Showing posts with label torture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label torture. Show all posts

Monday, March 28, 2011

Harper Prorouges Parliament Over Afghan Torture

Remember Harper's War...the one in Afghanistan that hasn't been discussed in this election campaign....yet. It was only a year ago he prorogued parliament to avoid being found in contempt of parliament over what the Government knew about the torture of captured prisoners in Afghanistan. And despite an all party committee created out of this confrontation, we have not heard boo out of them for the past year.

Afghanistan detainee torture timeline - Editor's Notes


THE HARPER GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN OPEN AND HONEST ABOUT THE WAR
Unfortunately, ministers and senior officials in the Harper government have continued to mislead the Canadian public - either through the suppression of information on the spurious grounds of “national security”, or through outright lies. When The Toronto Globe and Mail requested information regarding human rights abuses in Afghanistan (under a freedom of information request), the document released by the government was heavily censured. The blacked out sections referred to the high rate of extra-judicial executions, torture and illegal detentions of battlefield prisoners. Later, General Rick Hillier justified this censorship by declaring that any information on the treatment of detainees captured by Canadian troops would be suppressed because it was “an operational security issue”. The government wants to keep us in the dark in order to hide the war crimes that have been committed in the name of all Canadians in Afghanistan.

Denial and deceit: The Harper government and torture in Afghanistan

When allegations that battlefield detainees were facing torture in Afghan prisons first erupted,
Prime Minister Stephen Harper dismissed them as Taliban lies and terrorist propaganda.

But the Canadian government had been warned by one of its most senior diplomats in Kandahar a full year before, in May 2006, of "serious, imminent and alarming" evidence of prisoner abuse.

Colvin’s allegations emerged because he was called to testify before the Military Police Complaints Commission, a body—established after the Somalia Inquiry—which has been investigating detainee transfers at the request of Amnesty International and the BC Civil Liberties Association. The Harper government sought to block Colvin’s testimony before the MPCC, citing national security. The obstruction prompted the three Canadian opposition parties to call Colvin to testify before a Parliamentary committee.

Canada's international war crime: Harper government's deception cannot hold—do citizens of the 'New Canada' care? November 24, 2009

Stephen Harper Gambles on Prorogue Shutting Down Parliament Again

The same cannot be said of this second prorogue action.


Critics immediately lashed out at the government for what they claim are Harper’s actual rationales for such a move; to delay all Commons committees, including the ongoing investigation into allegations of detainee abuse in Afghanistan, and to pad the Canadian Senate with the appointment of 5 Conservative nominees, which effectively destroys the Liberal control of the body.

It also provides the ruling Conservatives more control as to when and if to call the next election, by making votes on the budget and the throne speech issues of confidence in Parliament.

Ralph Goodale, the Liberal House Leader said Harper’s decision was “beyond arrogant” and that his justifications for it are “a joke; it’s almost despotic.”

In an interview with the CBC from Phoenix, Arizona, Goodale said, “Three times in three years and twice within one year, the prime minister takes this extraordinary step to muzzle Parliament. This time it’s a cover-up of what the Conservatives knew, and when they knew it, about torture in Afghanistan. So their solution is not to answer the questions but, rather, to padlock Parliament and shut down democracy.”

From Vancouver, NDP House Leader Libby Davies told CBC news she was “appalled” by Harper’s decision, accusing him of “running from” the growing pressure by opposition parties into the Afghan detainee inquiry. “By proroguing Parliament, he is unilaterally making a decision to stop any kind of disclosure from happening,” said Davies.

The allegations by Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin regarding the treatment of prisoners by the Afghan government following their handover by Canadian armed forces, and his assertion that the Prime Minister and his government were aware of these practices, has clearly rattled Harper and his Conservative minority to the core.

The Canadian Afghan detainee issue concerns questions about actions of the executive branch of the Government of Canada during the War in Afghanistan in regards to Canada transferring Afghan detainees to the Afghan National Army (ANA) or the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS). This issue has at least two distinct subcategories:

The first issue concerns whether or not the executive branch of the Government of Canada knew about alleged abusive treatment of Afghan detainees by those Afghan forces. Particularly at issue are questions of when the government of Canada had this alleged knowledge. The question of "when" is important because it pertains to their responsibility to act on knowledge of mistreatment of detainees. That responsibility is outlined in the Third Geneva Convention, which Canada is a party to. Article 12 states that "the Detaining Power [(in this case Canada)] is responsible for the treatment given [to prisoners of war]".

The second issue arose in March 2010, when allegations surfaced that the government did more than turn a blind eye to abuse of Afghan detainees, but that Canada went even further in intentionally handing over prisoners to torturers.[1] The allegations were sparked by University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran, who claimed that full versions of government documents proved these claims. If the allegations are true, Canada could be considered guilty of a war crime, according to critics.[1]

Subsequently, the Canadian House of Commons has been the scene of a showdown, as opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) have tried to force the government into releasing said documents in full, unredacted form. The controversy over the documents was fueled further when Parliament was prorogued at the end of 2009. The government maintained that they had a duty to protect Canadian troops and citizens as the documents contained sensitive information, while opposition MPs have argued they have the parliamentary privilege to see them. At the request of the Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons, the opposition parties and the government worked together to organize a system to determine what documents were sensitive or not, so that they could be released to MPs. The Canadian public, which generally holds the view that there was knowledge of detainee abuse by military or government officials, now awaits for a clearer picture of the issue as these documents are released.

Afghan Detainee Torture: The Issue That Grew, and Grew, and Grew

The prime Minister’s initial reaction to this demand, made late last year, was to shut down Parliament for two months, but now that Parliament is back in session, the issue is back on the table. The fallback position was to appoint retired judge Frank Iacobucci to review the documents and advise the government on their release. The opposition parties have, rightly, rejected this as a delaying device and a diversion from the real issue of Parliamentary supremacy. Instead, they have sought a Speaker’s ruling that Members’ privileges have been breached by the government’s refusal to comply with the resolution of the majority of the House. If the Speaker upholds the House, we could see a vote to hold the executive in contempt of Parliament – something unprecedented in parliamentary history. The government, on the other hand, could interpret this as a vote of non-confidence, and precipitate an election.

The constitutional issue has taken on a life of its own, but it is well to remember the original cause for this grand confrontation. We should ask ourselves why has the government gone to such extremes – even precipitating a constitutional crisis – to avoid investigation of the torture issue, if they do not have something they are desperately determined to cover up? If suspicions are really unfounded, why not call a public inquiry like the Arar or Air India inquiries?

One hint that something darker may be involved has emerged recently: evidence that the Special Forces unit, JTF2, and CSIS, were involved in interrogation of prisoners before their transfer to the Afghans. This raises the uncomfortable possibility that transfers might have been a kind of instant rendition to place them in the hands of those who were expected to use methods that Canadians could not employ, but might profit from.




Sunday, January 20, 2008

It's Not Wrong

Sorry but this is not wrong.

Torture manual wrongly includes allies: Bernier

Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier has distanced his department from one of its training manuals that lists the United States and Guantanamo Bay as places of torture.
The US uses waterboarding. Which is torture just ask the noted authority on torture; John McCain.

McCain denounced waterboarding as clear-cut torture:

“Anyone who knows what waterboarding is could not be unsure. It is a horrible torture technique used by Pol Pot and being used on Buddhist monks as we speak,” said McCain after a campaign stop at Dordt College here.

“People who have worn the uniform and had the experience know that this is a terrible and odious practice and should never be condoned in the U.S. We are a better nation than that.”



But of course the Conservatives wanting to be in the good books with the Bush White House will do their bidding and revise the truth. What is wrong is denying the truth.

The CIA's "enhanced" interrogation techniques = TORTURE





Of course knowing that Gitmo is a place of torture we now have to ask why Minister Bernier has been silent over the fate of Omar Khadr. Changing the manual will not change the fact this Canadian citizen is being held illegally by the U.S. and probably tortured.

And while we are discussing waterboarding I wonder if the Harpocrites would like to test it out on themselves to see if it is torture. They would probably come to this conclusion.

Torture: Not a tough call

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

Although other senior Bush administration officials (such as Attorney General Michael Mukasey) seem unsure as to whether the practice of waterboarding is torture, Mike McConnell, director of National Intelligence, has taken a public stance against it. Sort of.

McConnell, who seems to be among the few who apply the Golden Rule in his thoughts on torture, told New Yorker magazine that, if he were being waterboarded, he'd consider it torture.

"If I had water draining into my nose, oh God. I just can't imagine how painful! Whether it's torture by anyone else's definition, for me, it would be torture." He says that using "special methods" of interrogation has yielded "meaningful information" and adds that the U.S. does not torture prisoners.

And yet, there's the matter of the taped interrogation the CIA destroyed, which shows the use of techniques most of us would consider torture.


Ok Minister Bernier if waterboarding is not torture then give us a demonstration with you as the subject. Yep changed your mind did you.


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Friday, November 16, 2007

This Deserves A Public Inquiry

Even more than L'affaire de Mulroney this deserves a public inquiry.

Ottawa says Afghan detainees were not tortured, government documents say otherwise

This is Canada's Abu Ghraib.

Canada : Ankle-deep in blood and shit

Amnesty International Canada and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association had to drag the Harper government before a Federal Court judge to get them to turn over documents they were determined to keep secret. Documents including a Canadian correctional services inspector asking Ottawa for better boots because she was "walking through blood and fecal matter" when she inspected the prisons.


SEE:

Lies & Secrets

PM Fails to Discuss Prisons In Afghanistan

Activist Courts and Afghan Torture

Taliban Dion

Vive Le Difference

Don't Forget About This Guy


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Thursday, May 24, 2007

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Activist Courts and Afghan Torture

The Americanization of Canadian politics continues.

First we have a General signing Foreign Affairs agreements on prisoner transfers.

Now a new policy is announced not by Foreign Affairs, nor the Minister of Defense, nor the Government but appears out of the blue in Federal Court. This gives new meaning to activist courts.

This must be the new agreement that the Defense Minister announced in an elevator last week.


A Federal Court of Canada hearing was abruptly adjourned Thursday mornin
g when it was told that Canada had struck a new detainee transfer agreement with the Afghan government.

Federal Court Judge Michael Kelen announced details of the agreement with Afghanistan Thursday during a case brought by human rights groups demanding the transfers be halted immediately.

He told the court this was a major development that took the urgency out of deciding whether to block future transfers.

It probably wouldnt have happened if this court hadnt been happening, he said of the agreement.


See:

Afghanistan

Heil Hillier, Maintiens le droit

Joined At The Hip


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Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Hillier's War

Before it was Harpers War, Afghanistan was Hillier's War. And as such it was one that was created by him to change Canada's Armed Forces from Peace keepers to warriors. And as we know warriors take no prisoners.

Harper stands by Hillier


Prime Minister Stephen Harper is staunchly defending his Defence Chief amid claims the General did not consult with Foreign Affairs before signing a detainee transfer agreement in 2005 that left no provision to verify prisoner safety.

Hillier pushed flawed detainee plan

The Department of Foreign Affairs was pushed to the sidelines when Canada struck its detainee-transfer deal in Afghanistan, two senior government sources have told The Globe and Mail.

“We were not consulted,” said one, adding that Foreign Affairs was shunted aside by the Department of National Defence and Canada's top soldier, Rick Hillier, when he signed the accord in 2005. The deal has become mired in controversy because it includes no follow-up role for Canada on the fate of detainees in Afghanistan's notoriously brutal prison system.

Another senior foreign-service officer gave a longer explanation: “Hillier went to Kabul thinking of them [the detainees] as ‘scumbags' and made the deal. Hillier wanted to sign it; he insisted on signing it,” he said. “Defence took the file and messed it up.”

The comment played off a remark General Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff, made in July, 2005, when he set off a national debate by referring to the Taliban as “detestable murderers and scumbags.”



See:

Afghanistan

Heil Hillier, Maintiens le droit

Joined At The Hip


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