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Canadian troops quietly stopped handing captured Taliban fightersover to Afghan authorities in mid-2011, almost six months beforethe Harper government publicly acknowledged the change to thecontroversial policy. An order by NATO's southern command in Afghanistan ultimately endedthe politically incendiary practice of turning the prisoners overto the Afghans. The halt to transfers happened just as the Canadian combat missionin Kandahar drew to a close and U.S. forces took full control ofthe restive province. NATO, in a sweeping July 2011 directive, ordered all units to ceasehandovers to the notorious Afghan intelligence service, theNational Directorate of Security, and to the Afghan National Policeand Afghan Border Police. Canada's top military commander, Gen. Walt Natynczyk, "deemed itwas appropriate to Canadian-captured detainees to be redirected toanother facility," said a July 15, 2011, briefing note prepared forDefence Minister Peter MacKay. Diplomats at Foreign Affairs began negotiations almost immediatelyto send prisoners to a U.S. detention facility in Parwan, locatedoutside of Bagram Airfield, north of Kabul. The Americans have since agreed to give control of the prison andits 3,000 detainees to the Afghans. The change in Canada's policy, which Conservatives fought hard todefend throughout the war, was not announced publicly untilDecember. Critics found the timing curious, especially sincechances were slim that soldiers involved in the new trainingmission would be taking prisoners. A statement from National Defence, issued Monday night, said thetransfer of prisoners to Afghan authorities by Canadians wassuspended just before the NATO directive was issued. "In early July 2011, information concerning the possiblemistreatment of Afghan detainees not Canadian-transferreddetainees raised the Canadian chain of command's concern," saidspokesperson Morgan Bailey. "We ceased transfers as a result." The agreement also brought the federal government full circle. Inthe early stages of the Afghan campaign, Canada sent capturedTaliban fighters to American custody, but when torture allegationsand scandals erupted at U.S. facilities in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,and Abu Ghraib, Iraq, the practice was changed. NATO's decision pre-empted a scathing United Nations report whichsaid prisoners handed over by international forces were subjectedto "systematic" torture by Afghan interrogators. The report, released publicly last October, painted a picture ofbrutal abuse that was far more widespread than previously thought. Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government disputed the findings,which said prisoners were subjected to brutal beatings and electricshocks at several Afghan-run centre. The lawyer who fought on behalf of Amnesty International and theB.C. Civil Liberties Association to halt Canada's transfers says itis "among the cruelest of ironies" that after so much wrangling, ittook only one order from NATO to stop the practice. "The Harper government fought us in court and in commissions forfive years throughout the duration of that mission to maintain theright to continue transfers to Afghan authorities and to argue thatthere was not a risk of torture," said Paul Champ. "It affirms everything we've been saying all along. It contradictswhat Canada had been saying all along about the risk of torture.It's a sad final chapter on that whole scandal." Champ said questions still linger, such as whether the Americans,who were skeptical of the handover policies of Canada, Britain andthe Netherlands, pushed NATO into having one position. Meanwhile, the officer who recently commanded the country'straining mission told a Senate committee Monday that the Afghansecurity forces and the justice system are slowly coming around. "Are they at the level we want to be? No," said Maj.-Gen. Mike Day."Are they at the level where they need to be? No. Are they on theway to get there? Absolutely, unequivocally, yes." Afghan cops were considered among the worst for abusing prisoners.Throughout much of northern Afghanistan the switch frompara-military policing toward the more benign law enforcementpolicing is well underway, Day told senators. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Police Riot Shield , Military Tactical Bags, and more. For more , please visit Military Bulletproof Vest today!
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