A Foreign Affairs Department training manual lists Guantanamo Bay as a site of possible torture and abuse despite officials saying publicly they accept U.S. assurances that Canadian Omar Khadr has been treated humanely.
The U.S. prison camp in Cuba is listed as one of the places where the possibility of torture exists. Afghanistan, the United States, China, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Mexico and Syria are also on the list.
Canadian Maher Arar was imprisoned and tortured in Syria. The workshop manual for consular employees was produced about two years ago while a federal commission was investigating Arar's case.
It offers material on laws prohibiting torture, what to do when cases are suspected and how to spot signs that a Canadian abroad has been abused, including body language and posture, as well as non-physical signs.
When asked in the past about Khadr's claims that he had been abused, Foreign Affairs officials have said Canada takes the issue seriously and has received assurance from U.S. officials it wasn't happening. They had no immediately comment yesterday when asked about the manual.
"This tells us the government has reason to believe Khadr has been abused," said his chief lawyer Lt.-Cmdr. Bill Kuebler.
"It is certainly inconsistent with their public position. It's time for Canada to follow the lead of every other western country and demand the release of its citizens."
Khadr, 21, has relayed complaints of abuse to his lawyers since he arrived at the prison camp in the fall of 2002.
His lawyers say he has been held in stress positions, thrown into solitary confinement for months on end and used as a human mop to clean up his own urine.
The manual was inadvertently released to lawyers working on a lawsuit involving abuse of Afghanistan detainees by Canadians.
"I was shocked," said Amir Attaran, a University of Ottawa professor who is an academic adviser on the case.
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