Inside Politics

The documents we've seen

by Janyce McGregor Posted: March 8, 2010 4:57 PM Last Updated: March 12, 2010 2:29 PM

afghan-prison-cp-w-584.jpg

On December 10, 2009, the House of Commons passed a motion calling on the government to release uncensored versions of all the documents relevant to the current controversy surrounding the transfer and treatment of prisoners in Afghanistan. The government has refused, citing security concerns.

Prior to the prorogation of Parliament at the end of the year, redacted versions of some of these documents were released to the House of Commons Committee on the Mission in Afghanistan, as well as some media, including the CBC.

Here's our collection of relevant documents we've obtained, as well as other information our journalists have collected on the Afghan detainee issue. 

1.  Former diplomat Richard Colvin's affadavit to the Military Police Complaints Commission

In this affadavit, prepared for the Military Police Complaints Commission's inquiry into the transfer and subsequent treatment of Afghan detainees, Colvin describes the reports he sent on this matter during his diplomatic posting in Afghanistan.

2.  Colvin's letter to Rick Casson, Chair of the Afghanistan Committee

At the end of this letter, Colvin's lawyer outlines a list of documents Colvin believes should be unclassified, but Foreign Affairs has instructed Colvin not to share these with the committee.

3.  The Colvin Emails

Amnesty International at first made public some -- but not all -- of the Colvin memos in their possession. These versions of Colvin's emails were vetted and redacted by the government. (Amnesty International did not feel it could release all the documents in its collection right away because they signed an undertaking of confidentiality for the Military Police Complaints Commission. Amnesty International asked the Attorney General to be released from this undertaking, and the rest of their documents was made public on 12/02/09 -- see update below.)

The six Colvin emails the CBC first received from Amnesty International were:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/pdf/kandh0039.pdf

Includes: report on follow-up visit to Sarpoza prison that refers to difficulty identifying Canadian-transferred detainees, as well as summaries of interviews with detainees. It also notes that "we would be grateful for further guidance from Ottawa on the desired approach/tact we should take in this matter." The cover letter, which includes the forwarded report, questions how to ensure a "meaningful investigation" of an allegation of abuse "given that it is likely the NDP will be investigating themselves."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/pdf/kandh0074.pdf

Includes: report on follow-up visit to NDS facility in Kandahar, and some discussion of the process for handling "child detainees," described as those "under the age of eighteen" with summary of interviews with detainees, several of whom allege to have been beaten and subjected to sleep deprivation

http://www.cbc.ca/news/pdf/kandh0082.pdf

Includes: report on follow-up visit to Sarpoza with summary of interviews with detainees, one of whom reportedly tells them that "he did not tell the truth during previous interviews" and had, in fact, been beaten with a cable while blindfolded while undergoing NDS interrogation. The report makes specific note of the fact that he "uses the words beat and torture."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/pdf/kandh0125.pdf

Includes: report on follow-up visit to NDS facility in Kandahar with summary of interviews with two detainees, the second of which is heavily redacted. The report also notes that they have raised concerns over possible abuse of detainees in NDS with both the AIHRC and the ICRC.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/pdf/kandh0138.pdf

Includes: report on follow-up visit to Sarpoza, with summary of interviews with detainees, and discussion of the delay in bringing detainees to trial due to the lack of available judges to hear national security cases

http://www.cbc.ca/news/pdf/kgbr0291.pdf

Includes: report on follow-up visit to NDS facility in Kabul,with summary of interviews with detainees who claim to have been "whipped with cables, shocked with electricity and/or otherwise 'hurt' while in NDS custody in Kandahar"

(these six Colvin memo summaries were prepared by the lovely and helpful Kady O'Malley)

UPDATE (12/02/09):

Amnesty International and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association have been released from their undertaking. The full set (130 pages) of Colvin memos is now available. (See 12/07/09 update (below) for more information on these documents.)

UPDATE (12/04/09):

James Cudmore's reporting on the pressure on Canadian commanders to hand over Afghan detainees quickly is based on interviews with Brigadier-General David Fraser and Lt. Col. Tom Putt, conducted by investigators for the Military Police Complaints Commission. CBC News is making available its copies of the transcripts of those interviews.

UPDATE (12/07/09):

Kady O'Malley now has finished a massive compare-and-contrast between the documents Amnesty International/B.C. Civil Liberties Association released, and the documents the Afghanistan committee received from the government last Wednesday. Here are Kady's descriptions for each of the previously unseen documents in Amnesty International's 130-page release from last week. 

Pages 5-9: September 9th 2006 email/report re: KGBR0101/GSRP which references visit by then-Defence Minister O'Connor; also includes almost entirely blacked out summary of roundtable, as well as meeting between the minister and Afghan officials, including Karzai - who "showed himself in strong form" and Afghan defence minister. Only bits left unblacked out involve praise for the work of Canadian soldiers.

Pages 14-20: October 15th email/report drafted by COLVIN re: KGBRs 0125, 0126 and 0104 on discussions with Afghan officials on the state of the Afghan National Police, which "remain largely unreconstructed." Details of the challenges facing the ANP, who "often end up as de facto first responders" including the statement that "in the south, the unhappy combination of high risk and low salary offer little incentive for a policeman" -- short blacked out bit here -- "As a result, in insurgent-heavy provinces such as Kandahar, many districts are believed to have very few police [CENSORED]." Also some heavily-censored references to having had to isuse a "clarification" to the Police Act, which had been used by "some governors [LONGISH CENSORED BIT HERE] to assert control over the police within their province." 

Pages 21-26: November 18th email drafted by COLVIN and SPROULE on FTAG0058 "on performance of 1 Nov 2006 international organizations in Afghanistan" and KANDH0070 of 13th November on [CENSORED]".  Includes assessment of UNAMA staff in Kabul and field offices (noteably former Canadian ambassador turned Conservative candidate in waiting Chris Alexander, who is described as "a dynamic, high-profile and impressive personality, and one of the best connected internationalists in Afghanistan.") Entire section on "Human Rights, Governance/Rule of Law/Corruption" blacked out. Also redacted in its entirety is the section on UNAMA's Kandahar office. One almost entirely censored section: "[CENSORED], who brings considerable institutional memory -- said that [FOUR LINES CENSORED]." The next point begins, "On the positive side [...]"
 
Pages 30-33: January 23, 2007 email drafted by COLVIN - KBGR0183 - Afghanistan: PAG - [CENSORED]. Discusses how the "Policy Action Group heard an exceptionally upbeat presentation [CENSORED]" on 20 January; Afghan participants included Afghan defence minister Abdurl Wardak, NDS security head Amrullah Saleh and "the deputy ministers of the interior, education and information" - also present were ambassadors and "equivalents" from the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands, and, among others, Chris Alexander. At one point, someone "congratulated Saleh and Warda on GoA's accomplishments," followed by approximately twenty lines of blacked out text. 

Pages 34-37: February 4, 2007 email/report drafted by COLVIN - KBGR0187 on "the Taliban spring offensive, ISAF, intelligence and Pakistan," which is, not surprisingly, almost entirely blacked out. 

Pages 38-39: almost entirely redacted February 26 email from Colvin to Scott Proudfoot, among others, with the subject blacked out and this note: "KANDH: For Buchan and Fudge only"  

Pages 40-44: KBGR0232, largely blacked-out report drafted by COLVIN on "Glyn Berry investigation, Meetings with [CENSORED]" Among the non-censored portions is an explanation of the difference between an NDS and a police investigation -- in this case, into the bombing that killed Berry -- and the NDS and criminal court system, which is almost entirely redacted. 

Pages 45: April 14, 2007 email from "Marvin" (no last name given) RE: "Upcoming Globe & Mail story on alleged NDS torture of detainees in Kandahar" that appears to be entirely unredacted, and in which Marvin tells "Richard" that he spoke to "the media folks about this a few days ago," who told him that "the comms group under DMA had been informed and "are very much on the ball." It includes a forwarded email from Colvin alerting Elissa Goldberg, David Mulroney and others that Graeme Smith had told "us" that he had been conducting "extensive examinations in Kandahar" over the preceding two weeks into "the alleged torture of detainees by the National Directorate of Security ... including detainees transferred to NDS by Cdn forces." It quotes Smith as saying that some of the stories "are really terrible" and that "some of the Canadian involvement is too close for comfort." 

Page 46: April 18, 2007  email drafted by COLVIN on "UNAMA in southern Afghanistan; Prospects for Afghanistan" that is almost completely blacked out

Page 52: April 23 email from COLVIN to RON HOFFMAN, cc'd to PROUDFOOT, on "Suggestions to address the detainee problem" with the designation "LDN: For Lalani" provides three recommendations, including "Canadian Forces, [CENSORED] approach, to take fewer detainees" and "Amend MOU (if political circumstances allow) to allow for Cdn followup monitoring," with some explanation of how that could be done. It concludes: "In our assessment, direct engagement by Cda is needed on this issue a) to respond, and be seen to respond, to concerns by the Cdn public and media, and [CENSORED}." 

Page 53: April 23 email from COLVIN to Proudfood, Mulroney, COLLEEN SWORDS and others, under the subject "Re: Detainees: Urgent Demarche", reporting on his discussion with Ahmad Zia Langari, one of nine commissioners at the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, to whom he delivered "the five bullets below." Langari told him that the commission "has faced problems of access to NDS facilities," and, as such, "is unable to monitor the condition of detainees, as per their agreements with the Canadians, Dutch and others" and has raised the issue "about 9 days ago with President Karzai," but the "access problem has not gone away." He notes that he has had a request in to meet with Saleh -- the head of NDS -- since April 17th on detainee handling issues and Glyn Berry," and is "awaiting confirmation of the appointment." 
 
Pages 55-61: April 24, 2007 email from SWORDS of a fwded report from COLVIN, on which she is "copying BNATO on this msg as coordination with NATO is important aspect of how we deal with detainees as we move forward," and asking that "we automatically put them on distr detainee msgs so we can best integrate that angle." In the fwded email, Colvin discusses his request for an "urgent meeting with NDS," and suggests that they might also be able to meet with Karzai's chief of staff, "and possibly also Karzai himself." It also includes the full text of the April 24, 2007 Globe and Mail articles. 
 
Page 64: KBGR0266,  April 25, 2007 email from COLVIN to Mulroney, Swords, Buck and many others, in which he recommends that Canada, "for reasons of our own national interest, establish -- and announce that we are establishing -- a Canadian capacity to monitor, in both Kandahar and Kabul, the treatment of Afghan detainees following their transfer to Government of Afghanistan (GoA) control," as well as an attempt to limit the number of Afghans detained by Cdn forces and "handed to GoA," noting that "detainee methodologies in the field are too expansive, resulting in the detention of a significant number of Afghans who are not/not insurgents or combatants [CENSORED]" 

Page 65: Aprul 25, 2007 email from COLVIN re: "Allied detention faciltiies," in which he notes that "[CENSORED] confirms they have never had bilateral discussions with [CENSORED] on a detention facility, which also includes a fwd of his own heavily redacted email to LAPORTE on the same topic. It notes that the UK, Canada and Belgium "have paid for the renovation of a wing of Pol-Charki for high-value CN prisoners," but that although it is complete,"because no high-value CN targets have been taken, it has not been operationalized." 

Pages 106-107: KBGR0295 June 26, 2007 email from COLVIN on Senlis Council CEO Norine MacDonald "regarding the closure by the Government of Afghanistan (GoA) of Senlis' offices in Afghanistan," in which the lengthy background section is almost completely blacked out. 

Page 108: June 30, 2007 email from "GAVIN" to COLVIN on "A question on the transfer of Minors," in which  KEVIN REX notes that "the Commander has asked for "a ruling from DFAIT" on this one;" the writer acknowledges that "this is obviously not my forte," but says that he believes "we simply transder everyone to the NDS. I am not aware of any specific arrangements made for minors," nor can be find reference in the SOPS and MOU. Gavin tells Kevin to ask ELISSA GOLBERG, "with a c.c. to GHH (and FTAG, of course)" but nots tes that his "own two cents is that if we are clearly dealing with a minor, we should respect whatever Afhan law dictates in terms of institutions of detention," and if "that means transferring direct to Sarpoza and not to NDS, that's do-able -- logistically challenging, of course, but not impossible." 

Page 111: July 4, 2007 email from COLVIN on "NDS facility in Kabul, Proposal for a Canadian renovation project" -- which, from the contents, seems to have been a request from NDS director Saleh whether Canada "would be interested in modernizing, rebuilding and expanding" the Sederat NDS facility in Kabul. It notes that, during interviews with prisoners, "none complained of abuse" but did speak of "poor living conditions," and notes that, although "an unorthodox project, we do not see any significant communications risks."

Pages 115-117: July 27, 2009 KBGR0306 - "Police update: EU police mission and MoI reform," almost entirely redacted, but does include recent developments in police recruitment, and "the future of the International Police Coordination Board." 

Pages 121-125: October 24, 2007 - Colvin's unsent end-of-posting observations
 
UPDATE: (12/09/09)
 
The legal opinion obtained by Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh is now available. It suggests there's no legal reason why the government cannot disclose important documents pertaining to the abuse or torture of Afghan detainees to the House special committee on Afghanistan.
 
UPDATE: (12/09/09)
 
We've transcribed and posted the sergeant's field notes that CDS Natynczyk says he first saw on Wednesday morning. They describe how an alleged Taliban fighter abused by Afghan police in 2006 was detained by Canadians, contrary to the CDS' earlier remarks and other statements by Defence Minister Peter MacKay.
 
UPDATE: (12/10/09)
 
The Department of Justice responded to the House of Commons' law clerk's opinion from earlier this week as to whether the Canada Evidence Act applies to parliamentary proceedings.
 
  

UPDATE: (12/14/09)

Chief of Defence Staff Walt Natynczyk has written to the chair of the House defence committee officially correcting his statement of December 8. His clarification is consistent with the correction he offered to the media on December 9.

UPDATE: (12/16/09)

Richard Colvin has written another letter and provided additional written evidence to the Afghanistan committee, further clarifying some information and responding to statements made by other witnesses. Kady has summarized the highlights.

UPDATE: (12/18/09)

CBC News has learned that for more than a year military police have been quietly investigating allegations that Canadian troops abused Afghan detainees captured in 2008. Reporter James Cudmore uncovered this document.

UPDATE: (03/08/10)

An internal government memo obtained by CBC (page one, page two) confirms that Canadian authorities began formulating a plan for dealing with accusations of torture of prisoners in Afghanistan as early as March 2007 -- months before such allegations first came up in the media.

 

Also worth reading:

CBC Radio Producer Neil Morrison summarized legal precedents in Australia and Canada for the Inside Politics blog.

Former House of Commons clerk B. Thomas Hall summarized in the January 11 edition of The Hill Times what prorogation meant to the Opposition's fight to obtain the documents.

Later in January, Colvin found himself in a dispute with the government over his right to retain (pay for) legal advice/representation.
 
On February 3, Opposition MPs from the Afghanistan committee held a meeting and called witnesses despite Parliament's prorogation. Government MPs on the committee declined to attend.
 
In mid-February, the acting chair of the Military Police Complaints Commission confirmed that the MPCC would resume its hearings into the Afghan detainee affair on March 24.
 
In the run up to the return of Parliament on March 3, Kady summarized and explained Liberal MP Derek Lee's proposed motion of privilege over the government's refusal to release the detainee documents.
 
On March 5, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced that former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci would review the Afghan detainee documents to consider the national security implications of their release, as ordered by Parliament. CBC Producer Neil Morrison reminded us that this isn't the first time Iacobucci considered the question of parliamentary privilege.
 
Former diplomat Eileen Olexiuk tells CBC News that she raised the possibility that detainees transferred from Canadian to Afghan custody were at risk of torture back in 2005, but her concerns were ignored.  The Liberal government of 2005 feared Canada's detention of Afghan prisoners would spark a controversy similar to Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, according to a current government official who spoke with CBC News on condition of anonymity.