By Murray Brewster
OTTAWA (CP) - The embattled Conservative government is pushing a new line about claims of prisoner abuse in Afghanistan - it didn't happen.
But the assurance by Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day on Friday came despite the fact that no full investigation has been conducted.
Meanwhile, the mystery continues over who, if anyone, is monitoring the treatment of detainees handed over to Afghan authorities by Canadian troops.
Day accused the opposition again Friday of believing "false allegations" of torture made by insurgents.
He insisted that two Corrections Canada officers in Kandahar have had full access to Afghan prisons, and that they have a mandate to report prisoner abuse. But he didn't say if they have been monitoring prisoners handed over by Canadian troops.
Day and other Conservatives again tried to deflect criticism by accusing opposition MPs of attacking the integrity of Canadian troops - even though the abuse allegations are not directed at soldiers.
Day's claim that Canada has had access to detainees is the latest in a series of changing stories by the Conservatives on who is monitoring the treatment of the prisoners.
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, which the government had tasked with monitoring detainees, said it has been denied access to prisoners in intelligence jails.
The government now says it is on the verge of signing a formal deal with Afghan officials to allow regular access, but critics wonder if even that will do any good.
Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada did little to ease such fears, saying that while the doors to Afghan prisons will swing open for Canadian officials, it will be up to Afghan authorities to deal with any suspected cases of abuse.
"It is the responsibility of our government to look into that and correct the problems that may exist, whether it's to charge someone with abuse or to prosecute someone - or to bring evidence to court," Omar Samad told The Canadian Press.
He said his country is taking "baby steps" toward the "establishment of the rule of law and the legal process must be respected."
Like just about every other situation in the war-ravaged country, the justice system is still a work-in-progress, Samad conceded, but insisted it is the sovereign right of Afghans to deal with their own citizens.
However, under international law, Canada has a responsibility to protect prisoners from abuse and to make sure they are not handed over to a state that practises torture.
University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran has said recent reports that as many as 30 detainees, captured by Canadians, may have been abused show that the Afghans cannot be trusted to keep their word when it comes to human rights.
"How can you make the argument that processing someone through the Afghan justice system is going to result in the just separation of the guilty from the innocent?" he asked.
"That's not going to happen."
Even with this new access agreement, Attaran said Canadians need to think long and hard before handing someone over to that kind of system.
"At the end of the day, we are the ones taking detainees," he said. "The responsibility for detainees begins with us."
If detainees are tortured, Canadian troops could face possible war crimes allegations, he said, considered as possible accomplices under international law.
Samad did not deny that abuses may have take place in Afghan jails.
"There are reports that come out annually by various governments and international human rights organizations that point that are problems in dealing with humans rights in laws in Afghanistan with institutions that do not have the capacity," he said
"No one is denying Afghanistan faces those kinds of institutional and capacity problems."
But he said the Afghan government had not found evidence to the support the claims thus far.
"We are in a fact-finding mode to see if any of this credible and if it is then we have to decide what to do," he said.
Canadian and Afghan officials are in the process of working out the details of a written agreement between the two countries that clearly sets their roles and responsibilities.
Samad hinted that Corrections Canada officers and Foreign Affairs officials on the ground in Kandahar will play a greater role in monitoring detainees.
Copyright © 2007 Canadian Press
OTTAWA (CP) - The embattled Conservative government is pushing a new line about claims of prisoner abuse in Afghanistan - it didn't happen.
But the assurance by Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day on Friday came despite the fact that no full investigation has been conducted.
Meanwhile, the mystery continues over who, if anyone, is monitoring the treatment of detainees handed over to Afghan authorities by Canadian troops.
Day accused the opposition again Friday of believing "false allegations" of torture made by insurgents.
He insisted that two Corrections Canada officers in Kandahar have had full access to Afghan prisons, and that they have a mandate to report prisoner abuse. But he didn't say if they have been monitoring prisoners handed over by Canadian troops.
Day and other Conservatives again tried to deflect criticism by accusing opposition MPs of attacking the integrity of Canadian troops - even though the abuse allegations are not directed at soldiers.
Day's claim that Canada has had access to detainees is the latest in a series of changing stories by the Conservatives on who is monitoring the treatment of the prisoners.
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, which the government had tasked with monitoring detainees, said it has been denied access to prisoners in intelligence jails.
The government now says it is on the verge of signing a formal deal with Afghan officials to allow regular access, but critics wonder if even that will do any good.
Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada did little to ease such fears, saying that while the doors to Afghan prisons will swing open for Canadian officials, it will be up to Afghan authorities to deal with any suspected cases of abuse.
"It is the responsibility of our government to look into that and correct the problems that may exist, whether it's to charge someone with abuse or to prosecute someone - or to bring evidence to court," Omar Samad told The Canadian Press.
He said his country is taking "baby steps" toward the "establishment of the rule of law and the legal process must be respected."
Like just about every other situation in the war-ravaged country, the justice system is still a work-in-progress, Samad conceded, but insisted it is the sovereign right of Afghans to deal with their own citizens.
However, under international law, Canada has a responsibility to protect prisoners from abuse and to make sure they are not handed over to a state that practises torture.
University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran has said recent reports that as many as 30 detainees, captured by Canadians, may have been abused show that the Afghans cannot be trusted to keep their word when it comes to human rights.
"How can you make the argument that processing someone through the Afghan justice system is going to result in the just separation of the guilty from the innocent?" he asked.
"That's not going to happen."
Even with this new access agreement, Attaran said Canadians need to think long and hard before handing someone over to that kind of system.
"At the end of the day, we are the ones taking detainees," he said. "The responsibility for detainees begins with us."
If detainees are tortured, Canadian troops could face possible war crimes allegations, he said, considered as possible accomplices under international law.
Samad did not deny that abuses may have take place in Afghan jails.
"There are reports that come out annually by various governments and international human rights organizations that point that are problems in dealing with humans rights in laws in Afghanistan with institutions that do not have the capacity," he said
"No one is denying Afghanistan faces those kinds of institutional and capacity problems."
But he said the Afghan government had not found evidence to the support the claims thus far.
"We are in a fact-finding mode to see if any of this credible and if it is then we have to decide what to do," he said.
Canadian and Afghan officials are in the process of working out the details of a written agreement between the two countries that clearly sets their roles and responsibilities.
Samad hinted that Corrections Canada officers and Foreign Affairs officials on the ground in Kandahar will play a greater role in monitoring detainees.
Copyright © 2007 Canadian Press
