Canada loses track of Afghan detainees

The three detainees at the heart of multiple probes into allegations of abuse by Canadian soldiers have disappeared while in Afghan custody, a seemingly grave breach of the Canada-Afghan pact on detainee treatment. That poses significant challenges for the criminal probe and raises new doubts about government assurances that all detainees are properly treated and accounted for. Major Robert Bell, senior operations officer for the Canadian National Investigation Service (NIS), said that NIS investigators have been unable to determine what happened to the three men, but said they are still working on the case. When asked to confirm information that Military Police have been unable to find the three men Canadian troops handed over to Afghan National Police in April 2006, Major Bell said: "No we haven't." For almost a month, the NIS criminal investigation has been trying to locate the three prisoners as part of its investigation into allegations that detainees were physically abused by Canadian soldiers before being handed over. Possible explanations for their disappearance run the gamut from inept prison record-keeping by Afghan guards to undocumented release–commonplace in Afghanistan and often accompanied by payment of bribes–to torture or even killing, a fate repeatedly documented by numerous human rights groups. Unlike the Dutch, British and Danish detainee-transfer agreements, Canada has no right of follow-up to make sure detainees it hands over are humanely treated or–of equal concern–set free to rejoin Taliban units.