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[OTTAWA, 21 November 2007] - Canadian troops are under orders to turn over juvenile soldiers captured in Afghanistan to local authorities, despite reports of torture and allegations the former warden of the main prison in Kandahar had raped minors, according to political leaders. "These practices would be in violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We transfer them in a prison system that has been at the centre of allegations of torture," deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said in the House of Commons. "How can the government justify the transfer of children and when will it end this practice?" Defence Minister Peter MacKay said underage prisoners are treated with "particular care," although the government would not say how many Canada has handed over to Afghan authorities. "My understanding is that there are current provisions within the Afghan detention system to keep juvenile prisoners separate from others," he said. "With respect to detainees or prisoners taken by Canadian Forces, we take a similar practice. They are not housed in proximity to other detainees." Mr. MacKay went on to launch a stinging attack against the Opposition for focusing on the rights of detainees while Canadian soldiers - including two more over the weekend - are being killed. "While we understand fully the need to help bolster Afghan capacity with respect to these transferred prisoners, what is absolutely abhorrent is [Liberal MP Denis Coderre's] fixation, knowing that the blood of Canadian soldiers and innocent Afghans are on the hands of the Taliban," he said. New Democrat defence critic Dawn Black berated the government for releasing minimal or censored information on the capture of juvenile Afghan fighters. "I don't have evidence of a particular child who has been transferred from Canadian troops. I have evidence that Canadians have been ordered to transfer all Afghan detainees, including children," Ms. Black told reporters. "I'm concerned that Canadian Forces personnel are being ordered to transfer children over to Afghan authorities where we know that rape, torture and abuse take place," she said. 'Problem exaggerated' Prime Minister Stephen Harper accused the opposition of exaggerating the problem with Afghan detainees, stating there has been only one recent allegation of mistreatment. "The government has already said that we learned of evidence of abuse in one recent case in the past couple of weeks," Mr. Harper said. "That is being investigated according to the arrangement we have with the Afghan government." Indeed, Canadian officials said last week they had evidence that one more Taliban detainee in an Afghan prison showed signs of physical abuse, bringing the total to seven since Canada began systematically visiting Afghan prisoners in May. The government was forced last week to release more than 1,000 pages of documents on detainee conditions as a result of a Federal Court ruling in a suit brought by Amnesty International Canada and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association. The documents were heavily redacted. One of the documents noted that the warden of the notorious Sarpoza prison in Kandahar, where many prisoners handed over by Canadians were held, had been fired after charges that he raped juvenile detainees. Make-up and hashish were found in his office. He was later exonerated because an Afghan military judge said it was "impossible for a drunken man in his 50s to commit an act of rape," reported a Canadian official in a cable to Ottawa. Further information pdf: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071120.wdetainees20...