OTTAWA - Defence Minister Peter MacKay says he intends to find out why reports warning of the possible torture of Afghan prisoners early in the Kandahar mission never made it to his desk.
He says neither he, nor his deputy minister ever saw diplomat Richard Colvin's reports that were circulated widely within both the departments of Foreign Affairs and National Defence, as well as among senior military commanders.
For over a year after the reports were filed, the Conservative government maintained it knew nothing of possible prisoner abuse.
Both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and former defence minister Gordon O'Connor also say they never saw the warnings, but there has been no public comment from the top military brass.
All three opposition parties demanded answers in question period today, saying they find it hard to believe that such stark human-rights abuse warnings could have been ignored by senior officials and not passed along to their ministers.
Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh demanded to know how far up the chain of command the reports went and accused the Conservative of "wilful blindness."
