The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) partners with the intelligence services of our allies, which sometimes means they get information that may have been partly or completely obtained through torture of suspects. This is a problem:
A secret high-level committee at Canada’s spy agency is tasked with deciding whether information received from abroad is tainted by torture, declassified records show.
Internal Canadian Security Intelligence Service memos reveal the key role that the recently formed Information Sharing Evaluation Committee plays in determining if the spy agency makes use of the suspect material.
The committee — whose existence was previously unknown outside the intelligence service — also helps CSIS decide whether to send information to foreign agencies in cases where it might lead to mistreatment.
Detailed instructions direct committee members to comb through databases, consult human rights reports and weigh the particular circumstances of each case to arrive at a decision.
Ultimately, CSIS director Dick Fadden makes the final call when the committee decides information is likely derived from torture, of if sending Canadian material to an allied agency could result in someone being abused.
