Stop intimidating detainee abuse witnesses

OTTAWA - Coordinated messages sent out Friday by the departments of Foreign Affairs and National Defence show that they are exerting clear political pressure on government witnesses who will appear Wednesday before the House of Commons committee examining the torture of Afghan detainees, say New Democrats.

"Stop intimidating witnesses to toe the government line," said New Democrat Foreign Affairs critic Paul Dewar (Ottawa Centre). "The government is tainting the integrity of the committee hearings."

Late Friday evening, the two departments issued separate messages stating that future witnesses at the Afghanistan committee "will provide important context and information about this issue."

Last week's explosive testimony by diplomat Richard Colvin on the cover-up of torture of Afghan detainees led to a fierce attack from the Harper Conservatives on the reputation of Mr. Colvin, who currently holds a sensitive position on intelligence in the Canadian Embassy in Washington.

The message issued by the departments is clearly coming from their political masters. In recent media interviews, Laurie Hawn, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence, stated: "I put a lot more faith in the credibility of military leadership... than somebody like Mr. Colvin, who has a reputation for believing anything he's told."

"How does Mr. Hawn know what the military leadership will say at the committee hearings? How can he be so sure that the military witnesses will attack Mr. Colvin's evidence rather than corroborating it?" asked New Democrat Defence Critic Jack Harris (St. John's East). "This just underscores the need for an impartial public inquiry headed by a judge rather than watching the government members turn the committee hearings into some kind of kangaroo court".