Commons committee opens prisoner torture investigation
A special House of Commons committee will conduct a wide-ranging investigation into the handling of Afghan prisoners -- including whether senior officials knew about the risk of torture in Kandahar jails and whether there was an attempted coverup.
The Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois teamed up Wednesday behind closed doors to launch the probe, which will see key witnesses called to testify.
Those witnesses are expected to include cabinet ministers, senior federal officials, military commanders, former defence chief general Rick Hillier and Richard Colvin, the Canadian diplomat who warned of possible torture.
A majority government would be able to block this but the Conservatives can't stop a united opposition if they're determined to pursue an investigation. Works for me.
The story specifically mentions that the committee isn't investigating uniformed soldiers which frees it from the concerns that have shut down the MPCC inquiry. That was put on hold indefinitely because the government is holding up documents that individual MPs (the military kind) need for their defence.
Here's hoping Kady O'Malley keeps her thumbs limber though some of the proceedings may be in camera.
Well, this should be interesting.
I'm glad to see our committees getting media attention. People need to know that they're much more interesting to follow that is, eg, the circus of QP. More CPAC in committee, too. (Actually, I'll go to check that out.)
I heard Kady on CBC radio yesterday, though I forget what she was talking about. But the extra exposure can't hurt.