A House of Commons committee investigating what the federal government may have known about possible prisoner torture in Afghan jails ran into a brick wall Wednesday, with the military's top lawyer refusing to answer questions.

Brig.-Gen. Ken Watkins, the military judge advocate general, claimed solicitor-client privilege about whether he had seen warnings from a diplomat in Kandahar and whether he had received direction from the Prime Minister's Office.

"Obviously, the coverup continues," said Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh.

"It is not part of solicitor-client privilege to hide who instructs you or who your client is. If the [Prime Minister's Office or Privy Council Office] instructed these individuals, we ought to know."

Watkins's office received copies of reports written by diplomat Richard Colvin in 2006, which laid out stark warnings about possible torture in Kandahar jails. Senior members of the Conservative cabinet say they never saw the reports.

The judge advocate general has the power to order military police to investigate if wrongdoing is suspected.

Watkins refused to say whether he — or anyone else in his office — saw Colvin's reports.

Prisoners handed over

Colvin was the political officer at the Canadian-run provincial reconstruction base in mid-2006 when Canadian troops began handing over prisoners to Afghan authorities.

New Democrat defence critic Jack Harris said the military's top lawyer had a duty to act if such startling information was before him. "He should tell us and he should be able to tell us if he became aware of allegations," Harris said.

Watkins refused to say whether he had seen published annual reports from the Foreign Affairs Department that detail Afghanistan's poor human-rights record. At one point, Watkins wouldn't even acknowledge whether he had read newspaper accounts of torture allegations.

All of it left opposition MPs fuming and Conservative members hinting that the committee's investigation had already turned into an inquisition.

"We've gotten off to a terrible start," said Bloc Québécois defence critic Claude Bachand.

"I have the greatest respect for the House of Commons," Watkins told exasperated opposition MPs. But he said his role before the committee was to answer questions about the legal framework governing the transfer of prisoners, not government policy.

While captured Taliban fighters are not considered prisoners under the Geneva Conventions, they are accorded the same treatment, said Watkins.

Transferring prisoners while knowing that they face the possibility of torture violates international law.