Mr. Speaker, I would like to preface my comments on the issue of Canada transferring Taliban detainees to Afghan authorities by reminding some of the members here that Canada is operating in Afghanistan in a challenging and complex environment with respect to security.
Afghanistan is one of the poorest and most dangerous countries in the world.
Our soldiers, diplomats, humanitarian workers, police and correctional officers and others are putting their lives at risk to build a better, safer world for Afghans, Canadians and the international community.
With respect to the transfer of Taliban prisoners, it is important to remember that Canadian Forces personnel do capture individuals during military operations.
The reason they do that is to protect themselves from danger, to provide better protection and stability to the Afghan people, and to prevent terrorist attacks against Canada and the international community.
Canadian Forces personnel transfer these detainees to Afghan authorities under a supplementary agreement between the governments of Canada and Afghanistan signed on May 3, 2007.
Let me be perfectly clear. There has never been a proven allegation of abuse involving a transferred Taliban prisoner by Canadian Forces. This is about what Afghans allegedly did to other Afghans. This is not about our brave men and women serving in the battlefields of Afghanistan.
We have said it before and we will continue to reiterate it, when the military and diplomats have been presented with credible, substantiated evidence, they have taken appropriate action.
I want to emphasize to the House that, as it has always done, the Government of Canada ensures that the prisoners it transfers to Afghan authorities are treated humanely in accordance with both countries' obligations under international law.
When concerns were expressed, we took action. The 2005 transfer agreement was not good enough, so we came up with a better one.
When allegations surfaced, we acted. We strengthened an inadequate 2005 transfer agreement.
In addition, under the terms of the new agreement, Canada boasts one of the most rigorous mechanisms for the monitoring of prisoners, as well as access to those transferred to Afghan authorities, in order to ensure the protection of their rights.
Once prisoners are transferred, Afghan authorities are ultimately responsible for how they are treated.
However, and just as important, it allows for the development of this essential capacity, where no such capacity existed before.
I would remind the House that Afghanistan is an independent, sovereign state and in the end, that country's government is responsible for protecting its citizens, enforcing the law and ensuring that human rights are respected.
In that spirit, Canada is trying to help ensure that prisoners' rights are being respected, especially those captured by Canadians and transferred to Afghan authorities.
Canada's efforts are focused on two goals: providing general programs to develop Afghan capacities in order to improve conditions for all Afghan prisoners; and maintaining a rigorous, effective oversight and monitoring system in order to ensure proper treatment of prisoners transferred by Canadians.
Our government has made significant investments in building the Afghan government's capacity to detain Afghan and other insurgents and to investigate, prosecute and convict them, in accordance with the Afghan government's responsibilities and its international obligations.
In particular, Canada supported the reform of the correctional sector in Kandahar and throughout Afghanistan by providing mentoring and strategic training activities, as well as providing assistance to improve the related infrastructure and equipment.
As the hon. members here today know, our government negotiated and entered into a new agreement with the government of Afghanistan. That agreement took effect on May 3, 2007.
Under the new agreement, Canadian representatives have full, private and unlimited access to all prisoners transferred by Canada to the Afghan authorities.
Our supplementary arrangement provides one of the strongest safeguards to ensure the protection and monitoring, through visitation, of human rights of prisoners who are transferred by Canada to Afghan authorities.
Since 2007, when Canada obtained the right to have access to detainees captured by the Canadian Forces under the supplementary agreement, Canadian authorities have made nearly 200 visits to those detainees. They have often visited them once or twice a week for private interviews, even though such visits could expose them to considerable personal risk.
If, during these visits or by some other means, Canadian authorities learn of serious allegations of abuse, Canada immediately notifies the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Afghan human rights commission and raises the issue with the highest Afghan government authorities so that a proper investigation is held.
When Canadian investigations revealed plausible allegations of abuse of Afghan prisoners transferred by the Canadian Forces, we took action. We did not start transferring detainees again until February 2008, after we had ensured that our requirements had been met and the necessary conditions had been restored.
We can be proud of our men and women in uniform in this respect as in all respects. We should not play politics with the difficult mission of those who protect us. There is no need to launch a public inquiry into this matter. The special parliamentary committee on Afghanistan has also undertaken a study on the issue of detainee transfer. Witnesses have appeared and, in the upcoming weeks, more are scheduled to testify.
The testimony last week before our committee of Generals Hillier, Gauthier and Fraser as well as Mr. David Mulroney demonstrate clearly just how difficult, involved and complex this effort has been. However, it has demonstrated that, despite these difficulties, they were always conscious of their responsibilities when it came to the question of transferring prisoners held by the Canadian Forces to Afghan authorities. That is a critical point that we should not lose sight of as this debate goes forward in the House today.
During these committee proceedings, the opposition has been free to call witnesses, as they did with Mr. Colvin. The hearings have been broadcast on national television, so Canadians have been able to see the proceedings for themselves. What did they see? Canadians saw the compelling testimony of three distinguished Canadian generals and a top diplomat, Mr. David Mulroney, the former senior official in the Privy Council Office, in charge of coordinating our efforts in Afghanistan.
What did they hear? They heard the clear and unequivocal message that at no time and under no circumstances did Canadian Forces transfer detainees when they suspected there was a real risk of torture. That was confirmed by all the witnesses except Mr. Colvin.
Retired General Hillier said, “We didn't base our actions upon people making statements that all detainees were being tortured. How ludicrous a statement is that from any one single individual who really has no knowledge to be able to say something like that. We certainly didn't see any substantive evidence that would indicate it was that way”.
Mr. Mulroney said, “I can say we have no evidence that any Canadian transfer of detainees was mistreated”.
Could all the other witnesses be wrong? Is the opposition asserting that anyone is lying?
Let us go back to the facts. When did we have real documented concerns as we did in November 2007? When we did, those transfers were stopped. We were only able to reach those conclusion because, in May 2007, our government put in place a more robust monitoring mechanism, one that supplemented the Liberal 2005 arrangement. That was two and a half years ago. That is the record. Canadians know it.
The government has given the commission its full cooperation; it has submitted thousands of pages of relevant documents, and numerous officials have already testified.
The Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan has also begun studying the issue of detainee transfers. Witnesses have already appeared, and others are scheduled to testify in the weeks to come.
I travelled to Afghanistan twice and met with dozens of Canadian soldiers, police officers and officials. Each time, I was impressed by the courage, calm, strength of character and genuine patriotism of all these people. 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.
The worst excesses, the worst cruelty we have seen in generations have been committed in Afghanistan by the horrible Taliban regime and their terrorist accomplices.
The members of the official opposition, whose party decided to send our soldiers into this region—and our party supported them—know full well that we face a cruel, unscrupulous enemy.
In closing, I invite them to think about that when they are tempted to criticize the people who are defending our honour against the forces of barbarism.
