Liberals have just called for Defence Minister Peter MacKay and General Walter Natynczyk to appear before Parliament’s Afghanistan committee next week, and expect that the Minister will comply with the will of Parliament and bring the unedited documents surrounding the Afghan detainee controversy.
“We expect Mr. MacKay to obey the will of the Majority of MPs who voted in the House of Commons to have the government release all documentation – unredacted and unedited – so that we can properly determine exactly what the government knew about Afghan detainee transfers, and when,” said Liberal Defence Critic Ujjal Dosanjh.
Last night, the House of Commons passed a Liberal Opposition Day motion ordering the government to provide previously undisclosed and redacted documents to Parliamentarians for review, following the revelation by Chief of Defence Staff Walter Natynczyk that documentation conclusively proves it was known in 2006 that Canadian-transferred Afghan detainees were tortured.
“The Conservatives’ argument for refusing disclosure just doesn’t wash,” said Liberal MP Bryon Wilfert, Vice Chair of the Special Standing Committee on Afghanistan. “Parliament has the capacity to deal with sensitive information in a responsible manner, in a way that will not harm our national security or our soldiers on the ground. We are prepared to work out an arrangement that is mindful of national security.”
“The bottom line is that Stephen Harper can do this the respectful way and comply with a Parliamentary vote, or he can do it the hard way. Parliament has all of the tools it needs to enforce its orders and to obtain the information requested,” said Mr. Dosanjh.
Mr. Dosanjh said the secretive manner in which this government continues to operate – the cover-ups, hiding of evidence, contradictions, intimidation of witnesses and censoring of politically damaging documents – is why an independent public inquiry is needed.
“All you have to do is look at how other countries – the UK, the U.S., the Netherlands, New Zealand – have openly dealt with the issue of Afghan detainee transfers to see that this Conservative government stands alone in its refusal to be open and transparent,” he said.
Letter to the Clerk of the Afghanistan Committee
BACKGROUND
United Kingdom
• Releases details about the number of detainees captured (Ottawa Citizen, December 2, 2009)
• Reports to Parliament about Afghan detainee transfers (Ottawa Citizen, November 21, 2009)
Netherlands
• Releases details about the number of detainees captured (Ottawa Citizen, December 2, 2009)
• Issues reports to press about Afghan detainees (Embassy Magazine, December 9, 2009)
• Written notification of a prisoner’s transfer to a third party or any other significant changes was required (CBC News, April 27, 2007)
United States
• Releases details about the number of detainees captured (Ottawa Citizen, December 2, 2009)
New Zealand
• Releases details about the number of detainees captured (Ottawa Citizen, December 2, 2009)
Canada
• Ended the practice of releasing the number of detainees transferred after April 2006, when controversy about the torture of detainees erupted in the media.
