Canada removes U.S., Israel from torture watchlist

Gag me with a chainsaw! Canada removes U.S., Israel from torture watchlist 19 Jan 2008 Canada's foreign ministry, responding to pressure from close allies, said on Saturday it would remove the United States and Israel from a watch list of countries where prisoners risk being tortured. Both nations expressed unhappiness [!] after it emerged they had been listed in a document that formed part of a training course manual on torture awareness given to Canadian diplomats. Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier said he regretted the embarrassment caused by the public disclosure of the manual, which also classified some U.S. interrogation techniques as torture. [See: Canada puts U.S. on torture watch list: CTV --Canada's 'torture awareness' watch list includes Syria, Iran, China, Afghanistan, the United States, Guantanamo Bay, and Israel. 16 Jan 2008.] Via Citizens For Legitimate Government and Reuters

Canada removes U.S., Israel from torture watchlist

By David Ljunggren - OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's foreign ministry, responding to pressure from close allies, said on Saturday it would remove the United States and Israel from a watch list of countries where prisoners risk being tortured. Via

Both nations expressed unhappiness after it emerged they had been listed in a document that formed part of a training course manual on torture awareness given to Canadian diplomats.

Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier said he regretted the embarrassment caused by the public disclosure of the manual, which also classified some U.S. interrogation techniques as torture.

"It contains a list that wrongly includes some of our closest allies. I have directed that the manual be reviewed and rewritten," Bernier said in a statement.

"The manual is neither a policy document nor a statement of policy. As such, it does not convey the government's views or positions."

The document -- made available to Reuters and other media outlets -- embarrassed the minority Conservative government, which is a staunch ally of both the United States and Israel.

U.S. ambassador David Wilkins said the listing was absurd, while the Israeli envoy said he wanted his country removed.

Asked why the two countries had been put on the list, a spokesman for Bernier said: "The training manual purposely raised public issues to stimulate discussion and debate in the classroom."

The government mistakenly gave the document to Amnesty International as part of a court case the rights organization has launched against Ottawa over the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan.

AMPLE EVIDENCE OF ABUSE

Amnesty International Canada, which says it has ample evidence that prisoners are abused both in U.S. and Israeli jails, said it was disappointed by Bernier's announcement.

"When it comes to an issue like torture, the government's main concern should not be embarrassing allies," Alex Neve, the group's secretary-general, told Reuters. The U.S. embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Under "definition of torture," the document lists U.S. interrogation techniques such as forced nudity, isolation, sleep deprivation and blindfolding prisoners.

It also mentions the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where a Canadian man is being held.

The man, Omar Khadr, has been in Guantanamo Bay for five years. He is accused of killing a U.S. soldier during a clash in Afghanistan in 2002, when he was 15.

Other countries on the watch list include Syria, China, Iran, Afghanistan, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.

The foreign ministry launched the torture awareness course after Ottawa was criticized for the way it handled the case of Canadian engineer Maher Arar, who was deported from the United States to Syria in 2002.

Arar says he was tortured repeatedly during the year he spent in Damascus prisons. An official inquiry into the affair showed Canadian diplomats had not been trained to detect whether detainees might have been abused.

(Editing by Philip Barbara)

© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

Canada puts U.S. on torture watch list: CTV

Updated Wed. Jan. 16 2008 11:02 PM ET

CTV.ca News

Omar Khadr's lawyers say they can't understand why Canada is not
doing more to help their client in light of new evidence that Ottawa
has put the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on a watch list for
torture.

Khadr -- a Canadian citizen who was just 15-years-old when he was
captured in Afghanistan more than five years ago and taken to
Guantanamo -- has claimed that he has been tortured at the prison. Now,
CTV News has obtained documents that put Guantanamo Bay on a torture
watch list.

Khadr's U.S. military lawyer says the new documents contradict Harper's assurances that his client is receiving fair treatment.

"Omar has certainly been abused, his rights have been violated under
international law, and apparently the Canadian government has reason to
believe that's true, and yet, they've acted not at all to assist him,"
William Kuebler told CTV News.

Khadr's lawyers say suspicions of torture undermine claims that he
can get a fair trial from the military commission in Guantanamo Bay.
They want him sent back to Canada to face justice here. But the
government has said he's charged with serious crimes and they are
waiting for the U.S. judicial process to play itself out.

Canada's new focus on torture was ordered by the inquiry into Maher
Arar's nightmare in Syria. U.S. authorities sent Arar -- a Canadian of
Syrian ancestory -- to Syria after he made a brief stopover in New York
in 2002. They wrongly accused him of having links to terrorism in large
part because of information provided by the RCMP.

Arar was sent to a Syrian prison where he was tortured for nearly a
year. An inquiry into the Arar affair ordered a new focus on torture,
and CTV News has learned that, as part of a "torture awareness
workshop," diplomats are now being told where to watch for abuse.

The aim of the workshop: to teach diplomats who visit Canadians in
foreign jails how to tell if they've been tortured. It also listed
countries and places with greater risks of torture. The list includes
Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, and China. But surprisingly, it also included
the United States, Guantanamo Bay, and Israel.

It notes specific "U.S. interrogation techniquies," which include
"forced nudity, isolation, and sleep deprivation." The U.S. has
repeatedly denied allegations by international groups that it tortures
prisoners captured in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. However, U.S.
officials have refused to comment on the Canadian list.

But international observers say they are heartened by the
specificity of the Canadian list. Alex Neve of Amnesty International
says he is surprised that Canada would risk offending allies by naming
countries that potentially torture prisoners.

"These are countries where, sadly, the record is clear -- torture and ill treatment happens," said Neve.

But it appears that Ottawa may have had second thoughts about being
so explicit. After the documents were released as evidence in a court
case relating to Afghan detainees, the government tried to get them
back. Sources say that Ottawa apparently wanted to black out sensitive
parts that may anger allies.

Khadr -- who was born in Toronto -- was captured in 2002 after a
battle with U.S. forces in which an American soldier died. He's accused
of war crimes, but critics have alleged the U.S. military court that is
trying him violates U.S. and international law. Khadr is the only
Western citizen remaining at Guantanamo Bay.

A war crimes trial has never been held against anyone under the age
of 18. International observers have questioned Ottawa's decision not to
help Khadr, who many believe is no different than child soldiers
victimized in Africa.

With a report from CTV's Roger Smith in Ottawa