Montreal man held by Sudanese officials seemed puzzled by detention, diplomat says

OTTAWA — A Canadian diplomat who visited Abousfian Abdelrazik while in Sudanese custody says the Montreal man told him he did not know why he was being held and that he wanted to return to Canada.

Abdelrazik, who is suing Ottawa over his lengthy ordeal, arrived in Canada as a refugee from Sudan and later became a Canadian citizen.

He was arrested in September 2003 while in his native country to see his ailing mother.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service officers travelled to Sudan the following month to interrogate him about suspected terrorist links.

Abdelrazik, 62, denies involvement in terrorism.

He says he was tortured by Sudanese authorities during two periods of detention, returning to Canada in 2009.

Abdelrazik is suing the Canadian government in Federal Court for $27 million, claiming officials arranged for his arbitrary imprisonment, encouraged his detention by Sudanese authorities and actively obstructed his repatriation to Canada for several years.

Federal lawyers argue Canada did not urge Sudan to keep Abdelrazik in detention or mistreat him, or create a risk that these things might happen.

The civil case was slated to be heard years ago, but concerns over sensitive national security information delayed the proceedings.

In December 2003, David Hutchings, senior official at Canada’s mission in Khartoum at the time, had the first in a series of consular visits with Abdelrazik.

Hutchings testified Monday that Abdelrazik seemed very scared but also glad to see him, the first Canadian official to meet with him other than the CSIS officers weeks earlier.

“I remember he was just absolutely puzzled and mystified. He really had no idea why he was being held. That’s the impression I got,” Hutchings said.

“The second thing that he said was that he just wants to get back to Canada.”

Given Sudan’s reputation for treatment of detainees, Hutchings said one of his concerns was “that there might be mistreatment.”

He said he did not recall Abdelrazik telling him anything about being abused behind bars.

As for what he should do, had been told of torture, “no one gave me any exact instructions as to what my obligations would be,” Hutchings said. “But certainly for me, that would have been a complete game-changer.”

Hutchings said that had he got the impression that Abdelrazik “was being treated badly, I guess I would have made a scene right away.”

“I would have called Ottawa immediately and perhaps gotten some instructions from them as to how I could proceed in that situation.”

According to an agreed statement of facts in the case, Hutchings was told that Abdelrazik was being detained because Canada had requested it.

Hutchings was advised that if Canada wanted him released, it should make a request in writing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 25, 2024.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press