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Arar report recommends RCMP overhaul approach to anti-terrorism inquiries
JIM BRONSKILL - CP
September 20, 2006
Related - Report slams RCMP for giving erroneous information on Arar to U.S.
The RCMP must improve training, information-sharing practices and monitoring of security probes to ensure no one else suffers the grim fate of Maher Arar, says an inquiry report.
Justice Dennis O'Connor recommended a raft of changes Monday aimed at preventing lapses he concludes led to the torture of Arar as a mistaken terrorism suspect. Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian, was detained in New York in September 2002 and soon after deported by U.S. authorities - winding up in a grave-like Damascus cell.
He had come under RCMP scrutiny in Ottawa in October 2001 through his contact with another Arab-Canadian, Abdullah Almalki, a target of an anti-terrorism investigation dubbed Project A-O Canada.
O'Connor found the Mounties provided information to American agencies on several occasions prior to Arar's detention in New York, sometimes inaccurately describing the telecommunications engineer as an Islamic extremist linked to al-Qaida.
"The officers of Project A-O Canada were given little guidance. They were largely left on their own," the report says.
"Even more troubling, the directions the RCMP did provide about how information should be shared with the American agencies were unclear and misleading."
O'Connor says the RCMP should take steps to properly train those involved in national security investigations - including efforts to improve familiarity with ethnic communities they might encounter.
The report calls on the Mounties to ensure that whenever they provide information to other departments and agencies - whether foreign or domestic - they do so according to clear policies concerning relevance, reliability and accuracy, and in keeping with laws respecting privacy and human rights.
O'Connor told a news conference that the exchange of information is critical to protecting Canada's national security. "But information sharing must be done in a principled way in accordance with policy."
A separate report from O'Connor, due before the end of the year, will recommend the sort of watchdog that would best be able to oversee the RCMP's national security activities.
But he immediately calls on the RCMP's criminal intelligence directorate, or another centralized unit within the force, to take responsibility for oversight of information sharing related to national security.
At the same time, the report says the RCMP should ensure it stays within its mandate as a police force when undertaking anti-terrorism work. The Mounties must respect the distinct role of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service in analysing information related to security threats, he adds.
O'Connor recommends the RCMP and CSIS review their policies governing how they supply information to foreign governments, such as Syria, with questionable human rights records.
He also calls on the federal government to develop specific policies and training to address the situation of Canadians detained in countries where there is a credible risk of torture or other harsh treatment.
Alex Neve, the Canadian secretary general of Amnesty International, called the report a "staggering catalogue of wrongdoing."
The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations said the document exposes the "utter incompetence" of the country's security forces.
O'Connor urged the government to register "a formal objection" with both the United States and Syria concerning their treatment of Arar.
The report also suggests Ottawa "recognize the suffering that Mr. Arar has experienced" and consider options more creative than a mere financial damage award.
O'Connor notes Arar's inability to find work since his return from Syria has had a devastating economic and psychological impact on him and his family.
"A compensation agreement could involve anything from an apology to an offer of employment or assistance in obtaining employment."
Arar is suing the police and several federal agencies, a legal action that could help pave the way for compensation.
Finally, O'Connor says the cases of three other Canadians - Almalki, Toronto truck driver Ahmad El Maati and Toronto-area geologist Muayyed Nureddin, all three of whom were also imprisoned in Syria, raise troubling questions about the role of Canadian officials.
He recommends the cases be reviewed through an independent and credible process.
Arar expressed support Monday for getting to the bottom of their stories. "These other men deserve answers."
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