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Colvin testifies
Former diplomat <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/11/18/diplomat-afghan-detainees.html" target="new window">Richard Colvin testifies</a> before a House of Commons committee. He says that all detainees transferred by Canadians to Afghan prisons were likely tortured by Afghan officials and many of the prisoners were innocent. (CBC photo) -
Calls for inquiry dismissed
All three opposition parties demand a public inquiry into Colvin's torture allegations. The government dismisses the calls. "There has not been a single, solitary proven allegation of abuse involving a transferred Taliban prisoner by Canadian forces," Defence Minister Peter MacKay says in the House of Commons. -
Detainee transfers halted 3 times in '09: feds
A government Web site states that <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2009/11/23/mackay-detainees.html" target="new window">prisoner transfers were halted three times in 2009</a> over concerns about prisoner treatment and access to prison facilities. CBC News also reports that <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/11/23/detainees-afghanistan.html" target="new window">Canadian officials delayed reporting prisoner transfers</a> to Red Cross monitors between 2002 and 2006. -
Hillier testifies
Former Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier, Lt.-Gen. Michel Gauthier and Maj.-Gen. David Fraser <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/11/25/hillier-detainees.html" target="new window">testify before the Commons committee</a> and question the credibility of Colvin's testimony. Hillier calls the allegations "ludicrous." (Reuters photo) -
David Mulroney testifies
In testimony before the Commons committee, David Mulroney, the government's former senior adviser on Afghanistan, <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/11/26/afghan-mulroney026.html " target="new window">denies that he tried to muzzle Colvin</a>. Mulroney says he was aware of problems within the Afghan prison system, but had no evidence that detainees being handed over by Canadian soldiers to Afghan officials were being tortured. -
Concerns known in 2006: MacKay
Defence Minister Peter MacKay admits the government was <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/11/27/afghan-prisons-mackay.html" target="new_window">aware of abuse concerns in early 2006</a>, attributing these allegations to the government's eventual re-negotiation of prisoner transfer agreement. -
Documents released
Forty-one censored copies of documents are <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2009/12/02/garwood-filbert-detainees.html" target="new_window">released by the government to the Afghanistan committee</a>. At the same meeting Linda Garwood-Filbert, a Corrections Canada official who worked on prison reform in Afghanistan, denies seeing evidence of prisoner torture or abuse over numerous visits. (CBC photo) -
Quick transfers wanted: commanders
<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2009/12/03/afghan-detainees003.html" target="new window">CBC News reports</a> that Canada's top two commanders in Afghanistan in spring 2006 told investigators the government pressured them to transfer detainees to Afghan authorities faster than they felt was appropriate. -
MPCC loses court appeal
The Military Police Complaints Commission loses a federal court appeal of an earlier ruling restricting its investigation to allegations surrounding military police conduct. The MPCC had wanted to expand to broader issues concerning the treatment and handling of detainees. -
Ex-diplomats criticize government
A group of 25 former ambassadors <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/12/08/colvin-ambassador-afghanistan.html" target="new window">release an open letter</a> that criticizes the government's treatment of Colvin. The letter says that the former diplomat was "unfairly subjected to personal attacks" as a result of his testimony. -
Natynczyk testifies
Chief of Defence Staff Walt Natynczyk testifies at the Commons committee looking into the detainee issue. He <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/12/08/natynczyk-detainee.html" target="new_window">denies reports</a> that a suspected Taliban fighter abused by Afghan police in 2006 had earlier been detained by Canadian troops. (Canadian Press photo) -
Natynczyk corrects testimony
Natynczyk <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/12/09/natynczyk-detainee.html" target="new window">corrects committee testimony</a> from the day before, saying he'd become aware of a document on the morning of Dec. 9 that described how a detainee in Canadian military custody was transferred and subsequently abused. -
Commons demands documents
The House of Commons passes a motion calling on the government to produce uncensored versions of all documents relevant to the detainee controversy. -
Day defends government
International Trade Minister Stockwell Day <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2009/12/11/day-documents.html" target="new_window">defends his government's decision</a> not to release critical documents, saying certain information related to the controversy has to be kept secret to protect lives. -
Investigation results revealed
A Canadian Forces press release reveals numerous investigations into allegations of Afghan detainee mistreatment between 2005 and 2009. All allegations were reported to be unfounded, save one incident in 2008 which remained under investigation. -
Military orders investigation
The Canadian military orders a formal investigation into how a critical report on the beating of an Afghan prisoner transferred into Afghan police custody in June 2006 remained buried at National Defence headquarters. -
Parliament prorogued
Governor General Michaelle Jean <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2009/12/30/parliament-prorogation-harper.html" target="new_window">prorogues Parliament</a> at the request of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Critics accuse the government of trying to avoid the detainee controversy. (Canadian Press photo) -
Colvin settles legal fee dispute
Colvin <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/01/27/colvin-legal-fees027.html " target="new_window">concludes a prolonged dispute</a> with the government over the cost of his personal lawyer. The government agrees to pay for his ongoing legal representation because he remains a Canadian diplomat. -
Committee resumes without government members
Opposition members of the Commons committee looking into the Afghan detainee controversy meet, despite the fact that Parliament is prorogued. They continue calling witnesses, even though government members do not attend. -
Iacobucci to review documents
The government announces that retired Supreme Court Justice <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepolitics/2010/03/housewatch---is-something-about-to-happen.html" target="new_window">Frank Iacobucci will review Afghan detainee documents</a> to consider the security implications of their full release. The terms of reference for his work <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/03/13/iacobucci-detainee-documents.html" target="new_window">are released</a> a week later. (CP photo) -
PM defends CSIS after interrogation story
The Canadian Press reports that Canadian Security Intelligence Service officers worked with military police in Afghanistan as interrogators of captured Taliban fighters. The next day, the <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/03/08/politics-question-period.html" target="new_window">prime minister defends the role of Canada's spy service</a> in the questioning of Afghan prisoners, saying the agency respects its "international obligations at all times." -
'Contingency plan' memo
Internal government memos obtained by CBC News confirm that Canadian authorities began formulating a contigency plan for dealing with accusations of torture of prisoners in Afghan custody as early as March 2007 — months before such allegations first came up in the media. During the next question period, <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/03/09/politics-question-period-tuesday.html" target="new_window">Harper downplayed the revelations</a>. -
Diplomat raised concerns in 2005
Eileen Olexiuk, a former Canadian diplomat, tells CBC News she <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/03/09/detainee-afghan-diplomat.html" target="new_window">raised concerns over the risk of prisoner torture in 2005</a>, but her fears were ignored by Paul Martin's Liberal government. Her concerns eventually were reflected in the amended transfer agreement in 2007. -
Canada wanted Afghan army to keep detainees
Internal Canadian government memos are revealed that say <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/03/11/afghan-detainee-abuse.html" target="new_window">NATO allies lobbied Afghan's president</a> for a separate legal framework to handle prisoners captured around Kandahar in late 2006 but those efforts went "nowhere". -
NDP tabling torture prevention bill
NDP human rights critic Wayne Marston says he is tabling a private member's bill in the House of Commons, <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/03/15/ndp-human-rights-torture.html" target="new_window">the Prevention of Torture Act</a>, that aims to prevent any government complicity in torture. -
Detainee documents tabled
In the House of Commons, the federal government tables 2,500 pages of redacted documents related to the Afghan detainee controversy. Thousands more pages of documents are released in the days that follow. The presentation sparks immediate outrage from opposition MPs, who want documents released without the heavily blacked-out sections. -
Colvin testifies at MPCC
<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/04/13/mpcc-hearings-colvin.html" target="new_window">Colvin testifies</a> before the civilian-run Military Police Complaints Commission. He says Canadian officials didn't want to deal with the "high risk" of detainees being abused and tortured in Afghan custody when he was working in the country in 2006 and 2007. -
Speaker's ruling
House Speaker Peter Milliken rules that the government's refusal to produce uncensored documents related to the treatment of Afghan detainees constitutes a <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/04/27/afghan-detainee-documents-speaker-milliken-privilege-ruling.html" target="new_window">breach of parliamentary privilege</a>.
