Since we're now only days away from the resumption of parliament, this would be the perfect time for something to happen to get everyone thinking again about the treatment of Afghan detainees and the government's endless attempts to stonewall on the issue. And right on cue, the acting chair of the Military Police Complaints Commission has decided not to wait for the government to get around to naming a replacement for the previous chair, Peter Tinsley. Former Windsor police chief Glenn Stannard has named himself to take Tinsley's place on the Hearing Panel and is notifying the interested parties concerning the resumption of hearings. Works for me. Kady O'Malley brings us the news and has a copy of the letter from the Lead Counsel making the announcement.
Timing is everything (I've heard that somewhere before)
Well, isn't that something. Well done, Mr Stannard.
Does anyone know anything Mr. Stannard? He had been a member of the MPCC - but beyond that I have never heard of him.
He is in a position to do some good work - but that means he is in a position to do some terrible wreaking of honest efforts already done.
He was appointed by Peter McKay - one of those with most to lose if things point to him as being derelict in his tasks.
(Sorry to be cynical - but caution in this is not wasted.)
It seems to me that if he wanted to obstruct, Stannard could have claimed that since he's only acting in the position of chair it behooved him to just keep the seat warm until a replacement for Tinsley was named. So I'm cautiously optimistic that this is a good sign.
Let's hold a good thought. Even though it seems unlikely in these modern times, good may yet triumph over evil.
Well, less worse may triumph over evil.
Fiat justitia ruat caelum.
Hopefully Mr. Stannard proves to take his duties seriously enough that he doesn't bend to the inevitable political pressure that's going to be put on him in the coming weeks.
This seems like a positive development. Unfortunately, the scope of the MPCC is fairly limited and does not encompass anywhere near the entirety of Canada's detainee problems. If the MPCC can draw some attention to abuses and can help spur a wider inquiry, that will be a step in the right direction.
What I find missing in most discussion of the detainee issue is the fact that abuse is not something that happened a few years ago and was dealt with. The NGO witnesses who appeared before the Commons Afghanistan Committee just before Christmas informed the committee that the current agreement is not working. Detainees are still be handed over to be tortured and abused. Monitoring and oversight is not being allowed, even to the watered down extent afforded by the current agreement.
Anyone who thinks the Afghans (and Americans) have abandoned their abusive practices is living in the same fantasy world that allowed us to start handing over detainees from the get-go. Witness after witness has said that everybody knew the detainees were facing torture. Everybody knows they still face torture. There were no excuses then and there are no excuses now.
JB