The troops and torture

Nice to see Harper and ConScum hiding behind standing up for them.

I just about drove off the road when I heard retired general Hillier use the mindless support the troops argument to counter allegations made by Colvin in regards to the torture of Afghan detainees.

"and all were treated professionally, a great compliment and great credit to our Canadian soldiers and to their leadership, despite the emotion of grabbing somebody who had just shot your friend or had just blown up the vehicle in which the rest of your buddies were (driving)."

Hillier also noted that when Colvin was visiting Afghan prisons and other areas to prepare his diplomatic reports "he could not have done that without the work, the support and the protection of our soldiers."

The implication is clear: how dare anyone attack our brave soldiers and accuse them of torture?

No one has, but Hillier himself, and various conservatives who have made similar statements are creating that very link in the minds of people who are prone to base conclusions on emotional responses rather than fact.

Hillier and others who constantly parade the bravery and sacrifice of our troops to counter any criticism of government and DND actions do those very troops a grave disservice.

Not only do they imply that if torture occurred, the troops are involved directly since any allegations of torture are attacks on the troops, they put the troops at risk by making them liable through their cover-ups and insistence that no one must break their code of silence - including the troops.  Amir Attaran, law professor at the University of Ottawa explains:

What we do know, however, is that Canadian military personnel, and generally the military police, have transferred 40 or more people to the Afghan police, when the Afghan government itself concedes that torture is "routine" when in police custody.  If one of those detainees were tortured — and the odds are not low — it would be a very serious problem for the Canadian Forces for many reasons, including that aiding or abetting torture is a war crime.

That is a strong reason why the government must stop the current detainee transfer policy, because it risks to bring legal harm to young Canadian soldiers through no fault of their own.      

The Geneva conventions are very clear on torture.

But at a minimum, detainees of all kinds have the right not to be tortured and to be protected from "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment." The words I quote are from Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.

Second, the Canadian Forces have said that no matter what status a detainee has — even "terrorists" — he or she will have the FULL protections of the Geneva Conventions, and not just the bare-bones protection of Article 3. Let me quote the Forces themselves on this: "It is Canadian Forces policy that all captured persons or detainees be treated to the standard required for PWs [prisoners of war], as this is the highest standard required under International Humanitarian Law."

In addition to the impact that turning a deaf ear to allegations of torture has on the troops, our hard won rights - often fought for and protected by those precious troops - are at risk, as is our credibility and international clout.

MacKay’s, Baird’s, Gallant’s, and Harper’s appeals to blind emotion in an attempt to discredit claims of torture and even make them sound justified confuse people into understanding not only the real issue - that torture is illegal and our own government may be involved, but that the international laws apply to all, regardless of how we feel about particular detainees or their actions.

"We are being asked to accept testimony from people who throw acid in the faces of schoolchildren and who blow up buses of civilians in their own country. I will not accept that testimony. I am surprised that he would." Peter MacKay, Nov. 19, 2009.

Even scumbags sometimes tell the truth.  All allegations of international crimes need to be investigated.  MacKay’s statement blatantly discounts the rights of some people to give testimony that will actually be reviewed based on the principle that they have been know to do horrible things.

He further clouds the issue with a blatant emotional grenade: acid in the faces of school children.  That implies they don’t deserve rights enshrined in the conventions. Yes, the acts are  appalling, and proper courts, with proper procedures hopefully will do their job and find those who have actually committed those horrendous acts guilty.  And those courts will sentence them harshly.

But if, in our justifiable anger toward terrorists, we deny not only confirmed guilty of international rights, but suspects as well, we are weakening an instrument set in place to protect all of us and meant to forge a fairer, more humane global community.

Canada does not own the Geneva conventions.  We cannot apply it when and how we choose, and we can’t alter it on our own.  The principle behind this measure is that countries can’t arbitrarily decide who deserves protection from torture.  Some Canadians may feel we are justified in not applying international protection to suspected terrorists because they violate our laws, but that opens the door for just about any country to torture whoever they want.  Falun Gong is illegal in China.  There are serious allegations that the Chinese government tortures practitioners, yet we denounce this torture - as we should - while the Chinese government doubtlessly feels it is justified in torturing a group of people they believe threaten their present system of government.

Which brings us to international credibility.  How can our own Harper go to China and lecture the Chinese on human rights and torture and expect to accomplish anything more than pompous posturing when he and his government have contempt for the equal application of the conventions?

Finally, the more we allow this blatant disregard for the Geneva conventions, the more citizens unfamiliar with them come to believe it is acceptable to do so, and we all suffer since human rights will have lost an important shield for protection.

Last word here goes to our troops: they are asked to go out and risk their lives for the freedom and rights of people everywhere, among other things.  It is unconscionable that the Harper government so callously uses our gratitude to them in order to hide acts that violate some of those very rights the soldiers are fighting for.