MAJOR NEWS: Canada Scraps Refugee Agreement w/US Because It Tortures, Does Not Obey Int'l Law

[See the Jurist article referenced below for many links, including
do***ent PDFs (links are also below). This is a Federal Canadian court
decision, so anything higher would have to be their supreme court,
apparently. Two additional news stories follow The Jurst post.

The Canadian judge's decision says the US doesn't meet international
protect requirements or conventions against torture, so they have
struck down agreements with the US on how to handle refugees (and
presumably political asylum seekers).  This could be EXTREMELY
significant, especially for people who arrived in the US from a third
country, realize they screwed up big time, and want to get the hell
out.  See the links in this article for more.  It's not clear if this
will have any effect on US citizens who apply for political asylum,
including military resisters.  OPINIONS/REACTIONS FROM  INT'L LAW
ATTORNEYS WOULD BE WELCOME!

It's also not clear if this will affect the very tight cooperation
currently in place between Canadian customs, immigration and border
authorities, the RCMP, and the Yanqui Federales like CIA, ICE and
Homeland Hysteria. Something definitely to keep an eye on.

Please note nothing will change until at least Jan 14, 2008, the
deadline set by the judge for comments/appeals by either the US or
Canada.

NY Transfer]

The Jurist - Nov 30, 2007
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/11/canada-court-strikes-down-refugee.php

Canada court strikes down refugee agreement with US

by Katerina Ossenova

[JURIST] The Federal Court of Canada [1;official website] Thursday
struck down a refugee agreement [2;judgment, PDF] between Canada and the
US, noting that the US does not meet international refugee protection
requirements or respect international conventions against torture.

Justice Michael Phelan [3;official profile] essentially nullified the
2004 Safe Third Country Agreement [4;text], which barred foreign
refugees who first arrived in the US from seeking refugee status in
Canada and vice versa. 

Phelan noted that the US has not been compliant
with the Refugee Convention [5] or the UN Convention Against Torture
[6; texts]. The court also held that the agreement discriminates against
refugees based on how they first arrived in Canada and thus violates
Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms [7;text].

The nullification of the agreement will likely result in Canada
processing thousands more refugees each year. The US and Canadian
governments have until January 14 to file an appeal. 

[1]http://cas-ncr-nter03.cas-satj.gc.ca/****tal/page/****tal/fc_cf_en/Index

[2]http://cas-ncr-nter03.cas-satj.gc.ca/rss/IMM-7818-05.pdf

[3]http://cas-ncr-nter03.cas-satj.gc.ca/****tal/page/****tal/fc_cf_en/Phelan

[4]http://www.uscis.gov/****tal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=4dab936142dee010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=4dab936142dee010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD

[5]http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/o_c_ref.htm

[6]http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/h_cat39.htm

[7]http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter/

CTV News has more. [SEE BELOW]
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071130/refugees_071130/20071130?hub=TopStories

The Montreal Gazette has additional coverage. [SEE BELOW]
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=132814

                             ***

CTV News - Nov 30, 2007
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071130/refugees_071130/20071130?hub=TopStories

Federal court strikes down refugee agreement

CTV.ca News Staff

The United States is not a safe country for refugees, the Federal Court
said Thursday as it ruled that Canada will no longer have the right to
turn back asylum seekers at the border.

In the surprise judgment, the court found that Safe Third Country
Agreement breaches the rights of asylum seekers under the United Nation
Refugee Convention or the Convention Against Torture.

The three-year-old agreement denies refugees who have landed first in
the U.S. the right to later seek protection in Canada, and vice versa.
It has allowed Canada to automatically send refugee claimants at the
border back to the United States. There, they are usually either
detained or de****ted.

Activists have long complained that the agreement is unfair and
unconstitutional because it requires refugee claims in Canada and the
U.S. to be processed in the country where asylum seekers first land.

The court agreed that the agreement discriminates against refugees
based on their method of arrival in Canada.

Citing the example of Maher Arar, Justice Michael Phelan also noted
that the U.S. has not been compliant with the Refugee Convention or CAT
(Convention Against Torture).

"... The United States' policies and practices do not meet the
conditions set down for authorizing Canada to enter into a STCA,"
Phelan wrote in his 126-page decision.

"The U.S. does not meet the Refugee Convention requirements nor the
[UN] Convention Against Torture prohibition (the Maher Arar case being
one example). Further, the STCA does not comply with the relevant
provisions of the Charter."

Arar was the Canadian who was stopped by U.S. officials in 2002 at a
New York air****t and sent to the Middle East to be interrogated as an
alleged al Qaeda suspect.

Thursday's Federal Court ruling will essentially nullify the Safe Third
Country Agreement, with a final court order expected early next year.

It is also likely to result in Canada having to process thousands more
refugee claimants each year.

But for now, the STCA remains in effect, says a spokesperson with
Citizen****p and Immigration Canada.

The court has given both parties until Jan. 14 to make and respond to
submissions for an appeal.

                              ***

Montreal Gazette via The National Post - Nov 29, 2007
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=132814

Federal court strikes down third-country refugee agreement

Judge argues that U.S. don't meet refugee protection requirements

by Elizabeth Thompson
CanWest News Service 

OTTAWA -- The Federal Court of Canada has struck down an agreement that
barred thousands of refugees from seeking refugee status in Canada,
saying the U.S. does not meet international refugee protection
requirements, nor does it respect international conventions against
torture.

In a landmark 124-page ruling made public late Thursday afternoon,
Justice Michael Phelan struck down the Safe Third Country Agreement,
which had been used to stop prospective refugees from crossing the
Canada-U.S. border, and part of the Immigration and Refugee Protection
regulations which Mr. Phelan said violates Canada's Charter of Rights.
In addition to "acting unreasonably" in concluding that the U.S
complied with refugee protection conventions and conventions against
torture, Mr. Phelan said the Canadian government has failed to ensure
the continuing review of the agreement and U.S. practices.

"For the reasons outlined in this judgment, the United States' policies
and practices do not meet the conditions set down for authorizing
Canada to enter into a Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA)," Mr. Phelan
wrote.

"The U.S. does not meet the Refugee Convention requirements nor the
Convention Against Torture prohibition (the Maher Arar case being one
example.) Further, the STCA does not comply with the relevant
provisions of the Charter. Finally, the Canadian government has not
conducted the ongoing review mandated by Parliament despite both the
significant passage of time since the commencement of the STCA and the
evidence as to U.S. practices currently available."

The court pointed to a one-year deadline to file claims in the U.S.,
concluding it was inconsistent with the international conventions
because it increased the chance claimants would be sent back to
countries where they faced danger or torture.

Mr. Phelan also said the U.S. definition of terrorist activities can
include those who never had any intention of contributing to terrorism.

"It is difficult to imagine how the governor in council could have
reasonably concluded that the U.S. complies with the Refugee Convention
when the law allows the exclusion of claimants who involuntarily
provided sup****t to terrorist groups. The terrorist exclusions are
extremely harsh and cast a wide net which will catch many who never
posed a threat. In returning claimants to the U.S. under these
cir***stances, the weight of the evidence is that Canada is exposing
refugees to a serious risk of refoulement (return to danger) and
torture which is contrary to the applicable articles of the Refugee
Convention and the Convention Against Torture."

But while the court struck down the agreement, prospective refugees
won't see any change right away. The court has yet to rule on the
consequences that flow from the ruling and it is also possible that the
ruling will be appealed.

Under the Safe Third Country Agreement, which went into effect on Dec.
29, 2004, refugees who reached Canada or the U.S. were considered to
have already reached a safe country and were generally barred at land
crossings from entering the other country.

At the time, the government said the agreement would help put an end to
the practice of "asylum shopping" by refugees.

However, the agreement earned the ire of refugee advocates from the
very start, who pointed out that Canada's criteria for recognizing
refugees were often quite different than those in the U.S., as was its
treatment of refugees waiting for their cases to be heard.

Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees
which was one of the groups that challenged the agreement, said the
court upheld all of the council's arguments.

Ms. Dench said in the first year of the agreement, the council counted
2,500 fewer refugee claimants from Colombia alone. Previously, Colombia
had been one of the biggest source countries for refugees to Canada.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson's office did not return a phone call
from CanWest News Service seeking comment.

Montreal Gazette
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