Torture awareness manual "wrongly" lists Canadian allies, to be rewritten; Bernier

Source: Canadian Press

OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier says a department training manual that lists the U.S. and Guantanamo Bay as sites of possible torture does not convey the government's views or position.

In a statement, Bernier says he regrets the embarrassment caused by the public disclosure of the manual, adding that it contains a list that "wrongly" includes some of Canada's closet allies.

Bernier says the manual is neither a policy document, nor a statement of policy, and that he has directed it to be reviewed and rewritten.

Along with the U.S. prison camp in Cuba and the United States, the list includes Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Mexico and Syria.

Read more: http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hPm9hw5NT3V2xiOQHqZhhrmcEJJA

---

I knew when the news came out that it was some honesty performed by some beaurocrat, and that the government would ham-handedly jump in and get it changed.

Canada is currently suffering from the exact same brand of neo-con rightwing idiocy that the US is.

Our Conservative government thinks Bush and his administration are to be admired, and I'm sure they have been on the phone apologizing all week.

Torture? The USA? Come on, Stephen Harper had a "Bush '04" poster in his office before the last election. His only regret is that he doesn't have his own Guantanamo Bay.

and stumble over itself apologizing for how much it had embarrassed its good friend the USA.

Sadly, they were right.

It was no great feat of insight; our asshat prime minister Steve the Ape (as in he who apes the chimp) is nothing but a lickspittle for Chimpy and Cabal. Only surprise is that it took a few days. I was expecting five minutes at most. :grr:

Look for someone to get fired next.

"the manual is neither a policy document, nor a statement of policy". The government's policy is that the earth is flat, therefore they directed that the manual be rewritten. Policy trumps fact.

The rewrite of the manual should consist of inserting "The Conservative government's policy is that the US does not torture, however ..."

from being the nightmare that is the United States. This time I am watching it eyes wide open. Peace, Kim

The populace didn't vote for him, he got in with less than 30% of the vote because of a four-way split in first-past-the-post. The only reason that he's stayed in office this long is because it's political suicide to call for an election so soon after the last.

He won because the last four governments have been so scandal-ridden and disorganized that the only other remotely viable choice would have been the near-Communist NDP. Jean Chretien and Paul Martin shot themselves and their party in the face so badly that the Liberal party is lying dead on the side of the road, and it doesn't help that Stephane Dion is so lackluster that it hurts.

Make no mistake, Harper didn't win because people liked him. He won because there was no credible national alternative.

Something that WAS bad/waste of money by the Chretien gov't was used to apply a broad-brush accusation of "corruption" against all Liberals. It was a despicable display of media complacency.

If not for the sponsorship scandel (and the bs RCMP investigation into the income trust thing) the Harper CONservatives would never have sneaked in.

Now that they're in, it's been a pathetic display, but all designed to win them more seats in the next election.

it would have been something like the billion-dollar HR boondoggle, the billions Martin poured into off-the-books, non-auditable "foundations", Chretien's self-enriching golf-course loan swindle, Spraypec, Chretien personally strangling protestors on camera, and the list goes on. Even the local party branches come up with stories of money theft and vote rigging. The December leadership convention was an exercise in shame.

In the Conservative case, you have rednecks galore, Brian Mulroney and NAFTA, broken promises of transparency and electoral reform, the mixing of Evangelicals and politics, and leaders who so actively frightened the electorate that the party had to dredge up Joe Clark from twenty years ago. Combine that with party-switching right after elections and nominating unelected Senators to serve in the cabinet...

Both national parties are in serious need of gutting and rebuilding. They're like rotting fish - you can smell the stink for miles.





"It was a despicable display of media complacency."
Dude, they were handing brown envelopes of cash to each other in the men's room of an Italian restaurant. They didn't need the media to sink themselves.

You have some strange opinions of things that occurred in Canada.

Maybe you're being sarcastic and I'm not getting it, but many of the things you list should/would not be listed as legitimate reasons for voters to have not voted for the Canadian Liberals.

It was sponsorship, and the income trust. If those things didn't exist, we'd have PM Paul Martin now, period.

Born and raised in Southern Ontario, lived there up until recently.

Not legitimate reasons? The fact that the government routinely couldn't account for billions of dollars spent on things like the gun registry, "foundations", or the HR scandal? Republicans are condemned here every day for missing billions that just up and walk away, as reasons not to vote for them. That would be an incredible double standard to disregard missing money just because of who did it.

Paul Martin wasn't an angel, nor a savior. Regardless of "could have, should have, would have" and when push came to shove, he lost a majority government and became the opposition. That's incompetence at best.

Ok.

I think what we have here is an NDP voter engaging in anti-Liberal dishonesty. Correct?

Your boy Layton spent ALL his time last election going after Liberals. I don't fault him for that, but let's be honest about it. He did it because he considered that to be the source of votes for the NDP. What I do fault him for is opting to leave the Conservatives largely alone. That was a move that made me lose respect for the NDP party.

As someone who began planning to move from the US to Canada in 2003 (and moved in 2005), I can say with certainty that Canada is a LONG WAY from being anything like the US.

It is not a perfect country -- since it is run by humans -- and we should be on the watch for moves to the right, but saying Canada is one slippery step from being the US is wildly inaccurate and shows an ignorance of what is going on in both Canada and the US.

One thing I find amazing is that Asshat Harper is actually *to the left* of Hillary Clinton and other US Dems on many issues.

They were right in the first place. What does the US threaten other countries with that they about piss their pants to back peddle like this?

Steven Harper has a buttcrack tattoo of George's a$$ right down the middle of his face. Doesn't surprise me that they are falling over backwards to distance themselves from this assessment. Harper idolizes Bush....scary but true.

TORONTO (AP) - Under pressure from its closest ally, Canada's foreign ministry said Saturday that it will rewrite a training manual used by Canadian diplomats that lists the United States as a site of possible torture.

The department document, released Friday, singled out the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay. It also names Israel, Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Syria as places where inmates could face torture ...

«It contains a list that wrongly includes some of our closest allies. I have directed that the manual be reviewed and rewritten. The manual is neither a policy document nor a statement of policy. As such, it does not convey the government's views or positions,» the statement added ...

«It was commendable to see that manual, which seemed to include an important section that was an objective assessment of human rights concerns around the world,» said <Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International>. «To see that now be undermined by concerns about embarrassing allies is very disappointing ...

http://www.pr-inside.com/canada-will-rewrite-manual-that-named-r395223.htm

Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, January 18, 2008

OTTAWA -- Ottawa lawyer Paul Champ, who is representing Amnesty in its Afghan detainee case, said the torture presentation was the only document that Justice Department lawyers gave him in response to a subpoena for evidence in the lawsuit.

All other documents were withheld under national-security provisions, but within hours of the Foreign Affairs document being released to him, Justice lawyers asked for it back.

"They said it was a mistake," said Champ.

Champ said the document could prove valuable for the lawyers for Omar Khadr, the 21-year-old Canadian held at Guantamamo Bay for the past five years ...

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=413f7095-5d22-4c69-a170-466e1fff5982

Source: NY Times

OTTAWA — The Canadian minister of foreign affairs, Maxime Bernier, said Saturday that he had ordered officials to rewrite an internal government manual that listed the United States among countries that potentially torture or abuse prisoners.

“I regret the embarrassment caused by the public disclosure of the manual used in the department’s torture awareness training,” Mr. Bernier said in a statement. “It contains a list that wrongly includes some of our closest allies. I have directed that the manual be reviewed and rewritten.”

The United States government has repeatedly said that it does not torture prisoners, an assurance that has been accepted by Canada’s Conservative government.

Although the Department of Foreign Affairs would not specify which countries would be removed from the list, the United States is a close ally and had complained to Canada about its inclusion.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/world/americas/20canada.html?ref=world

Seems pretty clear to me as does "The United States government has repeatedly said that it does not torture prisoners, an assurance that has been accepted by Canada’s Conservative government."

Why else would anyone on earth accept "assurances" from BushCo?

Didn't they learn from us? Or have their elections been stolen too?

The US government lies and the Canadian government is behaving cowardly.

For seven years now, America has confronted the world wearing the snarling, evil face of cheney, a profoundly un-American war criminal, and of bush, a feckless fool. When Canada turns on us, we've gone too far!

The people of America are (for the most part) much, much better than the sociopathic monster and his child-king that we have foolishly allowed to "lead" us into one disaster after another.

We will show our disgust in November. I sure wouldn't want to be a Republican politician this year!

I'm a little shocked it took me over five years to finally respond to a topic here on DU... but here goes.

Some low-level bureaucratic writer is going to lose his job because he wrote the truth. Everyone knows it, no one can deny it with a straight face. The US government along with others condones and encourages the torture of "detainees" to extract information. Despite the fact that over and over again studies have shown that torture is not an effective tool. I'm lazy and or stupid so someone with more savy can surely find a link to one of these studies.

It boggles my mind that a country where democratic socialism originated is now bending so far backward to appease high-minded sadists. As a quiet yet concerned Canadian, we really need to stop voting on one issue. Harper won because of his "tough-stance" on crime for some and his opposition to gun control for others... we need to stop looking at one issue and what's important to us as an individual and look at what's good for the country and the human race.

Sorry for that rant, I've been holding it in for awhile. I'm sure you in the states need to look at your presidential hopefuls on more than one issue too. Everyone got something to offer but who does the best for the most? Heck, maybe someone in your media could ask those running what they think of being added to a Canadian document listing them as potential torturers?