Tories accused of incompetence in detainee dust-up

The federal government's handling of allegations of prisoner abuse in Afghanistan has led to suggestions that chaos and confusion abound within the government.

The controversy first began with allegations that prisoners captured by Canadian troops and handed to Afghan authorities were at risk of torture, abuse and even execution.

Government responses have been all over the map, and the chaos hit a fever pitch on Thursday, when
Prime Minister Stephen Harper appeared to contradict Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, telling the House of Commons there was no formal agreement in place to ensure Canadian officials have access to detainees they hand over to the Afghans.

Then on Wednesday, at the end of a day rife with allegations of incompetence, O'Connor told the Commons foreign affairs committee that a deal had been reached to allow access to the prisoners "any time they wanted."

But on Thursday, Harper surprised everyone by saying there were no problems in the first place.

"We have consulted with the government of Afghanistan over the last several days," Harper said.

"We have found no evidence that access is blocked to the prisons. In fact, not only are Afghan authorities agreeing to access to the prisons, they actually agree they will formalize that agreement so there is no potential misunderstanding."

Harper also went on to suggest that the opposition was taking a direct shot at Canadian troops serving in Afghanistan.

"The real problem is the willingness of the leader of the Liberal party and his colleagues to believe to repeat and to exaggerate any charge against the Canadian military as they fight these fanatics and killers that are called the Taliban."

Then, making the issue even more convoluted, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day stood up during question period and said that Corrections Canada officers in Kandahar had access to the detainees all along.

That appeared to be contradicted later by the Afghan ambassador to Canada, Omar Samad, who said that until the recent deal was reached, Canadian officials did not have the right to visit detainees.

He said the Afghan government will be carrying out its own investigation of prisoner abuse.

The conflicting statements made little sense to opposition critics trying to understand the chronology of events and the current status.

New Democrat Leader Jack Layton suggested the mixed signals indicated a lack of leadership and an abundance of chaos.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said everyone is confused: "We would laugh Mr. Speaker, if not human beings lives were at stake," Dion said.

For more than a year, O'Connor has maintained that prisoners captured by Canadians and handed over to the Afghans are monitored by the International Committee of the Red Cross -- a claim that the agency denied last winter.

In February, the government signed an agreement with the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission in Kandahar, authorizing the group to report any potential abuses of detainees.

There have been reports this week that the commission has been denied total access to detainees -- a claim that it clarified recently, saying the reports were excessive.

The assistant investigator with the human rights commission, Reza Jan Ibrahimi, 25, said they are not allowed to meet with prisoners while they are in the custody of intelligence officers. However, they have met detainees after they were moved to the regular prison system.

A spokesperson from the AIHRC, who spoke to CTV News on condition of anonymity, agreed unrestricted access to Afghan detainees is now available.

"We couldn't go there but now our people can go anywhere they want, NDS, jail and other offices," said the commissioner.

The group also claims it has been denied access to detainees held by the feared NDS -- Afghanistan's intelligence police. They have been accused of beating, choking, starving, freezing and whipping suspected Taliban insurgents.