OTTAWA -- As CTV News first reported, the federal government has paid a total of $31.3 million in settlements to three men wrongfully accused of links to terrorism and tortured in a Syrian prison.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale's office said in a statement on Thursday that this settlement is "consistent" with the findings of the 2008 federal inquiry into the detentions of the three men.
The lump sum was split among Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin. Officials won't confirm how much of the total $31.3 million each man received.
In an emailed statement, Scott Bardsley, spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the government is unable to confirm the amounts paid to any of the three individuals, saying the details are "confidential under terms of the negotiated settlement as is typical in these situations."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended the government’s decision to settle the cases at an event in Burlington, Ont. on Thursday.
“Canada has made it very clear nobody ever deserves to be tortured. And when a Canadian government either is complicit in that or was not active enough in preventing it, there needs to be a responsibility taken," Trudeau said.
The 2008 inquiry led by former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci, determined that federal officials contributed to the men’s torture by sharing important information with international agencies.
Foreign Affairs, CSIS and the RCMP were found to have made mistakes in connection with the cases, the inquiry found.
The three men filed $100 million lawsuits over the federal government’s role in their imprisonment, claiming that their reputations were destroyed and they were left psychologically and physically shattered after the ordeal.
Bardsley said the settlements "are consistent with the findings of the Iacobucci Inquiry," which was established under former prime minister Stephen Harper’s government.
All three men were detained in Syria at different times. None of the men were ever charged with any terror offences.
Almalki, an electronics engineer from Ottawa, was held in Syria for 22 months beginning in 2002 after the RCMP and CSIS issued an international alert saying that he was on their watch list.
In 2005, Almalki told CTV’s Beverly Thomson that he suffered from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder following his torture.
He said his cell was filled with cockroaches and lice, and he was regularly lashed by his captors. He described the lashings as feeling like “someone pouring lava on the soles of my feet” and was simultaneously kicked with wooden-soled shoes. Some nights, the beatings lasted from sunset to sunrise.
“Torture itself left me in a hopeless case,” Almalki said. “But really the worst part of it was being in that cell for so long and during the day hearing the other prisoners being tortured and hearing their screams.”
At the time, Almalki urged for an investigation to get to the bottom of what happened “to keep the reputation of this country.”
“As a society I think every Canadian needs to know the truth. Torture is not something simple. Torture is a very serious crime. It's a vicious crime.”
El Maati, a former truck driver, was detained in 2001 after travelling to Syria to celebrate his wedding. In an interview with CTV News in 2008, he said he was imprisoned in Syria for two and a half months and later held in solitary confinement in Egypt.
All the while, he said he never stopped hoping for his release.
“No, you can't do that because once you reach this mental stage you'll be ruined. Like, you'd maybe think of committing suicide. But for me, my faith was the strength behind me and gave me strength and gave me support,” El Maati said.
Nureddin, the principal of an Islamic school in Toronto, was held by Syrian authorities in December 2003 after spending time with his family in Iraq.
Nureddin described the torture he endured in an interview with CTV’s Marci Ien. He said he was ordered to strip down to his underwear and lie on the ground while he was doused with cold water. The soles of his feet were then lashed, and he was then told to exercise on the spot. He was then drenched in more cold water.
His captors then asked, “Do you have anything new?” When Nureddin said no, the agonizing process was repeated.
“I don't want this to happen to others ever again. It is wrong,” Nureddin said.
In March, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale formally apologized to the men on behalf of the government “for any role Canadian officials may have played in relation to their detention and mistreatment abroad and any resulting harm.”
The government also announced it had reached settlements of undisclosed amounts with the three men, but it did not make those numbers public.
The total $31.3 million cost of those settlements was quietly published this month in the government’s public accounts. An even split of the settlement would work out to just over $10 million each.
That’s nearly the same as the reported $10.5 million settlement given to former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr.
Conservative MP Peter Kent said the settlements for the men imprisoned in Syria are proof that Khadr received too much money.
"I think most Canadians would agree that the settlement amount that they are receiving should be significantly higher than what Mr. Khadr got, and underlines the fact he was paid far too much," Kent said.
The Liberals blame the size of the settlements, in part, on inaction by the former Conservative government.
“Delay is always expensive,” Goodale said in Ottawa.
The government similarly paid $10.5 million to compensate Maher Arar, who was taken to Syria and imprisoned in torture, in part because of false information provided by the RCMP.
Maher was paid another $1 million to cover legal fees. He received his settlement in 2007.
A 2006 inquiry into Arar’s torture prompted Justice Dennis O’Connor to recommend a review of Almalki, Elmaati and Nureddin's cases.
And more settlements could be coming soon. CTV News has learned that, last week, a three-day settlement conference was scheduled in the case of Canadian citizen Abousfian Abdelrazik, who is seeking $27 million in damages related to his imprisonment in Sudan.
The Federal Court has already determined that CSIS was complicit in Abdelrazik’s initial detention.
With a report from CTV’s Senior Political Correspondent Glen McGregor and The Canadian Press
