Omar Khadr's Guantanamo Hearing Today

By Jeralyn, Section Terror Trials
Posted on Fri Dec 12, 2008 at 01:15:44 PM EST
Tags: Omar Khadr, Military Commissions, Guantanamo (all tags)

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Omar Khadr, the Canadian captured as a teen on the battlefield in Afghanistan, has a hearing today in his military commissions proceeding at Guantanamo.

Most human rights and legal experts say the evidence against Khadr seems too weak to be able to hold up in a US civil court or an ordinary military tribunal.

Khadr could then become the first beneficiary of the closing of the Guantanamo detention facility.

The ACLU is monitoring from Gitmo. [More...]

Now 22, Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier. In a signed, nine-page affidavit, Khadr charged that he was repeatedly threatened with rape during interrogations while held both in Afghanistan and at Guantánamo Bay. Khadr’s trial has raised serious concerns about its fairness, including the use of testimony his attorneys say was coerced through torture.

Tainted by political interference, the Guantánamo military commission proceedings have been marred by ethical and legal problems from day one. Among other things, the proceedings allow the admission of secret evidence, hearsay and evidence obtained through torture. The Bush administration has admitted that at least three detainees in its custody have been subjected to waterboarding.

It's way past time for Omar, a child of Jihad, to be sent home to Canada. Close Gitmo.

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Omar Khadr's Guantanamo Hearing Today | 6 comments (6 topical)

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On the one hand it is alleged (none / 0) (#1)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Fri Dec 12, 2008 at 01:54:43 PM EST

that he, a Canadian citizen, killed a US soldier. On the other it is alleged he was threatened with rape after his capture.

Today's hearing should be very interesting.

Okay I don't know about this one person (none / 0) (#2)
by zyx on Sat Dec 13, 2008 at 12:13:04 AM EST

but there is a bit about another detainee and about his lawyer in Ron Suskind's latest book "The Way of the World", which I just read, and that was heartbreaking.

It seemed pretty unlikely that the detainee had any terrorist background...very frustrating. And he was terribly ill, and apparently not getting appropriate treatment.

: For the record (none / 0) (#3)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Dec 13, 2008 at 11:28:56 AM EST

there is no question of Khadr's involvement with AQ.

So it seems Khadr's defense (none / 0) (#4)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Dec 13, 2008 at 12:01:55 PM EST

is that he was lying underneath a pile of rubble pretending to be dead and therefor could not have thrown the grenade that killed one and wounded at least one other American soldier.

I'm not really sure how that jibes with many/all aspects of the soldiers' descriptions of the events.

Hey, if he didn't do it then he should be let free. If he did, he should pay the consequences.

Oh, and the linked article has an artist's sketch of Khadr as he is today, he's no longer the teen-aged cherub the TL photograph on this thread would have you believe, he's a full-bearded, full-grown man...

There Is (none / 0) (#5)
by squeaky on Sat Dec 13, 2008 at 04:12:44 PM EST

There is an international standard for treatment of child soldiers. There is also an international standard for the treatment of war criminals.

Omar Khadir should have been immediately sent back home for rehabilitation. The treatment he got in gitmo amounts to war crimes.


: There are many who share that opinion. (none / 0) (#6)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Dec 13, 2008 at 04:43:55 PM EST