The Petition
Allegations have been made that Canadian Forces in Afghanistan have handed prisoners over to the Afghan authorities with knowledge that there was a significant probability that those prisoners would be tortured against the requirements of the Geneva Convention. Canada is a signatory party to the Convention.
The Canadian government has gone through extreme lengths to avoid domestic investigation of these allegations, including concealing documents, misleading the domestic tribunal, and ignoring orders from the majority of the Canadian parliament to reveal its documentation on the incidents.
Given that the Canadian government has chosen to be unaccountable and not to participate in an investigation which will find the truth of these allegations, and that the unresolved nature of these allegations damages Canada as a whole internationally and places our country and servicemen at risk, it is proposed that the International War Crimes Tribunal be invited to investigate the allegations and make a finding of fact.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
IWC Should Examine Afghan Detainee Issue
Petition: "Should Canada invite the International War Crimes Tribunal to investigate the allegations of war crimes in Afganistan?" Sign here.
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17 comments:
Please correct the typo (it's "signatory")
Done. Thanks. I cleaned up a few other misspellings before I posted that...
Dear Yappa Ding Bat,
You have definitely gone off the deep end. Not to mention this is in very poor taste considering we just lost 4 servicemen to the Taliban.
Instead of calling them out on war crimes, how about calling them up with a little support?
Hi Anonymous 4:16 -
I take it that you like having our soldiers die, and don't really care what the cause is or how counterproductive our tactics are. You think the only way we can support our troops is to increasingly put them in harm's way.
One reason that our NATO allies have been so careful with Afghans they detain (unlike us) is that these detainees are not all Taliban. Many are regular citizens who oppose our occupation of their homeland. Torturing them is just making more people oppose us and making more people join the insurgency.
Another reason that our NATO allies are more careful than us is that little thing called the Geneva Convention. Another is basic respect for life.
I am not like you, wanting to prolong this conflict and watch more of our soldiers die or be injured. I think we should be much more sure about what we're trying to achieve and much more sure that it's the right thing to do before we risk one more soldier. I think they should all come home.
But while we have troops in another country, we have to be damn certain that they are not trampling the human and civil rights of the population of that country. There is overwhelming evidence that we have contributed to some very bad acts. Harper could have circumvented all these problems if he had just agreed to an open investigation of what happened. Instead, we have lies and cover-up; character assassination of someone who answered questions honestly before a parliamentary committee; and now the undemocractic suspension of our parliament.
>>Another reason that our NATO allies are more careful than us is that little thing called the Geneva Convention. Another is basic respect for life.<<
Yes, the US is so careful with their POWs that they stack them naked in pyramids and take pictures of them.
Do you even know what you are talking about? Seriously, you have gone off the deep end.
Have you been fighting the Liberal Party since they put us in the war 8 years ago? Since they kicked up the mission to Kandahar and Bill Graham went on his "Pre Body Bag Tour" of 2005? Again, do you even know what you are talking about or did history start with you the day Harper was elected?
Two points:
1. You're confusing Afghanistan and Iraq.
2. I opposed the mission in Afghanistan from the start. However, I saw how we got roped into it. The pushback from the US was enormous when we refused to help justify the invasion of Iraq. Plus, the Canadian involvement in Afghanistan seems to have changed a great deal since we first went in.
No, I'm not confused. I know where Abu Ghraib is located. I also have seen the headline "British Soldiers Accused Of Torturing Iraqi Prisoners". I have yet to see any such headline about Canadian soldiers doing any such thing to any Afghani.
To say our soldiers should be subjected to war crime investigations is preposterous, insensitive and just plain "over the top" at their expense to score some cheap points.
Anon @ 9:16 p.m. wrote:
"To say our soldiers should be subjected to war crime investigations is preposterous, insensitive and just plain "over the top" at their expense to score some cheap points."
NOT the soldiers Anon, it's never been about the soldiers. It's about our Govt. - Harper, Mackay, O'Connor, Cannon, & possibly even Hillier. Did you actually read the petition? Nowhere does it mention soldiers. Typical Con talking point thrown out by MacKay, Harper, Baird, et al. You believe the lies, the spin so easily.
>>NOT the soldiers Anon, it's never been about the soldiers.<<
Then trot a copy of your petition over to Princess Patricia's and the Loyal Edmonton Regiment for signatures. Let me know how it goes, won't you?
I will support using the Geneva convention in our care of Afghan detainee's just as soon as they stop spraying little girls with acid and killing teachers of same.
Just found this. Please read it. I guarantee that you won't combust and burst into flame.
From Ezra Levant's column in the Toronto Star:
http://www.thestar.com/comment/
article/744743
Instead of charging our soldiers with war crimes, how about we charge people who support these disgusting proposals with sedition or providing aid and comfort to the enemy in a time of war.
Soooo....let's see here.
The Taliban MURDER our men and women by cowardly planting IED's in the sand and then hiding so they don't get hurt.
AND
The Liberal government puts no policies in place regarding the transfers of detainees so one of them gets turned over to the Afgans who BEAT HIM WITH A SHOE!!!!!
At which time, the Canadians get him back and new policies are put into place by the Conservatives to ensure this doesn't happen again.
And you want the Conservatives to be tried for War Crimes..
Are you an idiot!!!!!
I wonder what your response would be if it were your son or your daughter blown up!
"Plus, the Canadian involvement in Afghanistan seems to have changed a great deal since we first went in"
How?
Other than there are now polcies in place to deal with detainees?
I will tell you what has changed, the Taliban now plant roadside bombs and run away like cowards.
I don't know how old you are, but you obviously are not old enough to have formed some opinions based on life's experience.
Once you get out of mommy and daddy's basement and see how the real world lives, you will realize how stupid you were to even print posts like this.
Have you even read the Geneva Convention you idiot?
Yappa,
You just got Con trolled terribly. What a bunch of nasty people.
I agree with Alberta Girl, what happens to Afghan detainees is a non-issue and no one cares, except politicians with an agenda. The allegation of war crimes is laughable. Ask Trevor Greene about war crimes.
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