Canadian Afghan Detainee Issue

The Canadian Afghan detainee issue concerns whether or not the Government of Canada and/or the Canadian Forces (CF) had knowledge about alleged abusive treatment of detainees in Afghanistan. The alleged abuse occurred after Afghans were detained by Canadian Forces, and subsequently transferred to the Afghan National Army (ANA) or the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) during the War in Afghanistan. The issue has sparked heated debate since Article 12 of the Third Geneva Convention (of which Canada is a signatory) states that "the Detaining Power is responsible for the treatment given ". If the allegations of torture are true it would mean Canada is guilty of war crimes.

The allegations were first sparked by University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran, who claimed that full versions of government documents proved Canada had willful knowledge that torture would occur before handing detainees to Afghan authorities. Subsequent to this, two official complaints have led to official investigations and hearings by the Military Police Complaints Commission (MPCC). One of these unveiled parliamentary testimony by diplomat Richard Colvin, who claimed that many detainees were probably tortured, and it was a standard operating procedure for Afghan interrogators. The allegations have led to a showdown in the Canadian House of Commons, as opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) had called for the releasing of relevant documents in full and unredacted form, claiming parliamentary privilege to see them. The government maintained that they had a duty to protect Canadian soldiers and citizens as the documents contained sensitive information.

At the request of the Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons, a panel of former justices and selected MPs was tasked with sorting through the documents, and determining the need to release or withhold them. To date, only about 4,000 out of the estimated 40,000 documents have been released, and a final report from the MPCC is still forthcoming. The Canadian public, which generally holds the view that there was knowledge of detainee abuse by military or government officials, now awaits for a clearer picture of the issue as this process continues. The issue has also led to scrutiny on detainee treatment by other Canadian departments and the armed forces of other nations.