November 29, 2010

The Canadian Forces in Afghanistan have for at least four years captured children accused of co-operating with the Taliban and transferred them to a local security unit suspected of torture, according to CBC News.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay was alerted to the issue by a secret briefing note, which the CBC obtained through access-to-information laws.

Dated March 30, 2010, the document is marked secret (for Canadian eyes only) and explains the pending addition of a fifth facility, this time for children, to the public list of prisons where Canadian-transferred detainees might be held.

It says the Canadian Forces have been arresting Afghan children since at least 2006 and that some of those children were transferred to Afghan custody. The number of juveniles detained and transferred and the number eventually released have all been blacked out.

"This may draw attention to the role of juveniles in the Afghan conflict," the briefing note warns.

Parliament was consumed last fall with allegations that Canadian soldiers had picked up suspected Afghan militants and handed them over to Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security, a unit accused of torturing prisoners.

The briefing note was spawned, in part, by the Afghan government's decision to begin holding children in the Kandahar Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre. A "change in policy" and construction at the notorious Sarpoza prison, prompted the change, according to the briefing note.

Underage detainees had previously been held in a separate wing at Sarpoza.

The CBC reported that although the briefing note said it was "likely" the government would add the new facility to its website, that did not happen until Oct. 28 – the same day the CBC received the document.