Original author: Canadian Press (CP)
Source: CTV.CA
URL: [link]
Date: April 14, 2005

TORONTO - Governments that deport suspected terrorists to countries known to torture detainees are either breathtakingly naive or complicit in the abuse if they rely on promises of humane treatment, a new report concludes.

The report, by the non-partisan organization Human Rights Watch, says Western nations, including Canada, are increasingly turning to hollow diplomatic assurances of fair treatment from suspect governments.

"Countries that rely on such assurances are either engaging in wishful thinking or using the assurances as a fig leaf to cover their complicity in torture,'' concludes the report, to be officially released Friday.

"Diplomatic assurances do not and cannot prevent torture.''The 95-page report says an increasing number of Western governments have sent, or propose to send, terrorist suspects to countries where torture is systemic.

The report raps the United States hard, but also devotes a whole section to Canada.

"The Canadian government has openly acknowledged that some persons subject to (national) security certificates would be at risk of torture or ill-treatment upon return,'' the report says.

Reliance on diplomatic assurances is also becoming "increasingly routine'' in cases where refugee claimants are denied asylum in Canada, the report concludes.

"Canada is at a crossroads,'' said Julia Hall, a lawyer with Human Rights Watch.

"The government must decide whether to uphold the international ban on torture or whether to join an exclusive club of states that flout their obligations to prevent and eradicate torture worldwide.''

The report cites the notorious case of Canadian citizen Maher Arar, who was deported to Syria by the United States in 2002 while travelling home to Canada.

Washington claims to have received assurances from Damascus that Arar would not be ill-treated.

But after being released without charge 10 months after the arrest, Arar said he was tortured repeatedly, often with cables and electrical cords.

"There is an increasing number of cases in which allegations of torture are emerging after individuals are returned based on such assurances,'' the report finds.

"It defies common sense to presume that a government that routinely flouts its obligations under international law can be trusted to respect those obligations in an isolated case.''

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