Fear is no excuse for torture.

There is also the case of Benamar Benatta who was surrendered to US authorities and claims torture or certainly mistreatment during years of being jailed there. The case of Khadr is interesting in its contrast to Celil the Chinese Uighr who belongs to a terrorist group according to the Chinese and had an international warrant for his arrest. The issue has been brought up at the highest level by MacKay. However, absolutely nothing has been done about Khadr who was in fact a juvenile when apprehended. The same silence on US torture is evident in every article about torture in Afghanistan. The torture is all by Afghan authorities. Bagram prison is not even mentioned.

Fear is no excuse for torture
LORNE WALDMAN

Special to Globe and Mail Update

May 1, 2007 at 1:00 AM EDT

Outcry over the treatment of the about 40 Afghans detained by the Canadian Forces since 2002 has spawned a public debate that goes to the heart of our democratic values. Given the absolute prohibition against torture, most Canadians are horrified to think our government is complicit in the practice.

The fact it has occurred thousands of miles away is irrelevant. Anyone who aids and abets in torture can be prosecuted. Indeed, so abhorrent is torture to our legal system, it is one of the few offences in our Criminal Code where a person who has committed the torture outside Canada can be prosecuted here. The prohibition against torture is universal and applies everywhere on the planet.

Given this, how are we to understand our government's conduct over the question of the Afghan detainees? When confronted with the question of how to deal with enemy fighters detained during military operations in Afghanistan, our military failed to provide for a system with sufficient safeguards to protect against torture.

It's no surprise that many of those detained by the Canadian Forces have now revealed that once they were handed over to the Afghan military or police, they were tortured. This makes Canada complicit in their torture. One can only assume that those who drafted the agreement thought Canadians would not care about a few Taliban detained in Afghanistan.

The situation of the Afghan detainees is not, however, the only time in the recent past where the conduct of Canadian officials has made them complicit in torture. Take the case of Maher Arar. In the fall of 2001, Mr. Arar, as a result of a chance meeting, became "a person of interest" in a national security investigation. RCMP flagged him as an "Islamic extremist" on an international lookout list.

As Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor concluded in his report, this inflammatory and erroneous information contributed to the American decision to deport Mr. Arar to Syria. This careless use of national security information made Canada complicit in his torture.

At the same time as Maher Arar was languishing in a Syrian prison, so was Abdullah Almalki. Mr. Almalki has alleged in a lawsuit that the RCMP sent the Syrian military a series of questions in January of 2003, as a result of which he was brought up for further interrogation and torture sessions.

This conduct points to Canada as being complicit in his torture as well.

One final example of our complicity is the case of Omar Khadr, the Canadian citizen held at Guantanamo Bay. Detained in Afghanistan as a 15-year-old, Mr. Khadr was apparently subjected to torture at the hands of U.S. officials. He now faces a trial before the kangaroo courts set up by the Bush administration to try enemy combatants. The Bush administration has steadfastly ignored the fact that Mr. Khadr was a child when he was detained and that, as a result, he ought to be treated as a child soldier.

Instead of charging Mr. Khadr with offences, his rehabilitation should be the chief concern.

In the face of this injustice, our government remains silent. There is no doubt that the Khadr case is difficult. His family is notorious, as are the family's connections to al-Qaeda. Despite this, our government still has a duty to protect a young Canadian citizen who was detained as a child, has been tortured, and is now being tried in sham proceedings. Our silence is tantamount to acquiescence.

Each of these scenarios raises difficult questions. No doubt, the world has changed as a result of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. We are much more aware of a serious threat posed by extremist groups.

We cannot, however, let our fear become a justification to allow expediency to take over. We must ensure our fear of terrorism does not undermine our fundamental democratic values. Afghan detainees are entitled to humane treatment, even if they are Taliban. Persons who are suspected of being connected to an al-Qaeda cell are entitled to expect that our national security apparatus will send accurate and reliable information to foreign agencies. They are also entitled to expect that we will not seek the assistance of a regime notorious for human-rights violations when such assistance might lead to torture. Finally, Canadian citizens have a right to expect our government will intervene to protect them from torture and injustice, regardless of their background.

Lorne Waldman represented Maher Arar at the commission of inquiry by Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor.