as the fact that the RCMP stole the list of members of the Parti québécois, burned down a barn, and issued false FLQ communiqués to counter the separatist menace.
The new crime which consists in advocating or promoting the perpetration of terrorism-related offences in general is a threat to freedom of expression. People may be put on the no-fly list on the basis of simple suspicion, without knowing what is being held against them, and without really being able to defend themselves. The possibility of detaining people for a week on the basis of simple suspicion when no charges have been brought against them is extreme and unacceptable. We also share the opinion of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, who criticized the new Security of Canada Information Sharing Act, based on Bill C-51.
Finally, we still do not have a mechanism to monitor and oversee national security activities. The proposed parliamentary committee is absolutely essential, and will be one of the ways of ensuring that the organizations concerned respect the charters and rights of citizens. However, improvements must be made to Bill C-22 which creates this parliamentary committee. It is essential that an independent body, with the capacity to closely examine all national security activities, be created. Otherwise, the committee will not be able to function.
In this regard, we share the point of view of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, which will testify in the second panel. That said, we could go back to that issue, if you have questions on this topic for us.
In conclusion, you have the obligation not only to question anti-terrorist measures, but also to generate debate and promote real public discussion, both on the full exercise of fundamental rights and on the identification of true threats to security, as well as their causes and the means to curtail them. We are in favour of this consultation. It is a first step. We nevertheless expect this government to continue to set itself apart from previous governments by placing the rights and freedoms of individuals at the heart of security policies.
Thank you.