Fighting ISIS: Canada's role renews calls for Afghan detainee inquiry
CBC Radio | Posted: November 19, 2015 1:22 PM | Last Updated: November 19, 2015
"I don't think Canadians will accept that it is over. I think you will have a lot of Canadians who will look at the documents and will ask a lot of legitimate questions that are very troubling." - Stephane Dion, then Liberal MP in 2011 responding to Afghan detainee scandal
Thousands of highly redacted documents had finally been released relating to the transfer of suspected Taliban prisoners by the Canadian military to the Afghan National Directorate of Security.
There were grave concerns that some of the prisoners had been tortured by Afghan forces after the Canadians handed them over.
To this day, big questions remain about what actually happened, and what role Canadian Forces might have played. And amidst promises to send more Canadian military trainers to help support the fight against ISIS, there are renewed calls for a public inquiry to get to the bottom of what happened in Afghanistan.
Peggy Mason is among those calling for an inquiry. She's the president of the Rideau Institute and the former Canadian ambassador to the U.N.
Murray Brewster knows the story of the Canadian war in Afghanistan all too well. He is the senior defence writer for Canadian Press and the author of "The Savage War: The Untold Battles of Afghanistan." He's also the writer and co-producer of Kandahar Journals.
We asked Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan to clarify some of the issues raised about his time in Afghanistan. We did not hear back.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade sent us a statement in which it says the Canadian government's practices:
"surrounding the treatment and transfer of Afghan detainees were consistent with our international obligations"
and that
"The Government of Canada has always been committed to ensuring that Canadian transferred detainees are handled and transferred in accordance with our obligations under international law."
This segment was produced by Gord Westmacott and Howard Goldenthal.