Testimony of Dr. Colin Cameron concerning psychiatric evaluation of Security Certificate Detainee Mohamed Harkat By YayaCanada OTTAWA - October 25, 2005:  Today was the second day of Mohamed Harkat's bail hearing in Supreme Court, Judge François Lemieux presiding.  The following is a brief report, to the best of my recollection, of the afternoon session where testimony was given by Dr. Colin Cameron who carried out a psychiatric evaluation of Harkat. Dr. Cameron reported extensive experience treating and evaluating correctional inmates, several of whom had been scheduled for deportation. He stated that in the case of Harkat he followed his usual procedure of eliciting conversational information for the bulk of the interview, and then, in the final hour, administering standardized psychometric testing to assess such things as personality, abilities and intelligence, and to see if certain statements made by Harkat in conversation were confirmed by the test. Dr. Cameron found Harkat's responses to be not only consistent when asked the same question more than once over the three hour session, but also borne out by the testing. One indication of the genuine nature of Harkat's answers were that he could readily give examples when requested to. Harkat was also consistent in his responses to the critical aspects of Judge Eleanor Dawson's deportation decision. At the outset he was a bit guarded, which Dr. Cameron described as normal for anyone being asked personal questions by a stranger.  In addition, said Cameron, Harkat's "personality style" is to always appear cheerful and to under report his negative feelings and circumstances.  He is not the type of person to be "in your face with his symptoms", Cameron continued, but as he gradually grew more comfortable he admitted to feeling "down, sad, lost, powerless". He had classic symptoms of depression - poor concentration (example: having to read a paragraph in the newspaper several times in order to comprehend it), feeling the world is conspiring against one, missing his wife and family and wanting to get back to working and living a normal life, crying at night, loss of weight. He also had classic symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) evidenced by "night terrors" - waking suddenly in a sweat with the heart racing, yet having no dream recall.  There were remembered nightmares as well, and visions of torture so real that his responses were "somatic" - he actually felt his nails being pulled out, for instance. Dr. Cameron explained that there is a Type 1 form of PTSD which arises out of a single incident, and there is a Type 2 that is ongoing.  Harkat falls into the Type 2 category. Incarceration in a "supermax" facility alone, said Cameron, qualifies as a traumatic event for many inmates and can bring on symptoms of PTSD, but Harkat also lives with the fear of being returned to Algeria where he believes he will be tortured and killed.  His condition is worsened by being separated from his family, receiving only the minimal support allowed by his circumstances. Dr. Cameron also made use of the standard "Psychopathy Check List" -  PCL-R (the R means "revised") - that helps to assess the existence of sociopathic traits. From Medicine.net: Definition of Antisocial personality disorder - A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others and inability or unwillingness to conform to what are considered to be the norms of society. The disorder involves a history of chronic antisocial behavior that begins before the age of 15 and continues into adulthood. The disorder is manifested by a pattern of irresponsible and antisocial behavior as indicated by academic failure, poor job performance, illegal activities, recklessness, and impulsive behavior. Symptoms may include dysphoria, an inability to tolerate boredom, feeling victimized, and a diminished capacity for intimacy. Antisocial personality disorder, also known as psychopathic personality or sociopathic personality often brings a person into conflict with society as a consequence of a pattern of behavior that is amoral and unethical. Complications that might arise from having this disorder include: frequent imprisonment for unlawful behavior, alcoholism and drug abuse. Dr. Cameron volunteered that "psychiatry is not a science" but that the results of the psychopathy testing are widely considered to be reasonably reliable.  He said that the average prison inmate scores at 24 on this test, some others at 30, but Harkat scored 5, and this was mainly due to the fact that he once had a problem with gambling.  As to the other indicators of sociopathic personality, Harkat consistently displayed "pro-social" attributes. He took it upon himself to solve his gambling problem by asking to be banned from the casino.  He doesn't drink or use drugs.  He is capable of empathy - for instance, he doesn't want to worry his aging parents who live in Algeria, and therefore tries to keep from them the gravity of his situation. He keeps a cheerful appearance so as not to burden others with his problems.  He went to university on a high school scholarship. He has a good work history: he was employed for 5 years by Petro Canada, and at the time of his arrest was successfully managing three part time jobs. When he came to Canada he took "English as a Second Language" (ESL) courses to improve his communication skills.  He is involved in a committed relationship. Defence counsel asked for Dr. Cameron's opinion on whether or not Harkat would abide by rigid bail conditions, but counsel for CSIS objected that Dr. Cameron was not qualified to answer that.  Judge Lemieux interjected that Dr. Cameron should leave the room so the matter could be discussed. It seemed that CSIS was perceiving a different question than was being asked; perhaps they thought that Cameron was being asked to give an opinion on whether or not Harkat was a potential terrorist.  But the question was whether or not he thought Harkat would respect the terms of his release.  The Judge wanted to hear the answer to that, and so it was decided that Dr. Cameron should be invited back in and that defence counsel should rephrase the question. "Within the limits of your expertise, is it your opinion that Mohamed Harkat will abide by rigid bail conditions?" defence counsel asked.  Cameron responded in the affirmative and added that Harkat is an intelligent, responsible person who is sufficiently aware of the negative consequences of failing to meet his bail conditions. It was now time for the CSIS lawyers to cross-examine Dr. Cameron.  They made him say again that psychiatry is not an exact science.  They wanted to know if he was the one who decided that the interview with Harkat would last 3 hours.  Dr. Cameron replied that it was the maximum allowed by the detention centre. Did he think it was enough time?  Much less time had often been allotted to him for testing of other inmates. Wouldn't Harkat still be depressed even if he were out on bail?  Quite possibly, because of the deportation threat and the lack of freedom, but he would have more family support and his PTSD symptoms would likely be triggered less often. Would you agree that not all criminals are psychopathic?  Yes. Would you agree that not all violent crimes are committed by psychopaths?  Yes. Wouldn't it have been preferable to have had other information than that told to you by Harkat?  Extra information is always helpful.   Does your expertise include what constitutes a danger to the security of Canada?  No. It was a short cross-examination wherein CSIS made their point that only they are in a position to have an opinion on whether or not Harkat is a danger to us all. This is because only they, and eventually the judge, are allowed to see the information on which they base their opinion. I'm reminded of seeing the list of questions defence counsel submitted to CSIS and how many of them were marked "NS" - "National Security".  One of the questions was, "Does CSIS know whether or not Mohamed Harkat speaks French?"  Their answer was  "NS". Comment: From Stephen Samuel of BC Green October 26, 2005 Arguments should include the fact that Harkatt has not been convicted of any crime, and he should, at the very least, be allowed far more freedom and access than that which is normally given to a prisoner -- even if this entails extra cost to the prison system. YYC:  Thanks very much for this.  I do seem to recall that Dr. Cameron mentioned Harkat's lack of a criminal record - and in fact being detained without actually being charged - in a response to a question from the judge about Harkat's evaluation in relation to other inmates, but I am unfortunately not able to recall it sufficiently accurately to report it.  If anyone else does remember that, please do write. yayacanada.com Main Page - "Abolish the Security Certificate"