A military police complaints commissioner will decide by the end of week whether to investigate allegations of prisoner abuse involving Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

Peter Tinsley, who heads the civilian-run body, will examine whether it is in the public interest to look into allegations that Canadian military police in Kandahar sought to cover up a potential case of prisoner abuse.

The military has already launched two investigations into the allegations, but there are still questions about whether soldiers broke the rules.

"We take any allegation — any whatsoever —  absolutely seriously," said Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada's chief of defence staff. "We have a hyper-sensitivity to how we handle our detainees."

The allegations made by Amir Attaran, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, were based on military documents he requested under the Access to Information Act.

Attaran requested the complaints commission probe how at least one — and as many as three Afghan prisoners — were brought to military police by a single interrogator in one day in April 2006 with injuries to their faces, heads and upper bodies.

"That's how a citizen or a law professor like me can in essence dial 911," he told CBC News.

Standing order on handling prisoners

Documents obtained by the CBC show exactly how seriously prisoner abuse is taken by the Canadian Forces, which currently has more than 2,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

One of the standing orders for Canadian troops on the Afghan mission details exactly how prisoners are to be handled.

The order includes a card that troops likely to take prisoners must carry with them.  The card urges soldiers to handle prisoners "firmly, but humanely," and warns that abuse of a prisoner is a criminal offence. 

"It is both dishonourable and foolish to mistreat a captive," the card reads. "Show your strength by your fairness."

NDP defence critic Dawn Black said it was important to quickly determine whether the allegations were true.

"The investigation needs to be open and transparent so we can get to the bottom of it," Black said.