I assume that Kafieh is referring to Almalki but the article does not make this clear. Perhaps the article is shortened. ! I assume he was testifying a while back at the Iacobucci inquiry.
There is not much news about the inquiry. Even this article is old. The Inquiry is almost all behind closed doors part of the new transparency and accountability of the Harper government.
There seems very little possibility that the Almalki et al will ever see justice or compensation for their ordeals or that anyone involved on the Intelligence or diplomatic side will be punished for wrongdoing.
No official came near detainee.
Andrew Duffy
CanWest News Service
Thursday, January 10, 2008
OTTAWA -- A lawyer for the Canadian Arab Federation invited inquiry commissioner Frank Iacobucci to imagine himself in a foreign "dungeon" as the retired Supreme Court of Canada judge considers how to assess the conduct of Canadian officials in the cases of three men imprisoned and allegedly tortured in Syria.
James Kafieh told an inquiry that diplomats must work for the release of Canadians detained without charge in countries, such as Syria and Egypt, with dubious human-rights records.
"Put yourself in that dungeon," Kafieh told Iacobucci. "That one-metre by two-metre cell. Certainly you would want to have the government doing everything it could to ensure you have the full benefit of international law."
Iacobucci heads the inquiry into Canadian actions that may have led to the detention and mistreatment of Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El-Maati and Muayyed Nureddin.
All three Arab-Canadians say they were tortured in Syria based on information that could only have come from Canadian security agencies.
Almalki, an Ottawa engineer, spent 22 months in Syrian custody during which he received not a single visit from any Canadian official.
© The Vancouver Province 2008
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