Afghanistan Committee on Nov. 26th, 2009

[His Excellency David Mulroney]

I can say we have no evidence that any Canadian-transferred detainees were mistreated.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

But you couldn't tell because they weren't being monitored, correct?

[His Excellency David Mulroney]

We had no evidence that detainees were being mistreated.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

But you had no process either.

[His Excellency David Mulroney]

We had reporting from the--

[Jim Abbott, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

I think that's pretty well enough.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

No, I'm just asking Mr. Mulroney if they'd had a hand-over process--

[His Excellency David Mulroney]

That's why we put in place a new arrangement--

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

If you couldn't monitor, how could you monitor if they were being tortured or not?

That's not your fault. You came in to fix it.

I'm establishing what Mr. Colvin was establishing--

[The Chair, Conservative, Rick Casson]

You'll have to give him a chance to answer soon.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

I'm frustrated. I'm sorry, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rick Casson]

I can tell.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Is there any way you can tell us with 100% assuredness that prior to the transfer arrangement being changed, no Canadian-transferred detainees were tortured?

[His Excellency David Mulroney]

I can tell you that we put in place the December 2005 arrangement. At that time, with the information we knew, people worked through 2006 to improve the situation. By the time 2007 arrived and we had additional concerns reported, we moved very quickly to put a new arrangement in place.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Can I ask you a different question?

On June 29, 2007.... I have a document here about monitoring. It actually talks about the transfer of prisoners at the NDS. It's a prepared list of 12 prisoners recently transferred by Canada to the NDS. Some of the detainees here were aged 16, 75, 16, and 16.

Would you have considered the ages of some of these detainees a concern--as someone who is monitoring the transfer of detainees? Is that something that would have been flagged? Would you have considered some of them child combatants?

[His Excellency David Mulroney]

We did have protocols in place with the Afghans for the separate treatment of any under-aged people found on the battlefield or collected. They were taken to separate facilities. They were not put in with the prison population, and they were dealt with by Afghanistan's Ministry of Justice.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Where did they go after that?

[His Excellency David Mulroney]

They went into the Afghan justice system and to halfway houses and correctional facilities for minors.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rick Casson]

Mr. Dewar, I'm sorry, your time is up.

Mr. Mulroney, Your Excellency--I guess that's how we address you these days--

[His Excellency David Mulroney]

David is the name.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rick Casson]

Thank you very much for your time with us today.

[His Excellency David Mulroney]

Thank you for this opportunity to come here.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rick Casson]

The meeting is adjourned.