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Canadian FM Apologizes for Torture List

Claims US, Israel were 'wrongly' included with other countries

By Sam Biddle,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 20, 2008 2:00 PM CST
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(Newser) – Canadian foreign minister Maxime Bernier has apologized for the inclusion of the US and Israel on a list of countries in which prisoners risk being subjected to torture, the BBC reports. The list, part of a torture awareness guide for diplomats, cited US interrogation techniques and referred to its Guantanamo Bay facility. Both countries denounced their placement on the list.

"We find it offensive for us to be on the same list with countries like Iran and China,” bristled the US ambassador to Canada. Bernier claims the document was not a statement of official foreign policy: "It contains a list that wrongly includes some of our closest allies. I have directed that the manual be reviewed and rewritten.”

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier, glance at the media as they leave a news conference at the State Department in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier, glance at the media as they leave a news conference at the State Department in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007. ...   (Associated Press)
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, left, welcomes visiting Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier, right, prior to their meeting in Jerusalem, Monday Jan. 14, 2008. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, left, welcomes visiting Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier, right, prior to their meeting in Jerusalem, Monday Jan. 14, 2008. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)   (Associated Press)
Afghanistan Foreign Affairs Minister Dadfar Spanta,right,and his Canadian counterpart Maxime Bernier answer questions in a press conference Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007 in Kabul. (AP/Paul Chiasson, The Canadian Press)
Afghanistan Foreign Affairs Minister Dadfar Spanta,right,and his Canadian counterpart Maxime Bernier answer questions in a press conference Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007 in Kabul. (AP/Paul Chiasson, The Canadian...   (Associated Press)
Canandian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier arrives for a NATO foreign ministers council at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, Dec. 7, 2007.(AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Canandian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier arrives for a NATO foreign ministers council at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, Dec. 7, 2007.(AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)   (Associated Press)
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More reactions to the torture watch list
Canadian Press

The original story about the US making Canada's list of places you're likely to get waterboarded
Associated Press

 
Israel • torture • Canada • United States • Guantanamo Bay • Maxime Bernier • torture list

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