Career
Pre-JAG
Ken Watkin started his career as an infantry officer in the Royal Canadian Regiment. His first tour of duty after graduating from The Royal Military College was with the Royal Canadian Regiment battalion in Gagetown New Brunswick.
Watkin served as a Canadian Forces legal officer, starting in 1982, for 24 years prior to his appointment to JAG. He was trial counsel at courts-martial and appellate counsel before the Canadian Court Martial Appeal Court. [1] [4] He worked as legal counsel on several investigations into the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and counselled Canadian naval commanders in Bosnia and during a fisheries dispute with Spain. [1] [4] He has written papers on the topics of human rights, international humanitarian law, and military operational law. [4]
Somalia shooting inquiry
In the summer of 1994 when he was a Lieutenant-Colonel he wrote a legal review in which he questioned the conclusions of an investigation by Canadian Airborne Regiment Battle Group Col. Serge Labbe of an incident later known as the Somalia Affair, where two Somalis were shot while fleeing from the Canadian compound in Belet Huen on March 4, 1993. One of the men died. [8] He also questioned Labbe's "openness in reporting to higher headquarters." [8] Watkin's paper, which concluded that the Canadian military had attempted a cover-up, was considered during the inquiry into the events of that day. [8] Watkin testified that he was disturbed by comments made by Lt.-Col. Carol Mathieu, who was charged with negligent performance of duty for allegedly ordering soldiers to fire on looters. Watkin had been asked to brief the soldiers on the rules of war. He testified that Mathieu said, "All that doesn't matter, you just throw down some loose rounds". [3]
Afghan detainee issue
In the Canadian Afghan detainee issue, Watkin as Judge Advocate General wrote a May 2007 memo to Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier and Lt.-Gen. Michel Gauthier telling them that it would be a crime to fail to investigate allegations of prisoner abuse. [9] He advised the Canadian Forces command that they could be "criminally negligent" if they were to transfer detainees to a risk of torture in Afghan hands. Watkin declined to answer questions on the basis of solicitor-client privilege when called to testify in Canada's House of Commons, saying that the privilege owed to the Government of Canada prevented him answering a number of the House's questions. [9] [10] Craig Scott, an Osgoode Hall Law School professor of international human rights law, said: "If there's this paper trail of good legal advice going against what the government is doing, it's even more likely (the federal government violated its obligations under international law)." [9]
Turkel Commission of Inquiry
On June 14, 2010, he was appointed as an observer to the Israeli special independent public Turkel Commission of Inquiry into the Gaza flotilla raid. [11] [12]
The Commission investigated whether Israel's actions in preventing the arrival of ships in Gaza were in accordance with international law. [12] Its focus was, among other things, on the security considerations for imposing a naval blockade on the Gaza Strip and the conformity of the naval blockade with the rules of international law; the conformity of the actions during the raid to principles of international law; and the actions taken by those who organized and participated in the flotilla, and their identities. [12]
On the Commission were former Israeli Supreme Court Justice, Jacob Turkel, and former Technion University President, Amos Horev, as well as two other members added in July 2010. (Shabtai Rosenne, Bar Ilan University Professor of International Law, also served on the Commission from its establishment until his death on 21 September 2010. [13] ) In addition, the Commission had two foreign observers, Watkin and former First Minister of Northern Ireland, David Trimble, who took part in hearings and discussions, but did not vote on the final conclusions. [14] [15]
