JURIST - Paper Chase: Canada high court will not hear case on Afghan detainee documents

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Canada [official website] on Thursday denied the government leave to appeal [judgments in leave] a decision requiring them to turn over redacted documents providing information about Afghan prisoner treatment. The complaint [case information] was filed by University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran [faculty profile], whose previous research uncovered a pattern of suspicious injuries on three detainees captured in April 2006 and later released. Attaran was originally granted permission [Ottawa Citizen report] to view the documents with significant portions blacked out. A Court of Appeals ordered the government to provide a more complete version of the documents in May 2011. Thursday's decision denied the government's final appeal, and Attaran is expected to receive a new version of the documents.

The Canadian Military Police Complaints Commission (MPCC) [official website] released a report in 2009 concluding that three Afghan detainees were not mistreated while in Canadian military police custody in Kandahar in 2006. The probe began following a civilian complaint filed by Attaran. The Canadian government ordered the inquiry [JURIST report] in February 2007. There are ongoing investigations into complaints [JURIST report] filed by Amnesty International Canada (AIC) and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) [advocacy websites]. Following public outcry, Canada signed a new agreement regarding detainee transfers [JURIST report] with the Afghan government in May 2007, giving Canada the right to inspect detainees following their transfer.