Expired warrant used to hold detainee
Document that had lapsed in 2006 presented in court
The legitimacy of Canada Border Services Agency’s decision to send an immigration detainee to maximumsecurity jail — rather than a lessrestrictive Immigration Holding Centre — was called into question Wednesday as the detainee’s lawyer challenged immigration officials to explain how the decision was made.
Among the factors border agency investigator Dale Lewis listed as grounds to place Ebrahim Toure, who has never been charged or convicted of a crime in Canada, in a maximum-security provincial jail was the fact that he was a “fugitive of justice” because there was an outstanding U.S. warrant for his arrest.
“He’s wanted on a warrant,” Lewis said under cross-examination, adding that this was the main reason Toure has been classified as a “high risk” detainee and therefore ineligible to be placed in the Immigration Holding Centre, a minimum-security facility intended specifically for immigration detainees.
“Is this the warrant?” asked Jared Will, Toure’s lawyer. “Yes,” Lewis said. Will asked Lewis to turn the warrant over and read the back. “It says it expires May 17, 2006.” The warrant is regularly referenced at Toure’s monthly detention reviews at the Immigration and Refugee Board. Only on Wednesday was it revealed to be expired.
A 46-year-old failed refugee claimant from Gambia, Toure has spent more than 41⁄ years in a maximum
2 security jail because Canada has been has been unable to deport him. He is arguing in Superior Court that his ongoing and indefinite detention violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The use of provincial jails to house federal immigration detainees — who are not charged with any crime, but end up treated the same as sen- tenced criminals and those awaiting trial — is one of the most controversial aspects of Canada’s immigration detention system.
The Liberal government has admitted it is a problem and committed to “sharply” reducing the use of provincial jails for immigration detainees, who are detained not as a form of punishment, but solely to ensure deportation can be carried out.
The average length of immigration detention in Canada is just a few weeks, but there is no limit on how long someone can be detained and some cases — such as Toure’s — drag on for months or years. Most longterm detainees, the Star has found, are held in jail.
Toure’s mental health was also discussed Wednesday, with psychiatrist Dr. Donald Payne, who examined Toure at the request of his lawyers, testifying that Toure suffers from “major problems” with his mental and psychiatric health, including visual and auditory hallucinations. Toure, who was profiled earlier this year as part of a Star investigation into immigration detention, said he did not have any mental health problems prior to being detained.
The case is scheduled to conclude Thursday, at which time Justice Alfred O’Marra will take an indefinite number of days or weeks to decide whether or not Toure should be released.