Afghan Prison Torture Scandal Rocks Canadian Military
VANCOUVER - Canadian General Rick Hillier and Defense Minister Gordon O’Connor have dismissed calls that they be investigated for war crimes over Canada’s role in handing over to Afghan security forces detainees who were subsequently tortured.
Criticism of the Canadian forces is being driven by the revelation in Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper that up to 30 detainees had been abused or tortured in Afghanistan prisons by Afghani guards after being transferred from Canadian custody.
O’Connor announced that a new agreement was reached Wednesday which would allow Canadian officials full access to the National Directorate of Security facility, focus of the most vehement criticism and stories of prisoner abuse by Afghan forces.
Canadian lawmakers have been caught up in the Afghanistan issue most of this week. The Conservative government narrowly blocked a motion calling for Canadian troops to return home by 2009.
The New Democratic Party, which wants immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan and not to wait until 2009, voted with the Conservatives. The Liberals and Bloc Quebecois supported the motion. Some observers say that this issue could bring down the Conservative minority government.
Michael Byers, professor of global politics and international law at the University of British Columbia, and a prominent critic of the Canada’s role in Afghanistan, called for the resignation of Defense Minister O’Connor and General Hillier, the Canadian military chief, earlier in the week.
Both were named in a 14-page letter to the International Criminal Court signed by Byers and by William Schabas, director of the Irish Center for Human Rights in Galway.
“We don’t know what’s happened for sure, but there are very detailed and damning allegations being made,” Byers told IPS. “There are allegations of torture and other abuses on the basis of serious organizational failure to meet basic standards of international law.”
Canada’s CBC reported that Major-General Ton van Loon, the top NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) commander in southern Afghanistan, said Thursday that he is not aware of prisoners being tortured after being transferred to local Afghan authorities. But he acknowledged that systems of transfer needed to be improved.
Van Loon, of the Netherlands, said he did not know of “any specific cases” of abuse in the six months he has been in charge of NATO troops.
“I have not been given any reason to think that they have taken place,” he told CBC News.
General Hillier dismissed critics who have put forward a complaint to the International Criminal Court.
Appearing on the TV programme Canada AM, Hillier said, “First of all, much attention has been paid to what is a very, very small part of our mission. I concentrate on setting our young men and women up for success…on reducing the risk to them. So I just let the theatrics, if you will, of these kinds of things go on around me. I’ve got a job to do. I’m going to do that job.”
“This is totally appalling,” Steven Staples, spokesman for the Canadian peace lobbying group Ceasefire.ca, told IPS. “Canadians are in shock that detainees were tortured after being in the custody of Afghan guards. The government seems to have known about it. This will be a real turning point for the Conservative government. The calls for resignation should be taken seriously. Legal experts are calling for complaints under international law.”
Professor Byers noted that “the UN High Commissioner and a leaked Foreign Affairs report point to serious issues being raised here. These are fairly detailed and specific charges amidst the backdrop of changes in procedure being made. Experts including Amir Attaran, the BC (British Colombia) Civil Liberties Association and others have recommended that there needs to be a renegotiation of the detainee transfer agreement.”
“There is little organizational incentive to meet basic standards,” he added. “If the allegations are true and the leaders have crafted the policy, Canada’s international reputation will have suffered if Afghan insurgents were transferred by Canadian military to be knowingly tortured.”
Byers said that a military mission should aim to uphold the highest international standards. “This situation needs to be addressed in a decisive manner. The Defence Minister and General Hillier should resign for placing Canada’s reputation at risk, and this issue should be open to investigation for war crimes by international agencies.”
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day claimed that Canadian Forces had access to prisoners, even after they were transferred. Opposition parties have accused the government of hiding and downplaying reports about rights violations in Afghanistan.
Federal Information Commissioner Robert Marleau told the House of Commons committee on access to information, privacy and ethics on Thursday that his office will launch an investigation into why portions of a document on Afghan torture were blacked out before it was given to Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper.
Copyright © 2007 IPS-Inter Press Service
The only reason Canada is in Afghanistan is to keep Bush happy. We are sacrificing the lives of Canadians and Afghan prisoners of war in order to keep the Canada-U.S. border open to trade. What are the lives of a few grunts and a few brown men compared to the money we Canadians make because of our access to that huge and voracious American appetite for Canadian oil and timber?
I’ve got a job to do. I’m going to do that job.”
Did the interviewer on Canada AM never think to ask Hiller what that job was . We all know what the stock answer would be and that is …” to bring democracy to the Afghan people (even if they don’t want it)
The only thing that Hiller understands is personal and national humility and when the Afghans evenyially drive out the current invaders and occupiers as they did the Macedonians , British , Russians…with far larger armies than Canadian Army then the occupation will end.
Like any American soldier , any Canadian who even enlists suffers from the HUA syndrome ” Head Up The … Syndrome “
Okay General,
“So I just let the theatrics, if you will, of these kinds of things go on around me. I’ve got a job to do”. Talking about theatrics anyone remember this little tirade:
“These are detestable murderers and scumbags, I’ll tell you that right up front.”( July 11, 2005)
General Hillier probably picked this up in 1998 when he was playing war games and appointed as the Canadian Deputy Commanding General of III Armoured Corps, US Army in Fort Hood Texas.
My favorite Rick rant,
“We’re not the public service of Canada; we’re not just another department. We are the Canadian Forces, and our job is to kill people”
Zoya, I agree. The current government in Canada is similar to our relationship with Australia. Personally, I simply can’t believe that the Canadian people would put up with such a thing. The only explanation I can find is that the reach of the neo cons goes far beyond our government here in the USA. I also feel the same way about Australia. The Australians I know and work with just shake their heads. Somehow, the neo cons have involved other, normally peace loving countries into copies of the USA. Again, it’s like a deadly pathogen spreading around the world.
I truly hope the current government in Canada falls and a country I have always loved returns to its former self. How many more times am I going to type the words: can the world survive until Bush’s term is finally over?
The Canadian Harper minority government backed by the Canadian corporate interests has opted to support the US corporate interests that are after the Caspian Basin wealth of oil and gas for which Afghanistan is to serve as the pipeline route.
The rush is on for the known oil/gas resources and the ruling interests in the US have decided to use the military aggressively to dominate other countries - especially China and Russia - from access to essential energy resources that are becoming more scarce for the future. The Project for a New American Century Report explains the plans of the US ruling class and how their military will be used to bring about these objecives. The Canadian corporate interests have decided on joining this imperialistic venture supporting this US quest in the hope of piggy-backing any profitable droppings that may be left for them.