|
  
  
CANADIAN LITIGATION:
On January 29, 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada released its judgment in Prime Minister of Canada v. Omar Khadr. The Court found that Canada's actions 'offend the most basic Canadian standards about the treatment of detained youth suspects" and required the government to grant Omar a remedy. Visit our dedicated page to learn more about the case.
Latest: Federal Court of Canada gives Harper 7 days to come up with remedies to Canada's breach of Omar Khadr's constitutional rights.
Visit our news page for updates.
---------------
MILITARY COMMISSIONS TRIAL IN GUANTANAMO
At Khadr's pre-trial hearing at the Military Commissions in Guantanamo Bay, the case was made that much of the 'evidence' against Khadr was extracted with coercion and mistreatment, making it unreliable and inadmissible.
The proceedings have also triggered a tense debate within the Obama administration; many say the revised rules in the Military Commissions system are still unfair.
The full trial on Khadr's charges is expected to begin in Guantanamo in August 2010. Visit our news page for updates.
---------------
BACKGROUND:
In 2002 the United States military captured and imprisoned Omar Khadr, a 15-year old Canadian citizen. Since that time, the US has held him in Guantanamo Bay without trial for nearly seven years -- over a quarter of his life. To date, Canada is the only Western country that still allows one of its citizens to languish in a place Amnesty International calls “the gulag of our times.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has refused to intervene in Omar Khadr's case stating that he should face his charges through a judicial process, not a political one. We agree. But the US Military Commissions do not amount to a fair judicial process.
The Pentagon's former chief prosecutor in Guantanamo, Col. Morris Davis, resigned in protest in October 2007 over concerns of their unfairness. Likewise, former Guantanamo prosecutor Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld resigned in protest in September 2008, stating that the Commissions "had defiled the U.S. Constitution and I see them as a stain on America." Despite stating in his presidential campaign that they were a flawed judicial process, President Obama announced in May 2009 that he will continue with the Military Commissions.
Prime Minister Harper has also stated that Canada has received guarantees that Omar Khadr is being treated humanely. We know this too is untrue. In summer 2008, the Federal Court of Canada concluded that Omar Khadr’s treatment in Guantanamo violated the UN Convention Against Torture and that Canada was aware of these abuses when they occurred. On January 15, 2009, US military judge Susan J. Crawford, the most senior Pentagon official in charge of the Commissions, admitted that the US had tortured detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
In April 2009, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that the Canadian government was violating the constitution by not requesting the return of Omar. Justice O'Reilly concluded that "the ongoing refusal of Canada to request Mr. Khadr’s repatriation to Canada offends a principle of fundamental justice and violates Mr. Khadr’s rights under s. 7 of the Charter." We could not agree more. The Federal Court of Appeal reached the same conclusion in August 2009.
The Supreme Court of Canada agreed that Khadr's rights had been breached and that a remedy was required. However, still the Harper government refused to take appropriate action, so Omar Khadr's lawyers had to go back to court. On July 5th 2010, the Federal Court of Canada gave the government of Canada seven days to come up with remedies for the breach of Omar's human rights.
Guantanamo prosecutors, the Supreme Court of Canada and common-sense Canadians have lost faith in Guatanamo Bay and the Military Commissions. Canada's continuing refusal to intervene in Omar Khadr's case means that we are now the only country who still believes justice and fairness can be found there. They cannot. The impending closure of Guantanamo and the new Obama administration make this the time for Canada to finally stand up for the rights of the one of its citizens.
Enough is enough. It's time for Canada to act. Repatriate Omar Khadr.
|
