OTTAWA - A civilian-run military watchdog is starting a probe into the handover of Afghanistan war prisoners.
The Military Police Complaints Commission is investigating an allegation from Amnesty International Canada and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
The groups say Canadian military police did not properly investigate officers responsible for directing the transfer of detainees to Afghan authorities, allegedly at the risk of torture.
Transferring prisoners between countries knowing they likely face torture is considered a war crime.
Diplomat Richard Colvin told a special House of Commons committee last November that the majority of prisoners Canada handed over to the Afghan intelligence service were tortured.
But the Conservative government and military commanders, past and present, deny the allegation.
"It has to be emphasized that the allegations made in the complaint are just that: allegations," commission counsel Ron Lunau said Tuesday.
"People should not be tempted to leap to conclusions based on allegations and incomplete evidence."
The commission will hear from 25 people from the Canadian Forces and the Defence and Foreign Affairs departments over the coming weeks.
The probe was stalled early Tuesday by procedural wrangling and was to resume in the afternoon.
Sgt. Carol Utton, a military police officer, was scheduled to be the first witness to appear before the commission.
Utton previously told commission investigators how an Afghan prisoner was mistreated and locked for days in a small cell that reached an intolerable 60C.
She said superiors ignored warnings about cell conditions and refused to release the prisoner.
