We're obliged to stop abuse

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Posted 2 months ago

(Re: "Torture out of Canada's hands" in the Nov. 24 edition of the Examiner)

Mindelle Jacobs attempts to justify Canada's handling of Afghan detainees --most of whom were tortured according to former diplomat Richard Colvin -- by suggesting that there's nothing else we practically could have done.

The essential counterpoint is that Canada was obliged under both international law and our own Criminal Code to prevent the abuse of these detainees.

Quite simply, the transfer of detainees where there was a substantial risk of torture is a serious war crime under the Geneva Conventions, Common Article 3, as well as the Canadian Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act (part of our Criminal Code).

Canada is also signatory to, and legally bound, by the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

The fact that it may have been logistically difficult or expensive to guarantee the protection of detainees did not lessen, let alone absolve us, of our obligations.

This ought to have been as essential a part of our planning as making sure our troops had enough bullets.

We could have followed the example of Denmark, for instance, which in June 2005 negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

The Danes were assured that international law would be respected and that their officials, as well as the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), would have unrestricted access to the prisoners of war (POWs).

Canada did not secure a similar arrangement until November 2007, and only after this had become a major issue in our news media.

We could have offered our full co-operation to the AIHRC and the Red Cross when they sought information relating to our prisoner transfers.

The evidence to date is that we often ignored and stonewalled these agencies.

It was only in March 2007 that we enlisted the help of the AIHRC to monitor the welfare of detainees.

We also had the option of exposing Afghan officials who we believed were responsible for torture, seeking their prosecution through the Afghan justice system or the offices of the UN, and calling loudly for a response from the Afghan parliament.

If we made any official complaint at all it was done in the strictest secrecy.

And finally, though it would have been difficult and costly, we could have transferred POWs to Canada, possibly to a willing third country, or built and staffed our own holding facilities.

Michael Gaspar Barrie