Close X
Sunday, January 12, 2025
ADVT 
National

National Defence Delay On Torture Directive Delay Suggests Internal Challenges

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 21 Jun, 2015 01:12 PM
    OTTAWA — The Defence Department has spent four years drafting a directive on foreign information-sharing — an ongoing delay that points to internal difficulties fleshing out a federal policy many have condemned as condoning torture.
     
    National Defence is one of five federal agencies covered by a 2010 government framework policy that allows officials to seek and share information from foreign partners, even when it may put someone at risk of brutal treatment.
     
    The Canadian Press reported last month that Defence was refusing to share the full text of a draft ministerial directive intended to spell out how the military would put the framework policy into practice.
     
    The department now says that's because it is still working on the directive — a process that began as early as 2011.
     
    Efforts continue even though memos from April 2013 show the chief of the defence staff, Tom Lawson, and then-deputy minister Robert Fonberg presented the draft directive to Peter MacKay, defence minister at the time, recommending MacKay approve it.  
     
    The federal policy on foreign information-sharing has drawn sharp criticism from human rights advocates and opposition MPs who say it effectively supports torture, contrary to international law and Canada's United Nations commitments.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Kamloops Woman Finds Dead Bear In Shower Curtain While Walking Home

    Kamloops Woman Finds Dead Bear In Shower Curtain While Walking Home
    Conservation officers are investigating the case of a dead bear that was apparently shot before being wrapped in a shower curtain and dumped in an alley in Kamloops, B.C.

    Kamloops Woman Finds Dead Bear In Shower Curtain While Walking Home

    Surrey Men Convicted Of Killing Six People Say Cells Covered In Feces, Blood

    Surrey Men Convicted Of Killing Six People Say Cells Covered In Feces, Blood
    Two men convicted of first-degree murder in a mass execution that left six people dead are suing the British Columbia government for their alleged mistreatment in prison.

    Surrey Men Convicted Of Killing Six People Say Cells Covered In Feces, Blood

    Walk Off The Earth Singer Sarah Blackwood Booted From United Airlines Plane Due To Fussy Toddler

    Walk Off The Earth Singer Sarah Blackwood Booted From United Airlines Plane Due To Fussy Toddler
    TORONTO — Walk Off the Earth singer Sarah Blackwood says she wants compensation and an apology after being kicked off a United Airlines flight because her young child was being fussy.

    Walk Off The Earth Singer Sarah Blackwood Booted From United Airlines Plane Due To Fussy Toddler

    Increase In Drug Spending Hits 40 Year Low But Expected To Rebound Soon: Report

    Increase In Drug Spending Hits 40 Year Low But Expected To Rebound Soon: Report
    TORONTO — A new report says the amount of money Canadians spent on prescription drugs last year rose a mere 0.9 per cent, the lowest increase since statistics on drug spending were first measured in 1975.

    Increase In Drug Spending Hits 40 Year Low But Expected To Rebound Soon: Report

    Five Things To Know About This Year's Wildfire Season In Western Canada

    Five Things To Know About This Year's Wildfire Season In Western Canada
    VANCOUVER — Five things to know about the 2015 wildfire season expected in Western Canada:

    Five Things To Know About This Year's Wildfire Season In Western Canada

    B.C. Terror Trial Enters Third Day Of Closing Submissions Into Alleged Bomb Plot

    B.C. Terror Trial Enters Third Day Of Closing Submissions Into Alleged Bomb Plot
    VANCOUVER — A B.C. court has heard that two accused terrorists had a simple objective when they planted bombs at the legislature on Canada Day 2013 — they wanted to blow people up.

    B.C. Terror Trial Enters Third Day Of Closing Submissions Into Alleged Bomb Plot