OTTAWA - The public could soon learn more about the alleged torture of prisoners in Afghan jails.
There are loud rumblings the Conservative government will disclose thousands of pages of declassified records Wednesday about the treatment of detainees.
Two former Supreme Court justices worked for months with an ad-hoc committee of MPs to determine which documents could be released without endangering national security.
The alleged abuse of prisoners in Afghanistan -- and what the federal government may have known about it -- has dogged the Conservatives for years.
The government's initial refusal to disclose the thousands of pages of Foreign Affairs and Defence Department reports prompted a parliamentary crisis in December 2009.
It was resolved with the formation of the committee, which began sifting through more than 40,000 documents last July.
During the recent federal election, the Conservatives joined other parties in calling for disclosure of the first batch of records, saying they would do "whatever it takes" to make it happen.
But Alberta Tory Laurie Hawn later backpedalled, saying "there is no specific process" to make the documents public during an election campaign.
The committee of MPs has not been reconstituted, and Hawn did not respond to inquiries Tuesday.
But one source said Foreign Affairs was preparing to release records Wednesday.
The NDP never had faith in the process and refused to take part in the committee.
New Democrat MP Jack Harris said Tuesday the government had "created a black hole here for over a year."
"We expected that these documents would be flowing as early as last July and of course we've seen nothing."
