OTTAWA — An NDP MP wants new laws to ensure Canadian officials don’t participate in or enable torture abroad.
NDP human rights critic Wayne Marston introduced legislation Monday making it a criminal offence to use information known to be derived from torture.
His private members’ bill will prohibit Canadian officials from “handing over prisoners to be tortured at home or abroad” and tries to force the immediate repatriation of Canadians overseas who are at risk of torture.
International law already prevents officials from engaging in or knowingly handing over prisoners to torture. Opposition MPs continue to hammer the Conservative government on the Afghan detainee scandal based on those legal obligations.
“It seems to me that (this bill) is duplicating what already exists, both internationally and nationally,” said retired Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie, adding he worries the bill is being used for “political brownie points.”
Soldiers are briefed before leaving for combat and lawyers now regularly advise commanding officers in theatres of war, MacKenzie said.
But Paul Champ, lawyer for Amnesty International and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said Marston’s bill fixes a “loophole” obvious when the Canadian government argues domestic laws don’t apply to places such as Afghanistan’s battlefield.
“When there is a legal vacuum, that is when abuses occur,” he said.
althia.raj@sunmedia.ca
