Amnesty International and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association wrote to the Government of Canada to express serious concerns with respect to recent revelations regarding the role played by Canadian officials in the extradition of Canadian citizen Hassan Diab to France in 2014, where he was held without charge or trial for more than three years before being cleared of any possible charges and allowed to return to his wife and two young children in Ottawa in January 2018.
The BCCLA and Amnesty International urged the government to appoint an independent commissioner to conduct a thorough and public inquiry into Dr. Diab’s case, ensuring that the person appointed has full access to and powers to compel disclosure of any and all relevant information. This independent inquiry should consider, among other things:
- The actions of Canadian government lawyers throughout the extradition process,
including the appropriateness of the assistance provided to the French government , the
truthfulness of statements about the progress of the case that were made in Court and
the reasons for decisions not to share exculpatory evidence with Dr. Diab’s legal team. - Possible reforms to the Extradition Act to address any statutory limitations or
weaknesses that allowed this extradition to go ahead on an evidentiary basis that the
presiding judge himself described as highly problematic. - Whether Canadian officials acted quickly enough and with sufficient diligence as
concerns emerged about Dr. Diab’s lengthy period of detention without charge in
France. - Appropriate redress to Dr. Diab and his family, including an official apology and
appropriate compensation, for actions or inaction of Canadian officials that may have
contributed to the human rights violations and miscarriage of justice he experienced.
