Unlike Britain and the Netherlands, Canada did not directly monitor how Afghan security forces treated detainees we turned over to them. We relied on the International Red Cross and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) to do that. But as Richard Colvin testified, AIHRC was not allowed into the prisons at Kandahar, and Canada's military brass devised a baffling six-step process for notifying the Red Cross in Kandahar when it turned over a prisoner (Military police to Canadian command at Kandahar Airport to CEFCOM in Ottawa to Canadian Embassy in Geneva to Red Cross International Headquarters to Red Cross unit...

19 November, 2009

In The Coast, Steve Kimber interviews retired Halifax homicide detective Tom Martin on the reasons behind the dismal record closing murder cases in HRM, where 48 killings remain unsolved since 1955. Martin blames the department's top brass Martin pins much of the blame for that on his former department’s senior managers who, he says, lack the training and experience to effectively manage major criminal investigations. The department’s own website, in fact, touts [Chief] Frank Beazley’s most significant career accomplishment prior to becoming chief in 2003 as serving for six years as officer in charge of human resources and training. His deputy, [Chris]...

19 November, 2009

Mike Targett writes: [A] "bucket defence" might be more familiar to some of your readers as Freud's "kettle logic." However, for Freud, the defence is used when the denier has difficulty accepting the truth, not simply difficulty admitting it. It's plain to see that for the Harper government, the truth was merely inconvenient. When you think of it, "detracting from the narrative" has a sort of "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy" ring to it, doesn't it? So "bucket defence" is in fact better: the Harper government is not neurotic, but callous and even cruel. Unforgivable. (If we...

19 November, 2009

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...

19 November, 2009

Unfortunately, the officials House of Commons recording of Richard Colvin's testimony is not in an audio format I know how to embed. Readers can listen to by clicking here [Link Fixed]. I have transcribed some excerpts below, but everyone should listen to the whole recording. Colvin describes shameful behaviour on the part of senior Canadian military officials and their civilian overseers. The acts and omissions he describes are a disgrace to Canada that must be corrected. The first step in correcting them is for Canadians to fully appreciate what took place. Colvin explained that Canada did not monitor detainees after it turned...

19 November, 2009

As of 10:25 p.m., CPAC is rebroadcasting Richard Colvin's testimony before the Commons Committee on Afghan Detainees online here....

18 November, 2009

CBC's Susan Ormiston encountered Richard Colvin when she was a war correspondent, and he was a senior Canadian political officer, in Kandahar. Tonight, on the national, she spoke about his credibility. He was the guy that reporters wanted to get a briefing from when they arrived in Kandahar to find out what was happening on the ground....

18 November, 2009

Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada,offers useful perspective on Colvin's allegation in an interview with CTV....

18 November, 2009

Richard Colvin's testimony will test the mettle of Canada's national reporters. Will they treat this as an issue that goes to the nation's soul, or as just another he-said, she-said episode in the partisan gamesmanship of Parliament Hill? So far, Paul Wells of Maclean's is passing the test with flying colors. Within hours, Wells refuted one element of the "bucket defence" Conservative MPs put up against Colvin's testimony. Conservative MPs are arguing that these prisoners were, after all, trained to tell tall tales about horrible treatment to attract sympathy. This is a standard argument made by torture apologists. It is probably true...

18 November, 2009

Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin told the Commons Committee on Afghan Detainees today that virtually all the prisoners Canada turned over to Afghan security forces in 2006 and 2007 were tortured. Colvin says senior Canadian military and civilian ignored his warnings about the abuse, and Red Cross officials who tried to intervene could not get their phone calls returned for three months. Here is: The Canadian Press account of Colvin's testimony. A transcript of his opening statement. Video of Bob Rae questioning Peter MacKay on the allegations in Question Period. Stories from CBC, the Toronto Sun, the Toronto Star, and the Globe and Mail. If anyone...

18 November, 2009
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