OTTAWA - Lawyers for a pair of human-rights groups say one way to keep local Afghan authorities from abusing enemy prisoners is to have Canadian and NATO officials help manage jails.
Lawyers for Amnesty International and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association made the suggestion in a Federal Court document as part of their effort to block transfers of prisoners to Afghan control.
Joint management of detention facilities, the lawyers say, "could be one option that provides substantive safeguards against torture until Afghan officials have developed the capacity and training to reliably meet international standards.''
NATO policy allows Canadian troops to detain suspected insurgents for up to 96 hours before either releasing them or turning them over to the Afghan National Directorate of Security.
It was revealed last month that Canada had quietly stopped transfers in November after officials found credible evidence of torture while visiting an Afghan jail.
In the House of Commons on Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said Canada has no intention of getting involved in building a facility in Kandahar or participating in the management of Afghan prisons.
"We will not be building a prison in Afghanistan; we will not manage a prison in Afghanistan,'' Bernier said during question period.
"We are there to help the Afghan government and people to achieve prosperity and security in their country.''
It's unclear what Canada has done with its captives since an army commander ordered transfers to temporarily end Nov. 6 after officials saw signs a prisoner had been beaten unconscious using an electrical cable and a hose while in custody.
It's speculated the prisoners are being held at Kandahar Airfield, the main coalition base.
One of the human-rights lawyers argues it's incumbent on Canada to help with Afghan detention facilities.
Amir Attaran, a lawyer for Amnesty International, said Afghanistan's justice system is still two years from its 2010 reform target, laid out in the Afghanistan Compact, the international reconstruction and development agreement.
Canada "put the cart before the horse'' when it signed separate prisoner transfer agreements with Afghan authorities before the country's justice system was fully reformed, he said.
"If we, as Canada and NATO at large, truly meant what we signed up for in the Afghanistan Compact ... I don't think one prison is at all too much to ask in achieving that vision,'' Attaran said.
Reached Tuesday in Brussels, NATO spokesman James Appathurai told The Canadian Press the decision to get involved in the management of Afghan detention facilities rests with individual countries, pointing to the U.S. detention facility in Bagram.
"NATO, as an organization, doesn't manage detention facilities,'' Appathurai said.
The Defence Department didn't immediately respond to a query about Canada's position on co-management of detention facilities in Afghanistan.
The human-rights groups took Ottawa to Federal Court to block transfers of prisoners to Afghan control until there's proof that detainees aren't at risk of torture.
However, government lawyers argue the case is moot since Canada has temporarily halted transfers, even though they concede the handovers could resume at any time.
The government claims all decisions related to transfers rest with the military commanders on the ground.
Last week, it was revealed that Defence Minister Peter MacKay expressed concern during a Nov. 6 visit to Afghanistan about the alleged treatment of the prisoner within hours of officials discovering evidence of abuse.
But Asadullah Khalid, the governor of Kandahar, recently told The Canadian Press he didn't recall meeting with MacKay in November.
Khalid also denied allegations he was personally involved in the torture of at least one prisoner in Kandahar, as reported by Canadian diplomats in Afghanistan.
