E.R. Campbell said:
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As to the rumoured reason for the prorogation, the Afghanistan detainee issue, I repeat: we need a public inquiry that asks how we got into this detainee pickle, starting back in 2002. Blame, such as there is, needs to be laid at the feet of all those who made decisions that may have put Canadian soldiers and leaders in a legally untenable situation. Those key decisions were made in 2002 and 2005 – by Liberals. Bring on the inquiry!
Here is the speech I would like Stephen Harper to give later this month or during the first week or so of February:
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Ladies and Gentlemen;
As we – all Canadians – bask in the glow of the accomplishments of our armed forces personnel in the recent Haitian crisis it is worth remembering that they are not without their critics.
During the last session of parliament and during this recess several prominent Canadians, including elected member of parliament, former cabinet ministers amongst them, have suggested – quite explicitly – that Canadian soldiers and their leaders are war criminals. You may recall retired Lieutenant General Michel Gauthier’s
crie de cour to a parliamentary committee about the shock he and his wife felt when they saw, on nation wide television, a member of parliament, not a member of
my party, I assure you, accuse him of just that: being a war criminal.
First: let me admit, straight off, that my government did not handle this issue as well as we could have and should have. We did, eventually, reform the detainee custody system we inherited from Messers Chrétien and Martin but it took too long. Right off the top: we did not fully understand the issue – we learned, but, throughout 2006, we were preoccupied with other issues, including other issues related to Afghanistan. That’s not an excuse but it is what happened. We misunderstood what the system we inherited from Messers Chrétien and Martin did and did not do for us. Even y experienced and knowledgeable defence minister, who probably understood this issue better than anyone at the cabinet table, was unsure of the details of, for example, Red Cross reporting. That’s not an excuse, either, but, again, it is what happened at the time. We made mistakes; we corrected our mistakes; we took responsibility and blame; we never tried to blame our soldiers and the military leaders; we never called our general – who have devoted their whole adult lives to the service of their country – war criminals.
Second: The charge, which I regard as scurrilous, has been levied, and people of good will and people of ill will, too, can and will exploit it. Some people will want to haul someone like retired Lieutenant General Gauthier in front of an international war crimes tribunal – and they might get away with that if we, Canada, do not take action to investigate the issue thoroughly, properly and openly.
To that end: I intend to convene a Royal Commission on Canadian Responsibilities for the Handling of Detainees in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2008. I will ask an eminent Canadian jurist to lead this commission; one member will be a judge lawyer with significant international military law experience – especially related to e.g. the Geneva Conventions; another will be a Canadian judge or lawyer with considerable experience in human rights law.
Their mandate will be:
1. Tell us how we got into this mess and, by so doing, tell us how to avoid getting into it again; and
2. Tell us how our political, bureaucratic, operational and legal procedures might be strengthened so that Canadian soldiers are not faced with bad choices in the future.
I will waive cabinet confidentiality for this Royal Commission but it may, almost certainly will, have to consider
some evidence
in camera so that classified and privileged information is not made public. But, in the main, I will expect the Commission to work in the open. My ministers and officials will all testify fully and I will expect former ministers officials to do the same. The Commission will have the power to compel testimony.
The Royal Commission will be able to find fault, if there is some, and lay blame, if blame is warranted, and then, if necessary, Crown Prosecutors may take action based on its findings.
At the end of this process, which will be difficult for some, Canadians will be able to be assured that their military will always act within the spirit and letter of international humanitarian law and, if it does not, those individuals who fail in their duty - soldiers, bureaucrats or politicians - will be called to the bar of justice.
We need to do this. As I said, some politicians and other public figutes have said that our military personnel are war criminals. Of course, I do not believe that, but some will and it is, therefore, the duty of the Government of Canada to investigate and to give our military members a full chance to clear their good names and, also, to prove to the world that we can and will investigate and deal with such accusations here in Canada, on our own.
After consultations with the appropriate officials I look forward to naming the Commission before parliament resumes sitting in March.
Thank you for your attention.
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We need to allow our military members to clear their names of these odious charges, leveled by shameless politicians and we need to assign the blame where it belongs: with the governments of the day that made the various and sundry poor decisions.
’Allo M. Chrétien!, Mister Martin: pay attention, Sir!
