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Omar Khadr: Supreme Court of Canada Ruling
by C. L. Cook
by C. L. Cook
Almost six years imprisoned in the American gulags and Omar Khadr, the fifteen year old Canadian and sole survivor of an American military assault on a village in Afghanistan on July 27, 2002, is finally getting his day in "court." Of course it is not a court that any living in pre-Bushian times would recognize as such: there are no rights granted the "detainee" the rest of us have come to take as granted, like: the right to face your accuser(s); the right to see the evidence against you; the right to security of the person (habeas corpus); the right to lawyer/ advocate/ council -client confidentiality; the right to an open trial; the right to be judged by a jury of your peers.
But, there may be a small ray of hope for the young "terrorist" in the form of a newly handed down ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada.
The problem is: the Canadian government is fighting the nation's highest court, and there is no indication the American authorities holding Khadr these last six years will pay a good God-damned bit of notice to anything the Supreme Court says.
State media organ, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) reports below on the new turn in the Khadr case, after a fashion. The CBC says Khadr is on trial for murder. In fact, Omar Khadr is, ironically enough, charged with "war crimes" in what the U.S. military terms the wrongful killing of one of their shock troops during the attack against the village the child was living in on July 27, 2002.
The essence of the U.S. case rests primarily on the fact Khadr was the last "man" standing when the smoke and dust cleared, (a fact true today, but apparently not so on the day of his "arrest"). What is known is: an American soldier, army sergeant Chris Speer was killed by a hand-grenade, thrown by someone in the compound where Khadr's bullet-ridden body was discovered.
There is very little clear about this case, save the fact Omar Khadr was, at the time of his taking, by all definitions but America's new understanding, a child-soldier, compelled into service by his allegedly al Qaida-connected father and older brothers, and he was the only living non-American to be seen.
Today, with more than a quarter of his short life spent behind the bars of a system where America claims, and practices, the "right" to torture, Khadr could witness, (if such things were allowed in such a place as he finds himself) his Canadian government argue with the Supreme Court's findings. The Harper government claims, turning over the documents they hold (mostly Khadr's statements taken from him while under torture) pose a possible risk to the nation's security.
And, for good measure, the Canadian government is defying too the law and conscience of humanity to mewl against justice saying, to stand against the apparent wishes of the American military court could "jeopardize international relations."
In what sounds like a tacit recognition of the desired American results in this case, the New Canadian government cedes Omar Khadr's right to a fair trial and the protection of citizenship because America wants him guilty of a war crime, and Canada doesn't want to deny anything America might want for fear of upsetting "relations."
That the most profligate violator of human rights on the planet, a nation that is party to each and every of the crimes outlined in the Nuremberg trials that followed the fall of Hitler's Nazi regime, (rulings that hung many of the Nazi survivors) could utter the charge of "war crimes" against the barely pubescent Khadr is more than an outrage, it is laugh-out-loud ludicrous. That Canada could play along with this charade is criminal.
The CBC's account follows, but reader be aware; the Canadian Broadcast Corporation has defied all journalistic pretense both during, and in the run-up to America's wars of aggression. It is a part of the same state apparatus that implicitly supports America's illegal war and occupation in Iraq, and supplies "men" and treasure to abet that nation's crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, and the ubiquitous elsewheres of its 'Global War on Terror.'
Click the link for a Pacific Free Press backgrounder on the SCC hearing, and Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper has more on this too.
From the CBC Online
Canada's top court orders partial access to Khadr transcriptsDefence lawyers for Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr said Friday's Supreme Court of Canada ruling ordering Ottawa to grant limited access to confidential documents falls "far short" of what they hoped for. Omar Khadr, shown [above] at 15, is awaiting trial for murder at the U.S. military jail in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In a 9-0 judgment, the top court agreed that Khadr, a 21-year-old Canadian citizen facing murder charges in the U.S., has a constitutional right to documents held by Foreign Affairs and CSIS. The papers relate to interviews Canadian officials conducted with him during his detention at the U.S. naval base in Cuba.
However, the court rejected demands for additional documents held by Ottawa dealing with other parts of the case.
- "Unfortunately, we think that the most important documents that Canada has, that we can't get anywhere else, we're not going to receive," Khadr's lawyer, Nathan Whitling, said outside the court.
The ruling also states that information can be withheld on the basis of national security, causing concerns that the federal government could argue against the disclosure of more materials.
A Federal Court judge will begin the process of assessing what parts of the documents can be passed on to Khadr's lawyers. The judge will decide what documents "fall within the scope of disclosure obligations," the ruling states.
The defence team said it was pleased with part of the court's ruling, saying it confirms the Guantanamo Bay system is contrary to U.S. domestic laws and violates Canada's and the U.S.'s obligations to protect fundamental human rights.
- "They confirmed that the Canadian government has violated Mr. Khadr's basic human rights by participating in this system," Whitling said.
Khadr was captured during a fierce firefight in Afghanistan in 2002 and accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. army sergeant.
Friday's ruling could have broad implications because information exchange between security officials in Canada and the U.S. has become commonplace in the post-9/11 era.
Khadr was 15 at the time of his capture and since his arrest has been imprisoned at the U.S. naval base jail in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he is awaiting trial by a military commission on charges of murder and war crimes.
The court case stems from an appeal of an earlier federal court decision that ordered the Canadian government to release the documents to Khadr's lawyers.
Documents may outline details of Khadr's capture Whitling said he doesn't know many details about the documents he is requesting, but he expects that one of the files will be a U.S. military report outlining what happened on Oct. 27, 2002, the day the Toronto-born Khadr was captured.
Whitling said the U.S. military sent the document to the Canadian government to explain the reasons behind Khadr's transfer to Guantanamo Bay. Whitling asked the U.S. military for a copy, but was told the military no longer has it.
As a result, Whitling turned to Canada for the information.
- "What happened that day [of the capture] is very much in doubt and very much in dispute," Whitling said. "It's not at all clear that Omar did anything improper that day, threw a grenade or anything else. Every account of those events is very important, because they're all inconsistent, and it's the inconsistencies that show the weakness in the prosecution."
Lawyers for the Canadian government argued that releasing the files could jeopardize international relations and reveal classified information. They said that Canada doesn't have an obligation to hand over the files.
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