Canada had role in torture of its nationals: probe

Canadian officials played an “indirect” role in the wrongful jailing and torture of three Canadian nationals in Syria and Egypt, an inquiry said Tuesday.

The probe, led by retired Supreme Court judge Frank Iacobucci, began in March behind closed doors to determine if the trio was mistreated abroad and whether Canadian authorities shared intelligence with their counterparts in these countries, as alleged.

Iacobucci found that Canadian officials did not have direct responsibility for detention or abuse “that amounted to torture, as that term is defined in the UN Convention Against Torture,” said a statement announcing release of the report.

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But he found “that mistreatment resulted indirectly” from various actions taken by Canadian intelligence agencies and the federal police.

Canadians Ahmad El Maati, Abdullah Almalki and Muayyed Nureddin, born in Kuwait, Syria and Iraq respectively, were arrested by Syrian Military Intelligence during trips abroad from 2001 to 2004, suspected of Al-Qaeda links.

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El Maati said he was later transferred to Egyptian custody.

Each claimed upon return to Canada that he had been tortured, and that Canadian security officials had supplied their captors with intelligence and questions to pose the detainees.