The Harper government has nowhere to hide as damning information about their knowledge of Afghan detainee torture, and their failure to investigate or stop it, continues to emerge, Liberal MPs said today.
“New and serious revelations have taken this issue to new heights, and yet the Conservative government continues to cover-up their failure to act when they had knowledge of the risk of abuse,” said Liberal Defence Critic Ujjal Dosanjh. “Enough secrecy and procedural games – a full public inquiry is the only answer.
“The government first chose to deliberately look the other way, and when their own mishandling started to come out, they tried to cover it up,” he said. “Because of this government’s ongoing unwillingness to address ever-growing allegations – its preference for sweeping this issue under the rug in order protect its political hide – they have lost all credibility and created an untenable situation for our troops.”
This week alone, three different witnesses – Afghan-Canadian translator Malgarai Ahmadshah, Canadian government official Nicholas Gosselin and diplomat Richard Colvin – gave crucial evidence that highlights how this government systematically covered up allegations of mistreatment.
Mr. Ahmadshah’s testimony at a Parliamentary committee, in particular, has prompted Gen. Natynczyk to announce a military investigation into the role Canadian troops may have played in transferring innocent Afghans to known torturers.
“Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff General Walt Natynczyk is demonstrating his willingness to get to the bottom of what happened,” said Mr. Dosanjh. “Why won’t the Conservative government hold itself to this minimum standard as well? What will it take for Stephen Harper to hold a full public inquiry?”
Mr. Gosselin, a Foreign Affairs worker in Kandahar and Kabul, also told the Military Police Complaints Commission that he documented eight allegations of abuse between January and August 2008. That’s after Canada temporarily stopped handing over detainees to Afghan authorities in November 2007.
“By all accounts, the Harper government has closed its eyes to allegations of torture and deliberately tolerated torture,” said Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic Bob Rae.
“We need to get to the bottom of this in an orderly and respectful way, in a way that would protect the honour and reputation of all Canadians, but especially our soldiers, our diplomats, our aid workers, our allies and the Afghan people, while also allowing all of us to learn some lessons for the future. We need a public inquiry.”
