Canada has given its spy service the go-ahead to provide information to foreign agencies even when there is a “substantial risk” it will lead to torture of suspects.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews outlined instructions for sharing information in such cases in a four-page directive to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
A copy of the directive in July last year was released to The Canadian Press news agency under the country’s Access to Information Act.
Just weeks ago, Toews acknowledged telling the spy agency to use information that may have been extracted through torture in cases where public safety is at stake. The newly released directive incorporates that and provides newly crafted guidance on information sharing.
TERRORISM
The directive says that “terrorism is the top national security priority” of the government and it is essential that the spy agency share information with foreign entities on both a routine and urgent basis.
The directive says that in most cases the spy service is responsible for establishing internal approval rules “proportionate to the risks” in sharing information with foreign agencies.
The document says Canada “does not condone the use of torture” and is party to international agreements that prohibit torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
It also lays out procedures for information-sharing when the risk of torture is “substantial” — meaning a “personal, present and foreseeable risk” based on something more than “mere theory or speculation.”
The decision must be referred to the spy agency’s director when there is a substantial risk that sending information to — or soliciting information from — a foreign agency would cause harm to someone and it is unclear whether the risk can be managed by seeking assurances that the material won’t be misused.
In deciding what to do, the director will consider the status of Canada’s relationship with — and the human rights record of — the foreign agency; the rationale for believing that sharing the information would lead to torture; the proposed measures to lessen the risk and the likelihood the measures will be successful; and the views of Foreign Affairs and other agencies.
HELPING OTHERS
New Democrat Party public safety critic Jasbir Sandhu told parliament that the issue was a “matter of right and wrong.”
“The message this government is sending is, that while Canada doesn’t employ torture, it is OK to help others to do so,” Sandhu said.
Canadian Conservative Member of Parliament Candice Hoeppner, parliamentary secretary to Toews, said the directive was “in line” with the country’s condemnation of torture.
“CSIS will only share information in accordance with Canada’s legal obligations,” she said.
Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada, said the directive’s guidance on whether to pass along information “clearly leaves open the very real possibility that the decision taken will be, ‘Do it,’ even though there’s a substantial risk.”
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