statism watch

Flashback: CSIS secretly interrogated Afghan prisoners | Canada wanted Afghan prisoners tortured: lawyer | Harper grilled over prorogation, Afghan detainee torture documents | MP threatens motion on Afghan documents | PM Harper downplays detainee torture scandal, prorogation | Claims troops mistreated prisoners unfounded: military police | Peter MacKay, Red Cross discussed detainees in 2006 | Canada’s troops investigated for Afghan abuse | Colvin disputes witnesses’ detainee testimony | Tories sabotage Afghan committee 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 | 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’

CBC News
March 8, 2010

An internal government memo obtained by CBC confirms that Canadian authorities began formulating a plan for dealing with accusations of torture of prisoners in Afghanistan as early as March 2007 — months before such allegations first came up in the media.

The memo, drafted by officials at the Department of Foreign Affairs, instructs staff to inform the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and the Red Cross if “NGOs, relatives, media or otherwise make credible allegations that detainees transferred by CF [Canadian Forces] to Afghan authorities have been potentially abused following their transfer.”

Officials must also “follow up separately to address potential concerns with the conditions of detention,” the memo says.

First drafts of the document were written in March 2007, months before the Globe and Mail reported that 30 prisoners handed over to Afghan authorities by the Canadian military were “beaten, whipped, starved, frozen, choked and subjected to electric shocks during interrogations.”

The timing of the memo shows the government was concerned about the possibility that detainees were being abused while in Afghan custody long before revelations about actual cases of abuse became public.

The existence of a plan to deal with allegations of abuse came to light in November 2009 during hearings held by the parliamentary committee examining Canada’s mission in Afghanistan and the issue of detainee transfer.

(more…)

Flashback: Canada wanted Afghan prisoners tortured: lawyer | Harper grilled over prorogation, Afghan detainee torture documents | MP threatens motion on Afghan documents | PM Harper downplays detainee torture scandal, prorogation | Claims troops mistreated prisoners unfounded: military police | Peter MacKay, Red Cross discussed detainees in 2006 | Canada’s troops investigated for Afghan abuse | Colvin disputes witnesses’ detainee testimony | Tories sabotage Afghan committee 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 | 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’

Murray Brewster, Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
March 7, 2010

OTTAWA–Canadian spies have been interrogating captured Taliban fighters in Afghanistan since 2006.

Officers with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service have been working with Canadian military police intelligence officers, according to heavily censored witness transcripts filed with the Military Police Complaints Commission.

CSIS acknowledged in 2006 that its members gathered intelligence in Afghanistan, but the spy service’s precise role has remained in the shadows until now.

Intelligence expert Wesley Wark says the revelations are disturbing, partly because CSIS would have had no specialized knowledge of how to elicit information from Afghan prisoners at the time.

“I find that stunning,” said Wark, a University of Toronto historian who believes when it came to skill in interrogating prisoners of war, CSIS “lacked it in spades” in 2006.

Maj. Kevin Rowcliffe, former staff adviser to Canada’s overseas operations commander, told investigators with the commission (which handles complaints about the military police) there was debate within the army itself about how much experience its intelligence officers had in grilling prisoners.

“There was a lot of discussion in my headquarters about who was qualified to do interrogations, because we’re not talking the normal police interview, we’re talking interrogations, which (censored) were doing, not (military police),” he says in an edited transcript of an interview on Dec. 6, 2007.

A copy of the transcript was obtained by The Canadian Press.

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Now it really hits the fan.

Flashback: Harper grilled over prorogation, Afghan detainee torture documents | MP threatens motion on Afghan documents | PM Harper downplays detainee torture scandal, prorogation | Claims troops mistreated prisoners unfounded: military police | Peter MacKay, Red Cross discussed detainees in 2006 | Canada’s troops investigated for Afghan abuse | Colvin disputes witnesses’ detainee testimony | Tories sabotage Afghan committee 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 | 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’

CBC News
March 5, 2010

Unredacted documents show officials hoped to gather intelligence, expert says

University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran says Canadian officials intentionally handed over Afghan detainees to be tortured in order to gather intelligence. (CBC)

Federal government documents on Afghan detainees suggest that Canadian officials intended some prisoners to be tortured in order to gather intelligence, according to a legal expert.

If the allegation is true, such actions would constitute a war crime, said University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran, who has been digging deep into the issue and told CBC News he has seen uncensored versions of government documents released last year.

“If these documents were released [in full], what they will show is that Canada partnered deliberately with the torturers in Afghanistan for the interrogation of detainees,” he said.

“There would be a question of rendition and a question of war crimes on the part of certain Canadian officials. That’s what’s in these documents, and that’s why the government is covering up as hard as it can.”

Detainee abuse became the subject of national debate last year after heavily redacted versions of the documents were made public after Attaran filed an access to information request. They revealed the Canadian military was not monitoring detainees who had been transferred from Canadian to Afghan custody. It was later alleged that some of those detainees were being mistreated.

Until now, the controversy has centred on whether the government turned a blind eye to abuse of Afghan detainees.

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The question of prorogation isn’t about it how often it has been done, but why. In the past, prorogation was effected because the agenda of the house was finished, or because it was the only way Parliament was able to squeeze in a holiday at the time. It was not done in order to duck responsibility.

(Update 2010/3/5): The government has called for a ‘review’ by Justice Iacobucci of whether any of the documents in their hands would be ‘injurious’ if released. No indication of how long that might take.

Flashback: MP threatens motion on Afghan documents | PM Harper downplays detainee torture scandal, prorogation | Claims troops mistreated prisoners unfounded: military police | Peter MacKay, Red Cross discussed detainees in 2006 | Canada’s troops investigated for Afghan abuse | Colvin disputes witnesses’ detainee testimony | Tories sabotage Afghan committee 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 | 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’

CBC News
March 4, 2010

Opposition demands unredacted documents over Afghan detainee transfers

Opposition MPs wasted no time during the first question period in the new session of Parliament to renew their condemnation of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to prorogue Parliament for six weeks.

Speaking Thursday in the first question period since Dec. 10, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff accused the Conservative government of trying to avoid facing legitimate questions about allegations of torture of prisoners transferred by Canadian soldiers into Afghan custody.

“Everyone in this House and everyone in the country knows why the prime minister shut down Parliament,” Ignatieff said.

Ignatieff and NDP Leader Jack Layton called for the prime minister to support limiting the government’s powers of prorogation and preventing its future abuse. Layton called the power “outdated” and cited the tens of thousands who took to the streets across Canada in January to protest the move.

“A lock on the doors of the House of Commons is not worthy of Canadian democracy,” said the New Democrat leader, who received a standing ovation from his caucus when he rose to speak. Layton disclosed last month he is being treated for prostate cancer. Harper said he was glad to see Layton “in fine form.”

The prime minister then replied that federal governments have prorogued Parliament almost annually on average for the past 140 years and his government had no plans to make changes to its use.

In response to Ignatieff, Harper acknowledged his own “unusual” use of the power in late 2008 to assert the principle that the opposition must face an election if it wants to replace the government.

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So, we’re back to hands off the opium producers after a brief show campaign for the domestic media. What do you figure a kilo of the finest CIA smack goes for these days, wholesale? That’s right kids, Uncle Sam’s a pusher. But who cares about the kids, they need to fund their black-budget operations somehow.

Flashback: Occupiers involved in drug trade: Afghan minister | Afghan leader’s corrupt brother paid by CIA, U.S. officials say | Afghanistan Drug Raid Snares Border Police Commander | Afghanistan’s Hidden Heroin Addicts | Canadian troops could soon target Afghan drug trade: top soldier | Reports reveal concerns over drug use among Canadian military | NATO to let troops fight Afghan drug lords | Karzai’s kin linked to heroin trafficking | Afghani Narco-state Continues to Blossom under Puppet President

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, BBC News
February 27, 2010

The head of Russia’s federal drug control agency has accused Nato of not doing enough to curb the production of heroin in Afghanistan.

Victor Ivanov said at least 30,000 people died in Russia every year from heroin, 90% of it from Afghanistan.

He blamed the Obama administration for ending a military drive to destroy opium poppy crops in Afghan fields.

The US said the practice was alienating farmers and driving them to support the Taliban.

This is not the first time Mr Ivanov has lambasted Nato for failing to stamp out drug production in Afghanistan.

He said leaving poppy fields guaranteed immunity for drug producers.

Russia says the consequence has been a flood of cheap heroin in to Central Asia and Russia.

(more…)

Flashback: Halifax apologizes for razing Africville | Tamils languish in Sri Lankan camps | UN chief flies into Sri Lanka as Tamils herded into camps | Quarter of a million Sri Lankans face two years in camps | Fisherman, 78, faces eviction to make room for container terminal | Beijing families forcibly relocated for Olympics

CBC News
February 26, 2010

‘Canadians are going to be in the thick of it,’ says Brig.-Gen. King

Officials in Kandahar province have begun humanitarian preparations in advance of fighting later this year, when NATO forces are expected to launch their most ambitious assault on Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan since 2001.

Kandahar’s governor, Tooryalai Wesa, said officials are stockpiling tents, medical supplies and food as he expects as many as 10,000 people may have to flee their homes when the fighting starts.

NATO and Afghan forces are entering their third week of fighting in nearby Helmand province, with 15,000 troops engaged in battle in an effort to reclaim the insurgent-held town of Marjah and the district of Nad Ali.

More than 2,800 families — averaging about five members each — have been displaced before and during the fighting, according to the Afghan Organization of Human Rights and Environmental Protection, an independent group.

(more…)

Flashback: Five civilians killed in Nato rocket attack in Afghanistan | NATO’s novel battle tactic spawns opposite effects as 12 civilians killed | German army chief resigns over Afghanistan air strike | NATO pledges probe of deadly Afghan air strike; civilians killed | Afghan Airstrike Video Goes Down the Memory Hole | New Afghan mission commander vows to protect civilians | US air strikes kill dozens of Afghan civilians | NATO denies air strike killed Afghan civilians

Jon Boone, Matthew Weaver, The Guardian
February 22, 2010

Nato and Afghanistan government launch inquiry after planes fire on convoy of vehicles, killing at least 27 people

At least 27 civilians were killed in a Nato air strike in southern Afghanistan yesterday, prompting a furious response from Afghan officials. The airstrike – in which four women and a child are known to have died – brought a personal apology from General Stanley McChrystal, the Nato commander in Afghanistan, to the president, Hamid Karzai.

It added to growing anger over the number of civilian casualties in the Afghan conflict, and came hours after Karzai had urged Nato to do more to protect civilians.

In a statement, the Afghanistan council of ministers condemned the air strike as “unjustifiable”.

The cabinet said initial reports indicated that Nato had fired on a convoy of three vehicles, killing at least 27 people and injuring a further 12.

McChrystal spoke to Karzai yesterday to express his regret and promise an investigation.

“We are extremely saddened by the tragic loss of innocent lives,” he said.

“I have made it clear to our forces that we are here to protect the Afghan people and inadvertently killing or injuring civilians undermines their trust and confidence in our mission. We will redouble our effort to regain that trust.”

Syed Zahir Shah, the police chief of Kajran district, in Daikondi province, said he spent all day yesterday helping to recover body parts so they could be prepared for burial.

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Is that anything like appointing Senators during prorogation? Whatever – there’s an interesting (and seemingly balanced) take on Karzai’s history with the Mujahideen, the ISI, and the Taliban here.

Flashback: Karzai set to replace most of his cabinet | Afghanistan announces latest ‘corruption crackdown’ | Karzai ‘wins’ as Afghan run-off cancelled | Occupiers involved in drug trade: Afghan minister | Afghan leader’s corrupt brother paid by CIA, U.S. officials say | Afghan probe voids thousands of Karzai votes | I was ordered to cover up President Karzai election fraud, sacked UN envoy says | EU observers say a third of Karzai’s votes might be suspect due to fraud | Afghanistan Drug Raid Snares Border Police Commander | Afghan vote called ‘mockery’ | Accusations over Afghan vote rigging | Afghan President Karzai registers for re-election, picks warlord as running mate | Canadian troops could soon target Afghan drug trade: top soldier | Reports reveal concerns over drug use among Canadian military | Afghan government sacks Kandahar governor | NATO to let troops fight Afghan drug lords | Karzai’s kin linked to heroin trafficking | Afghani Narco-state Continues to Blossom under Puppet President

Jon Boone, The Guardian
February 22, 2010

Guardian Exclusive: While parliament is in recess, president unilaterally decrees he can appoint entire panel, reigniting fears of fraud

The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has unilaterally taken control of the country’s top electoral watchdog, provoking outrage from western diplomats, the Guardian has learnt.

The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), which forced Karzai into a runoff election after it disqualified nearly 1m fraudulent votes in last year’s presidential election, previously included three foreign experts named by the UN.

However, according to a new presidential decree published today, Karzai will have the exclusive power to appoint all five panel members.

His decision to “Afghanise” the ECC came while parliament was in recess.

It provoked a shocked reaction from western diplomats, who fear parliamentary elections – due to take place in six months – will be fatally undermined by a repeat of last year’s electoral fraud.

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In a background piece on the arrest, the BBC reports “Some quarters here indicate that the arrest may have been “orchestrated” by elements within the Pakistani establishment to facilitate back-channel talks with “willing” Taliban commanders. This line of thinking presupposes a scenario in which the Pakistanis “brought in” Mullah Baradar under a pre-arranged pact with the CIA to pave the way for negotiations. If true, this may indicate a serious move towards a negotiated settlement of the Afghan imbroglio.”

Flashback: NATO, Afghan troops launch largest air assault of Afghan war | Afghanistan conference agrees on exit timetable, Taliban bailout | General McChrystal indicates talks with Taliban to be discussed

BBC News
Febuary 17, 2010

Rehman Malik denied US agents had been involved in the capture

The US has hailed the capture of the Afghan Taliban military commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, as a “big success” for US-Pakistani cooperation.

A White House spokesman confirmed the capture for the first time, saying it was a significant development.

Pakistan earlier confirmed the capture which was reported on Tuesday.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik added that other suspects had been arrested in the swoop “seven to 10 days ago” and were being interrogated.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is said to have overseen Taliban military operations in Afghanistan, run the group’s leadership council, and controlled its finances.

(more…)

Don’t run! We are your friends!

Flashback: NATO’s novel battle tactic spawns opposite effects as 12 civilians killed | German army chief resigns over Afghanistan air strike | NATO pledges probe of deadly Afghan air strike; civilians killed | Afghan Airstrike Video Goes Down the Memory Hole | New Afghan mission commander vows to protect civilians | US air strikes kill dozens of Afghan civilians | NATO denies air strike killed Afghan civilians

James Meikle, Declan Walsh, Stephen Bates, The Guardian
February 15, 2010

A Nato airstrike against suspected insurgents has killed five civilians in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan today.

A Nato statement said a joint patrol of Nato and Afghan troops saw individuals digging along a path in the Zhari district of Kandahar province today and mistakenly concluded that they were planting an improvised explosive device. Two civilians were also wounded in the strike.

The incident follows the deaths yesterday of 12 Afghan civilians, who were killed by two stray Nato rockets in neighbouring Helmand province.

Major General Michael Regner, Isaf’s joint command deputy chief of staff for joint operations, said: “We regret this tragic accident and offer our sympathies to the families of those killed and injured.

“Our combined forces take every precaution to minimise civilian casualties, and we will investigate this incident to determine how this happened.”

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