Mr. Chair, I just heard one of my colleagues from across the floor say that we should consider the previous regime. That is a good point to make. How can the member opposite raise these particular questions almost in light of maybe we should be abandoning these people to a previous regime whose level of desecration of human rights was far in excess of what is happening today? Progress is being made.
Our forces consult with the Red Cross and the Red Crescent in Afghanistan in terms of the determination of the care of these prisoners. We hope to see ongoing improvement in human rights. Afghanistan's human rights record is not perfect, but it is better than it was before we entered. As long as we stay and help them until they are ready to stand on their own against this force, it will be even better when we leave.
I am pleased that my colleague raised the question of the person who converted from Islam to Christianity. I can tell the House what would have happened to that person if it had been six years ago. He would have been killed. Something horrific would have happened to him even before he was killed. By the fact that we are there gave our Prime Minister the moral ground to stand on when he phoned the Afghan authorities and said this could not happen. We are not over in Afghanistan to defend those types of practices. That man is alive today because of the intervention of Canadian authorities and our Prime Minister.