Blue Herald
18
Feb
Canadian Investigation Into Torture Allegations Being Dragged Out
by QuestionGirl • 9:53 am

This from a nation who has the U.S. on it’s torture watch list. Not that that makes it ok. Two wrongs don’t make a right. None of it is ok.

After more than a year, the criminal probe into whether Canadian soldiers beat and abused Afghan detainees while military police turned a blind eye remains incomplete and critics say it is being deliberately dragged out.

No charges have been laid, there’s no hint when the investigation might end and one person is dead: An Afghan intermediary sent by investigators to try to make contact with the alleged victims was killed by the Taliban.

The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service, the special military police unit conducting the investigation, rejects accusations that it is running out the clock. “It’s absolutely a top priority,” said Captain Cindy Tessier, referring to Operation Camel Spider, as the probe has been dubbed. Capt. Tessier said five investigators have been working on the case full-time for a year; more than 70 people have been questioned in three countries and huge piles of documents have been sifted and read.

But she could offer no estimate as to when the investigation might wrap up.

Amir Attaran, the University of Ottawa law professor who uncovered the suspicious and unexplained pattern of injuries among detainees, is not convinced the military is serious in its belated and long-running efforts to investigate.

“When the military is investigating the military, which is inconvenient for the military, is it any wonder that the military rags the puck?” he said.

More at Globeandmail.com

Tags: none
Filed: Torture


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