Canadian detained by China says he experienced psychological torture
Adds reaction from Chinese embassy paragraphs 11-12
OTTAWA, Sept 23 (Reuters) -A Canadian man detained by China for more than 1,000 days said he was put into solitary confinement for months and interrogated for up to nine hours every day, treatment he said amounted to psychological torture.
Michael Kovrig, speaking to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp in an interview released on Monday, also said he had missed the birth of his daughter and only met her for the first time when she was two-and-a half years old.
Kovrig and fellow Canadian Michael Spavor were taken into custody in December 2018 shortly after Canadian police detained Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei, on a U.S. warrant. Both men were accused of spying.
"I still carry a lot of pain around with me and that can be heavy at times," Kovrig said in his first substantial comments since he and Spavor were released in September 2021.
Kovrig noted that U.N. guidelines say prisoners should not be put into solitary confinement for more than 15 days in a row.
"More than that is considered psychological torture. I was there for nearly six months," said Kovrig, a former diplomat who had been working as an adviser with a think-tank when arrested.
Kovrig said there was no daylight in the solitary cell, where the fluorescent lights were kept on 24 hours a day. At one point, his food ration was cut to three bowls of rice a day.
"It was psychologically absolutely, the most grueling, painful thing I've ever been through," he said.
"It's a combination of solitary confinement, total isolation, and relentless interrogation for six to nine hours every day," he said. "They are trying to bully and torment and terrorize and coerce you ... into accepting their false version of reality."
Kovrig and Spavor were released on the same day the U.S. Justice Department dropped its extradition request for Meng and she returned to China.
The Chinese embassy in Ottawa, responding to Kovrig's interview, said he and Spavor had been suspected of engaging in activities endangering China's national security.
Chinese judicial authorities handled the cases in strict accordance with the law, it said in a statement.
Bilateral ties are chilly. China this month opened a one-year anti-dumping investigation into imports of rapeseed from Canada, just weeks after Ottawa announced 100% tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles.
Kovrig's partner was six months pregnant at the time of his arrest. She played their daughter recordings of his voice and showed pictures of her father so she would recognize him when they finally met.
"I'll never forget that sense of wonder, of everything being new and wonderful again and pushing my daughter on a swing that had her saying to her mother 'Mummy, I'm so happy'," he said.
The Chinese embassy in Ottawa was not immediately available for comment.
Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Stephen Coates
آخر الأخبار
إخلاء المسؤولية: تتيح كيانات XM Group خدمة تنفيذية فقط والدخول إلى منصة تداولنا عبر الإنترنت، مما يسمح للشخص بمشاهدة و/أو استخدام المحتوى المتاح على موقع الويب أو عن طريقه، وهذا المحتوى لا يراد به التغيير أو التوسع عن ذلك. يخضع هذا الدخول والاستخدام دائماً لما يلي: (1) الشروط والأحكام؛ (2) تحذيرات المخاطر؛ (3) إخلاء المسؤولية الكامل. لذلك يُقدم هذا المحتوى على أنه ليس أكثر من معلومات عامة. تحديداً، يرجى الانتباه إلى أن المحتوى المتاح على منصة تداولنا عبر الإنترنت ليس طلباً أو عرضاً لدخول أي معاملات في الأسواق المالية. التداول في أي سوق مالي به مخاطرة عالية برأس مالك.
جميع المواد المنشورة على منصة تداولنا مخصصة للأغراض التعليمية/المعلوماتية فقط ولا تحتوي - ولا ينبغي اعتبار أنها تحتوي - على نصائح أو توصيات مالية أو ضريبية أو تجارية، أو سجلاً لأسعار تداولنا، أو عرضاً أو طلباً لأي معاملة في أي صكوك مالية أو عروض ترويجية مالية لا داعي لها.
أي محتوى تابع للغير بالإضافة إلى المحتوى الذي أعدته XM، مثل الآراء، والأخبار، والأبحاث، والتحليلات والأسعار وغيرها من المعلومات أو روابط مواقع تابعة للغير وواردة في هذا الموقع تُقدم لك "كما هي"، كتعليق عام على السوق ولا تعتبر نصيحة استثمارية. يجب ألا يُفسر أي محتوى على أنه بحث استثماري، وأن تلاحظ وتقبل أن المحتوى غير مُعدٍ وفقاً للمتطلبات القانونية المصممة لتعزيز استقلالية البحث الاستثماري، وبالتالي، فهو بمثابة تواصل تسويقي بموجب القوانين واللوائح ذات الصلة. فضلاً تأكد من أنك قد قرأت وفهمت الإخطار بالبحوث الاستثمارية غير المستقلة والتحذير من مخاطر المعلومات السابقة، والذي يمكنك الاطلاع عليه هنا.
