By William Miller

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

OTTAWA, Canada – A top general  in the Canadian Military admitted on Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at a press conference that the Canadian Military knew that at least one of the detainees which Canada turned over to Afghanistan authorities had been tortured while in Afghani custody. General Walter Natynczyk, Chief of the Defense Staff, had refuted allegations that Canada had reason to suspect that prisoners transferred to Afghani Custody were tortured or beaten. He specifically denied that the particular prisoner who was the subject of his admission Wednesday had ever been in Canadian custody.

On Wednesday, Natynczyk called a press conference several hours before his superior, Defense Minister Peter Mackay was to testify before a Parliamentary Committee investigating accusations that the Canadian Government had been complicit in the torture of Afghan Detainees. Natynczyk admitted that “[t]he individual who was beaten by the Afghan police was, in fact, in Canadian custody, and then the ANP (Afghan National Police) took control of him to facilitate his movement from the battlefield.” He did however maintain that the Canadian military “did the right thing” having seized the prisoner from the ANP to return him to Canadian custody.

Natynczyk read from a report written in 2006 by a Canadian Sergeant in Afghanistan which said  “[w]e then photographed the individual prior to handing him over to ensure that if the Afghan National Police did assault him, as had happened in the past, that we would have a visual record of his condition.” This report is significant because it shows that not only was a prisoner beaten after having been transferred to ANP custody but, that the Canadian military had reason to suspect that abuse was taking place before the incident.

Until now Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his cabinet, have maintained that the Canadian military acted responsibly in all prisoner transfers. They have denied that there is any evidence that any prisoner transferred to ANP custody has ever been abused.

Accusations that the Canadian Government was complicit in torture emerged last month when former ambassador Richard Colvin said that the Government had ignored warnings that transferred detainees were being abused by the ANP. Colvin said “[t]he likelihood is that all the Afghans we handed over were tortured.”

Stephen Harper maintains that the Canadian military acted responsibly in all instances where prisoners were transferred to ANP custody. He continues to criticize those who accuse the Canadian Military and Government of war crimes.

For more information, please see:

Media Monitors Network – Afghanistan: Canada Complicit in Torture and War Crimes – 13 December 2009

Ottawa Citizen – Detainee Bombshell Drops – 10 December 2009

AFP – Canada’s Top General Admits Knowledge of Prisoner Abuse – 9 December 2009