The federal government denies responsibility for the overseas imprisonment and torture of three Canadians, despite a commission of inquiry report that parcelled out blame to CSIS, the RCMP and Foreign Affairs.

In newly filed court documents, the government goes so far as to say it "has no knowledge" of whether the men were abused in Syrian prison cells, even though former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci concluded they were tortured.

Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin are suing the federal government in Ontario Superior Court over alleged complicity in their detention and mistreatment abroad.

The claims against the government have not been tested in court.

The commission of inquiry led by Iacobucci, which reported last October, found Canadian officials contributed to the brutal treatment of the three men by sharing information — including unfounded and inflammatory accounts of extremist links — with foreign intelligence and police agencies.

Iacobucci cited the RCMP, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Foreign Affairs for mistakes in the three cases.

In his 544-page report, the former judge said the three men were tortured in Syrian custody and, in the case of El Maati, in Egypt as well.

In statements of defence filed in the cases, the government says if mistreatment did occur, responsibility rests with Syrian and Egyptian authorities.

'When will the government apologize?'

None of the men — all of whom are now in Canada and deny involvement in terrorism — has ever been criminally charged.

They want compensation for ordeals they say shattered their reputations and left them physically and psychologically bruised.

Almalki, an Ottawa electronics engineer, was detained in Syria in 2002 and held for 22 months.

"What will it take for the government to acknowledge the harm it has inflicted upon myself and my family?" Almalki said in an interview.

"When will the government apologize and address this harm?"

El Maati, a former truck driver, was arrested in November 2001 upon flying to Syria to celebrate his wedding — nuptials that never took place.

False confessions extracted under torture from El Maati were used to justify a telephone wiretap in Canada. After several weeks in Syria, he was flown to Egypt and further abused during two years of detention there.

Nureddin, a Toronto geologist, was detained by Syrian officials in December 2003 as he crossed the border from Iraq, where he was visiting family. He was held for 34 days in Syria in late 2003 and early 2004.

In identical wording in all three statements of defence, the government rejects the men's claims, adding the suits should be dismissed.

"In the event that the plaintiffs have suffered any loss or damages, the defendant denies that Canadian officials caused the loss or damages."

The government also denies that "any foreign agencies were acting as agents of Canadian officials at any material time."

And it dismisses allegations from the men that federal actions amounted to breaches of their Charter rights.

In June, a House of Commons committee recommended apologies and compensation for the men.

MPs also said the government should do "everything necessary" to remove false allegations about the three and their families in records held by national security agencies.

Two years ago, the government apologized to Maher Arar, another Arab-Canadian jailed and tortured in Syria. The federal government paid him $10.5 million in compensation after he initially sued for $400 million, a figure later revised to $37 million.