OTTAWA—Stunned by revelations of police incompetence in the case of a Canadian man deported to Syria, the government launched an investigation on Tuesday into claims by three other men who say they were tortured in Syria because of information provided by Canadian authorities.
The inquiry could further damage the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which was savaged by an official probe in September for falsely telling U.S. authorities that Canadian software engineer Maher Arar was a suspected Islamic extremist.
Arar—born in Syria—was arrested in New York in 2002 and deported to Damascus, where he says he was repeatedly tortured for almost a year before being released. Last week RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli resigned after admitting he had misled legislators over the matter.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day told reporters the new investigation would look at what had happened to Ahmad El Maati, Abdullah Almalki and Muayyed Nureddin.
The trio—who all have Canadian citizenship—were investigated by the Mounties and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service spy agency after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
The three were arrested separately when entering Syria and say they were detained, tortured and interrogated in the same building in Damascus. All say the questions they were asked could only have come from Canadian authorities.
Day said the probe would look into whether "the detention of these three individuals in Syria or Egypt resulted from actions of Canadian officials, particularly in relation to the sharing of information with foreign countries."
Human rights activists say the case of Arar and the three others suggests Ottawa operated a secret program to send terror suspects to nations where they could be interrogated brutally.
"It is a shame ... that it has taken so long to reach this point. These men have been pressing for review of their cases for in some cases close to three years and it has had a terrible toll on them to have to wait that long," said Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada.
The inquiry will be led by former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Frank Iacobucci and has been asked to report by January 31, 2008. Much of the probe will be carried out behind closed doors.
It will also examine whether "the actions of Canadian consular officials were deficient" and if "any mistreatment of these three individuals in Syria or Egypt resulted from any deficiencies in the actions of Canadian officials."
El Maati, who also holds Egyptian citizenship, was arrested at Damascus airport on November 12, 2001, and said his life was destroyed by what followed. He was transferred to Egypt in January 2002, where he said he was also frequently tortured before being released in January 2004.
Almalki, who also has Syrian citizenship, was detained in Syria in May 2002 and released in March 2004. Nureddin, who also has Iraqi citizenship, was arrested in December 2003 and released a month later.
Earlier in the day, the inquiry into what happened to Arar said the case showed Canada's national police force needs to be subject to stricter controls.
Judge Dennis O'Connor, who led the inquiry, issued a second report calling for the creation of an independent review body with sweeping powers to investigate the Mounties.
The government said it would study the report but did not commit to following any of its recommendations.
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