By ESTANISLAO OZIEWICZ
Globe and Mail
Wednesday, September 19, 2001 – Print Edition, Page A1
Men with links to certain Muslim countries and a scientific or aviation background face tougher questioning at the border as Canadian authorities try to identify possible terrorists.
An internal bulletin, obtained by The Globe and Mail, instructs border guards to pay close attention to people who have spent time in Pakistan, Afghanistan or 14 other countries that are regarded as "zones of conflict or terrorist training centres."
The profiling bulletin, in response to the suicide-pilot hijackings that caught the world by surprise last week, is also intended to help block potential attacks involving nuclear, chemical or germ weapons.
Especially suspect are:
Those with aviation experience or training and those who have applied to take coursesin flying multiengine aircraft;Border guards are being told to be extra cautious in examining those who have worked at chemical or nuclear plants "or who have been involved in fields related to atomic research or other sensitive sectors such as weapons manufacturing, including biological and chemical weapons."Those with university or technical-school backgrounds in engineering, computers, chemistry or physics;
Scientists and technicians in the fields of nuclear energy, defence or communications.
The bulletin -- labelled Protected, Canadian Eyes Only, For Official Eyes Only -- has been issued to all Canadian air, land and marine ports of entry.
It is the first inside look at how Canada's 570 port-of-entry immigration officers and 2,500 customs officers are expected to provide the extra vigilance demanded of them in the wake of history's most effective terrorist attack.
"In order to assist frontline officers in screening individuals seeking entry to Canada a list of indicators has been developed. Officers are reminded that these indicators should be used on a case-by-case basis and should not alone be used to bar the admission of persons to Canada."
The tough new guidelines could add to delays at border crossings, where traffic has been slowed as guards pay much closer attention to travellers after last week's attacks in New York and Washington.
The bulletin is in two parts, the first listing "the employment/background characteristics that may identify terrorists" and the second listing "the travel routes and patterns that may identify Islamic terrorists."
The first includes those with travel documents from countries accused of sponsoring terrorism and non-citizens of Algeria carrying Algerian passports and so-called Algerian courtesy passports, issued to Palestinians and others.
The bulletin says that Islamic terrorists are usually males between 16 and 50. It says the most common travel route of those with possible terrorist links is from their home countries to either Pakistan or Afghanistan.
"From there," it says, "they may travel to the various jihad [holy war] conflict zones or for selected terrorist operations abroad or back to their home countries to wait for instructions."
The alert lists 16 countries of concern, almost all having majority Muslim populations, which it describes as having the "zones of conflict or terrorist training centres."
Border guards are asked to be especially careful in examining anyone who has travelled to at least two of the following locations:
Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Russia (Chechnya and Dagestan regions), Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
Huguette Shouldice of the Immigration Department said the department would not discuss a leaked document.
"And we're not going to discuss our strategies in trying to stop terrorists. That would be totally inappropriate. It gives the terrorists exactly what they want, to know exactly what it is we're looking for."
More rigorous examinations by profiling of people from certain countries can be controversial, but Ms. Shouldice would not say whether some groups might view the bulletin as offensive. "The only thing that I can say is that this is not the only information that we give our officers at the ports of entry.
"This happens to be in response to the situation that just occurred last week. There is all kinds of other information and we can't discuss what people are looking for."
After the 1996 midair explosion of TWA Flight 800 over the Atlantic en route to Paris, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration adopted an automated security system called CAPPS, for computer-assisted passenger prescreening system. It went into effect in 1998 for all domestic airports and U.S. airlines overseas. Officials say the system is not based on race, ethnicity, religion or gender.
According to U.S. news media, a 1998-2000 report by the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee Washington, D.C., disagreed, citing nearly a dozen cases in which Arab travellers were detained and searched for hours in front of other passengers.
"The disproportionate number of complaints made by Arab-Americans indicates that profiling either targets Arab-Americans, or, at the very least, is having a disparate impact on them," the report said.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said in June the system would be audited. "Safety is the Department of Transportation's highest priority," he said at the time. "But we must also protect the civil rights of airline passengers."
Border watch Employment and background characteristics that may identify terrorists:
- Persons with aviation experience or training;Particular notice should be given to any male between the ages of 16 and 50 who has travelled to at least two of these locations:
- Individuals with travel documents originating in countries that sponsor terrorism;
- Individuals with university or technical school education in engineering, computers, chemistry or physics;
- Scientists and technicians in the nuclear-energy, defence or communication fields;
- Persons working or who have worked at chemical or nuclear facilities;
- Non-nationals with Algerian passports issued at Sidi M'hamed and Algerian Courtesy Passports.
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Azerbaijan
- Bosnia
- Georgia
- Kazakhstan
- Lebanon
- Pakistan - Russia (Chechnya and Dagestan regions)
- Saudi Arabia
- Sudan
- Tajikistan
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan
- Yemen