19 Nov Colvin testimony media wrap-up

Audio file of Colvin’s testimony is a must listen, especially the first 20 minutes.

CBC – Kady O’Malley’s liveblog of the hearing. Moneyquote:

I’ve got to say this testimony really is pretty damning, particularly given the credibility of this witness. He also seems utterly unafraid of any repercussions, and seems to be holding nothing back, including his efforts to alert highers up about his concerns.

Canadian Press (Murray Brewster) – the more recent CP filing, at 4:46 this morning. Brewster has consistently done a good job on this story.

Toronto Star – “Canada shamed on torture.”

CBC  (James Cudmore) –  “Handling of Afghan prisoners covered up.”

“I think it will be a difficult story for Canadians,” a source told the CBC, adding they could be both surprised and disturbed by what Colvin says.

China Daily – Diplomat: Canada handed over Afghans for torture. China’s English language newspaper carries a compendium of news agency reports. David Mulroney, the diplomat accused by Colvin of censoring his reports on torture, is now Canada’s ambassador to China. A CBC Radio report by Anthony Germaine that is not yet on line [Update: a version is now posted] speculates that this will make it difficult for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to raise human rights issues when he visits China next month.

None of Canada’s major newspapers (The Globe and Mail, the National Post, The Montreal Gazette, The Toronto Star, etc.) has an editorial on Colvin’s testimony, which came late in the day. Opinion pieces by political columnists are also conspicuous by their absence. Bizarrely, Canada’s two cheeky political news aggregators, National Newswatch and Bourqe Newswatch, ignore the story altogether as of 8 a.m, as do the National Post’s bloggers.

Paul Wells at Macleans.ca – On the similarities between torturees’ testimony and torturers’ testimony.

[T]he Conservatives are arguing that the prisoners’ testimony is a lie; that Colvin is reporting hearsay; that he buried his reports so nobody could have found them; that prisons are dangerous places everywhere; that Colvin is an unreliable fellow. The goal of a bucket defence is not to suggest a single, coherent, rebuttal of a claim. It is to throw up such a fog of confusion and contradiction that the entire process is discredited or spectators are discouraged from continuing to pay attention.

The Toronto Sun (Kathleen Harris and Althia Raj) Cover-up claims could hurt rep.

The Globe and Mail (Steve Chase) – Canada complicit in torture of innocent Afghans, diplomat says.

CanWest News (Janice Tibbits) – Canada Ignored Torture: Ex-Envoy.

BBC – Canada hears of Afghan ‘torture.’

Agence France Presse (AFP) – Canada ignored Afghan torture allegations: diplomat.

Reuters – Canada turned blind eye to Afghan abuses: diplomat