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Canadian Government’s Apologizes to Omar Khadr for violating his rights under the Charter.
7-12-2017
Canadian government has apparently settled a long-standing law suit filed by Omar Khadr and has officially apologized for violating his rights under the Charter. Many Canadians are clearly upset, some are outrage. At Alameen Post, we do not under any circumstances condone, what he has apparently being, accused of, admitted it, or have served time in prison for. As we do not have, and from what we understand neither does the public have all the facts associated with his file.
This is simply not a case of current Trudeau Government handing over multi-million dollars to a child accused of being a terrorist. This is about a $20 Million lawsuit filed by Mr. Khadr after the 2010 unanimous Supreme Court Judgement that states unequivocally, “Canada actively participated in a process contrary to its international human rights obligations and contributed to (Khadr’s) ongoing detention so as to deprive him of his right to liberty and security of the person.” He was not only denied legal counsel, he was subjected to worst form of physical abuse, sleep deprivation. Add insult to injury, Canadian intelligence agents took part in treatment that the top court said “offends the most basic Canadian standards about the treatment of detained youth suspects.”
After such judgement, it is not as if Canadian government had choices. If the government had not settled, the courts most probably would have awarded him the compensation.
“The main claim in Khadr’s $20-million civil suit is that Canadian officials violated his rights when they interrogated him in Guantanamo in 2003 and 2004, knowing he was a minor, without legal representation and had been subjected to torture.” Reported Toronto Star.
Liberal MP Ken Hardie tweeted last week: “(T)he U.S. was invading his country. He was pressed into service at 15, improperly treated medically and legally; Canada was complicit.” Mr. Hardie has since tweeted, “Note to all: I apologize for my error on the original Omar Khadr tweet - distracted from the main legal issues that are not yet resolved.”
We do not envy the position which the current Trudeau or Liberal government finds itself under. However, this mess created by previous Liberal government, and the current Liberal government having to pay the price of it. Let’s be truthful, this mess is almost two decades and four Prime Ministers in the making. The violation occurred under previous Liberal PM, Mr. Jean Chretien, continued under, Mr. Paul Martin, and exasperated under Conservative PM, Mr. Stephen Harper.
Now look at some simple facts. Mr. Khadr was born in Toronto on September 19, 1986, and both his parents were Canadian citizens. He was taken to Afghanistan when he was only eight years old. He was a dependant and had no say in the decision to move to Afghanistan, made then, by his father.
Toronto Star refuted Jason Kenney’s tweet earlier, “Khadr confessed to murdering Christopher Speer, a medic who rushed to his aid,” tweeted Jason Kenney, leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta. That is incorrect according to testimony from the American soldiers who were there.
“I just remember being dumbstruck that there was someone being alive in there,” a Delta Force soldier told the Star during an interview for the CBC documentary Guantanamo’s Child. ‘After all that bombing, after all the ordinance we dropped in there, somebody was still alive.’ As the soldiers cleared the compound, their weapons were drawn. They did not expect any survivors.”
In 2015, after an Edmonton court granted Khadr bail, his outspoken lawyer Dennis Edney bluntly told reporters about then prime minister Harper: “Mr. Harper is a bigot, and Mr. Harper doesn’t like Muslims. I once said publicly to Mr. Harper, ‘When you put your children to bed, ask yourself if you would like your children abused like Omar Khadr?’”
“It didn’t seem possible that any Canadians would look askance at making reparations with a man whose life has been shaped by repeated betrayals: his father, Al Qaeda fundraiser Ahmed Said Khadr, who took him, an 8-year-old boy, to Afghanistan and Pakistan; his mother, Maha Elsamnah, who supported this; the U.S. military, who, instead of treating him as a child soldier (he was 15 when captured), detained, tortured and subjected him to an unfair trial; and Canada, which — under Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin’s Liberals and Stephen Harper’s Conservatives — abandoned him in the illegal hellhole that is Guantanamo Bay.” Wrote Toronto Star’s Sheree Predkar.
The alleged firefight between American Soldiers and Mr. Khadr took place when he was only fifteen years old. According to UN, Khadr and other child soldiers in Guantanamo were classified as “child soldiers” and were to be treated as such. Mr. Khadr was denied that right.
Lastly, Omar Khadr is not the only person to receive compensation for having his rights violated and subjected to worst form of physical abuse. In fact, Mr. Khadr was the last western citizen to be taken out of Guantanamo. UK and Australia have made similar settlements for violating the rights of their citizens who were taken to Guantanamo by US government.
Great Britian has paid millions to several of its citizens for their time in Guantanamo. “In November 2010, the U.K. government announced a settlement with Begg and 15 others, despite insisting British agents had not participated directly in any prisoner abuse.” Reported Ottawa Citizen, “The British deal was reported to be worth 20 million pounds — about $30 million at the time. Then-justice secretary Kenneth Clarke noted it could have cost taxpayers more than double had it gone to court.” Also, “In a similar case, suspected terrorist Mamdouh Habib reached a confidential settlement with the Australian government in 2010.”
Announcing the Khadr deal last Friday, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould stated, “I hope Canadians take away two things today: First, our rights are not subject to the whims of the government of the day,” Wilson-Raybould said. “Second, there are serious costs when the government violates the rights of its citizens.”
Yes, there are aspects of this deal where we may or may not agree with the government’s decision. However, in hindsight, and not having all the facts of his alleged role or participation or lack of in the fire fight. We do need to acknowledge based on court’s judgement that his human rights were violated, the Canadian government officials spanning four prime ministers were complicit. Most importantly, we need to acknowledge the fact about the load the long-term impact on Mr. Khadr. Lets place ourselves in his shoes for a moment and just try to apply for a job. We would soon realize what its like to have the name Khadr.
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