Update: Canada removes U.S., Israel from potential torturer/abuser list
Major hattip to TMV co-blogger, Holly in Cincinnati/Holly Robinson for the heads up that someone’s persuaded Canada that the U.S. and Israel are not countries that might potentially torture or abuse prisoners. The original TMV post on the topic is here.
Canada’s foreign ministry, responding to pressure from close allies, said on Saturday it would remove the United States and Israel from a watch list of countries where prisoners risk being tortured.
Both nations expressed unhappiness after it emerged that they had been listed in a document that formed part of a training course manual on torture awareness given to Canadian diplomats.
Of course, the factual questions still remain: what methods of interrogation are used and do they or don’t they constitute torture or abuse? As most people know, in regard to pretty much anything – poverty, education, quality of life – being on a list often has no real meaning beyond the very specific methodologies used by the list-maker.
Do you agree with the inclusion or the exclusion of the U.S. and/or Israel from the Canadian Foreign Ministry’s torture awareness manual?
