Alex Neve is secretary general of Amnesty International Canada. What follows are excerpts of a column on the unthinkable -- Canada and torture -- which he wrote following the release of Justice Dennis O'Connor's findings in the Maher Arar case.
Canada should not inflict torture, nor should it be complicit in the infliction of torture by others. That simple and sadly necessary reminder comes in Justice Dennis O'Connor's recent report from the public inquiry into the Maher Arar case...
There must be compensation and an official government apology for Arar. The policy, training and institutional gaps at the RCMP, CSIS, foreign affairs and elsewhere in government must be addressed. Canada must actively and meaningfully pursue official protests with the U.S. and Syrian governments. The independent and credible review of the cases of other Canadian citizens detained and tortured abroad must promptly be launched.
This should also be a time of broader reflection about the issue of Canadian complicity in torture.
The distressing truth is that beyond the wrongdoing brought to light in the Arar case, there are numerous other ways in which Canada is complicit in torture inflicted by others. It is time to curtail that complicity and ensure that when it comes to the unconditional global ban on torture, Canada's record is unassailable -- no exceptions.
Look to Afghanistan. For close to five years now, Canadian soldiers have regularly handed individuals captured on the battlefield over to troops from other countries.
Until late in 2005, those transfers were to U.S. forces; since then it has been into the custody of Afghan authorities. In both instances, the transfers almost certainly expose some, even most, of the prisoners to a very real risk of torture...
The military must adopt a different approach to the handling of prisoners in Afghanistan, one that would safeguard against torture. Until that happens, Canada remains complicit in the infliction of torture by others.
Look also to our immigration policy. International law is specific: Torture is absolutely forbidden, as is deporting someone to a country where they face a serious risk of being tortured.
Yet the Canadian government insists it is OK to send someone off to face the likelihood of torture elsewhere if they are alleged to pose some sort of security risk in Canada.
Then there are the concerns that Canadian airports and airspace may have been used by CIA planes involved in the "extraordinary rendition" of individuals in counterterrorism cases...
And finally, what about Guantanamo Bay?
There have been persistent and serious allegations that torture and ill-treatment, including one Canadian citizen, Omar Khadr, who was still a minor when he was first imprisoned.
Canada's voice of protest about Guantanamo Bay has been virtually silent.
Source: Hamilton Spectator
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