Judge does not force Canada to stick to its decision to halt prisoner transfers in Afghanistan
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OTTAWA: Human rights groups lost their bid Thursday for an injuction that would have forced Canada to stick to its decision not to transfer enemy prisoners in Afghanistan into the custody of local authorities, where they could be tortured.
The practice of transferring the prisoners ended Nov. 6 after Canadian officials found credible evidence of torture of at least one prisoner while in Afghan custody. However, the Conservative government has said that the transfers could resume if authorities determine that enough safeguards against torture are put in place.
Amnesty International Canada and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association had sought the temporary injunction pending the outcome of their case for a permanent ban.
But in a 36-page ruling released Thursday, Federal Court Justice Anne Mactavish rejected their bid. Mactavish acknowledged that there are "real and very serious concerns" over the effectiveness of Canadian efforts to ensure prisoner safety, but that those concerns will only be reviewed if and when the practice of prisoner transfers resume.
Mactavish allowed the groups the right to renew their request if the transfers resume and new evidence arises.
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A Canadian military commander in Afghanistan put a stop to the transfers in November.
The disclosure that Canada had stopped handing over prisoners was an embarrassment for Canada's Conservative government, which earlier had ridiculed its opponents for raising torture allegations. Prime Minister Stephen Harper had gone so far as to accuse critics of being pro-Taliban.
According to a letter released by government lawyers last month, one prisoner told Canadian officials he had been beaten unconscious, whipped with electrical cables, and belted with a rubber hose at the National Directorate of Security detention facility in Kandahar city in Afghanistan. The NDS is the domestic intelligence agency of the government of Afghanistan.
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