Issam Al Yamani is a Palestinian living in Canada alleged by the Canadian government to have ties with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, many near the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary socialist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization, the largest being Fatah. As of 2015 the PFLP boycotts participation in the PLO Executive Committee and the Palestinian National Council.
Born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, Al Yamani legally emigrated to Canada via Jordan in 1985, at which time he was granted permanent resident status. [1] In 1988, he applied for Canadian citizenship. [2] During this time he became the subject of an investigation by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). A report conducted in 1992 through Canada's Immigration Act authored by the Solicitor General and Minister of Immigration alleged that Al Yamani was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The report was sent to the Security Intelligence Review Committee, (SIRC). As a result of the report a security certificate was created for Al Yamani in 1993.
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab country in Western Asia, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and Israel and Palestine to the west. The Dead Sea is located along its western borders and the country has a small coastline to the Red Sea in its extreme south-west, but is otherwise landlocked. Jordan is strategically located at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe. The capital, Amman, is Jordan's most populous city as well as the country's economic, political and cultural centre.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service is Canada's primary national intelligence service. It is responsible for collecting, analysing, reporting and disseminating intelligence on threats to Canada's national security, and conducting operations, covert and overt, within Canada and abroad. It also reports to and advises the Government of Canada on national security issues and situations that threaten the security of the nation.
The Security Intelligence Review Committee is an independent agency of the government of Canada that is empowered to oversee and review the operations of Canada's security service, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), and investigate complaints against CSIS. SIRC was established in 1984 as a result of the reorganization of Canadian intelligence that also saw the creation of CSIS. This reorganization was recommended by the McDonald Commission investigating the former security service of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which was found to have engaged in illegal activities.
Al Yamani then applied for and was granted a judicial review of his case. Justice Mackay agreed with Al Yamani's Charter-based argument that a portion of the legislation used to charge him contravened his right to freedom of association. Based on this ruling the first security certificate against Yamani was dismissed.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in Canada often simply the Charter, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982. The Charter guarantees certain political rights to Canadian citizens and civil rights of everyone in Canada from the policies and actions of all areas and levels of the government. It is designed to unify Canadians around a set of principles that embody those rights. The Charter was signed into law by Queen Elizabeth II of Canada on April 17, 1982, along with the rest of the Act.
In 1997 the SIRC issued a second certificate, which was also ended by the judge's ruling that their case had ignored key evidence on the accused's behalf.
In 2000 Al Yamani was informed that security proceedings against him would be dropped, but the Minister of Immigration began an inquiry in consideration of changes to the legislation that had occurred in 1993.
Al Yamani's attempt at a stay of the charges was denied in 2001, and a new application for his removal was begun shortly after, under regular immigration proceedings rather than the security certificate provision. Most recently a deportation order was issued for his removal on April 20, 2006. It has yet to be executed. [3] [4]
