Ottawa's former top diplomat in Afghanistan has denied claims that officials covered up reports that outlined the torture risk Afghan detainees faced when they were transferred to local authorities.
However, David Mulroney said that the government was in fact aware that torture reports were surfacing in 2006.
"The fact that there were allegations of mistreatment in Afghan prisons was known to us," Mulroney told a parliamentary committee.
Still, he stressed that there was little alternative to transferring detainees as Canadian troops were facing heavy fighting with the Taliban. Resources in the country were further stretched by the "chaotic" situation on the ground at the time.
Mulroney was responding to allegations made by diplomat Richard Colvin who has said that he repeatedly warned his superiors that abuse and torture was endemic in the Afghan justice system.
Colvin, who was second-in-command in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2007, has also said that he was told to keep quiet about the torture allegations.
Still, Mulroney said his office knew about Afghanistan's problems and worked to ensure that the country's justice system was held to international standards.
"The possibility of mistreatment could not be ignored," Mulroney told a parliamentary committee in Ottawa.
"We did not ignore it."
Mulroney noted that despite the torture reports, there was no firm proof that it was prisoners who had been transferred by Canadians that were the victims of the abuse.
However, he added that Canada's monitoring system -- created in 2005 -- may not have been sufficient at the time. The policy was changed in 2007 to improve oversight of Afghanistan's justice system.
Mulroney added that Colvin's reports "have left the impression that I discouraged honest reporting about the situation in Afghanistan."
"This is simply not true."
Colvin was second in command to Mulroney at the Canadian embassy in Afghanistan during the time in which the torture allegedly occurred.
"The view that I muzzled him or any other official is wrong," he said.
On Wednesday, Canada's former top soldier Gen. Rick Hillier denied that officials would have turned over Afghan detainees if they were aware of torture allegations.
Hillier, quoting intelligence reports from 2006 and 2007, said there was no clear evidence of repeated torture in Afghanistan's jails. He also called Colvin's testimony "ludicrous."
Hillier's comments were echoed by other military officials, including retired general Michel Gauthier and Maj.-Gen. David Fraser, who said that they did not receive torture reports until the spring of 2007.
