Canadian Forces in Afghanistan have for years been arresting children suspected of cooperating with the Taliban and handing them over to Afghan security officials, CBC News reports.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay was briefed on the subject on March 30 through the document, which is marked “secret,” and for “Canadian eyes only,” the report said.

CBC obtained the document through an access-to-information request. It shows that a number of juveniles have been arrested since 2006, and have been held in custody by Canadian Forces for undisclosed periods of time.

Of particular concern is that many of the children were subsequently transferred to the custody of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security, or NDS, which has previously been suspected of torture.

Some details, including the exact number of Afghan youth detained, have been censored in the document.

The document appears to be the result of an Afghan government policy change where young detainees would be sent to a new facility, the Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre in Kandahar, instead of a separate wing at Sarpoza prison, the CBC notes.

Included in the document is an apparent warning to the defence minister that the policy change “may draw attention to the roles of juveniles in the Afghan conflict.”

The CBC reported Sunday night the defence department had confirmed that young detainees are sent to the NDS.

The Harper government came under fire in the House of Commons last year over allegations that militants captured by Canadian troops were transferred to Afghan security where they faced possible torture.

Richard Colvin, the diplomat who sounded the alarm over Canada’s detainee transfer policy, accused the Canadian Forces of indiscriminately rounding up people during operations, often just because they appeared suspicious.

Statistics released in September showed that Canadian Forces captured 439 suspected Taliban fights in the first seven years of the Afghan war, 283 of whom were handed over to Afghan authorities.