Laurie Hawn writes to inform the Afghanistan committee that Conservative members won’t be attending tomorrow’s meeting. It appears the committee will carry on without them. Meanwhile, Tim Naumetz of the Hill Times obtains classified transcripts from the Military Police Complaints Commission inquiry.
Maj. Kevin Rowcliffe, then a staff adviser to Lt.- Gen. Michel Gauthier, second in command of the Afghanistan mission under Mr. Hillier, was concerned even in early stages of the Afghanistan mission of the potential for torture abuse and expressed concern at the very top that Canadians were transferring detainees to Afghan police and intelligence forces “not knowing what happens to them after they’re handed over.”
Maj. Rowcliffe and two other Military Police officers who were interviewed for the Military Police Complaints Commission inquiry revealed a state of “mass confusion” over transfers, scarce resources for military police in Kandahar and concern from the police themselves over the way generals in Ottawa, under pressure from the government, were handling the detainee controversy as it later made front-page news in Canada and burst onto the House of Commons floor.
