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rfmcdonaldAfter a minor flurry around the Canadian Foreign Ministry's accurate mention of the United States and Israel where prisoners are subject to torture in a gudiebook for diplomats checking out Canadian prisoners, the most recent torture scandal in Canada relates to Canada's military presence in Afghanistan. In the middle of a case brought by two civil rights groups against the transfer of prisoners taken by Canadian soldiers to Afghanistan for fear that they might be subjected to torture by Afghan authorities, a document was released stating that three months ago in November 2007, the Canadian government had stopped transferring prisoners to Afghan authorities after an instance of torture was document. This incited the expected political firestorm, complicated by the Harper government's tendencies towards secrecy and paranoid backbiting.
Even after these revelations, the government's defense against the civil-rights groups seems to consistent predominantly of exhortations to Canadians telling them to have blind faith in the military's judgement and arguments that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is not valid outside of Canadian borders. Does the morality of handing people over to torture come up on the government's side? Meh.
Former deputy prime minister John Manley's report on Canada's involvement in Afghanistan mentions talk of an information deficit in relatino to the war, of a failure by the government to communicate Canadian goals to the people at large. That's possible. It's also quite possible that in Afghanistan--which in contradiction to military chief Rick Hillier certainly doesn't act like a sovereign state in control of its territory--Canadians are becoming opposed to Canada's participation because they see its corrosive effect on the mores of Canadian politics.
There is no information deficit: We just don't like discovering we are becoming. Getting enough Canadians together to stop it would be a significant achievement.
The chief spokeswoman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a newspaper interview published on Friday that military officials had not informed the government. A few hours later she withdrew her comments, saying she should have kept quiet.
"I misspoke," Sandra Buckler told Reuters, but declined to say whether her initial remarks had been accurate.
The leader of the official opposition Liberal Party mocked the idea that ministers had been left in the dark, saying he had been told of the decision on detainees while on a trip to Afghanistan earlier this month.
"If you cannot believe them on something as important as torture, when will you be able to believe them?" Stephane Dion told reporters.
"When the spokeswoman of the prime minister (claimed) the prime minister was not aware, that the government was not aware, I knew it was a lie ... clearly this government is in complete confusion," Dion said.
CTV television said General Rick Hillier, the chief of the Canadian defense staff, had protested to Harper's office over the initial remarks by Buckler. Hillier's spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.
Even after these revelations, the government's defense against the civil-rights groups seems to consistent predominantly of exhortations to Canadians telling them to have blind faith in the military's judgement and arguments that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is not valid outside of Canadian borders. Does the morality of handing people over to torture come up on the government's side? Meh.
Former deputy prime minister John Manley's report on Canada's involvement in Afghanistan mentions talk of an information deficit in relatino to the war, of a failure by the government to communicate Canadian goals to the people at large. That's possible. It's also quite possible that in Afghanistan--which in contradiction to military chief Rick Hillier certainly doesn't act like a sovereign state in control of its territory--Canadians are becoming opposed to Canada's participation because they see its corrosive effect on the mores of Canadian politics.
[I]t seems clear that in this instance, the government has abused the cover offered by the national security provision. All three senior Conservatives knew, or should have known, by mid-November that there was at least one documented and incontrovertible case of torture - the detainee reportedly told diplomats where to find the cable and rubber hose used by his torturers.
For Mr. MacKay to then stand in his place and say there has not been a single "proven" allegation of abuse borders on deception. Although Mr. Bernier acknowledged in November that there had been a recent allegation of mistreatment, to suggest that all details of Canadian policy had been released and that the process is open and transparent, is an exaggeration of the facts. Mr. Harper's caveat, revealing the existence of a suspected case of abuse, almost absolves him, though he also left the impression that all was tickety-boo on the detainee file.
There is no information deficit: We just don't like discovering we are becoming. Getting enough Canadians together to stop it would be a significant achievement.
