The allegations were first sparked by University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran, who claimed that full versions of government documents proved Canada had willful knowledge that torture would occur before handing detainees to Afghan authorities. Subsequent to this, two official complaints have led to official investigations and hearings by the Military Police Complaints Commission (MPCC). One of these unveiled parliamentary testimony by diplomat Richard Colvin, who claimed that many detainees were probably tortured, and it was a standard operating procedure for Afghan interrogators. The allegations have led to a showdown in the House of Commons of Canada, as opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) had called for the releasing of relevant documents in full and unredacted form, claiming parliamentary privilege to see them. The government maintained that they had a duty to protect Canadian soldiers and citizens as the documents contained sensitive information.