Tuesday January 22, 2008, 12:09 pm
Did Canada cave under US Israeli pressure?
Michael Ratner: Canada gave in to pressure from US ambassador

Tuesday January 22nd, 2008

Michael Ratner is President of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York. He has taught at Yale Law School, lectured at Columbia Law School, and was President of the National Lawyers Guild.

Transcript:

ZAA NKWETA, PRESENTER: A Canadian Foreign Affairs training manual has created a diplomatic firestorm. At issue is a list of countries with possible torture and abuse cases. The list includes the United States. The manual was inadvertently released to lawyers from Amnesty International working on a lawsuit involving alleged abuse of Afghan detainees by Canadians. US Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins has stated that the inclusion of the United States is absurd. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Maxine Bernier promptly issued an apology, stating that the manual will be reviewed and rewritten. The Real News spoke with Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a leading expert in international law and torture and abuse cases.

MICHAEL RATNER, PRESIDENT, CCR: This is about a 92-page booklet about how to look for torture. It includes forms and all this. And the booklet is in large part based on US torture. Another thing the manual does, actually, is list a certain number of techniques that it considers abusive interrogation or torture. Of course, if you go down that list, it's hooding, stripping, blindfolds, sleep deprivation, isolation, not even the worst things that the US is doing—waterboarding—but bad things, and the manual considers those to be torture. And those essentially line up with what the US has authorized for use in Guantanamo and very likely were used against the Canadian citizen that remains in Guantanamo, Omar Khadr. One reason it's really important, I think, for the Canadians to keep both the US and Guantanamo Bay on the list is, first of all, there's a Canadian citizen right now in Guantanamo, Omar Khadr. And there's also other Canadian citizens and residents who may or may not be picked up in the so-called 9/11 wars. And what Canada did here was really—I mean, I'm really in shock. I mean, I already thought—at least I've always thought that Canada had a semblance of democracy and of genuineness around these issues of torture, particularly after the Arar case. And what they apparently did here was, as soon as they got a complaint from the United States, that the United States didn't want to be on the list of countries that might possibly be involved in torture, within one day, 24 hours as far as I can tell, they took the name, or they're apparently taking the name of the United States off the list, along with the name of Israel as well. And they must be taking the name of Guantanamo off the list. And what's really shocking to me, just shocking, is that it's the Arar case, the Maher Arar case, where Canada acknowledged that it had wrongly cooperated with the United States in that case, and its diplomats hadn't noticed that Arar had been tortured. And this entire module that the Foreign Affairs was using to train its diplomats is really because of the Arar case and the recommendations of the commission that looked into the Arar case. And in the US, torture is now being removed. The US is just being removed from the list. I mean, there should be just people in Canada screaming at the government about this, just screaming. It's pretty shocking that the United States ambassador picks up the phone or says something publicly and is able to essentially change what the truth is, basically change the facts, and say despite the fact that you know about Iraq, that you know about Khadr in Guantanamo, or we know torture was an everyday technique used for interrogation in Guantanamo, that one phone call, Canada would just fold when it actually, as I said, was sort of heroic for us in the United States, that our northern neighbor who had its citizens, at least Arar—and it didn't protect Arar initially—that it then went ahead and did. Well, we've known for a long time that the United States is engaged in torture. I mean, it's public, and they actually probably want the world to know, because they're using it as a technique of terror. We have all the documents, we have Rumsfeld techniques; we have all the testimony. But the fact that another country and an ally of the United States, in fact one of our closest allies, Canada, has actually labeled the United States as a place you have to look to for torture and Guantanamo is a place you have to look at certainly helps the political process of impeachment in the United States, as well as the ultimate accountability that our government, that the Bush administration, is going to have to pay.

DISCLAIMER:

Please note that TRNN transcripts are typed from a recording of the program; The Real News Network cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.


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Tuesday January 22, 2008, 12:10 pm
Did Canada cave under US Israeli pressure?
Michael Ratner: Canada gave in to pressure from US ambassador

Tuesday January 22nd, 2008

Michael Ratner is President of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York. He has taught at Yale Law School, lectured at Columbia Law School, and was President of the National Lawyers Guild.

Transcript:

ZAA NKWETA, PRESENTER: A Canadian Foreign Affairs training manual has created a diplomatic firestorm. At issue is a list of countries with possible torture and abuse cases. The list includes the United States. The manual was inadvertently released to lawyers from Amnesty International working on a lawsuit involving alleged abuse of Afghan detainees by Canadians. US Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins has stated that the inclusion of the United States is absurd. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Maxine Bernier promptly issued an apology, stating that the manual will be reviewed and rewritten. The Real News spoke with Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a leading expert in international law and torture and abuse cases.

MICHAEL RATNER, PRESIDENT, CCR: This is about a 92-page booklet about how to look for torture. It includes forms and all this. And the booklet is in large part based on US torture. Another thing the manual does, actually, is list a certain number of techniques that it considers abusive interrogation or torture. Of course, if you go down that list, it's hooding, stripping, blindfolds, sleep deprivation, isolation, not even the worst things that the US is doing—waterboarding—but bad things, and the manual considers those to be torture. And those essentially line up with what the US has authorized for use in Guantanamo and very likely were used against the Canadian citizen that remains in Guantanamo, Omar Khadr. One reason it's really important, I think, for the Canadians to keep both the US and Guantanamo Bay on the list is, first of all, there's a Canadian citizen right now in Guantanamo, Omar Khadr. And there's also other Canadian citizens and residents who may or may not be picked up in the so-called 9/11 wars. And what Canada did here was really—I mean, I'm really in shock. I mean, I already thought—at least I've always thought that Canada had a semblance of democracy and of genuineness around these issues of torture, particularly after the Arar case. And what they apparently did here was, as soon as they got a complaint from the United States, that the United States didn't want to be on the list of countries that might possibly be involved in torture, within one day, 24 hours as far as I can tell, they took the name, or they're apparently taking the name of the United States off the list, along with the name of Israel as well. And they must be taking the name of Guantanamo off the list. And what's really shocking to me, just shocking, is that it's the Arar case, the Maher Arar case, where Canada acknowledged that it had wrongly cooperated with the United States in that case, and its diplomats hadn't noticed that Arar had been tortured. And this entire module that the Foreign Affairs was using to train its diplomats is really because of the Arar case and the recommendations of the commission that looked into the Arar case. And in the US, torture is now being removed. The US is just being removed from the list. I mean, there should be just people in Canada screaming at the government about this, just screaming. It's pretty shocking that the United States ambassador picks up the phone or says something publicly and is able to essentially change what the truth is, basically change the facts, and say despite the fact that you know about Iraq, that you know about Khadr in Guantanamo, or we know torture was an everyday technique used for interrogation in Guantanamo, that one phone call, Canada would just fold when it actually, as I said, was sort of heroic for us in the United States, that our northern neighbor who had its citizens, at least Arar—and it didn't protect Arar initially—that it then went ahead and did. Well, we've known for a long time that the United States is engaged in torture. I mean, it's public, and they actually probably want the world to know, because they're using it as a technique of terror. We have all the documents, we have Rumsfeld techniques; we have all the testimony. But the fact that another country and an ally of the United States, in fact one of our closest allies, Canada, has actually labeled the United States as a place you have to look to for torture and Guantanamo is a place you have to look at certainly helps the political process of impeachment in the United States, as well as the ultimate accountability that our government, that the Bush administration, is going to have to pay.

DISCLAIMER:

Please note that TRNN transcripts are typed from a recording of the program; The Real News Network cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.


Sign up here to get The Real News by email | Help us expand our coverage
http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=827&thisview=item

Tuesday January 22, 2008, 12:30 pm
Good Find Sunshine,
I had just released the story 2 days ago here at Care2 about Canada putting the US on the watch list. But I'll be Damned if now they don't turn around and take them off. Good find though Sunshine because I hadn't heard or read this news yet. I finally thought they were going to be called out by another Country. Man I wish someone would stand up to this Administration and take them down. We need IMPEACHMENT LIKE TODAY!!! Bush and Cheney need removed from office.

Tuesday January 22, 2008, 1:01 pm
well articles are posted on c2nn that Canada retracted very soon after the original ones got posted. This one abit more detailed even thou short also the source. . And the answer is YES, Canada should have left USA and Israel on the list and Canadians should be upset that they are taken off and doing something about it, I am not able to start a petition regarding this to Harper bushite. No offense to my American and Israeli friends Richard, good to see u again :)

Tuesday January 22, 2008, 2:04 pm
Its a shame to I thought Canada called America out. I wish they hadn't changed their minds. Just know I have signed every petition and called my Congressmen and Senators, for the IMPEACHMENT of Bush and Cheney. I would love to see them Charged and Convited of the WAR CRIMES they have committed. It needs to go in the History books atleast that we tried like hell to Charge and Convict them. Also believe me they express nobodys view that I know. They Represent just a very select few that feel like they do. Its just getting set up for that N.W.O. and we all have to fight that!!!

Tuesday January 22, 2008, 4:37 pm
Just look at my front page submissions and u will see LOADS I got to front page to get them OUT of OFFICE, protests, cdn & usa, email campaigns, guantamao a presidential campaign, lots more including videos I posted when we had the call Nancy Pelosi and write, what good did that do, nadda thing. have to keep trying, however, as someone mentioned this happening before he gets out of office, time is running out for him and possibly cheney and a few others. the N.W.O, I feel is already quite well set up and their plans are going ahead fairly smoothly with a few hicupps along the way.

Wednesday January 23, 2008, 12:22 pm
I also feel that the NWO is already set up, and until now their plans have been going on unhindered. We need to raise awareness among Canadians that Bushite Harper has to go!!! Did you see how fast they took the US and Israel off the list? We absolutely have to stand up and refuse to be part of this NWO. We don't want to be a slave population. I never felt ashamed of being Canadian until Harper changed the status of our country from peacekeeper to warmonger... *^&)%@#$^(!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday January 23, 2008, 1:25 pm
For a day ... but just for a day, I was SO PROUD of Canada.
It is, however, very difficult to fight the usa alone.

Wednesday January 23, 2008, 6:07 pm
I don;t have alot of pride in Canada, I used to, to some degree not in a patriotic way, some, my situation surely is a reflection of that. But yes for a moment I thought "YES!!"

Thursday January 24, 2008, 2:09 am
Noted

Thursday January 24, 2008, 8:53 am
i have to say that since bush has been in office, it is the first time i have ever been truly ashamed of being a US citizen...noted...:(