Victims ‘ groomed’ before visits
“ They’re going to wait until the most obvious marks have disappeared,” Mr. Waldman said.
Mr. Sampson was tortured after being imprisoned in Saudi Arabia on murder charges. He was visited by Canadian officials who were initially convinced he had not been harmed.
Repressive regimes commonly “groom” torture victims before visits by relatives or diplomats, cleaning and feeding them to camouflage the effects of abuse, confirms Mulugeta Abai, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture. But there are some “telltale” signs visitors can look for, such as weight loss and fatigue, he said.
Diplomats should also consider a more controversial ploy — discreetly taking advantage of the corrupt nature of some countries and bribing prison officials for information, Mr. Abai said.
The internal review, completed late last year but divulged by Foreign Affairs only recently on its Web site, recommended training on the subject.
The department responded with a new, optional course this summer and the two-day seminar on recognizing torture signs will eventually become mandatory for any foreign service officer heading overseas, said Kim Gertel, a Foreign Affairs spokeswoman.
The increasing number of immigrants from oppressive countries with dual nationality pose a particular concern because regimes known for human rights abuses often refuse to recognize their Canadian citizenship, the report says. “In many areas of the world, political and social insecurity is growing and all countries are now in the process of tightening controls and security measures,” said the review.
“ The probability that consular events and crises will increase and become more acute is therefore almost certain.”
A “radical shift” in immigration has brought more and more people from countries with low standards of human rights, who often retain their old citizenship and make frequent visits to their original homeland.
Yet many of those countries do not recognize the Canadian citizenship when the ex-patriots are arrested or detained. “ This is an area of serious concern,” said the review, based on interviews with Foreign Affairs officials and others.
Mr. Arar was imprisoned in Syria, the country of his birth, which still considered him a citizen.
The report says more resources must be pumped into the consular affairs area unless changes are made to scale back the scope of services offered to Canadians abroad.
Ms. Gertel said the department is looking at four options: spending more money on consular affairs, rearranging priorities, reducing workload by doing things differently or “re-engineering” the service, perhaps by using new technology.