Thursday, September 3, 2015

CANADA MILITARY NEWS- (Part 1) - the horrific betrayal of Canadian troops whlst at war in Afghanistan- NDP/Green/Bloc - and Civil Liberties BC (who make $$$$millions off our tax dollars) - alleged torture of Afghan Terrorists transfered to Afghan authorities by Canadian troops.... A BIG READ if interested /PART 1








MCCLEANS POLL'--Nov. 30th 2
WHO SHOULD SHOULDER THE BLAME FOR THE ALLEGED TORTURE OF SUSPECTS TRANSFERRED TO AFGHAN AUTHORITIES BY CANADIAN TROOPS?
The federal government-Ottawa Didn't do enough to prevent it
31%
Afghanistan-they're the ones doing the torturing
29%
No one- these things happen during war
19%
There's no convincing proof the abuse ever occurred
22%
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nov. 30
CHECK OUT THIS COMMENT FROM HUFFINGTON POST ON AFGHAN PRISONS.... ONE OF THE BEST COMMENTS YET- which is why I am responding at all... is how I totally think like many others "Exactly!"... the international red cross doesn't visit jails so what's up with that ... and now all these fabrications.... you really have to wonder about people's mindsets when they put down their own blood and side with the people who take delight in killing them and their families... and please, please.... you all voted President Obama... and he has done such incredible things.... why our global youngbloods... are actually participating in world affairs... they are listening and partaking in honest dialogue and debate and intelligent thoughts. I find it so frustrating and difficult to understand how Americans can drop someone they put on a pedestal so high even God has to reach down to talk to them on one day... then tear them to pieces like rapid savages the next. Where is the balance; patience; loyalty; participation and factfinding and being colour blind to your personal political bias and look at the whole picture for the good of all. That is the America that oldies like me love and adore.... the passion, the raw energy and the teambuilding. Canada will handle this- allegations of prisoner torture in Afghanistan by Canadian troops and Afghan policing. We are disappointed that political backbiting (oh how sick we are of these Canadian parties and how they will all pay come election day in Canada) has jackknifed this issue that is as serious as even a hit of truth may be attached- we do know there are legal holes in the procedures of passing prisoners captured in a foreign country (Afghanistan) under the country's (Afghanistan's) guidelines and according to international law-UN/whatever.... and we will deal with it. And those Canadian politicians sandbagging Canadians; or trying to, and putting our troops right there on the ground at risk on this day because of their me, me, me... will pay, pay, pay very, very dearly at the polls.... especially if just ONE CANADIAN TROOP DIES IN AFGHANISTAN...over the next period- when you feed evil- like this is doing ...imagine how the snake of terror is gurgling and gigglin and hooting over this mess... which cannot even be put to courts until this war is over.
The article is at Huffington Post (which I rather enjoy ... and of course it is biased... what news media isn't for God's sake? We are all intelligent and well educated... and can breeze over the garbage to find the gold...) and take a read these are the comments... which I find many times truly reflect the every day person. We want this war in Afghanistan over.... NOW! and we MUST WIN it NOW! Canada has kept Kandahar - the prize and pride and joy of the Taliban; or whichever of the six bloody names these snakes of terror have chosen this week, and not only that... have developed an incredible relationship with the Afghan citizens of that area and have done incredible construction and contributions to building up that area the way the Afghan citizen see their country. And we all want our men and women to come home... and if we globally work together on this along with the surrounding countries.... it will happen very soon. Iraq is now a democracy.... they can have Saddam cable and whatever.... Iraq is now a democracy... and the Iraqi citizens will never, ever go back to what their world was during the "Saddam" years... and that's a given. IMO.
 
 
COMMENTS:
After perusing the first 20-25 comments, it is no wonder that Obama got elected and the vast readership of the NY Times are anti-American, anti-military, pro-Muslim terrorist, and would welcome a Muslim coup of Washington. Many of you are the sons and daughters who spat in the faces of those returning from Vietnam.

Liberals are uneducated, unrealistic, illogical, and anti-American. I wish all of you would move to Western Europe, where you belong. Liberals are more concerned about the well-being of Islamic terrorists than our military, CIA, American citizens, your families etc...This rag tag group of ZZ Top looking impersonators are sitting in a cave in Pakistan or a jungle in Somalia and plotting how to acquire an atomic device in order to blow-up the New York City Subway, the Mall of America, or the Super Bowl and Liberals are worried if they're getting 3 square meals, proper lighting, and a window in their cell. Nuts!

As for visits from the Red Cross or lack there of: I thought Libs wanted them tried in US criminal courts ala K.S.M, so I don't get it. The International Red Cross doesn't visit our prisons, so why the fuss? Secondly, these terrorists are not part of any nation's or nations' army and therefore, have no rights under the Geneva Conventions. One has to be part of a nation and then join their army to have the same rights as the rest of the civilized world; that excludes al Quaeda. So either they are criminals or enemy combatants, but not subject to Geneva Conventions, visit from the Red Cross, or an extra window in their cell.

The Liberal mantra, "we're creating terrorists by having these hidden prisons," what garbage!! Yeah, that is why we were attacked on 9-11 because we had these prisons such as Gitmo in Cuba and in Kanahar, Afghanistan, oops-wait a minute, they attacked us first then came the prisons. Libs need to watch MSNBC more often, even they covered the terrorist attacks first then the prisons. Remember the Danish cartoon depicted Muslims as violent? Those Muslims really showed those Danes as a Fatwah was called for the head of the newspaper. Muslims were just so friendly until we provoked them with a cartoon.

Libs are such morons. Please move to France.
another
 
The Red Cross, Amnesty International, etc. have a tendency to go a bit too far in just about every circumstance when they aren't given 100% access when they demand it.

Secondly, of course those held aren't going to like it. Its difficult to get an accurate picture--which I believe is the point--but it seems everyone jumps to the conclusion that this is just like GITMO or abu Garab (sp).

The sad fact is that there are a lot of bad people in Afghanistan. Not just Al Qaeda, but Taliban, Narco Trafficers, War lords, etc. Afghanistan has no justice system to speak of so what is the alternative?

Its interesting how quickly liberals are willing to abandon Pres. Obama.
and...
 
Yea, if there hanging with the enemy, feeding them and hiding there guns, there inocent civilians that got in the way. I take it you don't have any family in Afghanistan or Iraq but members of my family have been there going on six times now and I ask myself why in Gods name would they keep volunteering to go back, and the answer always is to protect the people they love the most, there fellow Marines and soldiers, Americans with values and princibles you could never have or understand........Two strangers walk into a party and tat-a-tate with our president uninvited and you talk about future threats as if there impossible to occure





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The outright butchuring and torture and evil these snakes have done to their own blood of blood ... and then to have the audacity to complain about ill treatment as prisoners of the Afghanistan people.... are u kidding me???? Who gives a care? These butchers have murdered and plundered all and anything in their way.... they spit on the Koran and have no souls.... they are nothing.... what a waste of precious words and time. UN and Human Rights need to move on.... and who is paying these people with their fancy clothes and homes etc. ... oh please..... the Canadiand troops need to hire their own shyster- and make it one of the best and then sue these sleezebags right on back to dismantling this whole can of maggots. The funamentals of the UN and Human Rights started out fair... but got twisted over screwing Israel; namely the Geneva/Swiss Red Cross... and we all know it... and it has gone downhill and has cost our countries trillions of dollars. And we are in a new world mode and this just don't work no more. Imagine swine flu shots for this garbage and whining about not eating for days in protest.... whilst in a clean prison with all the privileges that our NATO trooops don't have.... blow it out your ear. We are sooooo over youuuuu.
A BLOG... TAKE IT WHAT IT'S WORTH... THAT'S ALL BLOGS ARE PERSONAL OPINIONS AND THOUGHTS AND SOME FACTS NEW AND AGAIN...
HARPER WILL LET MACKAY SUCK UP AFGHANISTAN TORTURE POISON TO PRESERVE LEADERSHIP (this so reeks of Canadian backstabbing politics at the cost and reputation of our Canadian troops... it's a disgrace)
 
The explosive allegations about transferred Canadian prisoners being tortured by Afghani officials and the stink of a government cover-up might initially seem detrimental to Stephen Harper. However these events might eventually prove personally advantageous to the prime minister. Harper’s uncharacteristic low-key role on this issue hints he is throwing his closest rival to the wolves to fortify his leadership position.
The core of the "Torturestan" story is as follows.
Early this month, Foreign Affairs official Richard Colvin stated to a House of Commons committee "According to our information, the likelihood is that all the Afghans we handed over were tortured. For interrogators in Kandahar, it was a standard operating procedure." Almost as shocking, Colvin claimed he began informing the Canadian Forces and Foreign Affairs officials about the situation in 2006.
As the minister in charge, Peter MacKay’s first response was to smear Colvin’s credibility and to deny ever seeing his reports. However it now appears Mackay’s office was copied on many of Colvin's emails about detainee transfers. Early polls show the public finds Colvin credible and are outraged that our once peace-promoting nation might now be guilty of war crimes. This story has legs and has the potential to be big trouble for the government.
Besides the obvious ethical and policy implications this story raises, political watchers might also want to consider how it affects the domestic political scene.
The communications approach taken by the Conservative Party on Torturestan differs from how the party usually reacts to such challenges. Ordinarily, Stephen Harper is front and centre on all issues as he is the cornerstone of the Conservative brand. Conservative candidates, MPs and even ministers are routinely muzzled in order to maximize brand focus, often with ruthless discipline. But on this issue, not only is Harper not front and centre, he was not even present to blunt the opposition attacks during an initial House of Commons question period. Instead Harper was presenting jerseys to our national lacrosse team. Harper’s slight smile captured in an event photo might be less about his love for athletics and more about the moves he is making in the sport of internal party politics.
Where polls and elections are about all voters, internal party politics concerns members and donors with party leaders needing to show constant growth to maintain their positions. Until now Harper has delivered for his party. In 2004, he won 99 seats, led a reborn Conservative Party to official opposition status and reduced the longstanding Liberal government to a minority. In 2006, Harper became a minority Prime Minister by winning 104 seats. In 2008, he maintained his minority status by increasing his seat total to 143.
This growth is indeed impressive, but all party leaders are constantly subject to ‘what have you done for me lately’ criticism. The next election is critical for Harper and he needs to win a majority or face dissent in the ranks. If Harper fails to secure a majority, party insiders will begin to look for successors, basing their decision on whether to push out Harper according to the estimated strength of any potential new leader.
Before this incident Peter Mackay was no doubt Harper’s strongest potential leadership challenger. Mackay is a political rock star with keen media savvy and the money and connections needed to (once again) lead the Conservatives. Painfully aware of his older-but-uglier sibling status, Harper's back seat position will enable most of the scandal to stick to Mackay and his ministry, not Harper or the government as a whole. By morphing Torturestan from a party problem to a personal problem for Mackay Harper preserves the Conservative brand and undermines Mackay’s future leadership challenge. Watch for a lot more Mackay and a whole lot less of Harper on this one.
COMMENTS:
I'm sorry you feel that way, but the rules are explicit for the terms of NATO troops being allowed to operate as guests of the Afghan government. Captured Afghan nationals must be turned over to the government for interrogation and holding. Quite simply put, it isn't our business to detain or prosecute these people.
COMMENTS:
How quickly the Liberals line up. This is only a major scandal to anyone with a Liberal Party card. The Liberals appear to know the term Geneva Convention but they ignore the fact that it doesn't apply and that we are supposedly "helping" the Afghans in theier country, or isn't that what the Liberals committed Canada to. They throw any mud at Canada and its military in the hope of smearing Canada.
And their pittiful partners!!
How much easier and comfortable and safer it is to be a champion of HUMAN RIGHTS protesting and ranting in Canada about Canada!!!





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June  18th and 19th 2007 is when the event occured....



amnesty... who funds...
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Afghanistan: Detainees transferred to torture: ISAF complicity?
Index Number: ASA 11/011/2007
Date Published: 13 November 2007

Amnesty International has received reports of torture, other ill-treatment, and arbitrary detention by Afghanistan's intelligence service. This report builds on research by Amnesty International into Afghanistan's justice system and focuses on International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) detention and transfer policies. The cases highlighted in this report include allegations of torture by Afghan authorities of transferred detainees; incidents where ISAF states have lost track of transferred detainees; the difficulties in independently monitoring detainees in Afghan custody; and the practice of on the spot transfers without documentation.

97 page report...
html typing

Memorandums of Understanding and other agreements between the Afghan Government and ISAF states: some common elements*
focus on the hand over of detainees by respective NATO/ISAF states to unspecified "Afghan authorities";
provide that Afghan authorities will accept the transfer of detainees from detaining country forces, and Afghan authorities will keep records of transferred detainees;
provide that the signatories treat detainees in accordance with international law including human rights and humanitarian law (the UK only specifies human rights law);
provide that representatives of the respective ISAF state, the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) have access to the detainees after they have been handed over (the Dutch add relevant UN bodies to this list, and the Norwegian MoU limits it only to the AIHRC);
provide that the ISAF state will be notified prior to the initiation of legal proceedings against, release or transfer to a third country of the detainee (with the exception of Canada);
provide that no person transferred will be subject to the death penalty.
* AI has examined the MoUs and other agreements signed between the British, Canadian, Danish, Dutch and Norwegian governments and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
In the course of legal action against the Canadian government by Amnesty International-Canada and the British Colombia Civil Liberties Association (see box below), the arrangement between the Canadian government and the Afghan government has been closely scrutinized. As a result of the legal proceedings, the Canadian government negotiated a second arrangement, strengthening references to monitoring the conditions of detention and treatment of detainees after transfer and emphasizing Canada’s commitment to supporting rule of law and justice in Afghanistan. While these changes are an improvement, AI believes that Canada’s continued reliance on MoUs concerning the treatment of detainees, with occasional monitoring of the MoU’s implementation, is not sufficient to meet international legal requirements.
Central to this conclusion is that monitoring is a technique to detect torture only after it happens, and cannot substitute for prior precautions that prevent torture from happening in the first place. In other words, monitoring detects the transgressions, but does not forestall them. As such, monitoring cannot meet Canada’s absolute legal obligation to prevent torture, although it can be helpful to inform Canada should Afghanistan breach its obligations to prevent torture and other ill-treatment. Canada’s Foreign Minister has confirmed that in a period of a few months, Canadian monitors detected instances where detainees alleged torture—further evidence that Afghan custody and a substantial risk of torture are inseparable despite Canadian efforts at monitoring.(33)
Legal action in Canada
Amnesty International Canada (AI-Canada), in conjunction with the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) has challenged the Canadian government’s policy of handing over detainees to the Afghan authorities in the Canadian courts. Over the past five years AI-Canada has repeatedly called on the Canadian government to substantially revise its policy on the handling of detainees apprehended in the course of military operations in Afghanistan and has outlined serious human rights concerns, including torture and other ill-treatment, both with respect to the practice that was in place between 2002 and 2005 of transferring detainees into the custody of US forces in Afghanistan, and the more recent practice, in place since December 2005,(34) of also transferring detainees into the custody of the Afghan authorities.
In February 2007, AI-Canada and the BCCLA filed an application in the Federal Court of Canada seeking an order that the practice of transferring detainees cease and that Canada locate and account for detainees it has already transferred.(35)
AI considers that the outcome of the case will be of international significance as the approach chosen by the Canadian government is in conformity with current NATO policy and similar to the approach chosen by other ISAF states.

4.1. The failure of MoUs to protect
At the time the first MoUs were signed in 2005, ISAF states may have entertained high expectations regarding the Afghanistan government’s treatment of its detainees, and the MoUs arose from a clearly legitimate need to regulate a new bilateral – and multilateral – situation created by the involvement of armed forces of these states in the non-international armed conflict within Afghanistan.(36) NATO and ISAF states were advised that the NDS presented the best long term option for receiving transferred detainees.(37)
Had Afghanistan complied with its international obligations regarding the treatment of detainees, each MoU would have been no more than an essentially technical arrangement between states abiding by their international legal obligations, in which was included a general reiteration of these obligations. Arrangements for extra precautions, such as monitoring by diplomatic and military staff from ISAF states, would have been a welcome addition.
However, AI remains gravely concerned that detainees handed over by ISAF to the Afghan authorities are currently at substantial risk of torture and other ill-treatment. AI reiterates that, in these circumstances, the undertaking by the Afghan government in the various MoUs to treat detainees handed over by ISAF states in accordance with international law cannot and does not absolve these nations of their legal obligation not to transfer a persons to a situation "where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture."(38) Only once it can safely be assessed that no such risk actually exists may ISAF states hand over detainees without violating this obligation. AI is gravely concerned that this is currently not the case.
AI has reviewed the Canadian, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian and UK MoUs and other agreements concluded with the Afghan Ministry of Defence. These agreements aim to give the Afghan government control over detainees in its territory. They also ensure a clear distinction between the ISAF mission and the detention of Afghans and others in the US detention centre at Bagram airbase outside Kabul.(39) They also establish that detainees are supposed to be treated in accordance with international standards. For example, the arrangement between the Canadian and Afghan governments provides the assurance that "the participants will treat detainees in accordance with the standards set out in the Third Geneva Convention."(40)
In the current situation, there is little to distinguish these agreements from the practice of seeking "diplomatic assurances", used in other contexts as a disclaimer aimed at absolving the responsibility of the state transferring detainees to states where torture and other ill-treatment occur. This practice has been widely condemned by international human rights bodies(41) as well as human rights NGOs.(42)
While in both cases the agreements may seek to ensure that detainees are not tortured or otherwise ill-treated, they have failed to do so. They also constitute a recognition that the state from which assurances are sought has failed in the past to live up to existing international legal obligations, and that this flouting of international obligations will continue, at least as far as those detainees not covered by the "assurances" are concerned.
4.2. Monitoring detention: An insufficient safeguard
AI is concerned that some ISAF states appear to regard the inclusion, within MoUs and other bilateral agreements with the Afghan Government of arrangements to monitor transferred detainees as sufficient to fulfil their international obligations to ensure that they do not transfer detainees to a situation where they are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. AI is aware of a number of challenges to effective monitoring that, in practice, undermine this assumption.
In a number of cases, while transferring countries have negotiated access to the detainees for their representatives, they have not committed to a systematic monitoring of all detainees that they transfer.
For example the Arrangement between the Canadian and Afghan governments provides that:
"the Afghan authorities will accept (as Accepting Power) detainees who have been detained by the Canadian Forces (the Transferring Power) and will be responsible for maintaining and safeguarding detainees, and for ensuring the protections provided in Paragraph 3, above [referring to the Third Geneva Convention], to all such detainees whose custody has been transferred to them."(43)
A supplementary agreement between the Canadian and Afghan governments establishes that Canadian officials will notify the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission of any such transfers.(44)
Another agreement, between the UK government and the Afghan government, provides that "representatives of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission [AIHRC], and UK personnel… and others as accepted between the Participants, will have full access to any persons transferred by the UK A[rmed] F[orces] to Afghan authorities whilst such persons are in custody." The agreement also states that the ICRC and other relevant institutions" will be allowed to visit such persons" and that the UK will notify the ICRC and the AIHRC within 24 hours of the transfer.(45)
In addition, Article 38 of Afghanistan’s Prison law (2005) allows a number of institutions, including the AIHRC, access to some detention centres without prior notice to the Ministry of Justice. However, the law is not applicable to NDS detention centres. In response, the ICRC and the AIHRC have concluded bilateral agreements with the NDS allowing for monitoring of NDS detention centres.(46)
In practice, however, even the monitoring safeguards contained in such agreements are not met. The AIHRC has indicated that it has often been denied access to detention centres run by the NDS, and lacks the resources and capacity to carry out extensive monitoring. An AIHRC Commissioner stated that "the AIHRC has monitored NDS detention centres, but we had to contact them in advance. It is not free access, although recently we received a letter signed by the head of NDS to provide access to AIHRC’s monitors, but this is not happening at the moment…in Kandahar, we have not [been] provided [with] full access and still we don’t feel confident about their full cooperation."(47)
While access by AIHRC monitors to NDS detention centres has improved, the issue of whether or not they are able to visit without prior notice differs depending on the prisons and the detainees they are trying to visit. There are reportedly considerable differences between AIHRC’s access in Kabul compared with NDS detention centres in the provinces. Furthermore, insecurity in some areas of the country, particularly the south, restrict the commission’s access to Helmand, Uruzgan and Zabul provinces.
AIHRC staff members have reportedly expressed concern that they do not have the capacity to respond the volume of detention cases they seek to monitor.(48) In response the Canadian government has recently made a special financial contribution to the AIHRC to build the capacity of the commission’s national monitoring section.
The role of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in monitoring is also significant given its UN mandate "to continue to work towards the establishment of a fair and transparent justice system, including the reconstruction and reform of the correctional system" and more specifically "to continue to contribute to human rights protection and promotion, including monitoring of the situation of civilians in armed conflict."(49)
UNAMA is one of the organisations who have raised serious concerns about the treatment of detainees by the NDS. UNAMA has initiated at least one programme with the NDS, alongside the AIHRC to provide human rights training to NDS officers.(50) Given the mandate of UNAMA and its resources it is appropriate for UNAMA to expand its support for the AIHRC in gaining access to NDS detention centres.
The ICRC also monitors Afghan detention centres, including those run by the NDS and, when relevant, informs the Afghan government about its findings. However as noted above it has not been possible for the ICRC to monitor all NDS prisons, or all prisons managed by the Ministry of Justice because of unstable security conditions.(51)
AI is concerned that provisions in the MoUs governing monitoring are only implemented in part. More fundamentally, the organisation emphasises that - even where carried out by a professional, independent and dedicated organization - visits to places of detention, while constituting a crucial element in the prevention of torture and other ill-treatment, are far from being sufficient on their own. These concerns are reinforced by the experiences of the ICRC in Iraq and Guantánamo Bay – and indeed in relation to Bagram in Afghanistan, where torture and other ill-treatment were inflicted extensively despite ICRC’s regular visits, monitoring of reported abuse and relaying of concerns.(52)
In this regard, AI recognizes that the ICRC does not claim that visits by its staff to places of detention are all that are needed to safeguard against torture and other ill-treatment, and have refused to take part in monitoring "diplomatic assurances" because of their discriminatory nature, as seen above.(53)
AI remains concerned that provisions for monitoring within the MoUs, as with other forms of diplomatic assurance regarding torture and other ill-treatment, often appear to be overstated, mistaken or misunderstood. The organization believes that where torture and other ill-treatment is occurring, as in the Afghan detention system, occasional or periodic visits from monitors will not be able to provide sufficient protection on their own.
AI has long advocated for a 12 point plan in order to prevent torture and other ill-treatment (included in appendix) and believes that monitoring can play a constructive role, but the limitations of monitoring as a protective measure should be recognised.
4.3. The need for redress
While the MoUs ensure access to detainees, in differing degrees, by organizations such as the AIHRC, ICRC and the UN, they include no means of redress in cases where torture or other ill-treatment do take place. Under Article 12 of the UN Convention against Torture, every state party must "ensure that its competent authorities proceed to a prompt and impartial investigation, wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture has been committed in any territory under its jurisdiction."(54)
Of the five countries with agreements regarding detainee transfer, only the second Canadian agreement specifies provisions for investigation into allegations of torture or other ill-treatment.(55) However AI fears that investigations by the Canadian government into allegations may not have been "competent" and "impartial".(56)
Under both the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the UN Convention against Torture, victims of torture and other ill-treatment have the right to "effective remedy" or "redress", including "fair and adequate compensation."(57)The right to redress, or reparations, for victims of human rights violations includes the following components:
Restitution, for instance release (of detainees and prisoners), restoration of legal rights and return of property;
Compensation, including for physical or mental harm, lost opportunities, harm to reputation or dignity and legal and medical costs
Rehabilitation, including medical and psychological care, legal and social services, and social reintegration
Satisfaction, including cessation of continued violations, disclosure of the truth (without causing further harm), search for victims who have been forcibly disappeared or killed, and an apology for the wrong done.
Guarantees of non-repetition, including steps to ensure effective civilian control of military and security forces and that all civilian and military proceedings abide by international standards of due process, fairness and impartiality, and strengthening the independence of the judiciary
None of these are specifically referred to in the MoUs.
5. Transfers and torture
"We cannot rule out that torture is going on"(58)
The following section addresses a number of issues raised by ISAF’s detainee transfer policies. Concerns relate to a range of situations including when transferred detainees have allegedly been tortured by the Afghan authorities; when governments are concerned that transferred detainees may have been tortured; and when governments, having exposed transferred detainees to the risk of torture and other ill-treatment cannot track or trace them.
In examining ISAF detention procedures, Amnesty International has focused particularly on the ISAF practice of handing over the majority of detainees to the NDS. While recognising that a minority of detainees are transferred to other Afghan agencies, AI has particular concerns about the frequency and scope of torture and other ill-treatment perpetrated by NDS personnel, as illustrated by the three cases below.
Additionally, to demonstrate that torture, other ill-treatment, and arbitrary detention of persons, does not relate only to detainees arrested and transferred by international forces, concerns relating to arrests carried out solely by the NDS are also highlighted.
5.1. Detainees handed over by foreign forces
Five ISAF states have MoUs with the Afghan Government regarding detainee transfers. A further four are actively seeking an MoU.(59) Of the remaining 14 ISAF states with more than 100 personnel in Afghanistan, four have confirmed to AI that they do not have an MoU, while the remainder refused to comment or were unable to verify the existence of an MoU (see table below for a full list of countries).(60)
Individual governments have responded in different ways to the issue of detainee transfers. These have included downplaying the number of transfers that occur, either by not revealing the true extent of their transfers (i.e. Canada), not keeping an accurate record themselves (i.e. Belgium and Norway); by failing to take account of the large number of people transferred in the field – who are never recorded as having been in the custody of international forces (this mainly includes forces involved in heavy fighting such as the British, Canadian and Dutch forces)(61)and finally some governments have struggled with providing adequate independent monitoring of the detainees they have transferred (particularly the British and the Dutch).

TABLES...
Status of MoU
Governments with signed MoUs or agreements with the Afghan government regarding the transfer of detainees
Countries
Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, UK

MORE AT THIS SITE ON TABLES...
CONTD...
AI is concerned that the number of detainees transferred, and thereby placed at grave at risk of torture and other ill-treatment, may be significantly higher than formerly reported by ISAF states. The organization believes that incomplete records of arrest and transfers are reflective of broader weaknesses in comprehensive monitoring of detainees following their transfer.
Torture of detainees transferred by Canadian forces
In April 2007, the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mailpublished allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of Afghan detainees by Afghan security personnel including the NDS, after they had been detained by the Canadian military and handed over to the Afghan authorities. Some interviewees who had been captured over the previous 15 months described how:
"…they were whipped with electrical cables, usually a bundle of wires about the length of an arm. Some said the whipping was so painful that they fell unconscious. Interrogators also jammed cloth between the teeth of some detainees, who described hearing the sound of a hand-crank generator and feeling the hot flush of electricity coursing through their muscles, seizing them with spasms. Another man said the police hung him by his ankles for eight days of beating. Still another said he panicked as interrogators put a plastic bag over his head and squeezed his windpipe. Torturers also used cold as a weapon, according to detainees who complained of being stripped half-naked and forced to stand through winter nights when temperatures in Kandahar drop below freezing." (63)
The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) is reported to have confirmed key elements of three of the cases published in the Globe and Mailreport:
"Gul Mohammed, 25, a farmer, said he was captured by Canadians while working the fields west of Kandahar city. The Canadian troops handed him over to Afghan soldiers, starting what he described as a bloody six-month odyssey at the hands of Afghan interrogators from the military, police and intelligence services. He said they beat him with rifle butts, deprived him of sleep, shocked him with electrical probes, and thrashed him with bundles of cables."
"Sherin, 25, a driver, said he was detained at a checkpoint operated by Canadian and Afghan troops in a district north of Kandahar city. A small man with a quiet voice, he gripped his elbows with both hands and rocked back and forth while describing how he was interrogated by a man who identified himself as a Canadian, before he was thrown in the back of a pickup truck and taken to NDS headquarters. He spent one and a half months in NDS custody, he said, where interrogators punched his face, pulled his beard, and beat him with bundles of electrical cables for 60 strokes at a time."
"Abdul Wali, 23, a tailor, said he was arrested by the Canadians and was treated politely until they handed him over to the Afghan soldiers, who beat him. He said the beatings were constant, except for pauses when Canadian soldiers visited the outpost. Worse thrashings came later, he said, at the hands of the police and NDS."(64)
Analysis of interviews with 15 individuals held in Afghan custody, but who were originally captured by Canadian forces, reveals that 10 were transferred to the NDS, either directly or through the Afghan National Army (ANA) or Afghan National Police (ANP). Of the 10 detainees held in NDS custody, six described torture and other forms of ill-treatment.(65) Canadian officials themselves have stated they have received at least six first-hand reports of torture. (66)
The Canadian government has continued to state that more than 40 individuals have been transferred.(67) However, AI believes that the number of transfers may be as high as 200, and that this figure does not include many of the immediate transfers which happen in the course of military operations in-field.
Losing track of transferred detainees
AI is also concerned that other ISAF states have been unable or unwilling to maintain an accurate record of the number of detainees transferred to Afghan authorities or their subsequent whereabouts.
The Norwegian government, for example, appeared unable over the course of a year to establish and disclose how many detainees its forces had transferred. Subsequently, in October 2007, the Norwegian government clarified that five detainees had been handed over since the signing of an MoU with the Afghan Government in October 2006. However it is still to establish how many people were transferred prior to the MoU, or to account for their whereabouts and conditions.(68)
Uncertainty over the current whereabouts and well-being of the five detainees identified as have been transferred after MoUs agreement has continued. The Norwegian Defence Minister Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen said that three of the five people handed over were since released, not due to proving their innocence, but by buying their freedom from their captors.(69)
In a further admission of the failure of MoUs, the Defence Minister said: "I have no guarantee that the detainees have not been tortured, other than having signed the Memorandum of Understanding."(70)
As described above, both before and after signing an MoU, the Norwegian government appeared unable to confirm the whereabouts and condition of detainees. This has reinforced AI’s concern that such MoUs have failed to provide any transparency in the transfer process, or any protection for the individuals’ concerned.
In April 2007, the Norwegian embassy in Kabul sent an email to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that raised concerns about "the intelligence service (NDS) who allegedly have ill-treated and tortured several prisoners transferred by international military forces in Afghanistan". As well as highlighting their own concerns, they noted the difficulty in applying remedial pressure on the NDS.(71)
The Ministry announced that Norway would establish what happened to the prisoners handed over by Norwegian soldiers, and whether the MoU had been breached.(72) If detainees had been tortured, the Ministry told another newspaper, the ultimate consequence might be to "stop transfers" of prisoners.(73)
Similarly, the Belgian government appears to have lost track of the single detainee known to have been transferred to the Afghan authorities by Belgian forces. Reports received by Belgian Ministry of Defence state that an individual was arrested by Belgian forces at Kabul international airport on suspicion of driving a fuel tanker intended as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device or car bomb on 18 April 2007.
The Belgian military has confirmed that paperwork for the transfer of the detainee to the NDS was completed and that they were transferred, but they do not know where the individual is being held.(74) AI has requested clarification from the Belgian authorities regarding this issue. At present Belgium is reported to be seeking to agree an MoU with the Afghan authorities, but AI fears that such an agreement would appear to offer little difference to the capacity of the Belgian government to make clear, open records of incidents and to follow them up with the Afghan government.
The need for independent monitoring
Challenges in accurately recording the numbers of those arrested by ISAF forces and effectively monitoring their subsequent treatment after transfer to Afghan authorities are particularly evident in the context of continuing military operations in Helmand and Uruzgan provinces. The security situation in these provinces remains unstable, with often heavy fighting involving British and Dutch ISAF contingents, Afghan forces, the Taleban and other armed groups.
The British and Dutch governments have informed AI that they have transferred detainees to Afghan authorities in these provinces. Both governments have stated that they try to ensure that their own officials monitor the detainees, in the British case on a monthly basis.(75) However, as outlined later in the report, because of the prevailing security situation, independent monitoring of transferred detainees by the AIHRC and the ICRC is almost impossible. In this situation, while ISAF states have carried out occasional monitoring of transferred detainees, AI remains concerned that this cannot substitute for regular, independent monitoring.
According to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the UK has detained 127 people since September 2006. These are categorized into two groups. In the first group, the initial 51 people were detained before April 2007. (76) Of these 51, 27 were released by UK forces and 24 transferred to the NDS in Helmand province. All but three detainees have since been released by the NDS. Of the remaining three, two detainees have been transferred to NDS in Kandahar and one detainee, transferred by the UK forces to NDS custody on 22 April 2007, remains in NDS custody in Helmand.
The second group consists of a further 76 people detained by UK forces since April 2007, of whom 18 remain in NDS custody. In total 21 people remain in NDS custody 18 in Helmand, 1 in Kandahar and 2 in Kabul.(77)
According to the Dutch government, by August 2007 Dutch forces had detained 59 people. Amongst these are 10 individuals that were arrested by Australian units but for whom the Dutch have taken over responsibility (as provided for in the MoU between the Dutch and Australian forces). The majority have been released shortly after their arrest. Eleven were handed over to the NDS and most of those were released shortly thereafter.(78)
Three individuals were arrested on 29 January 2007 by Dutch forces and handed over to the NDS in Kabul on 4 February. The Dutch Ambassador visited these three detainees in Kabul on 2 March and found them to be in good health. One of them was released by the NDS Security Court in April, and the two others were sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for armed opposition and possession of illegal weapons.
Another group of six detainees were handed over to the NDS in Kabul on 15 July by Dutch forces. They were visited by a representative of the Dutch embassy who said they were ‘in reasonable condition given the circumstances’. On 14 August two others were handed over to the NDS in Kabul. The total number of people arrested by the Dutch or Australians that were still in Afghan detention by 14 August is 10.(79)
It is encouraging that both the British and Dutch governments have kept records of the detainees they have transferred, and they have also been able to conduct some monitoring themselves. The UK has tried to ensure that detainees are monitored on a monthly basis and have a set list of criteria for which to carry out the monitoring. The UK has also been able to meet detainees without the presence of prison guards.(80)
UK officials have told AI that while the main NDS facility in Kabul is "at its capacity" they are generally satisfied with the cleanliness and amenities of the detention facilities.(81) While the UK authorities prior to September 2007 stated that they were unaware of any evidence of transferred detainees being abused, officials informed AI that a first allegation of torture or other ill-treatment from a transferred detainee had been received on 25 September 2007. The UK government assured AI that the complaint is currently being investigated and that the ICRC and AIHRC had been informed.(82)
The Dutch government has sought to overcome some of the barriers to effective monitoring by insisting that detainees are transferred to Kabul where they can be more easily monitored. In a letter to the Dutch Parliament the Dutch government, referring to the three detainees that were arrested on 29 January, said that "…to the best information of the government the Afghan-Dutch MOU…is respected by the Afghan authorities."(83) However, despite the detainees being in Kabul it is unclear to AI if independent monitors have been able to access these detainees.
Critically, because most of the 31 people held by the NDS after being handed over by British and Dutch forces are in areas not accessible to independent monitors, it is not possible to assert with confidence that they are not at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. In light of the reports of abuse by the NDS outlined in more detail below, AI believes that access by independent monitors constitutes an essential part of an effective monitoring regime, and that, when security conditions threaten to prevent such access, ISAF should take steps facilitate the work of independent monitors.
While AI notes that procedural arrangements provided for in the British and Dutch MoUs appear to be functioning to a greater degree than those of other ISAF states, as described above the organization asserts that MoUs do not absolve the states of their obligations to prevent torture and other ill-treatment.
In-field transfers
Alongside the transfer of detainees as regulated under MoUs or other procedural arrangements, ISAF states are also reportedly transferring detainees over to Afghan custody in-field. This is when international forces are on joint operations with Afghan forces, which could include the ANA, ANP or the NDS, and the individuals are transferred on the spot to Afghan forces.
AI is concerned that such in-field transfers are not subject to procedural regulations and that the subsequent risk of grave human rights abuse is therefore higher. In one illustrative incident, shown in a television documentary broadcast in the UK, British forces were shown handing over a captured Taleban fighter to the ANA in Helmand.(84) In the documentary, the British soldiers appeared convinced that the detainee would be abused when handed over to the ANA, while a number of Afghan soldiers in the film expressed their wish to kill the detainee.
It is believed that hundreds of individuals may have been transferred in-field - with most reportedly occurring in southern Afghanistan and primarily conducted by Australian, British, Canadian, Dutch, and US forces. However the full extent of in-field transfers remains unclear, as does the nature of the treatment of such persons after they are handed over to Afghan forces. Another illustrative case, in which Canadian forces reportedly intervened to stop the summary execution of a detainee they had handed over to the ANA in-field has reinforced AI’s grave concerns about this practice.(85)
AI is concerned that ISAF states are failing to effectively address the grave risk of abuse and summary executions that individuals captured during joint Afghan and international operations face from Afghan security personnel in contexts where the international forces are exercising operational control.
5.
AB,(89) who was detained after an NDS raid in Kandahar province in mid-2005, gave the following statement to Amnesty International in December 2005:
"We were taken to the NDS compound in Kandahar… [The room where they beat me] was a big concrete room with a door and small window. It had two big tables and a hanger or hook on the ceiling and the walls were covered with blood… I was beaten on my back and especially my kidneys with a metal cable... After some 50-60 cable blows, I fell unconscious but then when I came to they were still beating me. I didn’t know how long I had been out… [Later] a metal bar was placed under my chained arms and knees and I was hung from the hook on the ceiling and they continued to beat me. I was hung in this position for maybe one hour and lost consciousness. They then put me on the ground and water was thrown on me then I was hung back up again. This may have happened six times but I cannot remember. It could have been 20 or 25 times…


Around 12 or 13 men beat me on the first night of my detention. There was never any questioning and I never saw a prosecutor or judge while in NDS custody. For 10 days and nights after the beating I could not move. After 10 nights I was able to change my clothes and take a bath… After 20-25 days they brought me to a doctor. He gave me some tablets but I didn’t know what they were. Other than that, I received no medical care. I was ‘kept’ [for] two months."
AB’s family has not received any assistance or compensation from the government and are now reportedly living on charity from other family members. In an indication of the disillusionment caused by the lack of transparency and apparent impunity shielding suspected perpetrators from prosecution, the family did not lodge a formal complaint about AB’s treatment. They believe that complaints "go nowhere".
The organization is also concerned at continuing patterns of arbitrary incommunicado detention by the NDS, which can provide the facilitating context for torture or other ill-treatment. Those at risk include journalists and others suspected of opposing the authorities or perceived as critical of government policy.
Kamran Mir Hazar, a journalist for Radio Salaam Watandar and editor of the internet news service Kabul Press, was arrested twice in two months in 2007. Initially arrested without a warrant on 4 July and held incommunicado, he was released four days later without charge, after civil society actors had made urgent representations to the authorities.(90)
He was arrested again on 9 August 2007 and released after nine hours but "was threatened with being arrested again if he criticized the government in his articles."(91) According to sources in Kabul, during Kamran’s detention the NDS denied that he had been arrested by them or was in their custody.
In another case Rahmatullah Hanefi, director of a hospital run by the Italian non-governmental organization ‘Emergency’ in Helmand province, was detained by the NDS on 20 March 2007 in Lashkar Gah city. Rahmatullah Hanefi worked as a messenger in the negotiations between the Taleban and the Afghan and Italian governments that led to the release of kidnapped Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo on 19 March 2007. He was detained incommunicado for almost two months and kept in solitary confinement.
Unnamed Afghan authorities in Kabul confirmed that because he had been charged with an offence against national security he would not be automatically granted a lawyer for his defence.(92) Rahmatullah Hanefi was acquitted of all charges on 16 June and released on 19 June, exactly three months after being detained.
5. Prohibit torture and other ill-treatment in law
Governments should adopt laws for the prohibition and prevention of torture and other ill-treatment incorporating the main elements of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention against Torture) and other relevant international standards. All judicial and administrative corporal punishments should be abolished. The prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment and the essential safeguards for their prevention must not be suspended under any circumstances, including states of war or other public emergency.
This 12-point programme sets out measures to prevent the torture and other ill-treatment of people who are in governmental custody or otherwise in the hands of agents of the state. It was first adopted by Amnesty International in 1984, revised in October 2000 and again in April 2005. Amnesty International holds governments to their international obligations to prevent and punish torture and other ill-treatment, whether committed by agents of the state or by other individuals. Amnesty International also opposes torture and other ill-treatment by armed political groups.


31) Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan concerning transfer by the United Kingdom Armed Forces to Afghan Authorities of persons detained in Afghanistan, para. 1c and 2.1.
(32) Statement by Canadian Forces’ Colonel Neil Anderson during an interview on CBC Radio One, The Current, 10 April 2006.
(33) Murray Brewster, "Canadians hear six claims of torture from Afghans", Globe and Mail (Toronto), 8 June 2007; Bruce Campion-Smith, "MacKay admits 6 Afghan abuse allegations exist", Toronto Star, 9 June 2007.
(34) Arrangement for the transfer of detainees between the Canadian forces and the Ministry of Defence of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan adopted 18 December 2005. Arrangement for the transfer of detainees between the Canadian forces and the Ministry of Defence of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, adopted 3 May 2007.
(35) Amnesty International Canada and British Columbia Civil Liberties Association v. Chief of the Defence Staff for the Canadian Forces, Minister of National Defence and Attorney General of Canada, Federal Court file number T-324-07.
(36) For further discussion on the non-international status of the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan please see section 3.
(37) Meeting between NATO officials and Amnesty International representatives, Brussels, 8 October 2007
(38) UN Convention against Torture, Article 3.
43) Arrangement for the Transfer of Detainees between the Canadian Forces and the Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, para 5 18 December, 2005. The Arrangement signed on 3 May 2007 also adds, "the Afghan authorities will be responsible for treating such individuals in accordance with Afghanistan’s international human rights obligations including prohibiting torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment…" Arrangement for the Transfer of Detainees between the Canadian Forces and the Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, para 4, 3 May 2007.
53) The ICRC has developed a set of pre-conditions without which it would refuse to visit detainees. One of these is "to see all prisoners who come within its mandate and to have access to all places at which they are held." See ICRC website, http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList265/929018E28243CCB0C1256B6600600D8C, accessed 28 October 2005.
(54) In its conclusions and recommendations on the UK in 2004 the UN Committee against Torture addressed the issue of the extra-territorial application of the UN Convention against Torture. The Committee expressed concern over the UK’s "limited acceptance of the applicability of the Convention to the actions of its forces abroad, in particular its explanation that "those parts of the Convention which are applicable only in respect of territory under the jurisdiction of a State party cannot be applicable in relation to actions of the United Kingdom in Afghanistan and Iraq""; The Committee rejected this approach, observing that "the Convention protections extend to all territories under the jurisdiction of a State party and considers that this principle includes all areas under the de facto effective control of the State party's authorities". See UN Committee Against Torture, Conclusions and Recommendations: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - Dependent Territories, UN Doc. CAT/C/CR/33/3, 10 December 2004, para. 4(b).
(55) Arrangement for the Transfer of Detainees between the Canadian Forces and the Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, para 10, 3 May 2007.
(56) Under cross examination conducted 11 July, 2007 in Federal Court file number T-324-07, Scott Proudfoot from the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, was only able to say that it was "their impression" that the investigations were "thorough and serious and independent".
(57) See Articles 2(3)(a) of the ICCPR and 14(1) of the UN Convention against Torture, respectively.
(58) Liv Monica Stubholt, Ministry of Foreign Affairs interviewed by the Norwegian News Agency NTB, 27 July 2007.
(63) Graeme Smith, "From Canadian custody into cruel hands", Globe and Mail, 23 April, 2007. For a further account of torture see: Graeme Smith, "Personal Account: A story of torture", Globe and Mail, 24 April 2007.
(64) Graeme Smith, "From Canadian custody into cruel hands", Globe and Mail, 23 April, 2007.
(65) Information regarding interviews from a confidential source in Afghanistan, July 2007.
(66) "Six claims of torture from detainees: Minister", Canada Press 8 June 2007 Canadian Press? http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070608/detainee_allegations_070608/20070608/
(67) Paragraph 52 of the Affidavit of Colonel Steven Noonan, Canadian Forces, sworn May 1, 2007, in relation to Federal Court of Canada file number T-324-07, and transcripts of cross examination conducted May 2, 2007.
NOTE:
here is Noonan's testimony.... it's all there if you want to check it out...

this is the reference to this article.... 2007....
Six claims of torture from detainees: minister
·Canadian Press
Date: Friday Jun. 8, 2007 9:29 PM ET
OTTAWA — Forty-eight hours after conceding Canadian diplomats had received four direct complaints of torture involving suspected Taliban fighters, the Conservatives belatedly set-the-record straight late Friday, admitting there now are six abuse allegations.
The relevation led to renewed opposition charges of a coverup over the political handling of the prisoner scandal.
Four of the abuse claims have surfaced in the wake of Canada signing a revised prisoner transfer agreement with Afghanistan.
Earlier this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay and Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day told a special joint meeting of the Commons defence and foreign affairs committees that four allegations of abuse -- involving Taliban captured by Canadians but handed over to Afghan authorities -- had been reported.
A spokesman for MacKay corrected that on Friday and said that Foreign Affairs staff have been keeping track of reports within their own department only since Canada had signed a new detainee monitoring agreement on May 3.
"The government of Afghanistan has committed to investigate the claims and they'll be working closely with the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. This is their role and their responsibility," said Andre LeMay.
Liberal foreign affairs critic Ujjal Dosanjh reacted with outrage, saying it's clear the department wasn't paying attention before the controversy erupted.
"There is obviously a lot of confusion on the detainees issue, with each of these three ministers -- Defence, Foreign Affairs and Public Safety -- saying different and contradictory things at different times," said Dosanjh.
"It appears no-one is in complete control of the situation."
Three of the fresh reports come from prisoners interviewed in the country's notorious intelligence service jail in Kabul -- the fourth account was obtained in Kandahar. The precise details of the allegations were not made clear, although earlier this week MacKay described the initial reports as serious.
"All I can tell you is that these claims came to light in private interviews with Canadian officials," said LeMay. "These officials had clear and unrestricted access."
NDP defence critic Dawn Black said she finds it hard to believe any assurances from the government.
"Since I started asking questions about the treatment of detainees more than a year ago, we have heard nothing but contradictions, fabrications and cover-up from this government -- and now we find they've misled two Parliamentary Committees? This is unacceptable."
Where the alleged abuse took place is also unclear. Canadians do not patrol the Afghan capital and all of their prisoners are taken in the southern provinces of Kandahar or Helmand. It is routine practice, however, once Afghan authorities take custody of a prisoner for that individual to be transferred to Kabul for interrogation by intelligence officers.
The latest revelation could boost a legal challenge by Amnesty International and the B.C. Civil Liberities Association, which have applied to the Federal Court for an injunction to halt the transfers. They argue that Canada could find itself complicit in torture if it knowingly hands prisoners over to authorities who will abuse them.
In April, Day revealed that two Corrections Canada officers working in Kandahar had heard complaints from a pair of prisoners in the notorious jails of the Afghan intelligence service that they had been tortured. Those reports are still being investigated by Afghan authorities, but LeMay cast doubt Friday as to whether Canada had an interest in these earlier claims beyond usual human rights concerns.
"It is not clear whether these particular detainees had been transferred by Canada or other NATO forces," he said.
Media reports have said as many as 33 prisoners captured by Canadians and handed over to the Afghans may have been beaten.
The allegation in late April set off bitter opposition attacks, which set the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper back on its heels. After two weeks of contradictory explanations, the Conservatives signed a revised transfer agreement with Afghanistan -- one that allowed Canadian officials direct, private access where the condition of detainees could be checked.
The initial agreement, inked by the former government of prime minister Paul Martin in the early weeks of the 2005-06 election, did not provide such access.

and it continues here...
(78) Letter from the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Defence and Minister of Development Cooperation to the Dutch Parliament of 24 August 2007
(79) Information from letters from the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Defence and Minister of Development Cooperation to the Dutch Parliament of 20 June and 24 August 2007.
(80) Email exchange and phone conversation with FCO official, 24 September 2007.
(81) Email exchange and phone conversation with FCO official, 6 September and 10 September 2007.
(82) Email exchange and phone conversation with FCO official, 2 October 2007.
(83) Letter from the Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Defence and Minister of Development Cooperation to Dutch Parliament of 20 June 2007.
(84) "Fighting the Taleban" a documentary by Sean Langan for Dispatches, broadcast in the UK on Channel 4 on 8 January 2007.
(85) "Cdn. troops battle Taliban in 'The main event'", Canadian TV news report, 29 May 2006.
(86) "The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security" Report of the UN Secretary-General, S/2007/152, para. 41, 15 March 2007.
(87) "The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security" report of the Secretary-General, para 84, S/2007/555, 21 September 2007
(88) Taken from Rule of Law and Justice Sector Benchmarks, Interim Afghanistan National Development Strategy, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, December 2005
(89) AB’s real name is withheld for security reasons.
(90) International Federation of Journalists press release 24 July 2007, available at http://www.ifex.org/alerts/content/view/full/85067
(91) Reporters sans frontiers, Website editor freed after being held for nine hours in Afghan "Guantanamo", 10 August 2007, available at http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=22847
(92) "Emergency Mediator, charged with homicide", Corriere della Sera, 23 April 2007.
(93) Report of the Secretary-General, The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for peace and security, UN Doc. A/61/326-S/2006/727 (2006), para. 51.
(95) The wing is currently believed to hold around 100 Afghans, many of whom have been returned from Guantánamo Bay.
(96) ICRC, The provincial prisons of Afghanistan: Technical assessment and recommendations regarding the state of the premises and of the water and sanitation infrastructure, Kabul, December 2005
(97) See M. Cherif Bassiouni and Daniel Rothenberg, "An Assessment of Justice Sector and Rule of Law Reform in Afghanistan and the Need for a Comprehensive Plan", p 10, Presented at the Conference on the Rule of Law in Afghanistan held in Rome on 2 – 3 July 2007. Other documentation relating to the conference can be found at http://www.rolafghanistan.esteri.it/ConferenceRol
(98) The name of Afghanistan’s security agency has changed several times, it was initially called AGSA (Department for Safeguarding the Interests of Afghanistan) and was then changed to KAM (Workers’ Intelligence Department). In the 1980s it became KhAD (State Information Services). KhAD was a much larger organisation than its predecessors. The current name is the National Security Directorate which has been in use since 2001. For more information on this evolution, see Kakar, M. Hassan, Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979-1982. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1995 1995. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft7b69p12h/
(99) For early analysis of the Afghan intelligence service and the Court for National Security, see Amnesty International, "Reports of torture and long-term detention without trial", (AI Index: ASA 11/01/91) 1991; "Afghanistan: Unfair trials by special tribunals", (AI Index: ASA 11/03/91) 1991.
(100) See "Confronting Afghanistan’s Security dilemma: Reforming the security sector", Brief 28, Mark Sedra, Berlin International Center for Conversion (BICC) (2003) http://www.bicc.de/publications/briefs/brief28/content.php
(101) Asia-Pacific Daily Report February 5, 2004, http://www.who.int/disasters/repo/12018.pdf, accessed on 16 July 2007
(102) Security sector transformation in Afghanistan, Mark Sedra, Working Paper 143, Geneva Centre for the democratic control of armed forces (DCAF) (August 2004)
(103) Information received from sources in Afghanistan


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