A Kamloops human rights activist has filed documents with the International Criminal Court supporting his contention that Canada was complicit in war crimes in Afghanistan.



John McNamer sent 120 documents to the ICC as its chief prosecutor ponders whether to formally investigate Canada's treatment of Afghan detainees.



"I feel the information is really solid," McNamer said. "It's all really well documented and I believe it can be put to use by the prosecution."



For the past six years, the decorated Vietnam vet has been building a case, firmly convinced that Canadian troops handed over detainees to U.S. and Afghan authorities, exposing the prisoners to torture. That would have been a clear violation of domestic and international laws.



McNamer's persistent lobbying of politicians seemed to fall on deaf ears. With prorogation of Parliament in 2009-2010 and an end to Canadian combat missions in 2011, questions surrounding the torture of Afghan detainees have fallen off the radar.



A visit to Canada last fall by ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo offered some hope that the matter would be probed. Moreno-Ocampo indicated an ICC report is soon to be released on war crimes in general - including those of the Taliban - and that the report will determine whether an investigation proceeds.



In Prosecutor, a new documentary film by Canadian director Barry Stevens, Moreno-Ocampo indicated Canada is not immune to ICC prosecution.



"We'll check if there are crimes and also we'll check if a Canadian judge is doing a case or not," Moreno-Ocampo says in the film. "If they don't, the court has to intervene. That's the rule, that's the system, one standard for everyone."



McNamer sent a recent Daily News article on the subject to the ICC and received back instructions for submitting documents, a move that suggests to him an investigation is imminent.



"It tells me they are seriously looking at what's happening and are open to legitimate information."



He has submitted the same documents to Canadian authorities as well as to MP Cathy McLeod.



If the matter is left to the ICC to investigate there will be more than Canada's international reputation at stake, he said.



"This isn't about image if it goes to the International Criminal Court; it's about criminal prosecution of high-level individuals."



