Ottawa, February 24: Canadian authorities likely played an “indirect” role in the torture of a Canadian in Egypt by telling his captors he might have plotted attacks in Canada, portions of an official inquiry declassified Tuesday said.
Canadian Ahmad El Maati and two other Canadians suspected of Al-Qaeda links were arrested by Syrian Military Intelligence during trips abroad from 2001 to 2004.
El Maati said he was later transferred to Egyptian custody.
All three men were released without charges in 2004.
Each claimed upon return to Canada that he had been tortured, and that Canadian security officials had supplied their captors with intelligence and questions to pose to the detainees.
A 2008 report of an independent inquiry led by retired Supreme Court judge Frank Iacobucci said Canadian officials did not have direct responsibility for their detention or abuse in the Middle East.
But he concluded that their mistreatment “resulted indirectly” from actions taken by the Canadian spy agency and federal police, including information sharing and in some cases “deficiencies” of consular service provided to the men.
In a supplement containing declassified information released on Tuesday, Iacobucci revealed that Canada’s spy agency told Egyptian authorities in 2002 that El Maati “might possibly have been involved in a plan to commit a terrorist act in Canada.”
Canadian intelligence agents also traveled to Egypt to interview El Maati, hoping to glean whatever information he had provided Egyptian authorities and “to try to clarify whether there really was a threat to Canada.”
These details were not previously disclosed due to national security concerns, but Iacobucci fought for their release.
“In my view, the (spy) service’s June 2002 correspondence with Egyptian authorities, preparation of questions, and travel to Egypt for the purpose of obtaining information concerning Mr. El Maati … likely contributed indirectly to Mr. El Maati’s mistreatment in Egypt,” he said in the supplement.
El Maati, who holds dual Canadian-Egyptian citizenship, said he was on his way to celebrate his wedding in Syria when he was stopped at the Damascus airport in November 2001.
All three men are suing Ottawa over their ordeal.
—Agencies