Critics demanded the resignation of Canadian Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor on Monday over fresh allegations that Afghan prisoners, detained by Canadian soldiers and handed over to local authorities, had been tortured.
The Globe and Mail newspaper talked to 30 men who variously said they had been beaten, starved, frozen, choked and subjected to electric shocks while in Afghan custody.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper told parliament that the government would investigate the allegations and follow them up with the Afghan government.
"The government is taking these allegations seriously," Harper said.
Canada signed an agreement with Afghanistan in 2005 that commits Canadian soldiers to handing over captured Taliban prisoners to local authorities.
The agreement has been criticized by human-rights groups because it does not give Canada the right to check on the condition of prisoners it has detained.
In an effort to address those concerns, the Canadian army signed a deal with the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission in February that obliged the agency to notify Canada if its prisoners had been abused.
No such report has been received by Abdul Quadar Noorzai, the Afghan official in charge of the Kandahar branch of the rights commission.
"They will advise us of any abuses and we said we would provide any logistical support they need," O'Connor said.
None of the abuse in the allegations was inflicted by Canadians, and most enemy captives praised the Canadian soldiers for their politeness, their handling of captives and their comfortable detention facility.
Michael Byers of the University of British Columbia, a leading expert in international relations, said that if the allegations were proved true, Canada had broken a UN treaty against torture as well as the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war.
"I hope the Canadian people realize just how terrible a day this is. If this report is accurate, Canadians have engaged in war crimes," Byers told reporters.
The only solution is for Canada to construct its own detention facility in Afghanistan, where prisoners can be treated humanely, he said.
There are some 2,500 Canadian soldiers fighting alongside Afghan, American and other NATO forces trying to weed out Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan.
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