Former foreign ministry official recalls fear Abdelrazik would end up in Guantanamo

OTTAWA — A former senior official at Canada’s foreign ministry says there were fears two decades ago that Montreal man Abousfian Abdelrazik might end up at a prison for suspected terrorists in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Daniel Livermore, who was director general in the department’s security and intelligence bureau, testified Wednesday in Federal Court in Abdelrazik’s civil lawsuit against Ottawa over his detention and alleged torture in Sudan.

The 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 of detention by the Sudanese intelligence agency.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service officers visited him in custody in October 2003.

Livermore told the court of efforts in 2004 to have Abdelrazik fly home from Khartoum via Germany on commercial flights.

He recalled fears in the Canadian foreign ministry that Abdelrazik’s journey might be interrupted due to the U.S. no-fly list and that he could wind up in an American military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

The Americans were “quite concerned” about the Abdelrazik case and did not want him to return to Canada, Livermore said.

There was “profound disagreement” between CSIS and Canada’s foreign ministry over whether Abdelrazik should return, Livermore said.

“CSIS continued to express the view to us that he was a dangerous terrorist.”

Abdelrazik, 62, is suing the Canadian government, claiming officials arranged for his arbitrary imprisonment, encouraged his detention by Sudanese authorities and actively obstructed his repatriation to Canada for several years.

The suit also names Lawrence Cannon, Conservative foreign affairs minister from October 2008 to May 2011.

Federal lawyers argue Abdelrazik was an author of his own misfortune, saying Canada did not urge Sudan to keep him in detention or mistreat him, or create a risk that these things might happen.

Abdelrazik’s second release from Sudanese custody came in July 2006. However, his inclusion on a United Nations security watch list complicated his efforts to return to Canada.

In response to a query from the Canadian foreign ministry, CSIS and the RCMP said in November 2007 that neither agency had current and substantive information to support Abdelrazik’s continued listing.

In December 2007, Maxime Bernier, foreign affairs minister at the time, conveyed a request to a UN committee to have Abdelrazik removed from the list. However, the committee did not agree.

Bernier, foreign minister from August 2007 to May 2008, told the court Wednesday “it was concerning for me” to hear a suggestion the Sudanese had detained Abdelrazik at the request of Canada.

“I wanted to know more about it,” said Bernier, who later left the Conservatives and now leads the People’s Party of Canada.

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 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 Sudanese authorities had tortured him. He lifted up his shirt to show marks on his elbow, stomach and back that he alleged were caused by the abuse.

In March 2009, Abdelrazik obtained a ticket to Canada for the following month. However, he was denied an emergency passport.

Abdelrazik returned to Canada in June 2009 after a judge ruled Ottawa breached his constitutional rights by refusing to give him the travel document.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2024.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press