Canadian Torture?

This week controversy erupted over the Canadian transfer of Afghan prisoners to Northern Alliance torturers. On Monday, the Globe and Mail-- after interviewing 30 transferred Afghans -- reported that “Afghans detained by Canadian soldiers and sent to Kandahar's notorious jails say they were beaten, whipped, starved, frozen, choked and subjected to electric shocks during interrogation.” The Harper Government, it was then revealed, “knew from its own officials that prisoners held by Afghan security forces faced the possibility of torture, abuse and extrajudicial killing.”

The Canadian government-- amid growing calls for the ouster of Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor-- so far has hoped to squash the scandal through simple denial. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said claims concerning detainee treatment were “baseless accusations.” He added: “These are merely allegations being made by the Taliban. I don't accept allegations without evidence from the Taliban.”

Public Security Minister Stockwell Day's denial were even thinner. He described the Afghan prisoners held by Canada as "so-called detainees" and suggested humane treatment of prisoners is a radical thought to some people in Afghanistan. Canadian troops in Afghanistan, he said, have a special message for Northern Alliance when prisoners are transferred:

We're saying to them that these people that we're bringing you to put in jail — these people have no compunction about machine-gunning, mowing down little children. They have no compunction about decapitating or hanging elderly women... Now we've captured them and, yes, these people that we've captured want nothing more to do than to kill you and your children. And we're asking you to treat them humanely.

That's reassuring, isn't it?