Canada wanted Afghan prisoners tortured Unredacted documents show officials hoped to gather intelligence, expert says.

Unredacted documents show officials hoped to gather intelligence, expert says
Last Updated: Friday, March 5, 2010 11:44 PM ET
CBC News
University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran says Canadian officials intentionally handed over Afghan detainees to be tortured in order to gather intelligence. (CBC)
Federal government documents on Afghan detainees suggest that Canadian officials intended some prisoners to be tortured in order to gather intelligence, according to a legal expert.
If the allegation is true, such actions would constitute a war crime, said University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran, who has been digging deep into the issue and told CBC News he has seen uncensored versions of government documents released last year.
"If these documents were released [in full], what they will show is that Canada partnered deliberately with the torturers in Afghanistan for the interrogation of detainees," he said.
"There would be a question of rendition and a question of war crimes on the part of certain Canadian officials. That's what's in these documents, and that's why the government is covering up as hard as it can."
Detainee abuse became the subject of national debate last year after heavily redacted versions of the documents were made public after Attaran filed an access to information request. They revealed the Canadian military was not monitoring detainees who had been transferred from Canadian to Afghan custody. It was later alleged that some of those detainees were being mistreated.Diplomat Richard Colvin says he warned top Canadian officials as early as 2006 that Afghan detainees handed over to Afghans were subsequently being tortured. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)
Until now, the controversy has centred on whether the government turned a blind eye to abuse of Afghan detainees.
However, Attaran said the full versions of the documents show that Canada went even further in intentionally handing over prisoners to torturers.
"And it wasn't accidental; it was done for a reason," he said. "It was done so that they could be interrogated using harsher methods."
The government maintains that nothing improper happened.
"The Canadian Forces have conducted themselves with the highest performance of all countries," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the House of Commons Thursday.
But many facets of the issue remain top secret, such as the role of Canada's elite Joint Task Force 2, or JTF2. There have been hints that JTF2 might be handling so-called high-value prisoners.
"High-value targets would be detained under a completely different mechanism that involved special forces and targeted, intelligence-driven operations," Richard Colvin, a former senior diplomat with Canada's mission in Afghanistan, told a parliamentary committee last November.
Colvin claimed that all detainees transferred by Canadians to Afghan prisons were likely tortured by Afghan officials. He also said that his concerns were ignored by top government officials and that the government might have tried to cover up the issue.
Opposition parties have been trying to get the Conservative government to release the uncensored versions of the documents pertaining to the handling of Afghan detainees.Retired Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci has been asked to review whether documents pertaining to the transfer of Afghan detainees can be released to Parliament. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
The Conservatives insist that releasing uncensored files on the issue would damage national security. On Friday, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson asked former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Frank Iacobucci to review whether there would be "injurious" effects if some Afghan detainee documents were made public.
Nicholson did not give full details on Iacobucci's assignment or a timetable for when the review might be completed.
However, opposition parties said Parliament is entitled to those documents regardless of what Iacobucci decides.
"Parliament is supreme," said Ontario NDP MP Paul Dewar. "What this is, is a skate around Parliament."
Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh said the government still has many questions to answer on the subject of detainees.
"Who knew what and when, and who allowed the continuing saga of Afghan detainees being sent to a potential risk of torture?" Dosanjh said.
It's not clear whether the government will make Iacobucci's advice public. Moreover, he is not a sitting judge and can't legally rule or force the government to do anything.Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/03/05/afghan-attaran005.html#socialcomments#ixzz0hR6YpmZS

Stalling tactic!.

Ottawa calls for review of detainee documents
Last Updated: Friday, March 5, 2010 10:17 PM ET Retired Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci has been asked to review whether documents pertaining to the transfer of Afghan detainees can be released to Parliament. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
The federal government has asked a former Supreme Court of Canada judge to review whether there would be "injurious" effects if some Afghan detainee documents were made public.
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Friday in the House of Commons he was appointing Frank Iacobucci to go over documents relating to the handing over of detainees to Afghan authorities by Canadian Forces.
"In the case of injurious information, he will report to me on whether the information or a summary of it can be disclosed and report on the form of disclosure or any conditions on disclosure," Nicholson said.
He called it "an independent, comprehensive review."
Nicholson did not give full details on Iacobucci's assignment or a timetable for when the review might be completed.
“With respect to the terms and parameters, I will make those available as quickly as possible,” Nicholson said.
Opposition parties have been trying to get the Conservative government to release the documents pertaining to the handling of Afghan detainees without heavily blacked-out redactions.
The opposition wants to see if government documents contain information dealing with the risk of torture in Afghan jails for suspected Taliban fighters handed over by Canadian troops.
A special Commons committee has been investigating the issue for months and has heard that the government had clear warnings about torture, but continued to transfer detainees.
Opposition leader Michael Ignatieff said he approved of the appointment of Iacobucci, and said he hoped the respected former jurist would "be given the terms of reference necessary to do the job.”
Stalling tactic, says NDP critic
NDP MP Paul Dewar said on the surface the move appears to be a "stalling tactic" and he expressed disappointment that the government would not choose to work with other parliamentarians to determine what was and wasn't an issue of national security.
Liberal MP Derek Lee, who had been preparing a motion alleging the government has breached the privilege of Parliament by its refusal to comply to the request for the complete documents, said he didn't understand the need for an outside assessment.
“I would have thought that the government would already have people capable of determining what documents needed protection," he said.
Iacobucci is a former law professor and deputy justice minister who served on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1991 to 2004.
He also headed an inquiry into whether the detentions of El Maati, Abdullah Almalki and Muayyed Nureddin resulted from the actions of CSIS, the RCMP and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
In his report released in October 2008, Iacobucci concluded that the three men were indeed tortured.
He also said the actions of the RCMP and CSIS indirectly led to the torture of El Maati; "two actions of the RCMP" indirectly led to the torture of Almalki; and that certain instances of information sharing by CSIS and RCMP officials indirectly led to the torture of Nureddin.With files from The Canadian Press Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/03/05/nat-detainee-review.html#ixzz0hQzjphOf

Site report for www.conservative.ca

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Allstream Corp. Corporation Allstream 200 Wellington Street West 16th Floor Toronto ON CA
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17-Feb-2010
Allstream Corp. Corporation Allstream 200 Wellington Street West 16th Floor Toronto ON CA
66.46.145.120
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20-Jul-2009

Jason Kenney is a gay-basher!! himself

Immigration Minister takes 'full responsibility' for citizenship guide

Jason Kenney says he doesn't believe ‘new Canadians are potential gay-bashers' but sheds no light on who ordered same-sex rights cut from study manual
See also:
Jason Kenney on gay-rights removal: ‘I did not do such a thing'
Immigration Minister pulled gay rights from citizenship guide, documents show
Charter of Rights: Scott Brison decries 'Conservative revisionist history of Canada'

Dean Beeby
Ottawa — The Canadian Press Published on Thursday, Mar. 04, 2010 7:31PM EST
Canada's immigration minister says he takes “full responsibility” for a citizenship study guide that had all references to gay rights removed.
But Jason Kenney's response to questions in the House of Commons on Thursday shed no light on who ordered the material cut from the document – whether it was the minister himself or an aide in his office.
“I take full responsibility for the content of that document,” Mr. Kenney said after the issue was raised by opposition MPs.
Records obtained by The Canadian Press show that an early draft of the guide, meant to prepare immigrants for citizenship tests starting March 15, contained sections citing milestones in gay rights, including decriminalization of homosexuality in 1969 and the same-sex marriage law of 2005.
But Mr. Kenney's office ordered those sections removed from the draft, and rebuffed an effort by bureaucrats to have them re-inserted last August. The new guide was released with fanfare in November.
A spokesman for Mr. Kenney said last week the minister made the edit because the booklet, which reviews Canadian culture, politics and history, could not be “encyclopedic.”
On Wednesday, though, Mr. Kenney denied ordering the cut, providing no explanation of who in his office was responsible.
The Immigration Minister's acknowledgment of “full responsibility” Thursday was again without explanation, though he said the document was far more comprehensive than the previous version published in 1995.
“The guide published under the Liberal government made zero mention of gays or lesbians, women's voting rights, equality of men and women, aboriginal residential schools, the Chinese head tax, wartime internment, the Quiet Revolution, Louis Riel, responsible government, Canadian sports, artists, heroes, Remembrance Day or even the 110,000 Canadians who died in the two wars in the last century,” he said.
New Democrat MP Olivia Chow said new Canadians need to know about gay rights in Canada, to which Mr. Kenney responded: “I do not believe that new Canadians are potential gay-bashers.”
Egale Canada, a gay-rights group, has said Mr. Kenney promised in a December meeting to restore references to gay rights in a revised guide, expected in about a year.
Mr. Kenney has been a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage both as an opposition MP and a government member.

getting drunk and depression

You will often see men getting drunk in depression over lost love. Their excuse is, alcohol helps forget. Well, he may be wrong, as proved by some scientists.Moderate alcohol consumption could make memories more painful, claim scientists.
oneindiain121:http://living.oneindia.in/men/he/2010/alcohol-memories-painful-030310.html
Buzz up!
New research claimed that people who have drunk alcohol before a traumatic event report more flashbacks than those who have had no alcohol.This results gives a new insight to the fact as to why some individuals develop post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a traumatic event and others do not.But the case is different is alcohol is drunk before a traumatic event. In the research, boffins also found that those who drank a large amount of alcohol before a traumatic event did not report an increase in the number of flashbacks.Scientists believe that the findings can be answer how alcohol affects two types of memory: one that is egocentric, providing a visual ''snapshot'' of an event, and another that stores a mental representation of the context of the event, which is independent of the person's viewpoint.The scientists suggest that contextual memory is reduced in those who experience high levels of stress and it maybe opposite in those who have had a couple of glasses of wine (around three units). This allows egocentric memories to be involuntarily re-experienced - resulting in more flashbacks. In those that have drunk seven or more units of alcohol both types of memory are disrupted leading to fewer flashbacks and an overall reduction in memory for the event

The Kübler-Ross model, commonly known as the five stages of grief.

Kübler-Ross model
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The Kübler-Ross model, commonly known as the five stages of grief, was first introduced by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her 1969 book, On Death and Dying.
It describes, in five discrete stages, a process by which people deal with grief and tragedy, especially when diagnosed with a terminal illness or catastrophic loss. In addition to this, her book brought mainstream awareness to the sensitivity required for better treatment of individuals who are dealing with a fatal disease.[1]
Contents[hide]
1 Stages
2 Cultural relevance
3 Criticism
4 References
5 Further reading
6 External links
//
[edit] Stages
The progression of states are:[1]
Denial – "I feel fine."; "This can't be happening, not to me."Denial is usually only a temporary defense for the individual. This feeling is generally replaced with heightened awareness of situations and individuals that will be left behind after death.
Anger – "Why me? It's not fair!"; "How can this happen to me?"; "Who is to blame?"Once in the second stage, the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue. Because of anger, the person is very difficult to care for due to misplaced feelings of rage and envy. Any individual that symbolizes life or energy is subject to projected resentment and jealousy.
Bargaining – "Just let me live to see my children graduate."; "I'll do anything for a few more years."; "I will give my life savings if..."The third stage involves the hope that the individual can somehow postpone or delay death. Usually, the negotiation for an extended life is made with a higher power in exchange for a reformed lifestyle. Psychologically, the individual is saying, "I understand I will die, but if I could just have more time..."
Depression – "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"; "I'm going to die... What's the point?"; "I miss my loved one, why go on?"During the fourth stage, the dying person begins to understand the certainty of death. Because of this, the individual may become silent, refuse visitors and spend much of the time crying and grieving. This process allows the dying person to disconnect oneself from things of love and affection. It is not recommended to attempt to cheer up an individual who is in this stage. It is an important time for grieving that must be processed.
Acceptance – "It's going to be okay."; "I can't fight it, I may as well prepare for it."This final stage comes with peace and understanding of the death that is approaching. Generally, the person in the fifth stage will want to be left alone. Additionally, feelings and physical pain may be non-existent. This stage has also been described as the end of the dying struggle.
Kübler-Ross originally applied these stages to people suffering from terminal illness, later to any form of catastrophic personal loss (job, income, freedom). This may also include significant life events such as the death of a loved one, divorce, drug addiction, an infertility diagnosis, as well many tragedies and disasters.
Kübler-Ross claimed these steps do not necessarily come in the order noted above, nor are all steps experienced by all patients, though she stated a person will always experience at least two. Often, people will experience several stages in a "roller coaster" effect—switching between two or more stages, returning to one or more several times before working through it.[1]
Significantly, people experiencing the stages should not force the process. The grief process is highly personal and should not be rushed, nor lengthened, on the basis of an individual's imposed time frame or opinion. One should merely be aware that the stages will be worked through and the ultimate stage of "Acceptance" will be reached.
However, there are individuals who struggle with death until the end. Some psychologists believe that the harder a person fights death, the more likely they are to stay in the denial stage. If this is the case, it is possible the ill person will have more difficulty dying in a dignified way. Other psychologists state that not confronting death until the end is adaptive for some people.[1] Those who experience problems working through the stages should consider professional grief counseling or support groups.
[edit] Cultural relevance
A dying individual's approach to death has been linked to the amount of meaning and purpose a person has found throughout their lifetime. A study of 160 people with less than three months to live showed that those who felt they understood their purpose in life, or found special meaning, faced less fear and despair, in the final weeks of their lives than those who had not. In this and similar studies, spirituality helped dying individuals deal with the depression stage more aggressively than those who were not spiritual. [1]
[edit] Criticism
According to George Bonanno[2], professor of clinical psychology of Columbia University, in his book "The Other Side of Sadness: What the New Science of Bereavement Tells Us About Life After a Loss," based on two decades of rigorous scientific studies that follow people who have suffered losses in the U.S. and in other cultures, there is no evidence to support the Kübler-Ross theory[3]
A 2000-2003 study of bereaved individuals conducted by Yale University obtained some findings that were consistent with the five-stage theory and others that were inconsistent with it. Several letters were also published in the same journal criticizing this research and arguing against the stage idea. [4] Skeptic Magazine published the findings of the Grief Recovery Institute, which contested the concept of stages of grief as they relate to people who are dealing with the deaths of people important to them.[5]
[edit] References
This article uses bare URLs. Please help improve this article by turning bare URLs into proper citations containing all of the information on the referenced work's title, author, date, and web site name, so that the article remains verifiable in the future.This page may also be able to help find problematic links. Several templates are available for formatting.
^ a b c d e Santrock, J.W. (2007). A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0073382647.
^ http://www.tc.columbia.edu/faculty/index.htm?facid=gab38 George A. Bonanno's Columbia University Faculty Page
^ Bonanno, George (2009). The Other Side of Sadness: What the New Science of Bereavement Tells Us About Life After a Loss. Basic Books. ISBN 9780465013609. http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com/basic/book_detail.jsp?isbn=0465013600.
^ Maciejewski, P.K., JAMA (February 21, 2007). Retrieved April 14, 2009, http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/297/7/716?etoc
^ Friedman and James. "The Myth of the Stages of Dying, Death and Grief", Skeptic Magazine (2008). Retrieved 2008, from http://www.grief.net/Articles/Myth%20of%20Stages.pdf
[edit] Further reading
Kübler-Ross, E. (1973) On Death and Dying, Routledge, ISBN 0415040159
Kübler-Ross, E. (2005) On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss, Simon & Schuster Ltd, ISBN 0743263448
Scire, P. (2007). "Applying Grief Stages to Organizational Change"
An Attributional Analysis of Kübler-Ross' Model of Dying, Mark R Brent. Harvard University, 1981.
An Evaluation of the Relevance of the Kübler-Ross Model to the Post-injury Responses of Competitive Athletes, Johannes Hendrikus Van der Poel, University of the Free State. Published by s.n., 2000.
[edit] External links
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Homepage
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross - five stages of grief
On Death and Dying - Interview With Elizabeth Kübler-Ross M.D.
Beware the Five Stages of Grief - TLC Group Editorial
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model"

Now the fun begins Liberals want probe of Guergis tantrum

Liberals want probe of Guergis tantrum
This story contains offensive language
Last Updated: Monday, March 1, 2010 11:01 PM ET
CBC News
Liberals are asking the federal government for a formal investigation and calling on Helena Guergis, minister of state for the status of women, to resign for her behaviour at Charlottetown Airport. (Canadian Press)
The Liberal party wants the federal government to launch a formal investigation into the tantrum that Conservative MP Helena Guergis threw at the Charlottetown Airport last month.
The party said Monday in a release it has also filed an Access to Information request for copies of the security videotape of the Feb. 19 episode involving the minister of state for the status of women.
It has also asked for copies of any incident reports filed by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, or any other airport authority, about the incident.
The Liberal critic for the Status of Women, Anita Neville, who called for Guergis to resign last week, said the minister could have violated Canadian aviation regulations with her argumentative and belligerent behaviour that could have put passenger safety at risk.
"This is a very serious matter," Neville said in the release. "I am calling on [Transport] Minister [John] Baird to look into these potential violations, and to make sure that the tapes and other information we have requested will not be destroyed, edited or otherwise tampered with …."
The calls for an investigation and for the minister to step down come after an anonymous letter was sent to Liberal MP Wayne Easter. The letter stated that Guergis and an aide arrived late at Charlottetown Airport for their flight to Montreal on Feb. 19 and became verbally abusive to staff.
During pre-boarding screening, the letter said, the Ontario MP refused to remove her shoes, which set off the alarm as she walked through the metal detector.
When Guergis was asked again to take off her shoes, she allegedly "slammed her boots into the bin provided," and said, 'Happy f--king birthday to me. I guess I'm stuck in this hellhole.'"
Guergis turned 41 on Feb. 19.
The letter said, "as the footwear cleared the X-ray conveyor [Guergis] then allegedly shouted at her aide to 'Get those for me. I'm not walking around here in sock feet.'"
When an Air Canada employee reminded her that passengers are expected to be at the airport two hours before departure, Guergis allegedly shouted, "I don't need to be lectured about flight time by you. I've been down here working my ass off for you people."
Last Thursday, Guergis issued a statement, apologizing for speaking "emotionally" to some staff members at the airport, and admitted her behaviour was "not appropriate."
The Prime Minister's Office said last week it was satisfied with her apology.Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/03/01/liberal-guergis.html#ixzz0gzXt7TGo