Bring Canadian Omar Khadr Home from Guatanamo?
 

Now that he's in a kind of limbo in Gitmo, does Canada have a responsibility to bring Omar Khadr back?

I think that at least on a legal level, it is essential that we do something. If the Americans cannot carry out what they think is justice, Canada must ensure that something gets done.

What do you think?

With the recent SCOTUS decisions, Bush's entire rationale of "war" justice is also in limbo. If Canada can exert the needed pressure to free Khadr, I would hope that they do so.

We have a legal system that is very effective and sometimes even fair. I think it far superior to what Bush would have us submit to.

I think bring him home is a no-brainer. Detaining someone and isolating them without meeting a standard of indictment is absurd.

The real question is what to do with him once he's here. Is there any precedent for a citizen who fights for an opposing force?

Regardless, I prefer the wheels of justice to turn transparently and not on a government's whim.

He should be released and allowed to come home.

Does anyone know of any petition or movement to do anything about his predicament. I've read about this, but sadly on my part, I haven't really looked into it as I should. If it were me, I'd sure as hell want people to be investigating and clamoring for justice.

He should be released and asked to swim to safety.

Really, I am against the war in Iraq and have been since day one. I don't hold with the US detention methods. Bush is a complete nutjob.

Having said that, this kid is now damaged goods. His family (in Scarborough, part of Toronto) are pretty hard core Islamists.

I wish he'd never gotten jailed to begin with, but now, honestly, he's more of a menace to Canada than when the US picked him up.

I have no desire to see him back here. Maybe the Excited States can feed and clothe him until he explodes like the time-bomb he now is.

Wasn't the reason he was detained was because he killed an American soldier?

I would say even if he has Canadian citizenship, he was fighting in his other country in which I think he also is a citizen, so the Americans have first dibs on him.

Yeah, and they already used up those dibs. But now what?

Now a court is ordering Harper to attempt to bring Khadr to Canada
 

PM must press U.S. for Khadr's return from Guantanamo, court rules

I can't believe Harper is going to appeal this. Khadr is the last Western citizen left sitting in Guantanamo.

Why should Khadr's fate depend on Obama's review of the situation? Khadr is a Canadian.

Is Harper worried about more bad press about allegations of torture? Is he just trying to keep his hands clean of the situation? I think it's already too late for that.

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Bring him back, give him a trial, prove he was siding with terrorists and put him in a Canadian jail for the rest of his life and let Canadian taxpayers foot the bill.

And the 15 year old bit. I was 15 once also and knew exactly what was right and wrong.

And his mother speaking about the Canadian government, who control everything, and who can't be trusted,... maybe her good friend Osama bin Laden can give her a little moral support.

And the fact that Canadians want him home because he is Canadian? Canadian Shamadian,...he was fighting in another country for a terrorist organization. He should have his citizenship pulled and deported.

percy, your opinion is against the majority of Canadians, and I think it goes beyond the simple fact that he's a Canadian.

And you can't revoke the citizenship of or deport a natural-born citizen. Where are you going to deport him to? Cuba? Pakistan? The United States? That's a bit arbitrary, isn't it?

I think the biggest issue is that he's been stuck in Gitmo, and we know what that entails. I think the core issue here is the travesty of justice surrounding that whole operation.

I think what's at issue here is the rule of law. I think most Canadians support that same ideal.

the canadian people need to sway the canadian gov't in the same way the australians did with david hicks.

enough pressure, and the government will relent. its about the votes afterall.

in saying that, why apply different rules to a minor in terrorism cases as opposed to anything else, including murder? a minor is a minor in my eyes and deserves a second chance. you must also remember that he grew up in an environment under the nfluence of his father and OBL. do people really expect him to rebel?

the last i heard of him was seeing a video of him weeping calling out for his mother in an interrogation about a year ago.

It's not so simple, but we all know thee answer - he must come home. Having said that, we still have a few questions.

firstly, did he kill an American soldier and, even if he did, would he have been considered a child combatant? recent findings show that the US evidence against him is bogus and, and he WAS 15 at the time.

Secondly, he must be kept apart from his frickin' nut job family - my gawd, have you heard these people?!

Still, on the face of it, he should be sent back to Canada, IMHO.

Peace,
Pierre

his family is about as normal as the Adams Family.

didnt his older brother become an FBI informant and agreed to spy on other Gitmo prisoners and then bagged the US out after that when they dropped him off in the middle of nowhere in europe somewhere?


whatever his family has done though, it's no excuse for him not to be repatriated.

You're right. Let's bring him home.

And when that happens I certainly hope he has the decency, as a good Canadian, to wear red on Friday's to support our troops fighting in Afghanistan.

I don't even wear red on Fridays.

I'm sure if he's brought home, he will be too busy being charged with a serious crime to even think about his wardrobe.

I don't give a fuck about Omar Khadr.

He's hardly an innocent and I'm hardly going to be petitioning anyone on his behalf.

Let him have his day in court and let system decide what is done with him.

He will have his fair trial. It does not matter to me much whether that trial is conducted by the US or by Canada.

As much as you don't care about Khadr, this is getting ridiculous. Here we are clogging up the justice system, wasting tax-payers dollars, all for what? To leave a Canadian citizen in legal limbo in an American military prison? Isn't Canada the only G8 nation taking this position? Everyone else had their citizens extradited.

But no. Here we have the Canadian government refusing to follow a ruling stating that Khadr be returned. Why is that? Politics?

Harper is waiting to see what the Americans do with him. Well, how long has it been? How much has happened?

This isn't just about Khadr. This is about national sovereignty and standards of justice.

It looks like Khadr's human rights may have been ignored by Canadian officials at the time of his interrogation by the U.S.

CSIS ignored Khadr's human rights: report

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This whole situation is an embarrassment to Canadians. The abdication of responsibility of our government towards one of it's own citiziens is disgusting.

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according to the latest news, Omar Khadr will be tried in a revamped military tribunal, whilst the masterminds of 911 will face civilian trials in NYC.

9/11 suspects to be tried in New York | World News | News.com.au


that just doesnt make sense to me

None of this makes any kind of sense to anyone with even a passing familiarity with the justice system.

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And then there is the issue of deporting American war resisters, which goes against Parliamentary votes.

It's clear Harper is playing politics, and he values staying on the good side of the American government and military despite the wishes of parliament, the judiciary, and the Canadian public (and despite the decisions of other members of the Commonwealth with regard to foreign nationals in Gitmo). I don't know why Harper would otherwise go against the grain on these matters. I hope this eventually becomes his undoing.

We can only speculate what Chrétien or Martin would have done.

Chrétien would have paid his cronies to look into ways of doing nothing. The cost would have been far more than $1.3 million. Martin would have taken a vacation in Europe, at cost of over $1 million. Both of those guys were so corrupt and inept their only legacy was to rehabilitate Brian Mulroney's image and make him look marginally competent. Their only real salvation has been that Harper is SO bad, they look slightly less crooked than they actually were.

Imagine how good they'd look in comparison to Harper with a majority government!!

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Seven years later and this kid is still in Gitmo...

Well as plain and simple the absurdity surrounding Omar Khadr is I've only recently become familiar with the history of the Khadr family as a whole. To me, it seems like the Canada/US desire to keep the Omar Khadr case locked in purgatory is somewhat resultant of his father's "shady" past. I'm curious how those of you who know more about this than I view the life of Ahmed Khadr. It seems that the US-Canadian government has tried to paint him as a Islamic Extremist from the start, while on the other side people have said he was just a philanthropist who eventually found himself increasingly immersed in a hairy and hairy situation....

There's little doubt that the Khadr family has some shady dealings with terrorists. Philanthropist? Yes, but in the same way that Bin Laden is a philanthropist to those who protect him (maybe not as bad as that, but in the same vein).

BUT... Omar was a 15-yo kid in a compound attacked by US forces, whose life was threatened in an hours-long firefight that eventually resulted in the breaching of the compound wall by explosives, and an invasion of armed military personnel. To claim that the US soldier was murdered is ludicrous. It was a military operation operation, and the people inside the compound were justifiably afraid for their lives. It was not a police operation where they went up to the door and asked to enter.

To deny any prisoners taken there the benefits of the Geneva Convention is an embarrassment to the US (all of Gitmo is). To allow the evidence attained through torture to be used is in blatant violation of international law. To torture a 15-yo boy into confessing is just abhorrent.

And the fact that the Canadian government is fighting so hard to abdicate ITS responsibility to make sure its citizens are protected to the fullest extent of international law and conventions is simply sickening. There is nothing in this situation that any US or Canadian politician can be proud of.

I think it's pretty clear that he should be repatriated and given a fair trial back in Canada. He is a natural born Canadian citizen and should be treated as such regardless of his actions.

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Not to beat a dead horse, but I have a legitimate question, maybe somebody here can help me.

Silent Jay raises fair questions, as well as those about the Geneva Convention. So maybe one you international treaty buffs can help me out here.

Since by and large language from the Hague treaty seem to be the legal standing by which America has operated Gitmo and it's tribunals, how does this young chap fit the listing of an identified combatant, or how does the Geneva convention that would protect him, designate him?

Ditto. The point I was making though was that a potentially huge driving force behind the prevailing Canadian-US attitude could be as a result of the kid's family. I'm definitely not saying that's right, I was just trying to get some further insight into Ahmed Khadr/HCI.

Very interesting point you're making about criminal acts during wartime... but to me if the military did have proof that a militant was responsible for the deaths of one or several of its members they probably would have some avenue to pursue punishment, regardless of the fact that these things are inevitabilities in a war. I'm sure there's other cases of this which might be a little more black and white; I'll do some digging when I'm off work.

And as a quick aside, I personally wouldn't spend too much time worrying about comments you see on news websites... from my experience the overwhelming vast majority of people who weigh in on discussions have I.Q.s somewhere in the one-digit region.

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Supreme Court unanimous in Canada's and the US's violation of Khadr's Charter rights
 

Khadr ruling sees top court clash with Tories - The Globe and Mail

Not only is this an interesting turn of events, but the timing is impeccable: just as Harper--with his newly stacked Senate--gears up his crime agenda.

How this will play out will largely determine Harper's ability to govern both domestically and in terms of international relations. It's one of several things now that could make or break his government.

Will Harper uphold the Charter, or will he continue as usual with this politicking?

This is a disgusting and shameful decision for Canada. The cowardice of our Supreme Court is in full light with this. The decision was NOT IN ANYWAY about foreign policy... it was ENTIRELY ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS. And the court chose a simplistic illogic to avoid having to live up to its duty to enforce our laws.

I'm embarrassed to be a Canadian right now.

I still don't want him back here.

I don't care if he was a "child soldier" or whatever you want to call him. (I just call him a terrorist - keeps it simple - cause that's what he (and his entire family) is.) If Omar Khadr had not been captured that day, ask yourself where he would be right now. Would he be living in Canada, working here, contributing here, paying taxes, being part of Canadian society, or would he be continuing the fight on the side of the Islamists in Afghanistan and Pakistan killing Canadian and NATO soldiers?

He and his entire family renounced their citizenship as far as I am concerned the second they packed up and went over to the Afghanistan to fight with Al Qaeda against Canada and NATO. The entire Khadr family has open disdain for everything this country stands for. They have been very up front about that. The only reason that they are here is to have free health care for their other son Karim who was injured in a fire fight with NATO troops in Afghanistan where his father was killed.

Sometimes in life, you have to pick a side and live by the consequences of that decision.

The entire Kahdr family has made their choice. They stand with the Islamo Fascists of the world. As such, this is the price they pay for their allegiances.

I trust the Americans to handle the case of Omar Kahdr within the confines of their justice system.

GreyWolf: I don't understand your response. You don't agree with the Supreme Court decision that Khadr's rights were violated? You don't think CSIS et al are bound by the Charter in this case, dealing with a Canadian citizen?

james t kirk: "What ifs" aren't very useful. They are an exercise of fantasy, especially at this point. I regard this case as more about upholding the Charter in a post-9/11 world. I regard it as how Canada's affairs reflect us as a nation, both to ourselves and abroad. We are in the minority in terms of how we handled our nationals who ended up in Guatanamo. I think this case deserves due process. Obama has shut down the commission. Khadr should be brought home to face justice here based on that alone, but unfortunately the case is made more complex by the fact that human rights violations are involved.

There is no longer any reason why Khadr should remain in U.S. custody. He should be extradited to Canada and held accountable to our own justice system. Justice in American hands has failed...miserably.