A/HRC/13/23/Add.2 and police mechanisms, including the Police Ethics Commissioner and the Police Ethics Committee, which were established upon the recommendation of the Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission. However, police representatives acknowledged that the process currently fails to have the confidence of the community. 59. Work is under way to improve the system of independent investigations, providing additional guarantees regarding impartiality. 60. The action plan of the government of Quebec, entitled “Diversity: An Added Value”, contains measures focused on preventing discrimination and racial profiling within Quebec police forces, including education and measures to hire staff from cultural communities. On 19 October, 2009, the government of Ontario established the Office of the Independent Police Review Director as an arms-length agency to accept, process and oversee the investigation of public complaints against Ontario’s police. British Columbia has a Diversity Committee that examines policing issues. 61. There is currently no requirement for ethnically disaggregated data relating to the criminal justice system, including on stop-and-search rates or arrests. Between 1994 and 2004, African Canadian inmates held in federal prisons comprised approximately 6 per cent of inmates while African Canadians comprised only 2 per cent of the population.22 The African Canadian Legal Clinic expressed serious concerns regarding disproportionately high incarceration rates of African Canadian women, many on drug-related offences. They stressed that solutions must be considered in the wider context of social inequality and poverty. E. Profiling under national security legislation 62. The security certificates process is based on provisions within the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (2001). Certificates can be issued to non-citizens as a preliminary step to detain and deport individuals on national security grounds. The independent expert met an individual who had been detained for considerable periods under security certificate provisions. He described his treatment as discriminatory and his detention as based only upon his profile as a man of Arab ethnicity. Numerous civil society groups claim the powers authorized under these laws are used indiscriminately, are targeted against Muslims and Arabs, resulting in discriminatory impact, and serve to re-enforce negative stereotypes. 63. The Government notes that the security certificate process is a legal immigration proceeding and not a criminal proceeding23 and that it is neither arbitrary nor indiscriminate. Its aim is to remove non-Canadians who pose a serious threat to national security or public safety. Certificates are issued in exceptional circumstances24 and with the approval of two Ministers. Security certificates are referred to a federal court judge who determines whether the application is reasonable. The federal Government is legally empowered to use classified information in closed proceedings, however, in 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that additional safeguards were required. In 2008, the Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (certificate and special advocate) and to make a consequential amendment to another Act introduced “special advocates” to protect the interests of subjects during closed proceedings. The legislation requires regular reviews of 22 23 24 GE.10-11860 S. Trevethan and C.J. Rastin, “A profile of visible minority offenders in the federal Canadian correctional system” (Ottawa, Correctional Service Canada, 2004). Available from www.cscscc.gc.ca/text/rsrch/reports/r144/r144-eng.shtml#il. See Public Safety Canada website www.publicsafety.gc.ca/prg/ns/seccert-eng.aspx. Since 1991, 27 individuals have been subject to proceedings. 15