Opposition party says government may have engaged in “massive cover-up”
The NDP is calling for a public inquiry into allegations detainees handed over by Canadian soldiers to Afghan officials were tortured. The demand follows testimony by Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin before the House Afghanistan Committee, in which Colvin claimed the “standard operating procedure” at Afghan jails included the abuse of prisoners and that government officials knew about the situation and may have tried to cover it up. “There are concerns that the government was complicit in torture, in violation of international law, while engaging in a massive cover-up that put our diplomats and soldiers on the ground at risk,” wrote Paul Dewar, NDP foreign affairs critic, on the party’s website. The Conservative government says it doesn’t know of any “proven allegations,” of prisoner abuse.