Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Lalani, I want to get right to a question that I haven't quite figured out, just on the questions and responses, and it's in regard to Mr. Colvin.
Mr. Colvin provided evidence to committee--and I think you've probably read it--that there was a likelihood of detainees being abused and tortured when they were handed over. He told us that at committee. One of the other things he said was that there was some editing or censoring of his reports. Again, he said this, and I want to clarify it.
In particular, we know this was an issue, and certainly it was with the embassy here in Ottawa, because there were questions in the House and so on after Graeme Smith's report in The Globe and Mail. I know that was the topic for a lot of people, because we responded to that report, and I think you did. I want to be very specific here. I want you to answer through the chair.
He wrote that a Red Cross official who read the report in The Globe and Mail said that “allegations of abuse made by those Afghans interviewed by...Graeme Smith fit a common pattern”. He put that in his report. I think context is important, because the claim was made by Mr. Colvin and by the Red Cross as well that a more rapid response—and we've heard that we needed to respond more quickly—was absolutely critical in the first days because of the concerns around torture immediately following handover.
My question is whether you asked him to remove that from his report.