Canadians reject anti-terror laws

[Leiff]

The Canadian parliament has voted against renewing two controversial anti-terror measures that had been adopted after the 11 September attacks.

The measures allowed suspects to be detained without charge for three days and could compel witnesses to testify.

The minority Conservative government accused the opposition Liberals of being soft on terror.

The vote comes days after the Supreme Court revoked a law allowing foreign suspects to be detained indefinitely.

Neither measure has ever been used since they were brought in by the then ruling Liberals after the attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.

To allay human rights concerns, the measures were given a five-year limit and expire on 1 March.

The Conservative Party has a minority of 125 of parliament's 308 seats. Prime Minister Stephen Harper's motion to renew the measures lost by 159 votes to 124.

On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that a system allowing the government to indefinitely detain foreign-born terror suspects or deport them violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6403241.stm