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April 17, 2008 It was one of the earliest scandals of Canada’s war in Afghanistan: Was Canada violating the Geneva Conventions on torture by transferring prisoners in Afghanistan to U.S. forces who were reportedly torturing them? New U.S. government documents released yesterday by the American Civil Liberties Union seem to indicate we were—even before Canada started transferring prisoners to Afghani security forces, who also use torture. “Special Operations officers in Gardez (Afghanistan) admitted to using what are known as Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) techniques, which for decades American service members experienced as training to prepare for the brutal treatment they might face if captured,” said an ACLU press release yesterday. “Today’s documents reveal charges that Special Forces beat, burned, and doused eight prisoners with cold water before sending them into freezing weather conditions. One of the eight prisoners, Jamal Naseer, died in U.S. custody in March 2003.” A military investigation into the incident in 2004 eventually claimed that Naseer had not died from abuse, but transcripts acquired by the ACLU, and described in an Associated Press article today, indicate the man was tortured. In February 2002, scandal hit the ruling Liberal party when it surfaced that Canadian troops fighting alongside the Americans in Afghanistan were handing troops over to U.S. custody. “We are already witnessing the political shambles arising out of our decision to become part of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and the damage to our international standing by being complicit in Washington's flouting of the Geneva Conventions,” wrote Lloyd Axworthy, foreign affairs minister from 1996 and 2000, in a Globe and Mail column, portions of which were reproduced in the New York Times. “We are rightly reluctant to abandon our right to make choices that reflect our priorities,” he added. As General Rick Hillier prepares to step down as Chief of the Defence Staff, it’s important to remember that the Afghanistan mission, and Hillier’s appointment three years ago, were designed to transform Canadian priorities—in military practice and in public opinion. But six years into Canada’s war in Afghanistan, Canadian public opinion has not transformed. In fact, the latest polling figures show that 58 per cent of Canadians disagree with the current mission, which the Liberals and Conservatives extended indefinitely earlier this year.
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