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OTTAWA – A former senior official in Canada’s foreign ministry says there were fears two decades ago that Montreal man Abousfian Abdelrazik might end up being jailed for suspected terrorism in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Daniel Livermore, who was director general in the department’s security and intelligence office, testified Wednesday in Federal Court in Abdelrazik’s civil lawsuit against Ottawa over his alleged imprisonment and torture in Sudan.
Sudanese-born Abdelrazik became a Canadian citizen in the 1990s and was arrested during a 2003 visit to his native country to see his ailing mother.
Abdelrazik, who denies involvement in terrorism, says he was tortured during two periods in custody by the Sudanese intelligence agency.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service officers visited him in custody in October 2003.
Livermore told the court of attempts in 2004 to get Abdelrazik to fly home from Khartoum via Germany on commercial flights.
He recalled fears in Canada’s foreign ministry that Abdelrazik’s trip could be cut short because of the US no-fly list and he could end up in an American military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
The Americans were “quite concerned” about Abdelrazik’s case and did not want him to return to Canada, Livermore said.
There was a “profound disagreement” between CSIS and Canada’s foreign ministry over whether Abdelrazik should return, Livermore said.
“CSIS continued to express to us the view that he is a dangerous terrorist.”
Abdelrazik, 62, is suing the Canadian government, alleging that officials arranged for his arbitrary detention, encouraged his detention by Sudanese authorities and actively prevented his return to Canada for several years.
The suit also names Lawrence Cannon, the Conservative foreign minister between October 2008 and May 2011.
Federal lawyers argue that Abdelrazik is the author of his own misfortune, saying that Canada did not encourage Sudan to detain him or abuse him, or create a risk that these things could happen.
Abdelrazik’s second release from Sudanese custody came in July 2006. However, his inclusion on the UN security watch list complicated his efforts to return to Canada.
In response to an inquiry by Canada’s foreign ministry, CSIS and the RCMP said in November 2007 that neither agency had current and substantial information to support Abdelrazik’s continued listing.
In December 2007, Maxime Bernier, then minister of foreign affairs, submitted a request to a UN committee to remove Abdelrazik from the list. However, the committee did not agree.
Bernier, foreign minister between August 2007 and May 2008, told the court on Wednesday that “it is a matter of concern to me” to hear a suggestion that Sudan had detained Abdelrazik at Canada’s request.
“I wanted to know more about it,” said Bernier, who later left the Conservatives and now leads the Canadian People’s Party.
He noted that Abdelrazik had not been charged with anything, and that Canadians enjoyed the protection of the Charter of Rights.
In March 2008, Deepak Obhrai, who was the parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs, met Abdelrazik in Sudan together with Canadian foreign ministry officials.
According to an agreed statement of facts in the case, Abdelrazik told them that the Sudanese authorities had tortured him. He lifted his shirt to show marks on his elbow, stomach and back which were allegedly caused by the abuse.
In March 2009, Abdelrazik got a ticket to Canada for the following month. However, he was refused an emergency passport.
Abdelrazik returned to Canada in June 2009 after a judge ruled that Ottawa had violated his constitutional rights by refusing to issue him the travel document.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on October 30, 2024.
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