Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My name is Ron Hoffmann. As I have already explained it, I am currently Canada's Ambassador to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and I am Canada's Ambassador designate to Myanmar (Burma).
I arrived in Kabul in early August 2007 to establish the new position of deputy head of mission. I was later appointed ambassador, ultimately serving two years in Kabul. As Arif already explained, my arrival coincided with a significant transformation of the Canadian engagement in Afghanistan.
In the deputy role, I was considered head of chancery, responsible for infrastructure, staffing, services, health and safety, security policy, quality of life, and oversight of mission administration generally. This was in the context in a dramatic growth in civilian resources. One of my key functions was to help foster mission cohesion, to ensure an effective whole-of-government approach, but also to effect stronger integration and coordination of our Kabul and Kandahar operations.
I was also asked to contribute to our detainee management strategy. My role was to ensure that we had the right people doing the right things in monitoring; that we were analyzing and communicating issues clearly and thoroughly; that we were reacting effectively and appropriately to new issues and developments as they arose; that our military and civilians were working in concert; that our support and investments in Afghan institutions were appropriate to their needs; and that our engagement with other parties, including--and perhaps especially--the Afghan government, was active and effective.
When I arrived in Afghanistan in the summer of 2007, the security situation was an increasing concern, in Kabul and elsewhere.
Our duty of care obligations to our personnel were taken seriously and overseeing stepped-up mission security in the capital became a major preoccupation.
Given the influx of additional personnel, we also worked to address seemingly mundane but critical issues like embassy overcrowding, the need to upgrade the chancery and staff quarters, and the strengthening of internal operations and accountabilities.
I was appointed ambassador on the departure of Arif in the summer of 2008. This assured continuity of leadership in the programming we were delivering. It also meant familiarity with key issues we were contending with, and it enabled us to capitalize on the high-level relationships that we already had in place.
I travelled to Kandahar more than 20 times, many of them with Afghan ministers or heads of agencies to support the leadership role of the country's own government. In my last six months alone, I travelled with ministers of defence, interior, education, transport, and health, and the head of the NDS respectively.
We witnessed tangible successes, but it was nevertheless a difficult and a costly time. The security situation remained dire in parts of the country and was worsening in some areas.
There were daily reminders that we were in a country at war, a country fighting for its survival and for its future. For instance, as ambassador, I led Canada's in-country efforts to secure the safe release of CBC journalist Mellissa Fung, kidnapped in the early fall of 2008. I worked closely with senior Afghan authorities, with whom I engaged in person or by phone about 20 times during the final frenetic week of Mellissa's captivity, before she was freed by the Afghan government.
And, during my time in theatre, it was with great sadness that I bid farewell to a Canadian man or woman in uniform at an average rate of one every 12 days. We lost Canadian civilian humanitarian workers in this period too.
We were fully aware, Mr. Chairman, that the Afghan state and Afghan society in general suffered from the profound consequences of two generations of war. This reality touched every aspect of life in Afghanistan. While conditions were improving and the state was modernizing and gaining in capacity, progress was slow and it was uneven.
We were well aware that the justice and security institutions suffered from deep systemic challenges. The Government of Afghanistan had a clear official policy prohibiting torture and abuse of prisoners, but we were also aware, Mr. Chairman, of gaps in human capacity, insufficient training, poor infrastructure, and some very crude conditions. I was personally confident, however, that the measures Canada had in place during my time in Afghanistan meant that the risk of mistreatment faced by detainees the Canadian Forces transferred to Afghan authorities was minimized.
Like my predecessors before me, as ambassador and as a deputy closely involved with the issues, I was frequently in discussion with Afghan authorities at multiple levels across government, including ministers and, regularly, the Afghan president, to reaffirm Canada's expectations and to discuss Afghanistan's detainee management obligations. They understood the importance we attached to the issue and they understood their commitments in this regard.
Our monitoring system and our steadfast demands for humane treatment of detainees were respected and applauded by allies, by independent groups, and by Afghan senior level authorities. The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission articulated this view to me, as did NATO ISAF, the UN, and key international organizations.
In addition to our robust system of monitoring and our ongoing advocacy and senior level engagement, Canada invested in improvements in Afghan prison capacity and infrastructure. We provided training, equipment,and improvements in physical conditions in facilities both in Kandahar and in Kabul.
Mr. Chairman, I believe that Canadians had and have much to be proud of. It wasn't easy in Afghanistan, and we weren't perfect. We learned lessons continually and we regularly adjusted. But Canada's military, our diplomats, development workers, and police and corrections staff worked increasingly in unison, and they did their best to fulfill their mandates and their responsibilities.
I look forward to trying to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.
