Afghanistan committee  Do you mean the NDS facility?

Afghanistan committee  Certainly Correctional Service of Canada went to Sarposa prison on a regular basis. I am aware that the CIVPOL, the civilian police, went to the NDS facility, or maybe the NDS went to them to give them some assistance in what are called “interview techniques”. We're talking at a level of detail that as a task force commander I'm peripherally interested, but frankly I had a war to fight, so this thing isn't really on my blotter.

Afghanistan committee  I can't say that I could point out a specific report about Governor Khalid, but it has to be understood that he is a character. He got around the province and he made things happen. I doubt that we had 100% visibility over what he was up to either, but he was not the guy I was transferring detainees to.

Afghanistan committee  I can't, no. I can't share that with you, and that's because of the relationship with that organization.

Afghanistan committee  We would inform the commander. I would tell my counterpart if that were the case, but if it was to do with his detainee facility--the prison belongs to a different service--then he would be told by the representative of Canada in Kandahar at that weekly security provincial meeting, if it needed to be said, that General Karimi had better look into this because it's a bit of a mess.

Afghanistan committee  I believe it does. Can it be fixed or ameliorated? Everything can be. Anybody who thinks they have the perfect document is in the wrong business.

Afghanistan committee  That's it: we would have cut the transfer and we would have pulled them back.

Afghanistan committee  We'd have been informed by these government officials, yes. Can I tell you with 100% certitude that I had 100% knowledge of everything that was going on in that prison? You need only look up the date--13 June 2008--and you know darn well that I didn't know what was going on inside Sarposa prison, because it exploded and we lost 900 prisoners.

Afghanistan committee  Again, I restrict my comments to the time I was in command. I went out of my way to cultivate a positive environment, and so did Elissa Golberg. We created an integrated headquarters and an integrated team. I can't speak for what went on prior to me or what came after. I can tell you that although it wasn't always sweetness and light, there were certainly lots of heated discussions about the way things could go.

Afghanistan committee  Right. Not only did they halt transfers, but as I understand it they provided them with training. I think Cory Anderson referred to that. To use that great government buzzword, they did some capacity building to make sure they understood what their responsibilities were as people running what amounts to a county jail.

Afghanistan committee  No problem. If you do not mind, I will switch to English.

Afghanistan committee  That is very kind. Thank you. Again, there are really two conditions. First, if there isn't sufficient evidence to link a guy to the insurgency, then there's no point hanging on to him. You have to remember that the conditions under which people are taken off the battlefield are not exactly black and white.

Afghanistan committee  Yes, absolutely. Three-quarters of them are given their affairs, which are all catalogued to the Canadian standard. They are driven to the front gate and given taxi fare, more than enough taxi fare to get them back to where they go. Oftentimes--this means telling tales out of school--they hitchhike so that they can pocket the fare.

Afghanistan committee  Absolutely. There has to be a chance that the insurgent will be convicted in an Afghan court.

Afghanistan committee  Yes. But now I'm talking about the whole-of-government team. It is Canada's responsibility to follow the prisoners through the Afghan system. I would assist, as much as possible, with my whole-of-government partners. In the case of following the detainee, at least where we were in the south, that meant providing the transportation in this hostile environment to my colleagues from Foreign Affairs so that they could get to these places to visit them--including the Sarposa prison, by the way, which hasn't really been discussed.