In Afganistan the final battle begins
By Paul Wells - Friday, April 16, 2010 - 57 Comments
Paul Wells: This time the tactics are different and backup has arrived
Louie Palu/CP
“This is the edge of the moon,” Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie told me as we dismounted from our armoured vehicles at the foot of the Soviet-built mountain fortress of Sperwan Ghar. He pointed westward. “If you go 100 m that way, you will die.”
For now, this little outpost, only 30 km from Kandahar City in the rolling farmland of the Panjwayi district, marks the outer edge of the territory Canadian troops control and patrol. It’s impenetrable: a steep man-made hill with heavy guns, a moat, and a tethered balloon whose cameras allow the 200-odd Canadian Forces soldiers there to monitor and sometimes target insurgent activity in every direction.
But to the west, Canadians have left the area to insurgent fighters. There are perhaps only a few hundred of them in a local population of 3,000, Maj. Wade Rutland told Leslie. But the bad guys have “complete freedom of manoeuvre” in and around three villages, Zangabad, Mushan and Talukan, that Rutland called the area’s “insurgent Axis of Evil.”
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In between the redactions
By Aaron Wherry - Friday, March 26, 2010 at 1:23 AM - 16 Comments
Sifting through Thursday’s documents, the Canadian Press leads with the account of a soldier who claimed detainee had been executed by Afghan authorities—a claim the Defence Minister’s spokesman dismisses to the Globe—but there is more.
An April 2007 report by a Foreign Affairs official who joined a Correctional Service of Canada staffer on an “exhaustive inspection” of the notorious National Directorate of Security facility in Kandahar City also cites claims of abuse. ”To our surprise, even though NDS officers accompanied us throughout the visit, two prisoners nonetheless came forward with complaints of mistreatment,” the official wrote…
A February 2008 memo prepared at National Defence Headquarters by Capt. S.M. Moore noted “significant shortcomings and areas for concern with regard to the conduct of (military police) operations in Afghanistan.” Many of the problems “are systemic” and result from a lack of oversight, it says. The memo notes a survey conducted “in theatre revealed that soldiers stated they had witnessed the abuse of detainees” – yet the information was not immediately passed on to military police.
It adds that on Feb. 15, 2008, two unknown individuals approached a female military police member when she exited the shower, grabbed her arms, pushed her against the shower wall and told her: “MPs mind your own business.”
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The burden of proof
By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at 11:10 AM - 25 Comments
As noted, the government’s present stance, as articulated by Defence Minister Peter MacKay, is as follows: “There has never been a single proven allegation of abuse involving a prisoner transferred by the Canadian Forces. Not one.”
Here, again, it is perhaps worth reviewing the report that seemingly brought a halt to transfers in November 2007. Page one of the report indicates it was filed by a Canadian official after a visit to a “detention facility in Kandahar City to interview Canadian-transferred detainees.” At page three, it is disclosed that a detainee made an “allegation of abuse.” He described the abuse, then pointed to a chair, underneath which, he said, were the implements used to abuse him. There, the Canadian officials found “a large piece of braided electrical wire as well as a rubber hose.” The detainee then showed Canadian officials a four-inch bruise on his back. The Canadian official reports that the mark “could possibly be the result of a blow.” The detainee asked that the allegation be kept confidential and the Canadian official cautions that the matter should be handled “strategically,” while raising the possibility of “retaliation.”
If this does not establish an incident of torture, or demonstrate a reasonable threat of torture, what, for the sake of argument, would? Would a Canadian official have to personally follow a Canadian-transferred detainee into prison and then personally witness the torture of that detainee? Is a legal verdict required? Would an Afghan or Canadian court have to find an Afghan official guilty of torturing a Canadian-transferred detainee?
