Tories blasted over fate of child prisoners
Child soldiers handed over to Afghan unit that's dogged by torture claims, briefing note says
By Mike De Souza, Postmedia News
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon dodged questions Monday about whether the Canadian military had transferred child soldiers over to an Afghan security unit that was allegedly employing torture tactics.
Under fire in the House of Commons, Cannon acknowledged that Canadian soldiers did not always know the age of people they captured in Afghanistan, but said special provisions were in place for when prisoners "appear" to be juveniles.
"Individuals are detained only when they have either attacked or killed a Canadian soldier or official," Cannon said, responding to a question from Liberal MP Bob Rae. "It is not always possible to know the age of the prisoner. As a result, the Canadian Forces treat those who appear to be under the age of 18 as juveniles. Consequently, if there is any question of age, the prisoner is treated as a juvenile with separate quarters."
The comments follow the release of a March 30 briefing note prepared for Defence Minister Peter MacKay that revealed the military had been capturing juvenile soldiers and transferring them to Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) for the past four years, which CBC News reported on Sunday night.
"To be fair, the minister seems to have responded 'yes; to my first question, that children were transferred," Rae said Monday. "He even referred to them as 'juveniles.' He said there is a special facility for juveniles and that they were transferred."
But Rae pushed to "give the minister a chance to answer" his questions directly.
"Canadians want to know," he said. "Precisely what are the special measures put in place with respect to the protection of children?"
Cannon wouldn't yield, reiterating only that the Canadian Forces had "special provisions" in place whenever they could not determine the age of a detained soldier.
MPs from the Bloc Québécois and the New Democrats also blasted the government for not doing enough to protect the children captured in the conflict.
"Canada has a duty to protect children from torture -- not simply wash its hands and walk away," said NDP defence critic Jack Harris. "International law is clear. Canada cannot treat child soldiers like any other insurgent, and yet Canada did not hand over child soldiers to a civilian authority like UNICEF. They were handed over to the notorious NDS."
The revelations also coincide with a vote expected this week on the government's decision to maintain close to 1,000 troops in Afghanistan for a training-only mission.
The Bloc and the NDP have denounced the government for not providing more details on that mission, saying it has broken its pledge to hold a parliamentary vote on major deployments and on the ending of the Afghan combat mission in 2011.
The Ottawa Citizen
Gov't dodges questions on transfers of 'juvenile' Afghan soldiers
By Mike De Souza, Postmedia News November 29, 2010
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon dodged questions Monday about whether the Canadian military had transferred child soldiers over to an Afghan security unit that was allegedly employing torture tactics.
Under fire in the House of Commons, Cannon acknowledged that Canadian soldiers did not always know the age of people they captured in Afghanistan but said special provisions were in place for when prisoners "appear" to be juveniles.
"Individuals are detained only when they have either attacked or killed a Canadian soldier or official," Cannon said, responding to a question from Liberal MP Bob Rae. "It is not always possible to know the age of the prisoner. As a result, the Canadian Forces treat those who appear to be under the age of 18 as juveniles. Consequently, if there is any question of age, the prisoner is treated as a juvenile with separate quarters."
The comments follow a March 30 briefing note prepared for Defence Minister Peter MacKay that revealed the military had been capturing juvenile soldiers and transferring them to Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security for four years.
"To be fair, the minister seems to have responded 'yes; to my first question, that children were transferred," Rae said Monday. "He even referred to them as 'juveniles.' He said there is a special facility for juveniles and that they were transferred."
Cannon reiterated that the Canadian Forces had "special provisions" in place when they couldn't determine a soldier's age.
Postmedia News