As people across Canada rallied in support for Omar Khadr, the Supreme Court of Canada began proceedings to decide whether the Harper government must seek the Canadian citizen’s return.
Toronto-born Khadr was arrested when he was just 15 by the U.S. army in Afghanistan in 2002, after allegedly throwing a grenade that killed an American soldier. Since then, he’s been held in Guantanamo Bay without trial.
The Canadian government under Harper has so far refused to seek repatriation for the now 23-year-old Khadr, despite a 2008 Federal Court ruling calling for exactly that, and instead went to the top at the Supreme Court. That court could uphold the decision of the Court of Appeals though, forcing the government to comply with its ruling.
Edmonton-based Dennis Edney, Khadr’s lawyer, said he hopes the Supreme Court will rule in Khadr’s favour. Such a decision would effectively force the government ask the Americans for Khadr’s safe return.
“They’d have to abide by the constitution, or we’d have an illegal government,” said Edney when asked if he thought Harper would contravene such a ruling. “It’s just a simple matter of a ruling from our court.”
“Our government knows, as the rest of the world knows, that Guantanamo Bay has been universally criticized for its treatment of detainees,” he added.
U.S. authorities announced Nov. 13 that Khadr would be facing a military commission for his alleged crimes, the same day Supreme Court hearings on the case began in Ottawa.
“The military commission process has been condemned as a kangaroo court. It’s not a proper process,” Edney said about the development.
Closer to home, about 250 people rallied on Nov. 15 at Edmonton’s Churchill Square, calling for Khadr’s immediate return and criticizing what they see as the government’s abandonment of one of its own citizens.
“Canada is supposed to be the place where we defend and protect human rights, and we have a reputation world wide for that,” said Tonia Huculak, one of the organizers of the rally. “We want him to come back to Canada.”
Amnesty International, one of the sponsors of the Edmonton rally, has documented Khadr’s torture while being held by U.S. military in the notorious prison camp.
The fact that Khadr is a Canadian citizen is an important part of this case for Rodrigo Loyola, 35, who attended the rally with his five-year-old son, Daniel.
“For me, it was very important to attend the rally, because Omar Khadr’s situation could be any Canadian citizen,” Loyola said.
Protesters also criticized the government’s apparent willingness to allow Khadr to be tried in a military court in the U.S., arguing he won’t be given a fair trial.
“I’m very concerned about a Canadian citizen having to go through a military tribunal in the United States,” Loyola said. “It sets precedent.”
“Even if you don’t want to defend Omar, you have to defend your vision of what Canada is,” Huculak said. “If you can’t protect human rights in Canada, where can you protect them?”
Many of Khadr’s supporters argue that since he was a child when he was detained, he should be treated as a child soldier and reintegrated back into Canadian society.
“Omar has always been treated as an adult, despite the convention on the rights of the child,” Edney said.
Others have called for Khadr to be returned to Canada and tried in a civilian court. But that’s not likely to happen if Khadr returns, according to Edney.
“The truth of the matter is Canada would never try him, because we’d have him out of our court system in two minutes,” he said, in reference to Khadr’s age at the time of his arrest. “Canada knows that.”
A Jan. 2009 Ipsos-Reid poll indicated that two-thirds of Canadians want Khadr returned home to Canada. Edney said Khadr is aware of the Canadians rallying in his support.
“He says to me that if he ever got out of Guantanamo, he looks forward to thanking all those people who helped him,” Edney said. “Think about that. He’s thinking about others instead of himself.”
This article was originally published in the winter 2009 issue of The MacEwan Journalist.
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