VANCOUVER - The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is releasing documents it says were sent to federal government officials detailing reports of torture against Afghan detainees.
The heavily censored documents describe interviews with several detainees who claimed they had been "whipped with cables, shocked with electricity and/or otherwise hurt'' after they were transferred from the Canadian military into Afghan custody in Kandahar.
The association says the papers leave no doubt that Ottawa knows that Canadian-transferred detainees are subsequently tortured by Afghan authorities.
The government documents were released as part of court attempts by Amnesty International and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association to stop transfers of prisoners taken by Canadian troops in Afghanistan.
The association said the documents are an exchange between diplomatic and Department of Foreign Affairs personnel who visited facilities in Afghanistan. It claims that Aghanistan's National Directorate of Security engaged in forms of torture after prisoners were transferred into their custody by the Canadian military.
It states each detainee interview lasted between 15 and 60 minutes, in the absence of NDS officers. The documents note that the "atmosphere overall was surprisingly relaxed.''
It is not clear from the document how many prisoners were interviewed.
All the detainees interviewed complained about "lack of clarity in their cases. They said they did not know why they are being held, nor did any seem to have been charged.''
One claimed he'd been knocked unconscious during an interrogation and beaten "with electrical wires and rubber hose.''
The documents says that when the man indicated the spot where the alleged assault took place, the interviewer "found a large piece of braided electrical wire as well as a rubber hose. He then showed us a bruise (approx. 4 inches long) on his back that could possibly be the result of a blow.''
Association president Jason Gratl said the report proves that Canada knew that torture was happening.
"The denial of the existence of torture in Afghanistan are no longer plausible,'' he said. "The prime minister, in effect, is forced to act.''
Representatives with the Department of Foreign Affairs could not be reached for comment.
Since last April, allegations have been dogging the government that some prisoners taken by the Canadian military were in turn abused after being handed over to the Afghan authorities.
Published reports on April 23 suggested as many as 30 prisoners had been mistreated by the Afghans.
Two days following those allegations, a prison visit was arranged for Corrections Canada officers and an official at Canada's provincial reconstruction base. Reports were filed that night to both the Foreign Affairs Department and the Correctional Service of Canada.
Gavin Buchan, the political director of the reconstruction base wrote how two prisoners came forward with complaints of mistreatment, despite being accompanied by NDS officers.
When confronted by deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff in the House of Commons on April 26, Harper described claims of prisoner abuse as "baseless allegations.''
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day was also quoted that day as saying: "We have no proof of the allegations.''
However, the government negotiated its prisoner deal with the Afghans to give Canadian authorities the right to monitor those captured.
