Guantanamo Bay is listed alongside Syria, Egypt and Iran as a suspected site of torture and abuse in a Foreign Affairs Department training manual obtained by lawyers working on the case of Canadian detainee Omar Khadr.

The manual was designed for consular employees and includes a section on laws prohibiting torture, as well as tips on how to handle suspected cases of torture or abuse.

Omar Khadr in a 2002 file photo, at the age of 15, around the time he was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
(Canadian Press)

It identifies the notorious prison camp at the United States' naval base in Cuba as one of several possible places where torture can occur.

Other locations included in the list are Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United States.

Lawyers working on Khadr's case received the manual after raising questions with the federal government over training for its employees on torture.

A spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said the document should not be seen as representing the views of the Canadian government.

"The training manual is not a policy document and does not reflect the views or policies of this government," said Neil Hrab.

Canadian officials have said publicly that they accept assurances from their American counterparts that Khadr has not been abused.

Khadr's chief lawyer said the manual, created two years ago and updated in December, is inconsistent with the government's public position on Khadr's treatment at Guantanamo.

"This tells us the government has reason to believe Khadr has been abused," said Lt.-Cmdr. Bill Kuebler.

"It's time for Canada to follow the lead of every other western country and demand the release of its citizens."

Khadr — the only Canadian being held at Guantanamo — is accused of killing an American medic in Afghanistan in 2002. He was 15 years old when he was taken into custody, and has been at Guantanamo for at least five years.

The Center for Constitutional Rights in New York in 2006 released a report saying the teen had suffered extensive abuse at the American detainee camp, including being dangled from a door frame and used as a human mop to wipe up his urine.

Khadr has also complained of being beaten and restrained in stress positions, as well as being relegated to solitary confinement for months on end.

U.S. officials have said that Khadr's treatment at Guantanamo is what any inmate would receive at a maximum security prison in the U.S.

With files from the Canadian Press