Canada wanted Afghan prisoners tortured: CSIS had role.

[HeresyLives]

Canada wanted Afghan prisoners tortured: lawyer

Federal government documents on Afghan detainees suggest that Canadian officials intended some prisoners to be tortured in order to gather intelligence, according to a legal expert.

If the allegation is true, such actions would constitute a war crime, said University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran, who has been digging deep into the issue and told CBC News he has seen uncensored versions of government documents released last year.

"If these documents were released , what they will show is that Canada partnered deliberately with the torturers in Afghanistan for the interrogation of detainees," he said.

"There would be a question of rendition and a question of war crimes on the part of certain Canadian officials. That's what's in these documents, and that's why the government is covering up as hard as it can."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/03/05/afghan-attaran005.html

Terry Milewski’s video report on this

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/The_National/Canada/ID=1433102444

CSIS had role in Afghan prisoner interrogations: docs

OTTAWA — Officers of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service have played a crucial and long-standing role as interrogators of a vast swath of captured Taliban fighters, The Canadian Press has learned.

The spies began working side-by-side with a unit of military police intelligence officers as the Afghan war spiralled out of control in 2006, according to heavily censored witness transcripts filed with the Military Police Complaints Commission.
The spy agency's previously unknown role in questioning detainees adds a new dimension to the controversy about the handling and possible torture of prisoners by Afghan security forces.

It also raises more questions about the critical early years in Kandahar when the Canadian military found itself mired in a guerrilla war it had not expected to fight.

CSIS acknowledged in 2006 that its members gathered intelligence in Afghanistan, but the spy service's precise role has remained in the shadows until now.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100307/CSIS_prisoners_100307/20100307?hub=TopStoriesV2

[daleo]

1. This would explain a few things

I guess that's why Harper went with this ex-Supreme Court guy. It's a stalling tactic, but one that the opposition has to be careful about calling out.

I expect that there will be a lot of "support the troops" ten percenters flooding our mailboxes soon.

[HeresyLives]

3. Yeah just stallling and the Opposition isn't buying it.

This just gets worse the longer they put it off.

[CHIMO]

2. Canadian spies interrogated Afghan prisoners, insiders reveal

Officers of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service have played a crucial and long-standing role as interrogators of a vast swath of captured Taliban fighters, The Canadian Press has learned.

The spies began working side-by-side with a unit of military police intelligence officers as the Afghan war spiralled out of control in 2006, according to heavily censored witness transcripts filed with the Military Police Complaints Commission.

The spy agency's previously unknown role in questioning detainees adds a new dimension to the controversy about the handling and possible torture of prisoners by Afghan security forces.

It also raises more questions about the critical early years in Kandahar when the Canadian military found itself mired in a guerrilla war it had not expected to fight.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canadian-spies-interrogated-afghan-prisoners-insiders-reveal/article1492713/

[Spazito]

4. Parliament has the right to see ALL the documents they have requested...

and for the harper cabal to sidestep this by appointing a former judge, Iacobucci, to review them is ludicrous, imo. One has to wonder, as well, what possible expertise would a former judge have in the area of national security, etc, that would give credibility to any recommendations he might make? Supposedly he is going to "review the contested documents to see if they can be released" to Parliament.

"Mr. Nicholson told Parliament that Mr. Iacobucci, a former Supreme Court justice, will determine whether redactions proposed by the government on the basis of national security are reasonable.

“In the case of injurious information, he will report to me on whether the information or a summary of it can be disclosed, and report on the form of disclosure or any conditions on disclosure,” Mr. Nicholson said."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/retired-judge-asked-to-review-documents-in-detainee-affair/article1490854/

Upon whose advice will Mr. Iacobucci depend regarding these documents? CSIS? The harper cabal?

These are questions I sure hope the Opposition will ask and that they will NOT be deterred from pursuing their point of privilege toward having this government be found in contempt.

[HeresyLives]

5. Opposition needs to do a little sabre-rattling.

The govt is required by law to surrender the docs to parliament...whatever some former judge says about their contents.

[daleo]

7. Iacobucci was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1991

That would be a Mulroney appointment. I don't know if that means he is necessarily inclined to support the Conservatives (Mulroney might have made a non-partisan appointment), but it might well be significant. There could be potential for unconscious bias, at any rate.

[shockedcanadian]

6. Intelligence gathering should be left to the military...

...unless there is an imminent threat to Canadians in Canada.

Interrogation of detainees should be fair game in my opinion, if it can save lives. Of course, torture is not acceptable by any means, unless we would like to be known around the globe as the evil that we declare we are fighting. CSIS stepping beyond it's federal boundaries would require approval at the highest level, it is only a matter of time before their mandate is officially and forever altered to allow for this at an operational level, which isn't a bad thing, it is more necessary as the globe becomes smaller and smaller.

Military intelligence collecting is far different than civilian collecting, and I am not sure that CSIS would be best able to handle this. There are numerous career Military Intel officers who would probably be more effective in this role. The military live in these countries, they know the history, the culture and they understand what motivates the captured soldiers. CSIS getting involved in these interrogations has less to do with saving Canadians in Canada than it has to do with having leverage for trade with other intelligence agencies (some of them as bad if not worse than those we are fighting). That being said, if given a choice I would rather CSIS be involved in this type of collection than interferring in the democratic, economic and political affairs of regular Canadians on Canadian soil. If it jusitfy's their salary's and keeps them busy; less of a need to manufacture threats here in Canada (as they enjoy doing). They better spare the rod or they will be reported by someone...as we see here.

Speaking from a mix of personal experience and opinion, CSIS and the RCMP have let down this country on many ocassions, destroyed countless Canadian lives under the false banner of "national security" (flavour of the month?). What these and other intelligence organizations fail to realize is that the people who pay the price are the average Canadian civilian. If this continues to occur, unabashed and without consequences or accountability, we will (if we haven't already) lose our reputation. I will say this, at least in this particular situation is was fairly cut and dry, I assume these soldiers who they captured were not on "our" side, which can not be said for so many Canadians unfairly destroyed on Canadian soil.

There needs to be more than words of denouncing torture in this country. There needs to be some stiff penalties and punishment; not fall guys, but accountability at the highest level whenever these things occur. You think our politicians have the stomach for these difficult moral decisions? Contact them yourself and find out.