All Afghans Handed Over Were Tortured: Colvin

Josh Pringle
Thursday, November 19, 2009

A senior Canadian official alleges every detainee handed over by Canadian soldiers to Afghan authorities was tortured in 2006-2007.

Richard Colvin told a Commons Committee “according to our information, the likelihood is that all the Afghans we handed over were tortured.”

Colvin says Afghans detained by Canadian troops and then transferred to Afghan custody were beaten and suffered electric shocks.

The intelligence officer based in Washington spent 18 months in Afghanistan in the number two diplomatic post.

“In my judgment, some of our actions in Kandahar, incoming complicity in torture, turned local people against us,” Colvin said on Wednesday.

Colvin was careful not to blame Canadian soldiers for carrying out the transfer orders but rather the civilian and military leadership for creating the legal framework that created the danger.

He also claimed that many of those tortured were innocent.

Colvin’s claim contradicts assurances by the Conservative Government that there was no credible evidence prisoners were abused by local authorities in Afghanistan.