Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry
MacKay, for his part, remains in denial mode. Stay on message Peter!
Flashback: Richard Colvin’s Afghan torture memos reveal government concealed prisoner access issues | Torture claims unreliable, officials say, despite having found evidence of torture | MPs vote public inquiry into Afghan detainees, Tories ignore majority motion | Torture claims weren’t probed, official testified | Harper government changes tune on Afghan prisoner issue | Colvin’s testimony true: former Afghan MP | David Mulroney testifies war confused issue of torture | Hillier says he saw no credible reports of torture | Afghan torture emails reached MacKay’s office | Opposition wants documentation prior to government torture rebuttal, PM cries foul | Canadian officials discussed torture in 2006 | Canada shamed on Afghan prisoner torture | Canada ignored torture warnings: Diplomat | Military lawyer stonewalls on Afghan torture claims | Ottawa was warned Afghan detainees might be tortured | Military commission suspends torture hearings, gags witness | Torture probe delayed; Tories deny gagging witness | Federal court limits Afghan detainee torture probe | Watchdog rejects government bid to delay Afghan detainee inquiry | Ottawa moves to block Afghanistan detainee torture hearings again | Bid to Block Afghan Detainee Inquiry Slammed | What Ottawa doesn’t want you to know: Government was told detainees faced ‘extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture and detention without trial’
Steven Chase, The Globe and Mail
December 9, 2009
Opposition pounces after Natynczyk does an about-face and admits prisoner beaten by Afghan interrogators had been taken into custody by Canadian troops
Canada’s top soldier has reversed himself on testimony he gave this week, with Chief of the Defence Staff Walter Natynczyk now admitting that a prisoner severely beaten in 2006 by Afghan interrogators had earlier been taken into custody by Canadian soldiers.
“I want to correct my statement,” General Natynczyk announced at a hastily arranged news conference, saying he’d been misinformed.
“I intend to investigate why it took so long to get to the Chief of the Defence Staff.”
He couldn’t say whether the man taken into Canadian custody was also formally processed as a detainee of Canada. Gen Natynczyk said he’s ordering an investigation into this.
The question is important because it would contradict Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s repeated insistence that not a single case of torture of Canadian detainees could be proven.
Knowingly transferring a prisoner to torture or abuse is a Geneva Conventions-grade war crime. But in this case there is no evidence Canadians knew this detainee would be maltreated
Gen. Natynczyk said he only learned he was in error today.
“This morning at about 9 o’clock, I was briefed by my staff who’d been researching the case – just to ensure the completeness of all the information we’d been using,” he said, adding his officials produced a report from the June 2006 incident that contradicted what he previously knew.
“When I read that report, I realized it was not totally consistent with the operations report and the information provided to me by the chain of command.”
Opposition parties immediately pounced on the reversal, with the Liberals renewing their call for a public inquiry and New Democrats asking again for Mr. MacKay’s resignation.
“It’s time to stop this nonsense and get a judge to sort it out,” Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff told reporters, noting that such an investigation would reach back to when his party was in office.
The NDP echoed the sentiment in a separate news conference, with foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar calling Gen. Natynczyk’s reversal a “bombshell” and defence critic Jack Harris saying Mr. MacKay must be held accountable.
Yesterday, Gen. Natynczyk had played down the case to MPs at a parliamentary committee. He had rejected detailed accounts, taken from a soldier’s contemporaneous field notes and the sworn affidavit of Canada’s first Kandahar Task Force Commander that a Canadian-captured detainee was beaten by Afghan security forces before Canadian soldiers intervened and rescued him in Jun 2006.
Gen. Natynczyk claimed Tuesday the case wasn’t one of a Canadian-transferred detainee being maltreated by Afghans because the man was never officially listed as captured, even though Canadian soldiers stopped, questioned, and photographed him. He had said the man wasn’t even considered to have been taken into Canadian custody, a precursor to officially taking responsibility for man as a detainee.
Gen. Natynczyk’s version on Tuesday contradicted the sworn affidavit, filed in Federal Court to counter the efforts of human-rights groups efforts to get transfers halted.
Then-Colonel Steve Noonan had been selected by the military to provide the sworn affidavit in the government’s defence in the case. His April, 2007, affidavit has never been corrected or withdrawn.
“There was one incident in which the CF took custody of detainee who had been turned over to the local ANP by the CF In this case, the CF “learned that the detainee had been beaten by the local ANP,” Col. Noonan said in his affidavit. He has since been promoted to Brigadier-General.
In his remarks Wednesday, Mr. Ignatieff said he was “fed up” with “all these stories circulating that just aren’t believable.”
The Liberal Leader said investigating the treatment of Afghan detainees is not a partisan issue.
“We need a judge to say ‘okay, let’s look at the whole track record, the whole period, and make sure we get this right’ because the honour of our country, the honour of our armed forces is at stake,” Mr. Ignatieff said.
“I think that’s a reasonable response and we’ve had months and months and months of [the Conservative government] inventing one story, then another story.”
Mr. Ignatieff suggested that Mr. MacKay is playing the “long game” on the issue, hoping that it will go away over the Christmas holidays. The House breaks at the end of this week and will not return until Jan. 25.
Source | See also under Torture: U.S. police taser 10-year-old | Richard Colvin’s Afghan torture memos reveal government concealed prisoner access issues | Torture claims unreliable, officials say, despite having found evidence of torture | MPs vote public inquiry into Afghan detainees, Tories ignore majority motion | Torture claims weren’t probed, official testified | Harper government changes tune on Afghan prisoner issue | Colvin’s testimony true: former Afghan MP | David Mulroney testifies war confused issue of torture | Hillier says he saw no credible reports of torture | Afghan torture emails reached MacKay’s office | UK: Rights watchdog reveals Pakistani spies pressed by British to torture detainees | Opposition wants documentation prior to government torture rebuttal, PM cries foul | Canadian officials discussed torture in 2006 | Canada shamed on Afghan prisoner torture | Canada ignored torture warnings: Diplomat | Guantanamo won’t close by January: Obama | Israelis Want a Pain Ray of Their Own | UK soldier testifies comrades beat Iraqi to death | Military lawyer stonewalls on Afghan torture claims | U.S. court denies Maher Arar’s appeal | UK: Move to withhold evidence in MI5/MI6 torture collusion claim | U.S. artists slam use of music in Guantanamo interrogations | Ottawa was warned Afghan detainees might be tortured | Military commission suspends torture hearings, gags witness | Torture probe delayed; Tories deny gagging witness | Portable heat ray weapon may end up in police hands | Guantanamo January closing deadline may slip | Federal court limits Afghan detainee torture probe | Iraq shoe thrower released from jail, testifies to brutal torture | Sonic weapons used in Iraq positioned at congressional townhall meetings in San Diego county | CIA doctors face human experimentation claims | U.S. probes ‘inhumane’ CIA tactics under Bush | US justice department to investigate CIA over interrogation methods | Obama approves new interrogation unit | UK: New evidence in Binyam Mohamed torture case | UK: Secrets of CIA ‘ghost flights’ to be revealed | UK: CIA ‘put pressure on Britain to cover up its use of torture’ | Microwave weapon will rain pain from the sky | Abdelrazik accuses CSIS, MPs of harassment and interrogation | Pentagon-handpicked 9/11 families want Gitmo kept open | CSIS ignored Khadr’s human rights: Parliamentary report | ‘They were looking for the ideal Manchurian Candidate’ | Revealed – the secret torture evidence MI5 tried to suppress | Guantanamo’s closure window dressing – overseas CIA ‘black sites’ to stay | ‘If I didn’t confess to 7/7 bombings MI5 officers would rape my wife,’ claims torture victim | MPs call for clear policy against torture | New video shows officer shove, then taser 72-year-old great grandmother | US: Ruling allowing Taser use to get DNA may be nation’s first | Gitmo protest captured on film | MI5 faces fresh torture allegations | Skepticism greets launch of Afghan detainee inquiry | Government Experiments on U.S. Soldiers: Shocking Claims Come to Light in New Court Case | Supreme Court of Canada won’t hear Afghan detainee torture case | Reversing himself, Obama seeks to block abuse photos | British soldiers ‘tortured and murdered 20 Iraqis, then covered it up with firefight claim’ | CIA waterboarded 2 al-Qaida suspects 266 times | UK: Government makes ‘unprecedented’ apology for covering up Binyam torture | Psychologists Helped Guide CIA Interrogations | Mumbai attacks suspect alleges torture, retracts confession | Obama publishes torture memos, protects perpetrators | Obama Tilts to CIA on Torture Memos | Document lays bare CIA torture techniques | CSIS chief backpedals on earlier torture statement, claims long-term official ‘misspoke’ | CSIS won’t rule out tips derived from torture | Watchdog rejects government bid to delay Afghan detainee inquiry | Rights groups press for better security oversight | Head of RCMP unit that framed Arar promoted to Assistant Commissioner | Obama administration: Guantanamo detainees have ‘no constitutional rights’ | CIA destroyed 92 interview tapes | Tortured Guantanamo detainee set free | UK agents ‘colluded with torture in Pakistan’ | Obama backs Bush: No rights for Bagram prisoners | U.K. resident held at Gitmo alleges Canadian involvement in torture | Senior judges attack US over ‘torture evidence suppression’ | After Obama praises torture ruling, civil liberties group appalled | Ban stun gun use on young people, Ontario child advocate urges | 24 star Keifer Sutherland opposed to torture, questions role of series in inspiring interrogations | RCMP destroyed evidence, charges dismissed in second torture case for officers | Obama shuts network of CIA ‘ghost prisons’ | Vets Sue CIA Over Mind Control Tests | US police could get ‘pain beam’ weapons | George Bush shoe-thrower ‘too severely beaten’ for court appearance | Conspiracy against Arar reached to highest levels, U.S. court told | Ottawa moves to block Afghanistan detainee torture hearings again | UK Home Secretary orders inquiry into MI5 and CIA torture claims | Tortured trio say report ‘vindicates us’ | Ottawa given evidence of torture, official says | Torture Tactics Endorsed in Secret White House Memos | Tasers being used for pain compliance during interrogation, suit alleges | Lawyers say UK Guantánamo suspect has no hope of fair trial | Defiant military watchdog widens detainee hearings | CSIS faces review in Khadr case | RCMP lays no charges in Maher Arar ‘terrorist’ leaks, declares case closed | Protesters push for Omar Khadr’s release | ‘You don’t care about me,’ Omar Khadr sobs in interview tapes | Remembering Brainwashing | Chinese Torture Techniques Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo | US Counterinsurgency Manual Leaked, Calls for False Flag Operations, Suspension of Human Rights | Torture was expected in ‘top-down’ decision to deport Arar: lawyer | Bid to Block Afghan Detainee Inquiry Slammed | CSIS suspected U.S. would deport Arar to be tortured: documents | What Ottawa doesn’t want you to know: Government was told detainees faced ‘extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture and detention without trial’ | Canadian MKULTRA project mind control victim to tell of pills, shocks, brainwashing
December 18th, 2009 at 11:58 am
[...] Canada ‘defended’ torturer | Ottawa won’t release Afghan torture documents | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | Richard Colvin’s Afghan torture memos reveal government concealed prisoner access issues | [...]
December 21st, 2009 at 2:38 am
[...] release Afghan torture documents | RCMP had no grounds to use Taser on N.W.T. girl: report | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | U.S. police taser 10-year-old | Richard Colvin’s Afghan torture memos reveal government [...]
December 24th, 2009 at 5:38 am
[...] meeting | Canada ‘defended’ torturer | Ottawa won’t release Afghan torture documents | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | Richard Colvin’s Afghan torture memos reveal government concealed prisoner access issues | [...]
January 7th, 2010 at 8:11 am
[...] meeting | Canada ‘defended’ torturer | Ottawa won’t release Afghan torture documents | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | Richard Colvin’s Afghan torture memos reveal government concealed prisoner access issues | [...]
January 14th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
[...] meeting | Canada ‘defended’ torturer | Ottawa won’t release Afghan torture documents | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | Richard Colvin’s Afghan torture memos reveal government concealed prisoner access issues | [...]
January 19th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
[...] release Afghan torture documents | RCMP had no grounds to use Taser on N.W.T. girl: report | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | U.S. police taser 10-year-old | Richard Colvin’s Afghan torture memos reveal government [...]
January 30th, 2010 at 6:40 am
[...] meeting | Canada ‘defended’ torturer | Ottawa won’t release Afghan torture documents | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | Richard Colvin’s Afghan torture memos reveal government concealed prisoner access issues | [...]
February 11th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
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February 16th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
[...] release Afghan torture documents | US Air Force confirms new ‘Beast of Kandahar’ drone | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | Another 7,000 NATO troops going to Afghanistan | Afghans rejected Canadian-captured prisoners for [...]
February 27th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
[...] release Afghan torture documents | US Air Force confirms new ‘Beast of Kandahar’ drone | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | Another 7,000 NATO troops going to Afghanistan | Afghans rejected Canadian-captured prisoners for [...]
February 27th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
[...] release Afghan torture documents | RCMP had no grounds to use Taser on N.W.T. girl: report | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | U.S. police taser 10-year-old | Richard Colvin’s Afghan torture memos reveal government [...]
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:55 pm
[...] meeting | Canada ‘defended’ torturer | Ottawa won’t release Afghan torture documents | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | Richard Colvin’s Afghan torture memos reveal government concealed prisoner access issues | [...]
March 5th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
[...] meeting | Canada ‘defended’ torturer | Ottawa won’t release Afghan torture documents | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | Richard Colvin’s Afghan torture memos reveal government concealed prisoner access issues | [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
[...] meeting | Canada ‘defended’ torturer | Ottawa won’t release Afghan torture documents | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | Richard Colvin’s Afghan torture memos reveal government concealed prisoner access issues | [...]