“Come on: we are better than that.”

The words of Amir Attaran, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, spoken on a call-in show in 2007.  The topic of the show was the allegations of torture of Afghan detainees, something Attaran had been trying to expose and put a stop to.

He has so far been unsuccessful, but since one need not have completely succeeded to qualify for the Beowulf Award, Attaran should share it with Colvin.

Beowulf Award

Amir Attaran

Go here for the transcript of the talk show.  Attaran, prompted by questions from callers, explains the Geneva conventions as they apply to Canada and torture as well as the impact of turning away from the allegations - the impact on our country and our soldiers.

Here’s a sample:

There has been a change in Canadian Forces' practice, though not in Canadian Forces' policy. The policy is still that all detained persons in Afghanistan — all of them, no exceptions — should receive the full Geneva Conventions protections of a prisoner of war.

That would include, obviously, not to be transferred to known torturers such as the Afghan National Police or the National Directorate of Security (i.e. the secret police).

The shame of it is that, by current practice, the Canadian Forces are transferring persons to those units, in full knowledge that they carry out torture, and this is the starkest possible violation of both the Geneva Conventions and the Canadian Forces' own policy.

The person who signed the agreement with Afghanistan stipulating those transfers is General Hillier himself. He should be asked why he has led the Forces into a situation where their own policy is being disregarded, and as the official responsible, the buck stops with him.