Canada diplomat knew of Syria abuses

[struggle4progress]

Canada's former ambassador to Syria has said he was surprised to learn one of his successors did not know of Syrian human rights abuses.

Martin Collacott, ambassador to Syria for three years in the early 1990s, said at an inquiry into the possible mistreatment and torture of Canadian citizen Maher Arar while he was imprisoned in Syria that he knew prison abuse was common in the Middle Eastern country, Globeandmail.com reported Saturday.

Collacott said he was surprised that Franco Pillarella claimed to have no knowledge of human rights abuses in the country's prisons. He said there has been no secret that Syria's detention system is harsh towards prisoners.

Pillarella testified earlier in the week that he saw no evidence of human-rights violations during his three-year term as ambassador to Syria. <snip>

http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=89647&cat=World

[Maple]

1. The sad truth of Life is....

there really ARE some people who should be abandoned on an iceberg.

I nominate Franco Pillarella for the next voyage.

[MrPrax]

2. Not only the Enquiry...

but Collacott was interviewed on the CBC radio show 'The Current' last Thursday (June 16, 2005) -- it was stunning.

Inspite of vigourous questioning, the guy seemed astonished and clueless as to Syria, Asad, western policy...so clueless as to make someone wonder, as to what he might have been covering up personally--it seemed like a surreal comedy skit.

[sintax]

3. kick