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O 192144Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0084
INFO ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000890 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM AF CA
SUBJECT: CANADA: AFGHAN DETAINEE CONTROVERSY RE-ERUPTS 
 
OTTAWA 00000890  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  In testimony to a House of Commons committee 
on November 18, a Canadian diplomat claimed to have filed numerous 
written reports in 2006 and 2007 from Afghanistan alleging that 
"all" Afghans detained by Canadian Forces and transferred to Afghan 
authorities likely faced torture or abuse.  He alleged that 
Canadian officials knew of -- and deliberately failed to act on -- 
his warnings.  Defence Minister MacKay responded that the testimony 
was without a "scintilla" of evidence, and claimed that the three 
opposition parties were engaged in a "witch hunt."  He claimed that 
the Conservatives had "inherited" a flawed transfer process, which 
the government then fixed, while also investing more than $130 
million so far in penal and judicial reform in Afghanistan since 
taking office.  While seizing much media attention, the 
government's claim that there is no hard evidence - and no direct 
links between Canadian Forces and torture - should win the day 
after another round of short-term political skirmishing. 
Ultimately, neither major party wants to campaign on Afghanistan in 
the next election, whenever that may be.  The present furor is 
unlikely to have a long-term or significant impact either on 
Canadian policy on Afghanistan or on domestic Canadian politics. 
End summary. 
 
 
 
DIPLOMAT "RED FLAGS" ABUSE ALLEGATIONS 
 
 
 
¶2.  (U)  Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin told the House of Commons 
Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan (AFGH) on 
November 18 that "according to our information, the likelihood is 
that all the Afghans we handed over [to Afghan authorities] were 
tortured."  The AFGH had called Colvin as a witness after he filed 
an affidavit in a separate probe by the Military Police Complaints 
Commission (MPCC) into allegations that Canadian Forces knew that 
prisoners they transferred to Afghan authorities faced a risk of 
torture.  The probe is the second that the MPCC has launched since 
2007 into abuses of Afghan transferees, prompted by human rights 
groups that had filed -- and lost -- previous legal challenges to 
halt the transfers. 
 
 
 
¶3.  (U)  Colvin, now at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, had 
served a 17 month tour in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007, beginning 
in Kandahar in spring 2006 and then as DCM in Kabul.  Colvin 
testified that he first began to red flag "serious, imminent, and 
alarming" problems with the treatment of detainees in May 2006, 
based on "credible sources," as well as his own exchanges with 
detainees in Afghan custody.  He claimed that he had sent his 
reports to the senior ranks of the Canadian military as well as 
through diplomatic channels.  Colvin asserted that a "wall of 
secrecy" quickly surrounded his allegations, noting that "there was 
certain information that was seen as too hot potato."  He alleged 
that Canadian officials (including David Mulroney, then-Associate 
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Afghanistan policy and now 
Canadian Ambassador to Beijing) had told him to stop putting his 
concerns in writing to avoid creating a paper trail.  Colvin 
claimed that Canada's "complicity in torture" thwarted its military 
objectives in Kandahar by alienating the local population, causing 
Kandaharis to fear foreigners, thereby strengthening the 
insurgency. 
 
 
 
¶4.  (U)  The government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper had signed 
a new prisoner transfer agreement with the Afghan government in May 
2007, which provided for follow-up prison visits by Canadian 
officials to ensure that detainees were not tortured.  Previously, 
Conservative ministers had defended the practice of turning over 
detainees to Afghan authorities based on an agreement negotiated 
with the government of Afghanistan by the previous Liberal 
government.  Conservative ministers had also argued that the Red 
Cross previously monitored the treatment of prisoners in 
Afghanistan. 
 
 
 
POLITICAL "WITCH HUNT" 
 
 
 
¶5.  (U)  During the House of Commons' Question Period on November 
19, the Official Opposition Liberals, quickly backed by the other 
two opposition parties, called for a public inquiry into the 
allegations.  Defence Minister Peter MacKay vigorously discounted 
Colvin's testimony, saying there was not a "scintilla of evidence" 
 
OTTAWA 00000890  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
- "no evidence, none, zero" - linking torture to the Afghan 
prisoners transferred by the Canadian Forces.   He said that 
Colvin's testimony was based on "hearsay," including "Taliban 
information."   He accused the opposition parties of trying to turn 
this into a political issue, describing it as a "witch hunt."  He 
insisted that this government had acted to strengthen a weak 
prisoner transfer agreement inherited from the previous Liberal 
government, adding that the Liberals had not even instituted this 
agreement until a month before leaving office.   "We instituted a 
more robust system of visitation. We instituted investments to 
improve those [prison] conditions. We instituted a more rigorous 
process of assisting Afghans with respect to human rights. We 
continue to work both with local officials and members in all 
departments to improve things."  He noted that this government had 
since 2006 invested about $132 million to improve judicial and 
penal capability in Afghanistan.  MacKay dismissed as "outrageous" 
one MP's allegation that Canadian officials had been ordered to 
hold back reports of detainee abuse under threat of sanctions. 
 
 
 
¶7.  (U)  In a telephone interview on November 19 from Kabul while 
attending President Karzai's inauguration, Foreign Minister 
Lawrence Cannon asserted that "Canada has been responsive to the 
allegations of abuse and has taken them seriously. When we've had 
specific allegations of abuse, we've acted.  And we will not 
tolerate proven evidence of abuse."  He added that "nothing has 
been proven here and we've changed the system.  We have indeed 
cleaned up what was left to us by putting in place a new regime." 
FM Cannon also told reporters that he had met privately with 
President Karzai, who has "an immense task ahead."  FM Cannon also 
noted that Karzai in his inauguration speech had made some 
"important and positive commitments" to good governance, 
merit-based cabinet appointments, and accountability. 
 
 
 
¶8.  (U)  Prime Minister Stephen Harper, DefMin MacKay and his 
predecessor as DefMin Gordon O'Connor have all previously denied 
any knowledge of Colvin's reports.  Previous Chief of Defence Staff 
(CDS) General Rick Hillier has also stated that he did not recall 
seeing them. 
 
 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Comment:  These allegations are only the latest flare-up 
in the long-running controversy about treatment -- by Afghan 
authorities in Afghan facilities -- of Afghan detainees.  The issue 
of detainee transfers has long been a convenient political 
football, dogging successive governments and hindering positive 
messaging on Canada's engagement in Afghanistan.  Since the latest 
"fix" in 2007, the issue has continued to simmer due to various 
legal challenges by human rights groups, as well as the ongoing 
probe by the MPCC.  However, there are few new points to score, 
especially since detainee problems unfolded under the watches of 
both Liberal and Conservative governments.  The bottom line is that 
the Canadian public by and large is not engaged on the issue, and 
neither of the two major parties want to escalate Afghanistan as a 
future election issue, making it unlikely that the present furor 
will have a long-term or significant impact either on Canadian 
policy in Afghanistan or on domestic Canadian politics. 
JACOBSON