Haroun M'Barek, a Laval University student deported to Tunisia last Jan. 6 by Immigration Canada has returned to Canada. M'Barek, who was tortured by Tunisian security forces following his arrest soon after his arrival in Tunisia, was sentenced to three years in prison and five years in administrative detention by Tunisian authorities for belonging to an "illegal" organization.

In September, CAUT learned M'Barek had been granted a one-year ministerial permit to allow him to complete his master's degree at Laval and apply for permanent residence. "I hope the Canadian government will now come to his aid in a more permanent fashion and allow him to live here indefinitely," said Warren Allmand, president of Rights & Democracy, one of the human rights groups that lobbied for his release and safe return to Canada.

In 1994, M'Barek requested refugee status from Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board. His request was denied in 1997 as was his later appeal to the federal court. M'Barek also tried and failed to obtain immigrant status on humanitarian grounds, citing safety risks if he returned to Tunisia.

"M'Barek's horrific experiences over the past eight months reveal that he will never be secure in his native country," Allmand said. "The parody of a trial that he was subjected to last February in Tunisia highlights the serious erosion of human rights in that country. It is a situation that should motivate Canada to re-examine its process of analyzing the risks of return for all Tunisian nationals."

The association has sent Citizenship and Immigration Canada a copy of the recommendations of lawyer Nathalie Blais who observed M'Barek's trial in Tunisia. Her observation mission was sponsored by Rights and Democracy, the Civil Liberties Union, Alternatives and the Association pour les droits de la personne au Maghreb. According to Blais, justice does not exist in Tunisia for political opponents. "Numerous reports from Amnesty International and other human rights groups have amply documented the repression that has affected those who, like M'Barek, sympathize with the outlawed Islamic movement, Ennadha, or who have been members of the general federation of students in Tunisia."

Allmand says he hopes the report will help prevent the suffering of other Tunisians who may seek refuge in Canada.