Opposition encourages detainee whistle-blowers

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Opposition MPs, angry at the Harper government's stonewalling on releasing records about Afghan detainees, are taking the unusual step of publicly urging Canada's civil servants to turn whistle-blower.

Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh said he'd like to see federal bureaucrats quietly forwarding evidence of wrongdoing to opposition MPs.

"I use the term: ethical leaking. I am not encouraging lawlessness," Mr. Dosanjh said.

Bloc Québécois defence critic Claude Bachand said federal officials worried about "transfer-to-torture" allegations raised by Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin must act.

"People who have a conscience and find this is not right - it's time for them to say it's not right," the Bloc MP told reporters in Ottawa.

The Conservative government has resisted opposition requests to divulge uncensored versions of reports written by Mr. Colvin, the foreign service officer at the centre of an unfolding controversy over whether Canada turned a blind eye to allegations of torture when handing prisoners to Afghan authorities.

Government rules on whistle-blowing, however, warn civil servants they should bring concerns to supervisors. They say those leaking directly to the public are protected from punishment only if there wasn't enough time to follow legislated disclosure rules "and you believe that there has been a serious breach of federal or provincial laws, or an imminent risk to the life, health and safety of persons or the environment."

The Tories have also refused requests from an opposition-dominated parliamentary committee to turn over a slew of other documents related to Canada's transfer of prisoners to Afghans. Mr. Colvin's testimony last month alleged that all detainees handed over in 2006 and early 2007 were likely tortured, even though, he said, many were innocent. He told MPs that higher-ups began censoring his reports from Afghanistan in mid-2007.

Opposition MPs say the Conservatives should respect parliamentary privilege and give a committee probing Mr. Colvin's allegations the information it needs. The government, however, has in effect said that national security concerns outweigh this privilege.

Mr. Dosanjh charged that the Tories have created "an environment of darkness, secrecy and fear." He said that's why MPs are appealing directly to civil servants. "There is a larger public interest than simply following the whims and the wishes of the government - a larger public interest in ethical disclosure."

The Liberal MP estimated there must be hundreds of people who received the Colvin e-mails as well as other, later communications on detainees.

"There are at least 300 to 400 people in Ottawa and in Afghanistan and elsewhere who have been privy to these messages and notes and e-mails," he said. "If they believe their disclosure can actually lead to the truth being discovered, please help."

Defence Minister Peter MacKay insisted yesterday that the Tories have no role in censoring documents or choosing what to withhold, saying this is left to civil servants who are withholding information for reasons of national security.

"Decisions around redaction or editing … are not taken by politicians or ministers," Mr. MacKay told a Commons committee. "[They]are taken at an arm's length level by officials with national security clearance."

The Tories have, as well, rejected calls for a broader public inquiry into the Colvin allegations and Afghan prisoners, and have frustrated efforts by the Military Police Complaints Commission to investigate.

NDP defence critic Jack Harris said he would prefer that the Conservative government divulge the documents as requested rather than have MPs calling on public servants to start sending secrets in brown envelopes to the Commons.

"It should not come to this. If we're at that level of dissatisfaction, then there has to be a public inquiry."