Colvin becomes government's number one enemy

An all-party federal committee has been given the serious task of getting down to the bottom of Richard Colvin’s serious allegations put forward on Oct. 14.

Colvin accuses the Canadian military of knowingly transferring prisoners of the war in Afghanistan to certain torture carried out by Afghanistan officials. In his 16-page documented report, he says that all prisoners handed over in 2006 and 2007 to the Afghan police were tortured.

This all-party committee will undoubtedly be torn between both sides of the story; much like the House of Commons and the nation is right now. Those who haven’t chosen a side between Colvin and the Canadian military will soon need to, because this is shaping up to make Canadian military history.

Colvin’s accusations are extremely important for a few reasons.

First of all, Canada’s peacekeeping persona and mandate may be tarnished if charges are carried out. If the committee decides to hold a trial, those who were involved may face war crime charges, including some high ranking and prominent political figures. Not to mention handing over a prisoner of war to certain torture is in direct contradiction to our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I for one would strongly ridicule our government if they say they are fighting for freedom in an oppressed nation and then break their own charter.

Secondly, this is important because there were many warning signs presented to our government in the past about torture in Afghanistan. According to Global Research, a Canadian organization, both Colvin, Amnesty International Canada and British Columbia Civil Liberties Association brought these accusations forward in 2007, but were ignored or shut down immediately.

Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay argues that Colvin’s professionalism is not credible enough to make such strong allegations. In an interview with David Akin for Canwest News Service, MacKay made himself perfectly clear that Colvin’s evidence was not sizeable.

“I’m saying evidence that has been presented thus far does not substantiate the claim. It does not prove that any detainees - Taliban prisoners - transferred by Canadian Forces were tortured,” MacKay said.

Sounds as if MacKay is trying to downplay Colvin’s evidence that now has the whole nation watching. But MacKay may want to take a different approach than under estimating Colvin’s professional credibility, because this isn’t Colvin’s first time up to bat.

A senior diplomat for over a year and a half in Afghanistan, Colvin was then chosen to become a senior diplomat in Washington, Canada’s biggest and arguably most important embassy. Not quite the job for someone who is not professional credible.

MacKay also needs to stop and wonder, what does Colvin have to benefit from these accusations. The simple answer? Nothing. By blowing the biggest whistle in Canadian military history, what has Colvin received? A long and strenuous committee hearing, nothing that is too coveted. So why would Colvin feel the need to lie about these accusations if he would not personally gain anything out of it? He wouldn’t, which is exactly why our Defense Minister should be a little worried that all this finger pointing may have some merit to it.

What should also be noted is a statement coming from a prison warden in Afghanistan. What started off as a possible defense for the Canadian military, the latest out of Afghanistan may undoubtedly dig them a little deeper. Chief warden Col. Abdullah Bawar of a prison in Kandahar told Canwest News service stated that Colvin’s abuse accusations were over exaggerated, and the torture levels weren’t that high.

Oh that’s good news, not all the prisoners were having their rights violated, only a few were. Well last time I checked, a human rights violation was a human rights violation, regardless of the number of people who were being abused. One single act of this cruelty should have all those involved held responsible, including any Canadian soldiers who knowingly handed prisoners over to this fate.

So stay tuned to hear the decision of the still debating all-party committee, because you can also bet MacKay and the rest of the Conservatives will also be awaiting to hear what has been decided. Of course I would never wish such dirt to be kicked on Canada’s peacekeeping name, but I would certainly hope for a little accountability in our military who is carrying out a mission that many citizens of Canada already have low spirits over.

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