OTTAWA – A military watchdog agency has subpoenaed senior federal officials and is seeking a court order to force the Conservative government to release withheld information concerning the controversial transfer of suspected Taliban fighters into Afghan custody.

The Military Police Complaints Commission is trying to get around what it considers roadblocks to its investigation of allegations that first surfaced in 2007 accusing the Canadian military of handing over prisoners knowing they would probably be tortured.

Sylvain Roy, chief of staff to the commission chair, said the application to the Federal Court involves redacted documents already released to the inquiry.

Investigators believe the records have been overly censored, he said.

"We were not obtaining the documents required to fulfil our mandate, which is to have an open and transparent investigation," Roy said in an interview.

"That's why we exercised our powers under the National Defence Act."

Subpoenas have been served on four former commanders of Canadian troops in Kandahar, the deputy minister and four employees of foreign affairs, and the chief of the Correctional Service of Canada, he said.

Roy would not divulge which of the subpoenas are aimed at uncovering documents and which are intended to summon the officials as witnesses in the commission's planned public hearings. He would only say the commission is relying on "co-operation of the parties."

Federal lawyers have challenged the commission's authority to hold hearings into the 2007 complaint by Amnesty International and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, both of which have already fought a pitched legal battle with Ottawa and lost.

The organizations had argued the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom applied to actions of Canadian soldiers oversees, but the court ruled such issues were better governed by international law.

In its attempt to derail the commission inquiry, the federal government has argued that the handling of prisoners is "not subject" to oversight by the military police complaints process, and that the National Defence Act only gives the agency the power to investigate complaints against military police.

A separate Federal Court hearing to clarify the commission's jurisdiction is set for Oct. 5 and is expected to last about six weeks.

The lawyer for the human rights groups said he suspects federal officials are waiting for the outcome of the jurisdictional challenge before deciding whether to co-operate with the commission.

"Unless and until the Federal Court quashes those hearings, you will see those individuals appearing in the hearing," said Paul Champ.

Allegations that the Canadian government's safeguards, meant to protect transferred prisoners from abuse and torture, were inadequate first surfaced in the spring of 2007. It's considered a war crime to transfer a prisoner between countries knowing that they likely face torture.

Officials are trying to avoid scrutiny, said Champ.

"They have refused to disclose documents, they've refused to provide access to witnesses. They've refused to co-operate in general.

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"They've taken the military police complaints commission to court, they've sued our clients, all with the objective of quashing these hearings," he said.

The independent military police complaints commission was created in the wake of the Somalia affair, when elite Canadian soldiers tortured and murdered a captured teenager. The upper echelons of the Canadian military were subsequently faulted for a coverup and command failures.