Who wants to read some Afghan detainee documents?
- March 26, 2010 11:38 AM |
- By Janyce McGregor

Reading, sorting, and analyzing pages and pages of documents (even though there IS an awful lot of the censor's black ink) isn't everyone's thing.
But a few of us here are into it, treasure-hunt style, and the results are getting into our newscasts already.
In the spirit of transparency, we wondered if some of you might want to join in the frenzy of scanning, parsing and debating that started yesterday afternoon here in the Parliamentary precinct. Why should opposition party researchers and the geekier members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery have all the fun?
So have at it folks -- we're sharing the full 2,628 pages of the documents tabled in the House of Commons yesterday morning with you. Even though officials and government lawyers have been through them all with their black markers, to redact them for national security purposes, there are some interesting things to learn. We've split these into five sections to make things a bit more manageable. Note that most of the documents in "Colvin 43" are things we've seen before.
These are mostly military police documents. It's worth noting that we anticipate a future "document dump", from the recently-restarted Military Police Complaints Commission hearings, on or around April 6 -- when, interestingly, the House of Commons isn't sitting. This additional collection could repeat some of the same files, but may also include other reports not among the government's selection here.
The scope of these documents is wide-ranging: from emails and field reports written by individuals on the ground in Afghanistan... right up to quarterly/monthly/administrative reports written for and copied to senior officials inside and outside the Canadian Forces. Some of the reports include specific evidence, others more general recommendations, observations and advice to decision-makers. Keep in mind as you work your way through them that many reflect the perspective of the military police sent to Afghanistan to monitor, investigate and follow up on complaints about Canadian Forces' work on the ground.
They aren't the complete set, nor the last word, on the bigger issue of the transfer and treatment of Afghan detainees. But they are an important piece of the puzzle.
As you're reading, or once you've finished, we'd love to hear from you.
If your reaction is short, you can drop us a line on Twitter (@CBCPolitics) or in the comments field below, where others can read and debate your thoughts. If you have more to say, or want to alert us privately to something specific that you think deserves more detailed investigative follow-up and/or reporting, drop us an e-mail at politics@cbc.ca -- and please use the subject line: DETAINEE DOCUMENT HUNT so we can find your feedback quickly.
Have at 'er!
UPDATE: Okay, so it turns out that Scribdifying 2500+ pages of documents -- even split into chunks -- puts a bit more strain on most browsers than we expected. While we wrestle with the embedding process, here are direct links to files on Scribd -- but don't forget to keep this page open as well so you can add your comments!
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