Once again, human rights groups are sounding alarms with regard to Canada’s questionable actions and decisions in the sphere of human rights. No more than two months ago, Canada cast a blind eye on the blatant American involvement in torture by amending a national document to avoid naming America as a “suspected torturer.”
Last week, the federal government ruled that prisoners captured by Canadian soldiers on foreign ground do not have equal rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Instead, Justice Anne Mactavish announced that detainees had rights under Afghan and International law. The B.C. Civil Liberties Association claims that by denying detainees these rights, Canada places their fate in the hands of torturers, with no hope of a fair trial.
The Harper government, pleased with the decision, stood in opposition to a decision made by the chairman of the Military Police Complaints Commissions to order a public hearing, which would result in an investigation into the fate of prisoners. This government has been persistent in refusing to provide full access to relevant documents and information for the purposes of the investigation, going so far as to blank out entire pages. They cry “national security” while human rights activists retort “intended obscurity.”
Though the Harper government may have the Canadian Evidence Act to back up its secrecy and discretion, human rights groups have specific examples when it comes to the battle surrounding torture. In 2006, Canadian troops landed in Kandahar, handing over detainees to Afghan authorities. Soon after, the world saw the release of a report that made allegations about the torture the detainees suffered. The Canadian government eventually conceded to conducting surprise visits to Afghan jails. It was on one of these visits that an Afghan man was found beaten and unconscious, indicating that torture had occurred.
Though the handing-over of detainees ceased for a period after the incident, it has recently resumed. This leaves human rights groups and the general public asking, “What is our government thinking?” If denying detainees the rights outlined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms means sentencing them to the unavoidable fate of torture, Canada fails to uphold its obligation explicitly outlined by the United Nations Declaration of Human rights. As a signatory to the UNDHR, Canada must protect those detainees from torture, which casts the government’s recent decisions in an even more negative light. Failing to prevent torture makes them a direct accessory to the criminal act itself.
Though the public hearing called by Chairman Peter Tinsley will cost approximately $2 million, and the public inquiry itself would add months to the investigation, few would disagree that the time and money are a small price to pay when human beings’ essential rights are on the line.
