Is Stephen Harper guilty of aiding and abetting war crimes?
Robert Peffers
torture: sources
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — Canadian diplomats in Afghanistan were ordered in 2007 to
hold back information in their reports to Ottawa about the handling of
the prisoners, say defence and foreign affairs sources.
The instruction — issued soon after allegations of torture by Afghan
authorities began appearing in public — was aimed at defusing the
explosive human-rights controversy, said sources who spoke on the
condition of anonymity.
There was a fear that graphic reports, even in censored form, could be
uncovered by opposition parties and the media through access-to-
information laws, leading to revelations that would further erode
already-tenuous public support.
The controversy was seen as “detracting from the narrative” the Harper
government was trying to weave around the mission, said one official.
“It was meant to put on happy face,” he added.
The instruction was passed over the telephone by senior officials in
the Privy Council Office and reinforced in follow-up conferences
between Ottawa and Kabul, as well Ottawa and Kandahar, sources said.
Throughout 2006 and in early 2007, diplomat Richard Colvin wrote
several blistering reports that were widely circulated in both the
foreign affairs and defence departments that warned of torture in
Afghan jails.
Colvin will be the centre of attention Wednesday as the House of
Commons special committee on Afghanistan holds its second public
hearing into the country’s handling of prisoners in the Afghan war.
He is expected to testify about when soldiers and diplomats became
aware of the abuse, which even though perpetrated by Afghans, still
implicates Canada in possible violations international law in turning
over prisoners to the Afghans.
Senior members of the government, from Prime Minister Stephen Harper
on down, say they never saw Colvin’s warnings in 2006, and Defence
Minister Peter MacKay promised last month to investigate how far up
the chain those reports went. It’s unclear what, if anything, he has
uncovered.
Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh said the Conservative government
was not interested in discovering the truth in 2007 and still isn’t.
“This shows that government from its core and highest positions was
engaged in deliberately not wanting to hear, see or speak about
torture allegations,” Dosanjh said late Tuesday.
“Now a deliberate cover up continues.”
The Commons investigation was called after a separate, but more
limited probe, by the independent Military Police Complaints
Commission was sidelined by legal wrangling. The commission’s head,
Peter Tinsley, will also be testifying before MPs on Wednesday.
Colvin was subpoenaed to appear before the watchdog commission’s
inquiry, but federal lawyers tried to get him stricken from a witness
list and imposed a national security gag on much of his testimony.
He won’t face that restriction in Parliament, which grants immunity to
those who testify before committees.
The police commission launched its investigation after two human
rights groups complained that Canadian troops should not be handing
over prisoners to a system that notoriously practises torture.
The agency only decided to hold public hearings in 2008 after the
Foreign Affairs Department refused to hand over documents related to
the controversy. The Canadian military had already co-operated by
handing over thousands of records.
A series of requests by The Canadian Press under access to information
laws sent to the Privy Council Office, Foreign Affairs and Corrections
Canada have been returned with either “no records” found, a handful of
heavily censored documents — or were ignored in violation federal law.
In particular, the correctional service said in 2007 it couldn’t
release records because it was consulting another department involved
in the Afghan file. The documents still have not been released, even
after a complaint to the country’s information commissioner.
18/11/09
Crap Detector
You are insane. No-one could ever take you seriously.
gordo
Oh Canada ...There can be little doubt that the attack on this civil
servant by Peter Mackay shows why there should be a public inquiry
into the charges.Does anyone really doubt that the Afghans would not
torture their prisoners?Does anyone doubt that Peter MacKay was not
made aware of it?
jimjames5417
Why are this imbecile and the LIEberals only interested in the rights
of terrorists and criminals?? What happened to OUR rights??
whitebread
Government aware since taking office detainees could be tortured: MacKay
http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=2253823&sponsor=
November 22, 2009 6:02 PM
Canada's Defence Minister Peter MacKay speaks during Question Period in the House of
Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa November 19, 2009.
HALIFAX � The Conservative government was aware from the first day it took office in 2006
that Taliban suspects, rounded up by Canadian soldiers, might be tortured in Afghan
prisons, says Defence Minister Peter MacKay.
The government then waited 15 months, until May 2007, before putting new safeguards in
place to monitor the treatment of Afghan detainees.
�I�m not suggesting that we have not heard serious allegations from the moment we took
office. I�m not suggesting that prison conditions in Afghan jails are anything to behold,�
said MacKay on Sunday, in response to reporters� questions about allegations of torture
and mistreatment of Taliban suspects, an issue that is expected to dominate Parliament
this week.
The country�s most senior soldier also revealed Sunday that Canada has more than once
halted the transfer of Taliban captives to Afghan authorities � not merely once, in 2007,
when the government formally changed its transfer system � but on other occasions, because
of information about safety and legal concerns in Afghan jails.
�We indeed did stop transfers more than one time,� said Gen. Walter Natynczyk, standing
beside MacKay in Halifax.
Natynczyk refused to say when the other stoppages occurred, saying that information would
emerge soon, from other witnesses testifying in Parliament.
Canada would be in violation of international law, and its soldiers at risk of
prosecution, if prisoners were tortured or beaten after being taken captive by the
Canadian army.
A series of high-level civil servants and military commanders, including retired chief of
defence staff Rick Hillier, are expected to testify at a Parliamentary committee in the
coming days on the enduring controversy around Canada�s handling of Afghan prisoners.
Diplomat Richard Colvin, who now works at the Canadian Embassy in Washington but
previously served at the embassy in Kabul, ignited a storm of controversy last week when
he testified that all captives transferred by Canada to Afghan authorities were
mistreated, and that his repeated warnings to Ottawa on the matter were ignored.
MacKay and other cabinet ministers have said they never saw Colvin�s warnings from 2006
and 2007.
MacKay and other Conservative government members continued Sunday their campaign to
discredit Colvin�s statements and raise doubts about his credibility. Colvin has been
under sharp attack by government politicians now for five days, yet MacKay said Colvin
shouldn�t take the criticism personally.
�As far as his character, or impugning his integrity � that�s not what this was about,�
MacKay said. �This is about an examination of very serious allegations, and evidence that
would support those allegations. What we have heard thus far cannot be substantiated.
�Not a single Taliban soldier turned over by Canadian forces can be proved to have been
abused. That is the crux of the issue.�
But MacKay also said his government has had enough concerns about poor human rights
standards in the Afghan prison system that Canada has invested millions of dollars, and
spent years training prison guards, in the hope of solving such problems.
�Two and a half years ago we went about improving the situation,� he said. �It�s why we
invested $132-million in various parts of that effort to improve it.�