Thank you, Mr. Chair.
When I became Minister of Foreign Affairs on October 30th, 2008, senior officials in the department told me of a series of issues related to my portfolio. This included bilateral relations with the international community, particularly with the United States; multilateral issues such as the economic crisis, disarmament, human rights and, in particular, terrorism; international forums such as the Commonwealth, the Francophonie, NATO, the United Nations and the G8; the Arctic; fragile states; management of consular issues; and of course our priority, the Canadian mission in Afghanistan including the situation concerning prisoners.
Since that time, I have been regularly informed on the various issues, as I should be.
At your invitation, I will give a summary of our policy and how it applies to the transfer to Afghan authorities of prisoners captured during military operations. I will gladly answer your questions at the end.
First, I want to remind the committee that Canada is in Afghanistan to help the Afghans rebuild their country and to make it a stable, democratic and autonomous society. We are there along with over 60 other states and international organizations, at the request of the Afghan government in a mission headed by NATO, pursuant to a UN mandate.
Canada's objective is to promote six specific priorities in keeping with the Afghanistan Compact, a five-year agreement that was ratified by the international community and the Afghanistan government in early 2006.
As you know, the Canadian government publishes quarterly reports on our engagement in Afghanistan. The sixth of these quarterly reports will be released this week, and I invite members and all Canadians to consult these documents. They will see that considerable progress has been achieved in a number of key areas, thanks to the dedication, courage, and professionalism of our soldiers, diplomats, and public servants.
In addressing the issue of the transfer of prisoners by Canada to Afghan authorities, I feel that I must begin by reminding you of the nature of the work being done by our Canadian civilian and military representatives who are deployed in Afghanistan. These individuals work day after day in a country that is dealing with a very dangerous armed insurrection and pursuing the goals of the Canadian mission with professionalism and a dedication that we should all be extremely proud of.
As I said before the House of Commons last week, “they are the glory of their generation, as were the heroes of Vimy, Dieppe and so many other theatres of war where Canadians fought to defend our values and our freedoms. These men and women are also putting their lives in danger to secure a better future for a country that is trying to ward off the threat of totalitarianism, sectarianism and extremism”.
I would like to remind those who are fixated on the well-being of individuals who are suspected of being our enemies in this conflict that our men and women often put their own lives at risk in trying to treat these people as fairly and humanely as possible.
I would invite members to ponder again what Mr. David Mulroney told this committee:
We had no doubt that the detainees captured by the Canadian Forces posed a real threat to Afghans, and more than that, in some cases had Canadian blood on their hands.
With regard specifically to the transfer of Taliban prisoners, it's important to remember that they were first transferred to the Afghan authorities under an agreement reached between the Canadian and Afghan governments in December 2005.
As you all know, over two and a half years ago, we reached a supplementary arrangement with Afghanistan to replace that inadequate agreement on the transfer of prisoners that we had inherited from the previous government.
Since the beginning of our commitment, Canada has always insisted to the Afghan authorities on the need to treat prisoners according to international law. I myself raised the issue of the importance of respecting human rights during my meetings with President Karzaï and with the Afghan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Spanta.
Can we, however, assume responsibility for everything that happens in Afghan prisons, between Afghans? Obviously not.
The mission that we accepted—our government and the government that preceded us—is not full and permanent oversight of the judicial and prison systems in Afghanistan. I would state however that although there had been nothing before, our government is now investing in development programs in terms of policing, and the legal and correctional systems, in order to improve the Afghan government's capacity in those areas.
The supplemental arrangement that our government put in place has allowed the implementation of an oversight and follow-up mechanism that ensures protection of the rights of prisoners transferred by Canada and it is considered a model to follow.
This arrangement states that Canadian representatives will have unrestricted access to those prisoners, as my colleague, the Minister of National Defence, Mr. MacKay, mentioned.
This has enabled us to conduct nearly 200 visits, since the implementation of our new agreement, to verify that prisoners who had been transferred were treated in accordance with our values and principles and international law.
If, during those visits, Canadian officials hear of allegations of mistreatment, Canada immediately alerts the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, in keeping with their mandate, and raises the issue with highest Afghan authorities to ensure a due diligence investigation.
Let us remember what Linda Garwood-Filbert, a 28-year veteran of Corrections Canada, who conducted nearly 50 visits, many of them unannounced, to Afghan prisons, said: "I personally never saw any signs of physical abuse or torture."
Have allegations of torture been made? Of course, and we should not be surprised by this, if we read any al-Qaeda manual, and particularly the one that was discovered by British police in a raid of an al-Qaeda member's home and which was produced earlier this year at a terrorist bombing trial in New York. In chapter 18 of the document, the first two recommendations given to al-Qaeda prisoners are, and I'm quoting from the text, (1) “At the beginning of the trial, once more the brothers must insist on proving that torture was inflicted on them by State Security (investigators) before the judge”, and (2) “Complain to the court of mistreatment while in prison".
Mr. Chairman, if I were asked to choose between the testimony of a Corrections Canada official and an al-Qaeda tactic, I would pick Corrections Canada ten times out of ten.
Not only do we monitor and follow up with Taliban prisoners we captured because our men and women were posed with an immediate threat, but we've also put in place capacity-building programs to help improve conditions for all prisoners. We are providing training and mentoring to Afghan correctional officers and senior management. Since 2006 we have committed $7.7 million towards correction reform projects in Afghanistan.
During my visit to Afghanistan with Minister Day in March of this year, we saw first-hand Sarposa prison and a training centre for the Afghan National Police and we witnessed concrete achievements. We announced then a contribution of $21 million to strengthen the rule of law with a focus on policing.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman and colleagues, to those who strive mightily to find fault with the actions of the men and women who are defending freedom, justice, and security in the most dangerous place in the world, I would like to say, nobody could do better. I remind this committee that all they hope for in return is the encouragement and respect of their fellow Canadians.
Thank you.