Stephen Harper pins the blame for torture in Afghanistan on Afghans
If Afghans are being tortured by local authorities, that’s Afghanistan’s problem—not Canada’s. So goes Ottawa’s latest attempt to deflect attention from the simmering controversy over the treatment of prisoners handed over to Afghanistan by Canadian troops. During an interview with French-language network TVA, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the torture issue is “a problem among Afghans,” adding that Canada is “trying to do what’s possible to improve that situation, but it’s not in our control.” The federal government has spent the past few weeks lashing out against critics, most notably Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin, who claim it was aware detainees captured by Canadians were being mistreated by their Afghan handlers.