Liberals must end Canada's 'previous complicity in torture,' says victim

A prominent Canadian victim of abuse behind bars inSyria is calling on the government to cancel controversialdirectives that allow for the sharing of intelligence that couldlead to torture.

Abdullah Almalki, a Canadian who was imprisoned and tortured inSyria for almost two years, said Tuesday it is timethe Liberalsditched the policy that was enacted by the previous Conservativegovernment.

Almalki said the current government must end Canada's "previouscomplicity in torture."

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The Liberals say they are reviewing the directives as part of abroader security review.

Almalki and other human rights activists said cancelling thedirectives is the next logical step for the government after itannounced Monday it was prepared to join a key United Nationsanti-torture agreement more than a decade after itwas first passed.

Almalki was part of a group of human rights activists thatpraised Monday's surprise announcement by Foreign AffairsMinisterStphane Dion.But they said the government must go further, and cancel thetorture directives.

"Many of the prisoners I've interviewed have reverted to sayingthings that necessarily didn't happen or they were toldto confessin order to avoid the torture," said Mohamed Fahmy, the Canadianjournalist who was imprisoned inEgypt.

Alex Neve, the head of Amnesty International Canada, said hisorganization has been campaigning for years to get thecontroversialtorture directives thrown out.

"It certainly would be very much in keeping with the spirit ofwhat we heard yesterday ... to rescind that very troublingministerial direction and bring our intelligence sharing practicesinto line with our international obligations," saidNeve.

Fahmy and Neve warned Dion and the provinces not to dither and tobring Canada into full compliance with the anti-torture conventionwithin one year.

The federal government must now consult with the provinces on thelegal way forward for Canada to formally join theUN anti-tortureconvention.