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Last update - 00:00 01/01/2008
Canada takes close allies U.S., Israel off torture watchlist
By News Agencies
Tags: Canada, U.S., Omar Khadr 

Canada's foreign ministry, responding to pressure from close allies, said on Saturday it would remove the United States and Israel from a watch list of countries where prisoners risk being tortured.

Both nations expressed unhappiness after it emerged that they had been listed in a document that formed part of a training course manual on torture awareness given to Canadian diplomats.

Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier said he regretted the embarrassment caused by the public disclosure of the manual, which also classified some U.S. interrogation techniques as torture.
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"It contains a list that wrongly includes some of our closest allies. I have directed that the manual be reviewed and rewritten," Bernier said in a statement.

"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 document - made available to media outlets - embarrassed the minority Conservative government, which is a close ally of both the United States and Israel.

"We find it to be offensive for us to be on the same list with countries like Iran and China. Quite frankly it's absurd," U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins told The Associated Press. "For us to be on a list like that is just ridiculous."

He said the U.S. does not authorize or condone torture. "We think it should be removed and we've made that request. We have voiced our opinion very forcefully," Wilkins said.

A spokesman at the Israeli embassy said Israel forbids torture.
"Israel's Supreme Court is on record as expressly prohibiting any type of torture. If Israel is included in the list in question, the ambassador of Israel would expect its removal," spokesman Michael Mendel said.

Asked why the two countries had been put on the list, a spokesman for Bernier said: "The training manual purposely raised public issues to stimulate discussion and debate in the classroom."

The government inadvertently released the manual to lawyers for Amnesty International who are working on a lawsuit involving alleged abuse of Afghan detainees by local Afghan authorities, after the detainees were handed over by Canadian troops.

No one from Amnesty was immediately available for comment.

Under "definition of torture" the document lists U.S. interrogation techniques such as forced nudity, isolation, sleep deprivation and blindfolding prisoners.

It also mentions the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where a Canadian man is being held.

The man, Omar Khadr, has been in Guantanamo Bay for five years. He is accused of killing a U.S. soldier during a clash in Afghanistan in 2002, when he was 15. Canada has long publicly said it accepts U.S. assurances that Khadr is being treated humanely.

One of Khadr's lawyers, Dennis Edney, said the document shows Canada says one thing publicly but believes something else privately.

"Canada was well aware that Omar Khadr's allegations of being tortured had a ring of truth to it. Canada has not once raised the protection of Omar Khadr when there are such serious allegations," Edney said. "What does that say to you about Canada's commitment to the rule of law and human rights. It talks on both sides of its face."

Other countries on the watch list include Syria, China, Iran, Afghanistan, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.

The foreign ministry launched the torture awareness course after Ottawa was rapped for the way it handled the case of Canadian engineer Maher Arar, who was deported from the United States to Syria in 2002.

Arar says he was tortured repeatedly during the year he spent in Damascus prisons. An official inquiry into the affair showed Canadian diplomats had not been trained to detect whether detainees might have been abused.


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      1.   Israel does not Torture JEWS. Everyone else should worry though.. 00:40  |  POP 01/01/08
      2.   Israel & the US: Friends forever 00:48  |  American 01/01/08
      3.   Canadian Human Rights 00:03  |  Andrew 01/01/08
      4.   This is old news here in Canada.... 00:13  |  POP 01/01/08
      5.   Israel does not torture. Just kills`em all 00:33  |  Ian 01/01/08
      6.   Oh noes, blindfolding!? Inhuman! 00:03  |  Jim 01/01/08
      7.   torture 00:18  |  michael 01/01/08
      8.   God bless Canadian prisons! 00:18  |  Mr. Ami Goldman 01/01/08
      9.   Canadians don`t let Prison Guards wear Body Armor 00:34  |  Efox 01/01/08
      10.   Check out what the US says about Israeli torture 00:27  |  Israel_is_Done 01/01/08
      11.   American ambassaor is right on 00:39  |  Gordon 01/01/08
      12.   it works better an israeli life saved then a terrorist laughing i 00:57  |  ralph 01/01/08
      13.   canada`s record does not speak well for itself useless judge 00:59  |  ralph 01/01/08
      14.   Canadian Prisons & Canadian Hypocits 00:25  |  Michael 01/01/08
      15.   Canada - highest rates of anti-semitism 00:24  |  SystemF 01/01/08
      16.   Canada is correct in it`s assessment of Israel 00:38  |  Chris Linthwaite 01/01/08
      17.   #9 Fox 00:43  |  Chris Linthwaite 01/01/08
      18.   Israeli torture no secret 00:50  |  Doris 01/01/08
      19.   http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78854.htm 00:54  |  Samantha 01/01/08
      20.   #15 SystemF 00:55  |  Paul Wood 01/01/08
      21.   torture vs terrorism 00:15  |  Doris Cadigan 01/01/08
      22.   Canada`s Confusion: Waterboardings vs Beheadings! 00:21  |  Lavi 01/01/08
      23.   OH CANADA ! 00:36  |  ottomatik 01/01/08
      24.   Waterboarding is torture. 00:38  |  Michael 01/01/08
      25.   on the list,off the list 00:41  |  Trudy 01/01/08
      26.   # 23 ottomatik....I KNOW some Canadian Indians 00:59  |  Lynn 01/01/08
      27.   I am Canadian and I am ashamed. 00:34  |  peacelover 01/01/08
      28.   P.S.: Israel doesn`t torture? That`s a good one. 00:38  |  peacelover 01/01/08
      29.   MICHAEL IN JERUSALEM 00:48  |  jpudentain 01/01/08
      30.   Canada 00:48  |  Williams 01/01/08
      31.   bernier now in retreat over torture by close 00:18  |  bozhidarevski 01/01/08
      32.   Guilty as charged and proud of it-yes to torture Arab Terrorists! 00:25  |  Genuine Tosefta 01/01/08
      33.   Wrong reasons? 00:37  |  jjvanka 01/01/08
      34.   Reading the classics instructs 00:58  |  nimportequi 01/01/08
      35.   This is a joke, right? Read for yourself: 00:14  |  www.kibush.co.il 01/01/08
      36.   What is truth? 00:22  |  Clickfool 01/01/08
      37.   #1 POP 00:43  |  Hilda 01/01/08
      38.   WHAT Do they say about the 50+ nations of the religion of peace 00:46  |  PETER SM 01/01/08
      39.   Great News, NO torture in Israel 00:54  |  Nathan Reed 01/01/08
      40.   Is Canada a free country? 00:55  |  Jimmy 01/01/08
      41.   Chris Linthaite 00:59  |  Hilda 01/01/08
      42.   POP CAN`T read " Israel off torture watchlist" 00:05  |  PETER SM 01/01/08
      43.   Israel and truth 00:37  |  Margaret 01/01/08
      44.   Torture is inhumane...insignificant in collecting Intel either.. 00:03  |  absolute Sweden 01/01/08
      45.   Israel is not ally of Canada 00:29  |  Ian 01/01/08
      46.   Obvious that the Canadian poodle Harper pressured his own 00:46  |  lakshmi 01/01/08
      47.   animal rights 00:51  |  max 01/01/08
      48.   POOP: Your Posts Are Torture 00:07  |  Tex 01/01/08
      49.   The Truth for Clickfool 00:09  |  Tex 01/01/08
      50.   POP= dana is not Canadian 00:16  |  Danite 01/01/08
      51.   Put Britain On The List! 00:18  |  Ruth 01/01/08
      52.   To Ian and POP....hey...that`s what you do with terrorists...KILL 00:23  |  SLAVO 01/01/08
      53.   canada takes close allies... 00:44  |  gilboy 01/01/08
      54.   You squeeze a lemon to get juice 00:04  |  * BEN JABO 01/01/08
      55.   #28 Peacelover - Canada 00:09  |  * BEN JABO 01/01/08
      56.   #4 POOP - Of course it`s "Old News" in Canada 00:11  |  * BEN JABO 01/01/08
      57.   #17 Linthwaite - Batons, an old British tactic 00:13  |  * BEN JABO 01/01/08
      58.   Apparently, while under torture, the Canadians changed 00:20  |  Mama 01/01/08
      59.   #1 POP For sure they were bought bt Jewisl Lobby 00:26  |  Yaakov Sullivan 01/01/08
      60.   # 36 Clickfool Israel and truth 00:31  |  Yaakov Sullivan 01/01/08
      61.   WHY ARE Moslem countries the Sub contractors for torture? 00:17  |  PETER SM 01/01/08
      62.   Jabo (46) 00:35  |  jjvanka 01/01/08
      63.   ottomatik 00:53  |  Danite 01/01/08
      64.   Canadian Mounties 00:05  |  Fish 01/01/08
      65.   Canadian Torture List 00:29  |  Double Logic 01/01/08
      66.   The Gov`t Still knows Israel tortures.. just a PR gesture. 00:43  |  POP 01/01/08
      67.   #56 jjvanka #46 isn`t mine 00:46  |  * BEN JABO 01/01/08
      68.   Canada regrets.... 00:01  |  ghostoflutherblisset 01/01/08
      69.   Canada is indeed a close ally of Israel and we, Israelis 00:25  |  Anat 01/01/08
      70.   Canada tortures Americans! 00:48  |  Morris Valentine 01/01/08
      71.   Right Honourable Stephen Harper - response to Lakshmi 00:24  |  Oleg 01/01/08
      72.   CANADA`S TORTURED SURRENDER 00:14  |  JOHN ISH ISHMAEL 01/01/08
      73.   Politically driven lists 00:37  |  Global 01/01/08
      74.   Jabo (67) 00:07  |  jjvanka 01/01/08
      75.   Torture 00:37  |  Moshe 01/01/08
      76.   Canada Protects it`s murderers 00:54  |  Petra 01/01/08
      77.   #74 jjvanka 00:31  |  * BEN JABO 01/01/08
      78.   #72 John Ish Ishmael 00:36  |  * BEN JABO 01/01/08
      79.   Jabo (77) 00:43  |  jjvanka 01/01/08
      80.   they dont torture....!!! 00:30  |  ravi 01/01/08
      81.   Canadian Muslim population 00:22  |  Jackie 01/01/08
      82.   #79 00:06  |  Moshe 01/01/08
      83.   #79 ijvanka 00:12  |  * BEN JABO 01/01/08
      84.   BEN JABO AND TORTURE 00:18  |  JOHN ISH ISHMAEL 01/01/08
      85.   Jackies Comment 00:33  |  Wayas Thunder 01/01/08
      86.   how ridiculous is it 00:46  |  ari kafir 01/01/09
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