Mr. Speaker, Major Barry Armstrong, senior medical officer of the unit in which several members were accused of murdering and torturing Somali civilians, said that he was ordered by superior officers to destroy photographs showing Somali patients who were tortured, so that these photographs would not be used as evidence against other Canadian servicemen.
Yesterday in this House, the defence minister tried to minimize the serious allegations of Major Armstrong, who says that he kept some photographs, despite the order to destroy them.
My question is for the Minister of Defence. How can the minister continue to trust the military investigation, when senior army officers ordered the destruction of photographs that could be used as evidence against servicemen accused of torture and murder?