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Full Comment (Free subscription) | yesterday
The Conservative government is dismissing allegations levelled this week by Richard Colvin, a Canadian diplomat who says he delivered repeated warnings that prisoners handed over to Afghan authorities were being tortured. Mr. Colvin claims his reports were widely distributed. But top military and political figures deny any awareness of their contents. Unless we are to believe they are all lying, it...
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The Guardian (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
Senior diplomat formerly stationed in Kabul claims troops 'handed over for severe torture a lot of innocent people' The Canadian government was fending off calls for a public inquiry on torture today after allegations from one of its senior diplomats that Canada was complicit in the torture of Afghan detainees. Richard Colvin, who was second in command at Canada's Kabul embassy in 2006 and 2007, said...
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Impolitical (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
Yesterday was devoted to tearing down Canadian diplomat and intelligence officer Richard Colvin: "Tories work to undermine diplomat who blew whistle on torture." It may be tougher this time, they've gone down this road repeatedly over their tenure now. The various public servants they've steamrolled are being duly noted . Journalists are asking tough questions. For example, if you didn't...
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Creekside (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
Defensive Minister Peter MacKay : "A top diplomat’s account of the rampant torture and rape of Afghan detainees is not credible, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Thursday. MacKay dismissed testimony from Richard Colvin [First Secretary at the Canadian Embassy in Washington] as second- and third-hand information from enemy sources : "What we’re talking about here is not only...
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Toronto Sun - News (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
A top diplomat’s account of the rampant torture and rape of Afghan detainees is not credible, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Thursday as he rebuffed opposition calls for a full public inquiry into “massive and systemic” government cover-up.
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Macleans.ca (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s exchange with reporters after Question Period today. Question: What should happen to Colvin now that you think he’s not credible? What are you going to do about him? Hon. Peter MacKay: Well, what we’re going to do is continue to do what we’ve done since arriving in Afghanistan. We’re going to build in [...]
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Impolitical (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Peter MacKay attacking Richard Colvin today : Mr. MacKay, however, told Parliament that there are “incredible holes” in Mr. Colvin's story. “There has not been a single, solitary proven allegation of abuse involving a transferred Taliban prisoner by Canadian forces,” he said. Globe reporting, January 22, 2008 : Compelling evidence that Canadian-transferred detainees are still...
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Far and Wide (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
The entire Conservative torture "defence" is obliterated by their own confidence in the unbelievable one. Quite a risky strategy- actually a testament to their own "unbelievability" on this score- to attack the messenger, when the messenger is a trusted government official. Summed up succinctly by the Globe and Mail : Tories attack credibility of diplomat who blew whistle on torture...
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liberal catnip (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Via the CBC : Defence Minister Peter MacKay defended his government Thursday in the face of claims that detainees in Afghanistan were routinely abused by Afghan authorities after being handed over by Canadian soldiers. "There has not been a single, solitary proven allegation of abuse involving a transferred Taliban prisoner by Canadian forces," MacKay said Thursday in the House of Commons....
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JURIST (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
[JURIST] A former senior Canadian diplomat alleged Wednesday that the Canadian military was complicit in the torture of Afghans by their own government, during testimony before the House of Commons Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan. Richard Colvin, who represented the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) in Kandahar from 2006-2007 and is currently the...
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Creekside (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
A month ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time Peter MacKay , and Minister of Defence at the time Gordon O'Connor all denied ever seeing any of the 16 reports "circulated widely throughout the Foreign Affairs and Defence departments and also shared with senior military commanders in Ottawa and Afghanistan" warning that Afghan authorities were abusing detainees...
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Full Comment (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
Bill C-300 would shake down Canadian resource firms, not help the vulnerable By Peter Foster T he Commons committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade is this week holding further hearings on Liberal MP John McKay’s private member’s bill, which would essentially give radical non-governmental organization a veto over Canadian mining activities overseas. Under it, companies could...
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EXCESS COPYRIGHT (Free subscription) | 16/11/2009
Here's an scary and ill-informed interview on CTV Power Play ironically on Friday the 13th at about the 3:30 mark with with former Liberal & Tory Minister David Emerson and interviewer Tom Clark. Somebody has misinformed Clark a lot about Canadian law - and fed him lots of property talk about "theft" and "stealing." Tom Clark wonders why we can't bring in a law to "prevent...
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ProudToBeCanadian Blog (Free subscription) | 14/11/2009
Hey Joel! What r NewsQuips? Answer: They’re my patented witty commentary and expert analysis of some of the day’s headlines which caught my eye and needed witty commentary and expert analysis (or sometimes just a cheap insult. It ain’t pretty.). It starts with one. For your convenience, I normally number that one like this: “ 1 ” (we aim to please, here at PTBC!) Then...
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