OTTAWA—A prominent Canadian victim of abuse behind bars in Syria is calling on the government to cancel controversial directives that allow for the sharing of intelligence that could lead to torture.
Abdullah Almalki, a Canadian who was imprisoned and tortured in Syria for almost two years, said Tuesday, May 3, it is time the Liberals ditched the policy that was enacted by the previous Conservative government.
At a press conference in Ottawa, Almalki said the current government must end Canada’s “previous complicity in torture.”
The Liberals say they are reviewing the directives as part of a broader security review.
Almalki and other human rights activists said cancelling the directives is the next logical step for the government after it announced Monday it was prepared to join a key United Nations anti-torture agreement more than a decade after it was first passed.
Almalki was part of a group of human rights activists that praised Monday’s surprise announcement by Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion. But they said the government must go further, and cancel the torture directives.
