The government directives state that protection of life and property are the chief considerations when deciding on the use of information that may have been derived from torture. They also outline instructions for deciding whether to share information when there is a “substantial risk” that doing so might result in someone in custody being abused.
CBC News contacted the public safety minister’s office about the story, obtained by The Canadian Press, and asked if the government would use information obtained by torture.
“Our government does not condone the use of torture and certainly does not engage in it,” said Julie Carmichael, the director of communications for Vic Toews. “The minister’s directive is clear, the primary responsibility of Canadian security agencies is to protect Canadian life and property,” she told CBC on Saturday. “At all times we abide by Canadian law.” As key members of Canada’s security apparatus, both the RCMP and border services agency have frequent and extensive dealings with foreign counterparts.
The directives are almost identical to one Toews sent last summer to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service — instructions that were roundly criticized by human rights advocates and opposition MPs as a violation of Canada’s international obligations to prevent the brutalization of prisoners.
Each of the directives is based on a framework document — classified secret until now — that indicates the information-sharing principles apply to all federal agencies.
“The objective is to establish a coherent and consistent approach across the government of Canada in deciding whether or not to send information to, or solicit information from, a foreign entity when doing so may give rise to substantial risk of mistreatment of an individual,” says the four-page framework.
Copies of the overarching principles and the Sept. 9, 2011, directives to the RCMP and border services agency were released to The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. As with the directive to CSIS, the instructions from Toews to the RCMP and the border agency apply to information sharing with foreign government agencies, militaries and international organizations.