Last week, news leaked that a training manual on torture currently being drafted by Canada’s Foreign Affairs department lists the U.S. and Israel as potential sites for torture. An uproar unsued, and Foreign Affairs quickly began to backpedal amid protests from David Wilkins, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, who claimed that it was “absurd for [the U.S.] to be on a list like that.”
Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier soon announced his decision to review the manual with the intent of removing Israel and the United Sates from the list of potential torturers. This move does nothing more than bolster political interests, at the expense for the respect of universal human rights. For Canada to appease an ally by tolerating illegal and immoral policies is a prime example of politics working against the good of the people.
The U.S. has long been suspected of engaging in torture at its Guantanamo Bay prison. Despite Wilkins’ outrage, a 2005 Forbes article reported that the U.S. submitted an acknowledgement to the UN of its torture activity, not only in Guantanamo, but in Iraq and Afghanistan as well. Amnesty International’s country profile also lists America as a possible site for torture, and specifically mentions the secretive Guantanamo Bay prison. It is no surprise that the Canadian branch of the human rights organization was enraged by Bernier’s announcement.
Victims of torture are deprived of various sensory experiences for weeks. Beating the captives weakens them physically while denying them the basics of food, sight and sound. It is at this point that the captives begin to lose their sense of identity, and revert back to an infantile state. Are we, as a country, prepared to ignore behavior like this? How does such willful ignorance of injustice accord with Canada’s core values? It is easy to look down upon those who abuse human beings, but far more difficult to realize that those who turn a blind eye are just as much at fault.
As a signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Canada has an international obligation to uphold article five, which states “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” In naming the U.S. a suspected torturer, Canada took a fundamental step towards preserving an essential human right. By revising facts to prevent the embarrassment of an ally, Canada promotes the use of torture, failing to protect the interest of its citizens abroad and human beings worldwide.
