The entire Khadr family has been involved with Al Qaeda and one member Abdurahman Khadr has also been involved with the CIA, apparently working for them to report on other inmates when he was at Guantanamo Bay and also being sent on a mission to Europe. The father worked for various charities in Pakistan and had connections with Osama Bin Laden.
Omar Khadr was taken into custody after being badly injured in a firefight in an Afghan village on July 27, 2002. He was shot in the back twice by a high ranking US official since supposedly he was the only person left alive in the camp who could have thrown a grenade that killed a US army medic. That was a lie and the official knew it. Later evidence came to light that he had shot and killed another man who had been alive when the grenade was launched. A report by another official which said that the person who launched the grenade had been killed was revised not to say that. Details can be found here.. Khadr was saved from being finished off when an official thought he might be able to provide useful information if kept alive.
When he was captured and ultimately sent to Guantanamo Bay, Khadr was just 15 and should have been treated as a “child soldier” to be rehabilitated not punished. The head of the UN child program wrote a letter to the Guantanamo Military Commission identifying Khadr as such. He continued to be held, and eventually charged anyway. The Canadian government has consistently not only refused to help Khadr but sent intelligence operatives to interrogate him:The last Western citizen held at Guantanamo, Khadr was unique in that Canada had chosen not to seek extradition or repatriation despite the urgings of Amnesty International, UNICEF, the Canadian Bar Association, The Federal Court of Canada and other prominent organizations.
In January 2010, a 9 to 0 decision by the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the participation of Canadian officials in interrogation of Khadr violated his rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights: The ruling noted that he had been interrogated with no access to counsel. The interrogators knew also that before being interrogated Khadr had been subjected to lengthy sleep deprivation and that the interrogators knew that the results of the interrogation would be shared with prosecutors. The Court said such actions were against the most basic standards for treatment of detained youth suspects.
Earlier the government had tried to stop videotapes of Khadr’s interrogation from being released: On May 23, 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unanimously that the government had acted illegally, contravening s. 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and ordered the videotapes of the interrogation released.
In November of 2005, Khadr was formally charged with murder by an unprivileged belligerent, aiding the enemy and conspiring with Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda members. Notice the term “unprivileged belligerent.” Ordinarily in a conflict when someone on the other side kills someone on your side it is not regarded as murder. When one side is attacked, one would expect the other side to try to kill the attackers. However, Khadr did not wear a uniform or belong to recognized armed forces so even if he defends himself against attackers trying to kill him he is guilty of murder. An “unprivileged belligerent” or illegal enemy combatant does not have the protections of regular armed force members. He can’t even claim self defense. In a plea bargain, Khadr accepted an eight-year sentence but this did not include time served. He also was granted the possibility of a transfer to Canada to serve the remainder of his sentence here.
Former Canadian Senator Rome Dallaire constantly spoke on behalf of Khadr and said: “Omar has been 10 years in jail already, in a jail so many have considered illegal and inappropriate. He’s been tortured to get testimony out of him and through all that has seen no support whatsoever.”
Khadr was finally repatriated in September of 2012. Khadr claims he is innocent of the murder charge against him and that he confessed as the only possible means of getting out of Guantanamo.
Given this history, it is not surprising that the Harper government will use taxpayer money to challenge the release of Khadr on bail. When bail was granted to Khadr, his lawyer, Dennis Edney, said: “I hoped that justice would prevail, and it did. We’ll have a date with a judge in coming weeks and we’ll talk about conditions of release.”
The Harper government wants to show how tough it is on terror even if it means that even the Supreme Court rules against what the government does. As Edney put it: “It’s malicious. This is a government that doesn’t believe in the rule of law”. It believes in some laws, for example Bill C51, the anti-terror bill. The appended video for some reason includes preparation for the report with a few gaffes as well!
