The latest allegations against the Conservative government being circulated in the media are based on unsubstantiated, uncorroborated assertions made by none other than Amir Attaran, law professor at the University of Ottawa. The entire premise to this story is that Mr.Attaran has seen portions of the unredacted documents, so he says, and that within them contain the smoking gun of evidence for complicity in torture by Canada’s government.
It’s already been widely circulated today that Mr.Attaran has strong ties to the Liberal party. During the 2008 federal election, the Conservatives pointed out that the non-partisan professor had donated “at least” $1,000 to the Liberals and NDP since 2006.
While it certainly doesn’t make one a partisan because one donates to a political party, when a man is asserting, without proof, that the government is directly involved in “war crimes”, one needs to assume all potential conflicts of interest.
Although the professor has never been a member of any political party, Mr.Attaran donated to former Liberal leader Stephane Dion, and also to federal NDP MP Dawn Black, whom he met during his work on the Afghan detainee file. He’s also donated to his local MP, NDP MP Paul Dewar. Mr.Dewar, as many will note, is the NDP Foreign Affairs Critic, and has been calling for withdrawal from Afghanistan since the beginning.
He also donated to Michael Ignatieff, who was his boss when he was on faculty at Harvard University. Mr.Attaran was an adjunct lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University, publishing research as part of the Center for International Development and the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. As it turns out, Michael Ignatieff directly intervened in order to save Mr.Attaran’s job.
Amir Attaran has a history of stirring the hornets nest without proof. Whether that’s out of genuine concern for human rights, or to cast aspersions on the Conservative government, we can’t know for sure, since conclusive evidence has never been forthcoming.
Back in February of 2007, he began the whole Afghan detainee allegations when he said he obtained proof that three Afghan prisoners were abused based on government documents obtained under the Access to Information Act. Not only did Mr.Attaran accuse Canadians of complicity in torture, he accused the detainees of being beaten by Canadian soldiers themselves.
A military investigation was launched immediately, as Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor came under attack. Amir Attaran had sent the information on the Military Police Complaints Commission, a civilian-run body that investigates complaints. There was no evidence of any mistreatment at the time of the investigation.
An April 23, 2007 article in the Toronto Star said of the investigation that Mr.Attaran was casting a “serious shadow” on Canada’s human-rights credibility, the latest blow to an oft criticized agreement “signed in the waning days of Paul Martin’s Liberal government.”
But along with Amir Attaran, another professor made his way into the spotlight in 2007, saying that the door had been opened for Canadian troops to be tried as “war criminals” if prisoners had been found to be tortured in Afghan prisons. Michael Byers, professor of political science at University of British Columbia, urged the Harper government at the time to build its own prisoner detention facility.
Michael Byers also has strong ties to the opposition parties in Canada. On July 2, 2008, Mr.Byers announced he was seeking the NDP nomination for the federal riding of Vancouver Centre, a seat held by Liberal Party of Canada incumbent Hedy Fry since 1993. After losing in the election, Mr.Byers then suggested an alliance between the Liberals and NDP, in order to assure that the left wouldn’t split the vote in ridings that the Conservatives could win.
A military police commission finally ended the controversy started by Mr.Attaran, declaring in early October of 2008 that Canadian military police did not abuse three suspected Taliban prisoners in April 2006.
In an online question and answer period from March of 2007 on the Globe and Mail, however, Mr.Attaran clearly had preconceived notions about our performance in the field:
It pains me to see the Canadian Forces reneging on their policy and obligation to uphold the Geneva Conventions, and it appalls me to see my government making excuses — some of them which are now proved untrue — to have stuck with torturers.
Amir Attaran contacted me recently via email, lawyer in tow, over comments I made about him in the National Post, referring to him as “hardly a human rights expert”, because he has a case before the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal to get OHIP to fund his wife’s invitro fertilization.
He threatened me with defamation and asked for a retraction. But what I found very interesting was the email address of Mr.Attaran’s lawyer, whom he had carbon copied in his correspondence with me. It’s none other than Paul Champ, the representative for Abousfian Abdelrazik, and public advocate in the case of Omar Khadr and Maher Arar. Talk about bringing a bazooka to a fair comment fight.
Mr.Champ has been vocal in the media on the Afghan detainee file as well, condemning Rick Hillier publicly for “trivializing torture”. Mr.Champ, representing Amnesty International and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, and retired diplomat Gar Pardy, former head of consular affairs, testified in December at an informal hearing of the Afghan detainee committee.
Mr.Champ was questioned by Liberal MP Bob Rae, their Foreign Affairs Critic, who responded:
“In my view, it’s an absurd statement to make and it’s a trivialization of what’s happening in Afghanistan and the absolutely terrible conditions in Afghan prisons. It’s not being frustrated with a prisoner and you hit him with a truncheon or something like that… This is planned, systemic torture. And to compare it to a Canadian prison, I would suggest, is indicating someone is not taking this matter very seriously at all.”
As of this writing, no evidence of Canadian complicity in torture has been provided.
Update
A little backgrounder. Damian Brooks had this right back in 2007.
Amir Attaran expressed “concerns” at a University of Ottawa conference in March of 2006:
“Soldiers risk involuntarily becoming accessory to torture, a war crime.”
This is a sort of cart before the horse thing, since the allegations of torture surfaced after Amir Attaran went looking for evidence of them. Any evidence.
This sponge is a law professor, donates thousands to his political friends but won’t pay his own $6300 for IVF. What a pathetic loser, he doesn’t deserve children, and I wish him no success.
Ah, the inevitable ad hominem attacks. How’d that work out for Colvin?
The CPC gets stupider and stupider under Harper’s “leadership”. Time for a change…
BTW:
http://bcblue.wordpress.com/2010/03/06/torture-claiming-professor-owed-iffy-huge-debt/#comment-2079
trolling tonight peter
Thought u were reading the real documents
I am, I am. Fascinating stuff…
You know, the thought occured to me that the Libs helped bury this because it could throw both parties into total disarray in an election.
Either that, or Iggy is stalling long enough to get some MP’s their pension before they get their asses kicked in that election.
Not sure which, but this will be very messy.
It’s possible that the end result of this could be an NDP minority government in Canada. Oh. My. God. That’s….frightening.
The law professor should bring out his actual proof or shut up. The CBC should not print/broadcast accusations without proof. Check out The Torch for the sad saga of Byers and Attaran here:
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2007/02/more-spinning-than-figure-skating.html
I guess his 15 min of fame back in 2007 were not enough, and his unproven allegations are just as much a waste of time today as they were 3 years ago.
“The law professor should bring out his actual proof ”
How do you know he hasn’t?
The funniest/saddest part of the whole “torture” opposition-party-adventure is that in all this time, neither they nor the media has been able to invent a single afghan to confirm their stories. Where are the afghans marching in the streets, wanting compensation, crying to the TV about their “tortured” husbands or fathers? They don’t seem to exist. I can only imagine the huge amount of effort that has gone on behind the scenes to find such evidence or to put a face to this torture because of the big political windfall that it would provide, and yet, zero, nothing, notta, the big goose egg. The only people who seem to care about these allegations are those who think they will profit from it, and that is the real crime.
Maybe someone should take him before a HRC for spreading false rumours against our troops. I hope the government calls the RCMP to investigate him for slander.
If he really has the full documents, the RCMP need to be called in to find out who leaked confidential government information that could get our troops killed.
So where’s the link…I looked..just you and Amir appear to have these docs…
Hunter: “If he really has the full documents, the RCMP need to be called in to find out who leaked confidential government information that could get our troops killed.”
Even if those documents are evidence of a criminal conspiracy?
Just askin’
rw: (ringworm?)
“So where’s the link…I looked..just you and Amir appear to have these docs…”
Trying to authenticate them now. It may take awhile since (believe it or not) one of the people we need to help doesn’t work weekends.
The irony is crushing, I know…
Peter:
Stupider?
Attaran has been very wrong once before, that’s enough for me to be suspicious of his accusations. If you (or Attaran or anyone else) has somehow obtained documents that sensitive then they should be more than willing to provide them to the proper authorities for investigation.
But somehow I keep thinking about that issue a few years back with Bush and that faked document…
“Stupider? ”
You have to speak to your audience, rather than pontificate like an asshole, which you tend to do.
How’s it goin’?
(To be fair, you control it better than RaphNair does…Say, aren’t you supposed to be cowering in fear somewhere far away from me?)
you said you couldnt post a link because it would not be allowed….you have to authernticate a link? Maybe the only authentic link here is between Amir and Iffy?
Just wondering….
rw: (right wingnut?)
“you said you couldnt post a link because it would not be allowed”
Yes, but I didn’t post that here. I posted it on a blog that removed the link (no doubt a spam control feature) and decided not to post the link until the docs can be authenticated beyond reasonable doubt.
Either that, or I’m trolling. Maybe both…
K?
Please don’t feed the troll people.
Excellent post Adrian.
Not ONE media outlet, other than the TAXPAYER funded CBC (deep pockets for legal bills) has even touched this story…not even the Toronto Star.
Even Wherry at Macleans only posted one sad blog about it,
when usually something this BIG would be at least a 4 post minimum.
The RCMP should be on Attaran’s and Peter (the real one) doorsteps demanding evidence of a crime.
Thanks Wilson.
“Please don’t feed the troll people.”
Raphie, ol’ buddy, how ya bin?
(Speaking of speaking to one’s audience…)
Why isn’t anyone demanding to know who funded this guy at Harvard. Was there an ulterior motive behind this. Why wont iggy tell us who it was. Was it an individual, or did this person work for some organization who is not a friend of the USA or Canada. What did he have to promise to get the funding. Who is he really working for. What is the real connection between iggy and the professor. How come, out of the blue iggy was recruited to come to Canada, any connection.
And if iggy pulled some strings to save his job at Harvard, why did he give up that job and come to Canada.
If it is ok for iggy to demand secret information dealing with our national security, why is it not ok to demand he give up the name of the donor who funded his stay at Harvard. I agree the RCMP should be called in to investigate who gave this guy the documents, and if they really exist.
I remember the Rathergate affair and I think this is another one.
Bring on the motion, and vote no confidence, and see what the voting public think.
If the question is, do you support the terrorist taliban or our Canadian troops, libs will be slaughtered at the polls.
I do feel sorry for this guys wife, imagine having the whole country know your husband can’t give you a child. (or is that another lie, to get money from the govt)
LOL… NDP minority government. Maybe they can work out a cap and trade system with President Ross Perot in a few years…
Thanks for that. It was a good chuckle. I’m going to sleep now.
“Thanks for that. It was a good chuckle.”
At least one reader understood the joke. Sigh. I remember a time when those who labelled themselves as conservatives were actually smarter than the average Joe. Nowadays, most of ‘em are just plain stupid.
“most of ‘em are just plain stupid”
And this is why you get labelled a troll and people like me dismiss you most of the time. Anyone who can see past their own opinions knows there are plenty of smart Liberals, Conservatives, New Democrats and Blockettes and there are plenty of stupid people in all.
Thinking that your party is the “smart one”, and those that differ with you are stupid is a sign you’re in an echo chamber.
Oh Peter, go live your fantasy on Liblogs,
at least half of them will believe you.
Like your edit option Adrian!
[...] sure does seem to be a very small town doesn’t it? (see McNair post here) Posted in Uncategorized. Leave a Comment [...]
Just another brain dead professor with a lip lock on the public teat, an overwhelming sense of his own importance and an absolute belief he is entitled to a sh*t load of entitlements.
Just another socialist wannbe marxist taking up space and wasting oxygen.
You can almost smell the rot from here.
Where and when did he get said info, considering that in April 2009 a Federal Court denied his request for info re documents from 2002-2006. If he was requesting them and denied, what is he basing his accusations on other than some dream he had. Still waiting for someone to give us the real connection between iggy and this professor. What is their real agenda. When did he get his job in Ottawa, before or after the idiots went and got iggy to return to Canada. Is there a connection with that.
I think the CBC should be held accountable for publishing unsubstantiated allegations from a Liberal shill.
There is something very wrong when a (top-notch) blogger offers more facts and context than our national broadcaster. Shame on the CBC – lets get our money back.
I echo Zoop it is a sad day when Slime Stream Media reports someone’s opinion as fact. I’m appalled that CBC reported the story without viewing said evidence, I’d file a complaint but what’s the point CBC has no journalistic integrity left. I hope Harper sends Mr Smear Our Troops the bill for any inguiries that result from his unsubstantiated smears. He should be paying the bill for the investigations not the taxpayer, if no evidence is found to substantiate his opinion he should be held financially accountable.
Just out of curiosity, how many people here would still “support our troops” even if it were proven that they had knowingly given detainees over to torture?
I’d support them 100%, John. Since troops follow orders, they aren’t culpable for what happens. The command structure is.
Adrian, then how is it justified to hide behind “support our troops” when allegations of detainee torture emerge? Certainly “support our troops” should not extend to shielding politicians from accountability…
I would also support the troops, if by handing them over for torture it saved the lives of our troops. Hey John, why don’t you volunteer to go over there and drive all the roads to make sure those terrorist bombs get found. Thought so, you just fight from your computer.
And I would not be against them being really tortured, not having a shoe thrown at them.
I am sick and tired of the false claims of torture being thrown around, by the likes of Arar.
“I’d support them 100%, John. Since troops follow orders, they aren’t culpable for what happens. The command structure is.”
So much for Nuremberg…
Izzie: Like this place _isn’t_ an echo chamber now? C’mon…
John,
Allegations are just that. Someone could allege you beat your wife, and then accuse you of hiding behind family values when you protest by saying you’re a good husband.
Nobody is using the troops as a shield. But the Liberals have consistently smeared the troops with their unfounded accusations.
And really, the context here could not be more ridiculous. We’re talking about the remote possibility of Canadians being indirectly responsible for the roughing up of the worst scum on the face of planet Earth. The kind of people who pour acid in the face of children, who butcher and massacre political opponents, and who tried to rob women of every human liberty possible when they were in possible.
But then people use the tiniest of pretexts to invalidate the humanitarian intervention in Afghanistan. It truly is the most morally bankrupt argument since the hesitation to enter the Second World War.
Mary:
“Hey John, why don’t you volunteer to go over there and drive all the roads to make sure those terrorist bombs get found. Thought so, you just fight from your computer.”
Funny, but I’ve asked Adrian the same thing. It “wasn’t for him” or some such excuse. Maybe if Adrian stopped sucking the public tit, and enlisted, he might have some clue what he was talking about.
Given the utter stupidity of the CBC to once again publicize yet another Liberal steaming-pile story of lies,for no other purpose than to embarrass the Conservative government and bite the hand that feeds it, here is more evidence that the CBC’s funding should be brutally chopped. If they want to spew this crap, they can find their own funding.
Peter,
You have nothing to offer here but overt hostility, self-evident trolling, and intellectually absent opinions.
Go fuck yourself.
Back at the beginning of the prorogue pseudo-scandal, I pointed out there was “NO” evidence.
I said, the detainee issue was bogus and would be used by the Liberals to promote themselves and throw dirt(bogus dirt)at the conservatives by abusing the committee process.
Three months later…still no evidence.
In my opinion..”If there ever?” was any real detainee rules broken, they were broken during the Liberal tenure of PM Paul Martin.
Now after prorogation and the resetting of committees, Im hearing talk of letting the opposition have their committee after all.
Liberals should be carefull what they wish for, any new Inquiry will go all the way back to the beginning of the mission in 2002.
The Inquiry will “NOT” be a repeat of the Schrieber/Mulroney fiasco, Paul Szabo “WON’T” be in the chair and conservative witnesses “WILL” be allowed to testify.
Ps..Before that happens..
The detainee issue will disappear.
Adrian many studies conclude Peter suffered from a poor childhood.
This lashing out and attacking everyone is a result of having been starved positive role models in his formative years.
I pity Peter, he is forced to troll the internet for conversation because in the real world he has no friends.
Let’s hope he can turn things around and make some real friends beyond facebook.
Peter, Peace be upon him. Let’s pray he finds some real friends one day and gives up trolling the social media.
Wow,, this is getting personal, Peter, I second Adrian’s to the point statement. If you want this to go personal, just say so, I am sure you have provided us with lots of ammunition to return fire with.
As to the substance of the troops. We follow rules of engagement, we are constantly taught the Geneva Conv and the rules of Laws of Armed Conflict, and we have a duty to not knowingly follow an order that we know to be illegal.
To the best of my knowledge this entire debate of proven abuse is related to one detainee who when turned over was being beaten by the ANA and or ANAP with a shoe, and when it was discovered they(the troops) took him back. Now lets put that “abuse” in perspective, this was directly after a fire fight when the adrenalin was still flowing and he (the detainee) is lucky it was just a shoe.
I direct Peter who has professed before to having had a military career to look back in history at what has happened in the past to POW’s who were wearing identifiable uniforms, and were legitimately entitled to the protect of international treaties and conventions,immediately following a battle by all sides in the conflict. ya not pretty but when you look at it in that context the talbian detainee have been for the most part been treated with kid gloves.
I too agree that with the changing of the chairs of the various committees that the LPC might want this to go away in a hurry. It would seem there might be more abuse on their hands then any shoe beating that occurred just as the the CPC were changing signing a new agreement that would go a long way to preventing abuse.
“Since troops follow orders, they aren’t culpable for what happens. The command structure is.”
Are you being serious? I ask, because when the liberals question the command structure, you say they are attacking the troops. You can’t have it both ways.
And frankly, I think it is perfectly legitimate to ask why you have not joined the army. You are the guy complaining because not enough non-white people join the army – why should they do so when you are not prepared to do it?
That’s because the Liberals don’t imply culpability lies solely at the command structure. They cast dangerous aspersions on the troops and are careless with their words.
As for the Army question, I’ve already answered it. I wasn’t born to be a soldier. I’m not really sure what I was born to be, whether a writer, or something else. But I know I’m not cut out for the military. Plus, I’m 35, married, with 2 kids, and I’m perfectly happy being with them. Since we have a volunteer Army, I don’t see how my personal decisions in life bear any relevance.
“That’s because the Liberals don’t imply culpability lies solely at the command structure.”
Well that is totally untrue.
So people who choose to become doctors or lawyers instead of soldiers are wrong, just because they also happen to not be white?
That is an odd line you draw there.
I don’t make up the demographics. I just report them.
Yes, and luckily for you some other white people made up the white people quota so you do not have to.
I love how you want everyone else to put their lives on the line, even to the point where you criticize those who don’t simply on the basis of the colour of their skin.
Are you done making irrelevant points yet? Or do I have to unban Peter to drown you out?
I think I have made my point.
“Or do I have to unban Peter to drown you out?”
Thanks, but I’ll take care of that myself.
There’s another aspect to the Afghan detainee abuse matter that our media manage to ignore–willfully?
Maybe some former Liberal ministers should be worrying about their asses
Facts: The previous Liberal government and Afghan detainees
“Torture in Afghanistan: The Liberals knew” redux
Afghan detainees and the former Liberal government/Human rights Update
(letter in Globe and Mail)
Mark
Ottawa
[...] was director of the Carr Center at Harvard where Attaran was a research fellow, Ignatieff “directly intervened in order to save Mr. Attaran’s job” after a dispute with some faculty members, and [...]
I’ve just spent two of my three days off from work researching Attaran. I sincerely wish I could continue with this research project uninterruptedly as I’m convinced the guy has a long standing narrow agenda to take down the Conservative government–any way he can. Unfortunately, I’m back to work tomorrow and will have to place my research temporarily aside.
I think Attaran’s agenda goes farther back than the detainee controversy and it sickens me. I think it can be shown and proven; logically and clearly; by examining his voluminous writing. He’s been looking for a thread to unravel the Conservatives for some time; he finally hit pay dirt with what he thinks is the “whole cloth:” the detainee controversy. He’s tried out other controversies but they just weren’t universally sensational enough to capture the nation’s and media’s imagination and front pages.
One of the most telling things for my premise is Attaran’s complete refusal to question or involve either the Chretien or Paul Martin Liberals in allegations that Afghan detainees were tortured when handed over by the CF. Attaran consistently, unwaveringly begins his tale with Harper’s government, he consistently flings Harper’s name around like mud; he hasn’t a clue how our military operates and consistently refers to them as if they were some evil-smelling abstraction, a mere reification. He crudely dehumanizes the proud tradition of the Canadian Forces in an absurd psychological reversal of the same accusations he makes against some members of the Canadian Forces and their allegedly glib attitude towards detainees.
Similarly, he completely glosses over and leaves absent any discussion of the delicate tendrils involving how disclosure of sensitive classified information affects our allies or could put the mission and our troops in danger. Attaran can not conceive of the big picture and this is, I think, related to his overgrown ego: No room for anything else; no understanding of diplomacy.
But by identifying Harper as the locus of this alleged evil and by ignoring the historical context, Attaran advances a narrow, partisan, unjust and disingenuously flawed examination. Historical revisionism often came before a purge in Stalin’s Russia and it’s scary that someone of Attaran’s stature is emulating that formula in an attempt to purge Canada of the Harper Conservatives.
Joan,
Agreed, and I think that if the Liberals were to come into power, you’d find that criticism would evaporate like so much water vapour.
[...] Roger Smith of CTV is the latest media stooge to give credence to him without telling the viewing audience Attaran’s connections to Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff (see here). This isn’t the first time Smith has used Attaran as a source. A quick Google search uncovers multiple references to interviews in the last few years but you know darn well that Smith knows by now Attaran’s Liberal connections and accusations of Canadian torture without any proof (see here). [...]
It is interesting to observe that the CBC and CTV out of all the legal experts in Canada have not only been relying on Amir Attaran but also Paul Champ. http://thescottross.blogspot.com/2010/03/human-rights-lawyer-calls-iacobucci.html
Though it is more than coincidental, I think it tells more of the media going to experts who give soundbites than these experts holding extraodinary opinions.
Scott,
An unqualified gasp of surprise from your rather frank admission. Appreciated.
[...] has other media connections (see here), made donations to Liberals (see here) and has a very close and personal tie to Liberal leader Michael Ignatief (see here) Posted in [...]