CSIS ignored human-rights concerns and did not take Omar Khadr's age into account in deciding to interview him at the U.S. military's Guantanamo Bay prison, says a report from the parliamentary committee that oversees the spy agency.
The Toronto-born Khadr, now 22, is being held at the U.S. detention centre in Cuba for allegedly throwing a grenade in Afghanistan when he was 15, killing an American soldier. He is the only Westerner still detained at Guantanamo.
A report from the security intelligence review committee (SIRC), released Wednesday in Ottawa, said documents also show Khadr's U.S. captors threatened him with rape, kept him alone and would not let him sleep. Canadian Security Intelligence Service officers questioned Khadr at Guantanamo Bay in 2003 and shared the results of their interrogations with the Americans.
However, the report did not find that CSIS was complicit in Khadr's alleged torture at the hands of U.S. interrogators.
The committee recommended that CSIS take human-rights issues into consideration in future probes and also establish a policy framework to guide its dealings with young people.
"As part of this, the service should ensure that such interactions are guided by the same principles that are entrenched in Canadian and international law," the report said.
CSIS "will give careful consideration to [the report's] findings and recommendations," the agency said in a statement.
"CSIS has had to adapt to the more recent phenomenon of youth radicalization and will consider SIRC's findings as it continues to assess how it deals with this threat."
Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said, "We are reviewing the report with interest."Manitoba Opposition Leader Gary Filmon, with his wife Janice beside him in 2000, heads the security intelligence review committee. (Jeff De Booy/Canadian Press)
Former Manitoba premier Gary Filmon heads the security intelligence review committee, which has spent a year investigating an allegation that CSIS was involved in Khadr's abuse and alleged torture at the hands of U.S. prison officials.
The torture allegations came to light after Khadr's lawyers released a video of one of the CSIS interrogation sessions.
Khadr, who was 16 at the time, breaks down crying for his mother as an angry CSIS interrogator peppers him with questions.
Khadr lawyers subsequently learned that before the interrogation session began, his American captors tried to soften him up in preparation for an interview with intelligence officials from Canada's foreign affairs department.
They subjected him to something known as the "frequent flyer program." It's a form of sleep deprivation in which a prisoner is moved to a new location every three hours for several weeks and often exposed to extreme hot and cold temperatures.
Human rights advocates allege that fits the legal definition of torture.
The Toronto-born Khadr, now 22, is being held at the U.S. detention centre in Cuba for allegedly throwing a grenade in Afghanistan when he was 15, killing an American soldier. He is the only Westerner still detained at Guantanamo.
A report from the security intelligence review committee (SIRC), released Wednesday in Ottawa, said documents also show Khadr's U.S. captors threatened him with rape, kept him alone and would not let him sleep. Canadian Security Intelligence Service officers questioned Khadr at Guantanamo Bay in 2003 and shared the results of their interrogations with the Americans.
However, the report did not find that CSIS was complicit in Khadr's alleged torture at the hands of U.S. interrogators.
The committee recommended that CSIS take human-rights issues into consideration in future probes and also establish a policy framework to guide its dealings with young people.
"As part of this, the service should ensure that such interactions are guided by the same principles that are entrenched in Canadian and international law," the report said.
CSIS "will give careful consideration to [the report's] findings and recommendations," the agency said in a statement.
"CSIS has had to adapt to the more recent phenomenon of youth radicalization and will consider SIRC's findings as it continues to assess how it deals with this threat."
Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said, "We are reviewing the report with interest."Manitoba Opposition Leader Gary Filmon, with his wife Janice beside him in 2000, heads the security intelligence review committee. (Jeff De Booy/Canadian Press)
Former Manitoba premier Gary Filmon heads the security intelligence review committee, which has spent a year investigating an allegation that CSIS was involved in Khadr's abuse and alleged torture at the hands of U.S. prison officials.
The torture allegations came to light after Khadr's lawyers released a video of one of the CSIS interrogation sessions.
Khadr, who was 16 at the time, breaks down crying for his mother as an angry CSIS interrogator peppers him with questions.
Khadr lawyers subsequently learned that before the interrogation session began, his American captors tried to soften him up in preparation for an interview with intelligence officials from Canada's foreign affairs department.
They subjected him to something known as the "frequent flyer program." It's a form of sleep deprivation in which a prisoner is moved to a new location every three hours for several weeks and often exposed to extreme hot and cold temperatures.
Human rights advocates allege that fits the legal definition of torture.
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