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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Leyland Cecco in Toronto

Canada intelligence operation put diplomats in legal ‘grey zone’ – report

Portraits of two middle-age men side by side.
Michael Spavor, right, says he unwittingly provided intelligence to GSRP officer Michael Kovrig (left), leading to both of them being detained in China. Composite: AFP/Crisis Group/Julie David de Lossy/AP

A controversial intelligence-gathering program run by Canada’s foreign affairs ministry operates in a “distinctly grey zone”, puts its officers at risk and breaches global diplomatic conventions, says a damning watchdog report.

Canada’s global security reporting program (GSRP), a critical part of the foreign ministry’s security and intelligence footprint overseas, places officers in countries with “poor human rights records” including Ethiopia, India, Egypt, Turkey, Israel and China.

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