Canada inquires into detention of its citizens in Egypt and Syria

30/10/2008

The detention abroad of Australian citizens David Hicks and Mamdou Habib has been the subject of considerable comment by the legal profession and the media. Similarly, in Canada, controversy has erupted over the detention and or torture of its citizens in Guantanamo Bay, Egypt and Syria.�The Canadian government has released the final report of an internal inquiry into�its responsibility in relation to the detention and torture of three�of its�citizens as a result of their alleged terrorist connections.

The report by the Honourable Frank Iacobucci QC, begins with a commissioner's statement, which notes that:

At its core, this Inquiry involves the appropriate response of our democracy in Canada to the pernicious phenomenon of terrorism, and ensuring that, in protecting the security of our country, we respect the human rights and freedoms that so many have fought to achieve.

This respect for rights and freedoms is a constraint on a democracy that terrorists do not share. Indeed by their very actions they repudiate these rights and freedoms. For the terrorist, the end justifies the means. A democracy, however, must justify the means to any end—including, in this case, its response to terrorism. Canada must choose means to deal with terrorism that are� governed by the rule of law and respect for our cherished values of freedom and due process. This is a balance that is easy to describe but difficult to attain. However, difficulty of achievement cannot be an excuse for not trying to achieve that equilibrium.

Visit the�inquiry's web site to�learn more about the its terms of reference, its key�findings or to download the final report (n.b. the report is 544 pages in length)

30 October 2008