A former special forces soldier is suing the federal government, claiming he was blacklisted and expelled from the military after accusing the Canadian military of its involvement in the killing of unarmed people in Afghanistan.
The soldier also named one current and two former Canadian generals who he claims downplayed or failed to properly investigate Canadian Forces (CAF) involvement in the alleged killing.
Claude Lepage, a former member of JTF2, one of Canada’s most elite and secretive military units, filed the complaint in Quebec Superior Court last week. He is asking the court to award him nearly $3 million in damages for the treatment he allegedly received as a result of his actions as a whistleblower.
The allegations in court documents have not been verified, and neither the Canadian government nor the military has yet provided a defense.
Lepage’s statement alleges that his whistleblowing led to the military conducting two investigations known as “inquiries.” sand trap The study examined the actions of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, as well as the actions of the coalition soldiers who served with them.
The report said he was accused of “discrimination, retaliation, abuse of rights, gross negligence, and numerous rights violations after reporting to the chain of command the executions of Afghan civilians by members of his unit and members of foreign government agencies.” “I experienced this,” he said. . ”
A report resulting from the investigation concluded that Canadian soldiers committed no criminal activity in Afghanistan. However, they acknowledged that they may have Witnessed war crimes committed by Allied forces From other countries. A heavily redacted version of this report was published in 2018.
The report denounced: secret culture The circumstances surrounding a dangerous mission in Afghanistan by Canadian special forces.
Mr. Lepage’s allegations made public in the complaint provide clues to retaliatory acts by Canadian and coalition soldiers against unarmed Afghans, and his command, which has faced serious allegations of misconduct. This raises questions about the actions of government officials.
5 reports of civilian killings
From 2005 to 2008, while in Afghanistan as a sergeant with JTF2, Lepage was responsible for five incidents in which Afghan civilians and unarmed persons were targeted or killed by members of his unit or other government personnel. The incident was reported to the chain of command, court documents state. The military is working on joint missions with troops.
The lawsuit alleges the first incident occurred in December 2005. After a JTF2 helicopter was shot down in the fighting, members of the force fired anti-tank weapons into civilian housing and then conducted a “dynamic approach” intended to surprise and intimidate, Lepage said. The people inside.
And in May 2006, the morning after JTF2 soldiers were repeatedly attacked during a night operation, members of the unit shelled several civilian homes, the documents say. Later, Lepage visited the destroyed houses and met an old man carrying a bag full of bodies. The man said the body was left by his family.
Lepage said in his lawsuit that to his knowledge there was no internal investigation into the bombing.
According to the complaint, in July of the same year, an unarmed man appeared with his hands raised at a JTF detachment in Afghanistan, apparently surrendering during an operation dubbed “Bad Doctor” by the Canadian military. Members of the unit yelled at him not to move, but the detachment commander fired five shots at the man, killing him at the scene.
Lack of impartiality in internal investigations: Mr. Lepage
Lepage said he verbally reported each of these incidents to his chain of command and kept a diary throughout his time with the unit. The shooting of an unarmed man led to an internal investigation, and Captain Steve Boivin, who was put in charge of the search, was also in charge of the very operation that led to the man’s death.
Shortly thereafter, LePage met with Col. D. Michael Day, then commander of JTF 2, to discuss the lack of fairness in the Bad Doctor investigation and the violence and assaults he received from some of his colleagues within the unit, according to the complaint. He reportedly reported his sexuality. against civilians in Afghanistan.
The commander who allegedly killed the unarmed man was later promoted to sergeant. Lepage also blamed the chain of command, according to the complaint.
In November 2007, Lepage’s colleagues learned that members of other countries’ militaries had targeted civilians while on a joint mission with JTF2, while Lepage was away for several months, the documents said. It is said that it was done.
It wasn’t long before Lepage himself witnessed it, according to the documents. During a combat mission on New Year’s Day, Lepage witnessed the execution of wounded Afghan civilians by soldiers from the other country, according to the suit.
The combat mission ended with the deaths of three unarmed people, according to the complaint. When the JTF2 colonel was informed of the civilian’s death, Lepage claimed in a statement that the man left the room and did not attend the subsequent “debriefing.”
Two weeks later, Lepage spoke again with Colonel Day, then head of the Canadian Special Operations Command, it said. Lepage said he wants to continue participating in combat missions, but does not want to participate in missions that result in the intentional killing of civilians or unarmed people.
Unraveling your career
The next day, the complaint states, Lepage was sent home without any explanation. Upon his return to Canada, he was assigned to the JTF2 training cell, where the unraveling of his military history began, something Lepage’s lawyers argue would preclude accountability for the actions he accused. This appears to have been an effort by the Canadian military.
According to the complaint, a CAF briefing memo obtained by Lepage’s lawyers states that the sergeant was repatriated to Canada from Afghanistan due to “on-the-job stress injuries,” but that Lepage did not see any medical professionals during his time with the unit. It is said that he had not received any.
CAF doctors diagnosed Lepage with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while he was assigned as an instructor for Canada’s JTF2 training unit. They and his unit chief, Michael Rouleau, later recommended that he be listed as a “vacant” member of the Canadian Forces.
According to Lepage and multiple doctors cited in court documents, the disorder was not primarily related to the combat mission, but rather stemmed from the stress Lepage felt over the lack of action following the investigation of a civilian death. It is said that he was doing so.
The move cut his pay by more than half and fired him from the elite squad.
The complaint says the military was slow to respond to Lepage’s allegations of misconduct and details how CAF launched the sandtrap investigation after Lepage sought the involvement of Romeo Dallaire, then a sitting member of the Canadian Senate. states.
According to the documents, in 2009, while the Sand Trap investigation was underway, JTF2’s chain of command offered Lepage a position as a training officer with the unit on the condition that he not give his war log to the Sand Trap investigation. He reportedly told her that she could return. Lepage says in her lawsuit that she turned down the offer because it goes against her values.
Lepage’s condition improved during and after the Sand Trap investigation, and three doctors said he would be able to return to work, according to the complaint. But military authorities later held a meeting without a doctor and refused to allow him to return to the force, according to CAF investigators who investigated his case.
Lepage claims in his lawsuit that he was blacklisted by JTF2 in “retaliation” for speaking out about the force’s involvement in civilian deaths.
Lepage was kicked out: words of a fellow soldier
Lepage’s lawyer said two fellow soldiers from JTF2 recorded sworn statements supporting his claims. The first recording was made on March 13, 2013 by Master Corporal. Stéphane Poirier supported Lepage’s claim that he killed two Afghan civilians during Operation Bad Doctor. Poirier said he and other members of his unit “expressed our deep disapproval” of the violence. Poirier died by suicide in December 2015.
The second is by another JTF2 member, Sgt. Paul Demers was registered on October 4, 2018. Demers’ statement, reproduced in the complaint, said he was with Mr. Lepage when the two witnessed foreign military personnel kill two unarmed Afghan civilians.
It is unclear in what context this statement was recorded.
Messrs. Demer and Poirier said it was known within the force that Lepage was forced out and treated unfairly after he raised concerns about the unit’s actions. Demers’ testimony describes how Rouleau belittled Lepage in front of his troops.
According to testimony cited in the document, “Mr. Rouleau made comments in my presence and in the presence of members of his unit disapproving of Mr. Lepage’s actions and the fact that he blamed the deaths of Afghan civilians.” That’s what it means. “Mr. Rouleau implied that the force did not acknowledge the fact that: [Lepage] He condemned the situation and said the treatment Mr. Lepage received would apply to anyone who denounced a similar situation. ”
Lepage also alleges in his lawsuit that CAF was negligent in its handling of his file. Despite three expert doctors reporting that Lepage no longer suffers from PTSD and is fit to remain in the CAF, the military has determined that Lepage’s PTSD does not medically qualify as a permanent medical condition. Released.
After he left JTF2 and was released by CAF, it took more than 10 years for the committee that analyzed his case to find that he had been treated unfairly and that his release was “unjust”. . According to the document, the committee recommended that Lepage receive an apology, compensation and be recognized as a veteran of JTF2.
However, it says that Mr. Lepage received neither. As a result, he was unable to participate in events with other former members of JTF2.
The three commanders named by Lepage in his lawsuit, Day, Rouleau and Boivin, all went on to serve in CAF’s upper echelons. Day and Rouleau are now retired, while Boivin is now a lieutenant general. Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC) essentially oversees most CAF operations in Canada, North America, and around the world. Mr. Rouleau previously held that role.
In response to a question from CBC News, Day said the allegations that sparked the Sandtrap investigation have been “consistently refuted” and that the broadcasts “have not been refuted by the people who have been accused of these acts and who have been acquitted.” have a direct impact on the well-being of people.”
“They have repeatedly been proven innocent, but once again they will be the victims of media attention for the sordidness of a fictional event,” he wrote.
CBC News has reached out to the Department of Defense and Canadian Special Operations Command. A spokeswoman said the company would not comment because the case is in court. CBC News also contacted Defense Minister Bill Blair but did not receive a response. Rouleau did not respond to requests for comment.
Lepage’s lawsuit argues that awarding punitive damages would “deter and prevent future overreach by the chain of command against Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) soldiers.”