- edited 060717EST Feb to add Toronto Star, CTV.ca coverage -
Military investigates claim detainees abused
Civilian agency also wants answers after allegations at least one Afghan was beaten
Paul Koring, Globe & Mail, 6 Feb 07
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Permalink to both articles
The Canadian military has launched an investigation into allegations of detainee abuse by soldiers in Afghanistan, The Globe and Mail has learned. Spokesperson Major Luc Gaudet confirmed Monday that the military began its probe last week after being informed that the Military Police Complaints Commission — a civilian body formed to investigate complaints against the military — had received a request for an investigation into the treatment of several detainees. The commission is expected to decide within days whether to launch its own probe — a “public interest investigation” — into the allegations. At least one, and perhaps three, Afghan detainees “taken captive by the Canadian Forces appears to have been beaten while detained and interrogated by them,” alleges Amir Attaran, a University of Ottawa law professor, in a letter sent to the commission. The allegations are based on documents obtained by Mr. Attaran under the Access to Information Act outlining injuries in the cases. The Globe and Mail has examined the military documents obtained by Mr. Attaran that refer to injuries sustained by detainees while in Canadian custody last April ....
Ottawa silent on fate of captured terror suspects
No accounting for scores of detainees that have been handed to Americans, Afghans
PAUL KORING, Globe & Mail, 6 Feb 07
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Scores of terrorist suspects captured by Canadians have disappeared into the murky netherworld of Afghan and American prisons, but Ottawa refuses to say what has happened to them or even if it knows whether any have been tried, charged, or released, or how they are treated. According to a Canadian Forces log of detainees, 40 had been handed over by April, 2006. From a review of a heavily excised and incomplete set of military police documents, it seems that several dozen more have been captured and handed over to Afghan police since then. But Canada's Expeditionary Forces Command, headed by Lieutenant-General Michel Gautier, who oversees all Canadian Forces deployed abroad, refuses to account for terrorist suspects captured since May 1, 2006. Some have apparently been freed by the Canadians who determined -- in a process not made clear -- that they didn't deserve to be handed over to the Afghan police. However, there is no accounting for them either, only the terse notations "fit for release" on medical forms. Others, dubbed "fit for transfer," disappear into Afghan prisons. Once there, there is no further Canadian oversight. Canada's out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach means detainees are handed over to others as soon as possible, often within hours. Once gone, the Canadian government, in effect, washes its hands of further responsibility or accountability ....
Canadians accused of Afghan abuse
Probe launched into complaints by three detainees in Kandahar
Bruce Campion-Smith, Toronto Star, 6 Feb 07
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Two separate probes are underway into a complaint that up to three prisoners suffered injuries while in the custody of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, the Toronto Star has learned. The allegation, if substantiated, could rock military morale and further undermine public support in Canada's dangerous – and controversial – mission in Kandahar. Questions are being asked about how as many as three unidentified men suffered injuries to their upper body while being detained by Canadian soldiers in the Kandahar region last April. And investigators want to know why the military police officers who eventually took charge of the detainees didn't do their own probe of the injuries. "We have received allegations of mistreatment," Stan Blythe, of the Military Police Complaints Commission, said yesterday. This independent civilian body, responsible for probing reports of misconduct by military police officers, received the complaint of possible abuse last week ....
Military probes allegations of detainee abuse
CTV.ca, 6 Feb 07
Article Link
The military is investigating a complaint that alleges prisoners were abused while in the custody of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. At least one, and as many as three, Afghan detainees "taken captive by the Canadian Forces appears to have been beaten while detained and interrogated by them," alleges University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran in a letter sent to the Military Police Complaints Commission, an independent civilian body, last week. The accusations are based on documents that Attaran obtained under the Access to Information Act. In the documents, there are references to injuries that detainees sustained last April while under the custody of Canadian forces. Commission chairman Peter Tinsley has notified by letter Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier and Capt. Steve Moore, who heads the military police. "The complaint suggests various failings by the military police members involved relative to safeguarding the well-being of the persons in custody, and, more particularly, in respect of their failure to investigate the causes of various injuries which may have been sustained while in (Canadian Forces) as opposed to military police custody,'' Tinsley wrote on Jan. 30, reports The Toronto Star ....
The last 2 post have been BAG ON ! 
