The office of Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada's top soldier, is blocking requests made under the federal Access to Information Act for the release of documents pertaining to detainees captured in Afghanistan.
The Strategic Joint Staff, a newly created group set up to advise Hillier, claims the disclosure of any such information could endanger Canadian troops in the region.
According to documents obtained by The Globe and Mail, the Strategic Joint Staff has been reviewing all Access to Information requests regarding detainees since March -- around the time when the detainee controversy first made headlines.
Since then, the office has given strict guidelines to National Defence's director of Access to Information, Julie Jansen, about what documents should be kept private. As a result, "the flow of documents about detainees has virtually dried up" even though similar documents have previously been released, reports The Globe.
In recent responses to information requests by the newspaper, Jansen "exempted in its entirety" the disclosure of detainee transfer logs, medical records, witness statements and other processing forms. The department said national security reasons were behind the decision.
An email sent from the Strategic Joint Staff to Jansen on March 23, 2007, states that Hillier also wanted to safeguard "the numbers of detainees" captured.
"The release of this information may be very prejudicial to the safety of CF [Canadian Forces] and allied personnel, may be of significant information operations value to the enemy and may assist in undermining the effectiveness of Canada's efforts to support the stability of the Government of Afghanistan," Lt.-Col. Dana Clarke wrote in the email, which was heavy with censored passages.
Clarke, in another email on the same day, also suggested that it was a mistake for DND to previously release similar information.
"In the process, we are learning that some of the information that may have been previously released in response to an Access to Information Request can be used against CF personnel and objectives in the operational theatre," said the email.
Clarke said that any additional information could aid the enemy in getting a better picture of how Canadian operations work.
"The release of similar information in the past cannot be considered justification for the release of information in the future," he said in the email.
Previous access requests by The Globe and by Professor Amir Attaran of the University of Ottawa were what first brought the issue of detainee abuse to light. The requests led to allegations that three Afghan detainees were abused while in Canadian custody.
The allegations have since prompted three separate investigations by the Canadian military and the Military Police Complaints Commission -- which are still ongoing.
