Khadr’s criminal record in Canada exposes ‘absolute ignorance’: lawyer
TORONTO — Omar Khadr’s official criminal record in Canada contains errors that are at odds with how the federal government viewed him on his return from the prison on the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The record, obtained by the Canadian Press, makes no reference to the fact that Khadr, 30, was convicted by an internationally condemned U.S. military commission for purported offences he committed as a 15-year-old in Afghanistan.
Instead, the document states only that he was convicted at “Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (Youth Court).” It makes no reference to the U.S. or the commission.
While it’s not clear when the record was first created, Khadr’s Canadian lawyers call it bizarre. For one thing, they note there’s no such thing as a Guantanamo Bay youth court.
However, the Canadian government argued strenuously for years against treating Khadr as a young offender — placing him in maximum-security prisons on his return to Canada in September 2012.
Additionally, the lawyers say, the record appears to formalize the fact that Khadr was convicted as a youth for alleged crimes that occurred in a war zone, which would make him a child soldier — a label the government has also always avoided.
Dennis Edney, one of Khadr’s lawyers, who was initially unaware of the document, expressed surprise at its contents.
“There’s not such a being as a criminal youth court in Guantanamo,” Edney said from Edmonton. “Why would you do that?”
The Americans captured a wounded Khadr in the rubble of a bombed-out compound in Afghanistan in July 2002, after a fierce firefight.
In October 2010, the Canadian citizen pleaded guilty to five war crimes before a military commission at Guantanamo Bay, and was handed an eightyear sentence. The Toronto-born Khadr, who has long maintained the Americans tortured him during his lengthy captivity, later said he only pleaded guilty so he could return to Canada.
Edney said it’s important people understand the context of the convictions — something sorely lacking in the official record. “It shows absolute ignorance. It misstates itself in a very fundamental way.”
Khadr’s lawyers say his conviction record should not enjoy legal recognition in Canada, given that it has no reference to a legitimate court in a foreign country, and could have an impact Khadr’s hopes to study nursing.
The Justice Department’s lead lawyer on the Khadr file did not respond to a request for information.
Khadr was granted bail in Alberta in 2015 pending an ongoing appeal of his U.S. conviction — a process that will likely take several more years.