Inside Politics

April 1 Detainee Document Dump - The Annotated Version (Part 1)

by Kady O'Malley Posted: April 7, 2010 9:00 AM Last Updated: April 21, 2010 9:25 AM
Hey, remember last month's Detainee Document Hunt? 

Well, judging from the comments, emails and tweets that we got in response to our first experiment in distributed research, it seems that there may actually be something to this whole crowdsourcing idea. It was such a hit, in fact, that we're doing it again -- this time, with even more documents, courtesy of the government, which, as some of you will no doubt recall, suddenly tabled more than 5,000 pages of additional material a few hours before the House was scheduled to rise for the week-long Easter break.  

It's not all new material, mind you  -- in fact, virtually all of it had been released, in one form or another, before it hit the Commons -- but much of it has yet to make it online, at least in a readable format, so this seemed as good an opportunity as any to add to our growing library of detainee-related documents. This time, we've also put together an index to the individual files -- brief summaries of the contents, including notes on the level of redaction -- and like last time, we're encouraging you to let us know if you find something that piques your interest. 

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.

And so, without further ado, here's the first installment of the April 1 Document Dump Index, which covers the first 50 documents. The related file - 200 megs zipped, and minus the documents that are, as noted in the summary, redacted in their entirety - can be downloaded here.  (If, at some point, I find myself with a few hours of unallocated time on my hands, I'll try to add direct links to the individual PDFs, but I figured it made more sense to get the material up in its entirety first, and fuss with the aesthetics later.) 

UPDATE: Thanks to my totally awesome colleague Kerry Wall, the index now includes links to the individual PDFs! You can still download the full file from the above link, but this should make it much, much easier to follow the index. 

UPDATE: The second installment - which covers SCA0051 to SCA0100 - has now been posted.

INDEX - SCA0001 - SCA0050

SCA0001  Monitoring and Tracking of Detainees Post-Transfer - CSC Director's Commentary (printed November 14, 2007) signed by L GARWOOD-FILBERT, entirely unredacted

SCA0002  untranslated document in Arabic script -- possibly Pashto -- entirely unredacted

SCA0003  2002 Annual Report - Human Rights, Democratic Development and Good Governance - Afghanistan (DFAIT) lightly (less than 10 percent) redacted

SCA0004  Afghanistan - 2004: Good Governance, Democratic Development and Human Rights, lightly redacted, except for entire section on Canadian representations, which is entirely blacked out. Also, in both this report and the previous years (next file), section 19 under Sexual orientation is redacted from "Homosexuality is still a taboo subject in Afghanistan, [...] "  Approved by Christopher Alexander

SCA0005  2003 Annual Report: Human Rights, Democratic Development and Good Governance - Afghanistan, lightly redacted, except for para 25, which appears to deal with the judiciary, and para 63 under Women's Rights (25 pages). Approved by Christopher Alexander.

SCA0006 REDACTED IN ITS ENTIRETY

SCA0007 Report is titled Afghanistan - 2004: Good Governance, Democratic Development and Human Rights, but appears to have been misdated, as it clearly deals with 2005. Lightly redacted, approved by Sproule

SCA0008 REDACTED IN ITS ENTIRETY

SCA0009 Correctional Assessment - Kandahar Province, Afghanistan (CSC) - appears to be dated post-2006, since it refers to events taking place in that year, lightly redacted

SCA0010 REDACTED IN ITS ENTIRETY

SCA0011 Undated letter to Mr. Noorzai of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, signed by T. Grant, Brigadier General Commander, Afghanistan Joint Task Force, referring to the 2005 agreement, stating that the Canadian Forces "would like to notify [sic]" the Kandahar office of the AINRC of "the transfer of detainees to Afghan authorities" based upon a series of principles (see document for details). Entirely unredacted.

SCA0012 REDACTED IN ITS ENTIRETY

SCA0013 Kandahar PRT Support to Prison Administration in Kandahar Training and Mentoring Terms of Reference. Undated, but post-August 2006 (date ref'd in document). Entirely unredacted.

SCA0014 Afghanistan - 2006 Good Governance, Democratic Development and Human Rights. Prepared by Bloodworth, Consulted O'Connor/CIDA, Approved by Colvin. Light redactions (section on Sexual Orientation includes the identical deletion as the previous three reports).

SCA0015 Document itself entirely blacked out, but two handwritten notes: On page one,"Mon 30th" and in the margin of the second page "This has been done."

SCA0016 Interim Task Force Afghanistan Theatre Standing Order 321A - Detention of Afghan Nationals and Other Persons - applied to Operation Archer, dated March 1, 2006, signed by Brigadier General Fraser. Very lightly redacted, except for last page - TFA Handling Flow Chart

SCA0017 REDACTED IN ITS ENTIRETY

SCA0018 Incident reports related to detainees taken during Operation Archer Roto 1. Lightly redacted.

SCA0019 Incident report related to detainees taken during Operation Archer Roto 1. Lightly redacted.

SCA0020 Incident report related to detainees taken during Operation Archer Roto 1. Lightly redacted.

SCA0021 Medical records and care logs related to specific detainees, including handwritten notes, circa 2006. Moderately redacted.

SCA0022 Medical records and care logs related to specific detainees, including handwritten notes, circa 2006. Pg 25 indicates that the Unit's Intent was to "[illegible] detainee as enemy combatant and exploited for Int[elligence] value for conspiracy against coalition forces."   Moderately redacted.

SCA0023 Incident logs and reports related to specific captures, circa 2006. Moderately redacted.

SCA0024 DOS Morning Brief 24 April 2006. Substantially redacted.

SCA0025 Incident logs and reports related to specific captures, circa 2006. Moderately redacted.

SCA0026 Incident log and timeline on specific captures, circa 2006.

SCA0027 REDACTED IN ITS ENTIRETY

SCA0028 DOS Morning Brief 25 April 2006. Substantially redacted.

SCA0029 DOS Morning Brief 26 April 2006. Substantially redacted.

SCA0030 DOS Morning Brief 27 April 2006. Substantially redacted.

SCA0031 REDACTED IN ITS ENTIRETY

SCA0032 REDACTED IN ITS ENTIRETY

SCA0033 Incident report on ANP PUC Examined By Orion 2 during Op JAGRIA, which notes the following: "When questioned about the [redacted], the ANP produced [redacted] and the Canadian MP noticed that [redacted] had sustained some injuries that were not evident when [redacted] was first detained by the ANP. The MP requested that hte ANP allow their [redacted] to be assessed by Canadian medics. The medic assessed that [redacted] appeared to have minor injuries. Orion 2 was hesitant to hand the [redacted] back to the ANP or to release [redacted] because of of the information operations effect on coalition forces that could take place since the [redacted] was detained during a coalition operation. It was at this time that they contacted TF HQ." The rest of the report is largely blacked out.

SCA0034 Daily Sitrep June 2006. Distribution list includes CDN TFA NCE KANDAHAR, NDCC Ottawa, CEFCOM HQ Ottawa/COS/J3/COMMAND CENTRE. Lightly redacted.

SCA0035 CDS Morning Brief - 15 June 2006. Substantially redacted.

SCA0036 CEFCOM Executive Summary 15 June 2006. Substantially redacted.

SCA0037 Detainee transfer records (DND), including handwritten notes. Substantially redacted.

SCA0038 Email from Rebenchuk Civ KA to Parker Civ DJ, dated June 28, 2006, entititled "FW: Detainee Associated Documents & Info", to "Don", signed "Kim", with file names of Word documents blacked out. Includes email chain and copy of Orion report from SCA0033. Moderately redacted.

SCA0039 REDACTED IN ITS ENTIRETY

SCA0040 REDACTED IN ITS ENTIRETY

SCA0041 REDACTED IN ITS ENTIRETY except for subhead on pg 1: "SOP 362"

SCA0042 Email from flavin.tcp3 to various recipients, including Cory Anderson, Gavin Buchan and others, dated November 15, 2006, entitled "Re: 16 November meeting with AIHRC at PRT re: detainees - Attendance list." Very lightly redacted. List is intact and includes Engineer Abdul Quadar Noorzai, AIHRC Kandahar; Gavin Buchan, PRT Political Director; Cory Anderson, Political Advisor to Commander, JTF-AGH; Major Tammy Tremblay, PRT Legal Advisor; Major Jeff Harvey, JTF AFG Provost Marshal; Captain Mike Gough, JTF AFG J3 Operations Officer; and Lt. Commander Thomas Flavin, senior legal advisor JTF-AFG

SCA0043 Email from Flavin to same distribution list, as well as Archer.SM, dated November 16, 2006, entitled: Post-meting report: Meeting with AIRHC to discuss detainee transfers 16 Nov 06. Almost entirely redacted, except for the last line, which thanks "Tammy and Gavin" and the PRT "for being such swell hosts!!"

SCA0044 Email from Tremblay to Buchan, dated November 18, 2006, entitled "Re: last draft", attached is file entitled AIHRC agreement 1.3 Nov 06.doc, and a series of previous emails, which are almost entirely redacted.

SCA0045 Email from Eric Laporte to Buchan and long distribution list, including Richard Colvin and a redacted address, dated November 19, 2006, "RE: Draft agreement with the AIHRC on detainee transfer notification" - thanks Gavin for fwding, notes that writer "suspects this sufficiently covers the requirements outlined in our C4 mag IDR-1055 (16NOV06)," and asks him to "ensure that CEFCOM LEGAD has a copy of the proposed "arrangement"".

SCA0046: Original email from Buchan to Laporte that prompted reply in SCA0045. Includes full text of draft agreement. Only the contact info for Buchan has been redacted.

SCA0047 Draft agreement, file name includes the date 13 Nov 2006

SCA0048 - Email from Buchan to himself, dated December 31, 2006, apparently sent so he would have Col. Herfst's email address. Includes fwded email from Herfst, dated December 29, 2006, in which he informs Buchan that he is "sitting in for Tom Flavin while he is away on his long leave," and, following several paragraphs of blacked out text, asks him to "call me in any event to discuss."  

SCA0049 REDACTED IN ITS ENTIRETY

SCA0050 Email from Tremblay to Buchan, dated January 21, 2007: "FW: AIHRC Agreement - final version of the letter," which includes a fwded email from Flavin, dated January 20, 2007, in which he notes that Herfst "advised [him] this morning that the latest version of the agreement, which has now been transformed into a leter from BGen Grant to Engineer Noorzai, has been approved by JAG and all the other persons in Ottawa with a stake in the matter." Lightly redacted.

Tags: april 1 detainee document dump, background info - afghan detainee documents, detainee document hunt, docwatch