Mr. Chairman, I have just one question to Ms. Garwood-Filbert.
I'm trying to reconcile two statements. One you made before committee today said:
[D]uring the time I spent in Afghanistan, I was impressed with the work being done to ensure the rights and standards that are to be afforded to prisoners and detainees. I witnessed correctional personnel in the central prison department making a sincere effort to learn and develop and to adhere to international standards to the best of their ability.
I would like to quote you in a CTV interview that you did, which was reported in The Globe and Mail on April 27, 2007:
“There hasn't been any significant work done with the prisons”, Ms. Garwood-Filbert said at the time, adding that it is too easy for the Canadian and Afghan authorities to forget about prisoners after they're thrown in jail. “It's out of sight, out of mind. We're just happy they went to jail.” Allegations of torture at Afghan prisons wouldn't surprise her.
You said that to CTV News on that date.
This “out of sight, out of mind” policy seemed to remain in Ottawa until November 5, 2007. Those are my words.
Can you reconcile those two statements, the one you gave in April and the one you gave today?