Hassan Almrei spent seven years in a Canadian prison without being charged. Mahmoud Jaballah did six years, and is still under house arrest in Toronto. Neither of them was ever informed of the evidence against them; both were apprehended using a draconian, Cold War–era immigration tool known as a security certificate.

In The Secret Trial 5—screening for free at the Vancouver Public Library’s central branch on Saturday (October 18) as part of this year’s annual Amnesty International Film Festival—both Jaballah and Almrei go on-camera to talk about their Kafkaesque ordeal. As does Adil Charkaoui, who spent six years fighting the Canadian government until he was exonerated in a Federal Court decision in 2009, and Mohamed Harkat, who faces deportation to Algeria after losing his battle. (A fifth man under house arrest, Mohammad Zeki Mahjoub, didn’t participate in the film.)

Even with Charkaoui’s victory, it’s a horrifying story. One suspects that the debate over the constitutionality of security certificates will be set aside as Canada escalates its role in the war against ISIS—making The Secret Trial 5, as Amnesty’s Don Wright told the Straight, “extremely relevant”.

“And now we’re again going to be offered this idea that we need to violate human rights in order to have security for a larger number of people,” he said. “And we always take issue with that proposal.”

For the full lineup of films taking place Friday and Saturday (October 17 and 18), including FC Rwanda and Miners Shot Down, please visit www.amnestyvancouver.org/.