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ACTION ALERT: Demand a public inquiry on the torture of Afghan detainees

The Globe and Mail reports that, “The NDP is calling for a public inquiry into the torture of Afghan detainees handed over by Canadian troops.”

A media release on the NDP website says, “New Democrats are calling for a public inquiry to investigate allegations that Canadian officials were complicit in the torture of innocent prisoners in Afghanistan. The call for an inquiry follows testimony given yesterday by senior Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin to the House of Commons Afghanistan Committee.”

“Colvin, who was stationed in Afghanistan in 2006, testified that torture was standard operating procedure and that it was likely all Afghan prisoners handed over by Canadian Forces were subjected to torture. Colvin filed multiple reports on prisoner treatment, sending them to more than 70 senior military and government officials. No government action was taken in response to the reports. Colvin also confirmed that he and others were told by senior Canadian government officials to stop putting their concerns in writing.”

TAKE ACTION
The Council of Canadians joins in this call for a public inquiry on this most serious issue. As reported in another Globe and Mail article today, Colvin told a House of Commons committee that “the most common forms of torture were beatings, whipping with power cables, the use of electricity, knives, open flames and rape.”

To find the name and contact information for your Member of Parliament, please go to http://canadians.org/action/contact_reps.html.

Your message can be as straightforward as, “I support the call for a public inquiry into the allegation that Afghan detainees transferred by Canadian soldiers to the Afghan intelligence service were tortured.”

WEB-LINKS
This morning’s campaign blog on this issue is at http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=2226.

The Globe and Mail report is at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/bureau-blog/ndp-demands-public-inquiry-on-torture-allegations/article1369765/.

The NDP media release is at http://www.ndp.ca/press/prison-torture-in-afghanistan.

To respond to our ‘ACTION ALERT: Demand the immediate, safe and orderly withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan’, go to http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=2173.