MPs to call for compensation for tortured Canadians: report
Last Updated: Thursday, June 18, 2009 | 8:07 AM ET
CBC News
Abdullah Almalki, right, Muayyed Nureddin, centre, and Ahmad El Maati, left. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)A parliamentary committee is set to recommend that Canada compensate and apologize to three Arab-Canadian men who were jailed and tortured in Syria, said a report Thursday.
The House of Commons public safety committee will issue a report Thursday urging the federal government to formally apologize to Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin, said the Canadian Press.
The committee report will also recommend the government move forward with plans to improve oversight and review of federal security agencies.
Conservative members of the public safety committee will release a minority report dissenting from the recommendations, said Canadian Press.
Almalki, El Maati and Nureddin were all accused of having links to al-Qaeda. They maintain they were imprisoned and tortured in Syria and that their interrogators told them information about them was provided by the RCMP and CSIS. They deny any links to al-Qaeda.
In a 2008 report that looked into their detentions, former Supreme Court of Canada justice Frank Iacobucci concluded the three men were tortured and the actions of Canadian officials contributed indirectly to the torture of the three men.
Iacobucci looked into whether their detentions resulted from the actions of CSIS, the RCMP and the department of Foreign Affairs and whether Canadian consular officials acted appropriately in the cases.
According to the report, the actions of the RCMP and CSIS indirectly led to the torture of El Maati; "two actions of the RCMP" indirectly led to the torture of Almalki; certain instances of information sharing by CSIS and RCMP officials indirectly led to the torture of Nureddin.
The Conservatives have consistently said that since the three are suing the federal government it would be inappropriate to address the question of an apology.
Arar comparison
Their cases compare to that of Maher Arar, who received more than $10 million in federal compensation after he was imprisoned in Syria for a year. An inquiry exonerated the Syrian-born Arar and concluded the RCMP passed misleading, inaccurate and unfair information to American officials that likely led to his arrest and deportation.
El Maati, a Toronto truck driver, was arrested in 2001 while in Damascus to attend his wedding. He was later transferred to Egypt, where he spent 26 months in prison. According to Iacobucci's report, the RCMP and CSIS described El Maati as linked to al-Qaeda and the group's leader, Osama bin Laden.
Nureddin was detained in Syria in December 2003 after crossing the border from Iraq. The Toronto geologist was held for 34 days and released. The inquiry report concluded CSIS and the RCMP shared information about Nureddin's suspected involvement in terrorist activities with foreign agencies.
The RCMP also shared its belief that Almalki was linked to al-Qaeda with foreign agencies, wrote Iacobucci. Almalki, an Ottawa communications engineer, was arrested in Syria in 2002 and held for 22 months.
With files from The Canadian Press
