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Two years ago today, Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor released the first of two reports of the public inquiry into the role that Canadian officials played in my abduction and torture in Syria. This first report was personally important for me, as it cleared my name and helped shed light on what went wrong in our national security system to cause my ordeal to happen.

While the first report was mostly about the past, the second report that was issued three months later dealt with the future, and contained recommendations for policy changes aimed at preventing such human-rights violations from happening again. A key recommendation was the creation of an independent and credible oversight mechanism for the RCMP and other agencies involved in national security, such as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Two years later, Canadians still have no credible recourse for reporting human-rights abuses perpetrated by these agencies. While the existing review bodies for the RCMP and CSIS - the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP and the Security Intelligence Review Committee - serve a valuable function, they have failed to prevent these agencies from engaging in activities that violate basic human rights of Canadian citizens - activities such as leaking selective and sometimes false information to the media, interrogating a minor "softened up" by weeks of sleep deprivation, and working against the return of a Canadian citizen to Canada.

The plight of Abousfian Abdelrazik is one case in point: a Canadian citizen who found himself detained and stranded in Sudan based on a request from CSIS. While consular officials from Foreign Affairs appeared to be working for Mr. Abdelrazik's release, CSIS officials were interrogating him in Sudanese custody. Transport Canada has also been involved, suggesting our government should not help this Canadian citizen because it may upset the U.S. government. There is no review body that has the power or mandate to look into the interrelated activities of these departments and agencies and hold them accountable.

An integral part of Judge O'Connor's recommendations on oversight was the creation of an independent body that would routinely review the national security activities and practices of our government departments and agencies to ensure they comply with our laws, policies and international obligations, as well as the basic standards of fairness and human rights expected by Canadian society. With enhanced powers and independence, such a body would have credibility and authority that could serve as an alternative to costly and lengthy litigations. Most important, such a body would help our national security agencies regain the trust and respect they need to do their jobs effectively.

I do not advocate that there be a day-to-day interference with our security programs and personnel, as this would certainly be counterproductive. But it is clear that we require some process by which official and unofficial policies adopted by our police and security agencies are monitored and evaluated continuously, so that appropriate actions can be taken to prevent human-rights violations before they occur.

Successive governments have understandably spent hundreds of millions of dollars on bolstering our security, but they have spent little on protecting our rights from the potential abuses that may take place due to the expanding powers granted to our national security agencies. Such extraordinary powers demand extraordinary oversight. Without it, we can look forward to more of the same: steady erosion of our human rights, and dwindling respect and trust for our national security agencies.

Maher Arar, falsely accused of terrorist ties, was paid $10.5-million in compensation by Ottawa for its complicity in identifying him to U.S. counterterrorist agents.