CAIRO: Three men, Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin, who were tortured in Syria and Egypt over a decade ago, will find out on Thursday whether the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) will hear their case whereby the men are suing the Canadian federal government for being complicit with their detention and subsequent torture. The men say that the Canadian government is hiding behind Section 38 of the Canada Evidence Act, which allows the government to withhold information under the guise of national security measures. “It is very important for our society because we need to hold our government officials to account in a democracy. They keep on trying to hide from us, the terrible policies, the horrible practices they were engaged in,” Almalki told the press. “It's critical for us to know this, if we want to hold public servants to account.” A lower Federal Court of Appeal previously ruled that information about their cases could not be released under these terms; however, the men have now approached Canada's highest court with the appeal. However, in 2008 an inquiry led by former Canadian Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci announced conclusively that Canadian officials were likely to be complicit with the torture of the three men. According to Iacobucci, Canadian officials shared unfounded information with the Syrian and Egyptian governments, claiming that the men were extremists. All three men were abused by Syrian officials, while El Maati was additionally tortured in Egypt. The men deny all charges against them. The men's lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to hear the case in a secret hearing, allowed by Section 38 laws, in order to protect the sensitivity of the case and national security efforts, while still addressing the need for justice for the men If the SCC agrees to hear the case, it will likely take place next fall. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/gw92j Tags: featured, Supreme Court of Canada, Torture Section: Egypt, Human Rights, Latest News, North America, Syria
