Thread: Canada: Afghan Torture Scandal Deepens

Canada: Afghan Torture Scandal Deepens


by Roger Annis
SV
2009-12-14



The Canadian government’s moral case for waging war in Afghanistan is collapsing with astonishing speed. Its clumsy effort to deny and cover up the torture and abuse of Afghans detained by Canadian and other NATO forces has exploded in its face.

As reported in a previous Socialist Voice article, on November 18, Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin told the Standing Committee on National Defence of the Canadian Parliament that in 2006 and 2007 Canadian troops knowingly turned Afghan civilians over to the Afghan National Police for interrogation and torture. Soldiers or diplomats who disagreed with the policy and spoke out were ignored or silenced. Colvin’s testimony touched off a political firestorm.

Denial and stonewalling

On December 7, the Globe and Mail published the field notes of Canadian officers concerning one detainee who had been turned over to Afghan authorities in June, 2006 and then was taken back into Canadian custody after suffering a brutal beating. The officer wrote, “We then photographed the individual prior to handing him over, to ensure that if the Afghan National Police did assault him, as has happened in the past, we would have a visual record of his condition.â€

Let the New Nuremburg War Crimes Trials begin