Three Canadians who were tortured in Syria and Egypt called on Tuesday for the Canadian government to apologize for what an official inquiry report called its “indirect” role in what happened to them.
“Clearly this report shows I was detained and tortured as a result of the Canadian security officials’ actions,” Iraq-born geologist Muayyed Nureddin said.
“I want the government to apologize. I want me to be able to build my life again as normal as any Canadian citizen,” he said.
“We got some answers today, but we still need an apology,” said Ahmad el-Maati, who was born in Kuwait.
“I know who was responsible now and Canada knows I was tortured. Canada knows the information about me was wrong. This is a good news for me. Now we wait to see what the government has to say,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the report of an independent inquiry said that Canadian officials did not have direct responsibility for detention or abuse of Kuwait-born Maati, Syria-born Abdullah Almalki and Nureddin.
But it said Ottawa bore some indirect responsibility.
The probe, led by retired Supreme Court judge Frank Iacobucci, found that the three men’s mistreatment “resulted indirectly” from actions taken by Canadian intelligence agencies and federal police, including information sharing and in some cases “deficiencies” of consular service provided to the men.
The three were arrested by Syrian military intelligence during trips abroad from 2001 to 2004, suspected of al-Qaeda links.
Each claimed upon return to Canada that he had been tortured and that Canadian security officials had supplied their captors with intelligence and questions to pose the detainees.
“So my life has been ruined, my reputation has been ruined for all these years,” said Almalki, detained in Damascus in May 2002 while traveling to visit family in Syria.
“I lost my business based on information basically that didn’t even relate to me,” he said.
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