Ottawa apologizes for violating Khadr’s rights
Public safety minister reveals nearly $5 million was spent in legal fees fighting the case
“On behalf of the Government of Canada, we wish to apologize to Mr. Khadr.”
With that statement Friday, the federal government officially acknowledged for the first time that Canada violated the rights of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr when he was a teenage captive.
“I hope Canadians take away two things today,” Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould told reporters in Ottawa, standing alongside Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.
“First, our rights are not subject to the whims of the government of the day. And second, there are serious costs when the government violates the rights of its citizens.”
The “serious cost” in terms of numbers is $10.5 million in compensation — although none of the ministers who spoke about the settlement Friday would confirm how much Khadr and his lawyers were paid.
Goodale did note that nearly $5 million was spent in legal fees over the years fighting three losing battles against Khadr’s lawyers all the way to the Supreme Court. Given those rulings, Goodale said the government had “virtually no chance of success” in defending Khadr’s civil suit and prolonging the legal battle would only cost taxpayers more. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer held his own press conference Friday, saying Canadians are “shocked” by the settlement. “Make no mistake,” he said “this settlement is a choice made by (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau.”
Friday’s apology ended what has been a tumultuous week of news, speculation, debate and politicking over a case that has always been about much more than a 15-year-old Canadian and the American soldier the Pentagon said Khadr killed.
Khadr, now 30, said Friday in an interview that he hopes the settlement would allow him and Canadians to move on. “I’m not celebrating it. It’s a time for reconciliation and I hope that this chapter is closed.”
Khadr’s case over the last 15 years spans both Liberal and Conservative rule. Prime minister Stephen Harper and his administration vociferously denounced Khadr as a terrorist, but the Liberals were in power when Canadian officials interrogated Khadr in Guantanamo despite knowing the abuse he was facing.
Those interrogations were the basis for the unanimous 2010 Supreme Court ruling that Khadr’s interrogations “offends the most basic Canadian standards about the treatment of detained youth suspects.”
Dennis Edney, Khadr’s longtime lawyer, thanked the Canadian government and Trudeau Friday “for the courage to stand up and acknowledge a wrong has been done.”
“Fifteen years later I’m walking away. It’s over. It’s been a long journey,” he said in a phone interview from Edmonton.
“I’m going to finish my education, get a job, build a career, be known for what I am right now and try to close the past,” Khadr said.
Hours before the government’s written apology and press conference, a lawyer representing the widow of U.S. Delta Force soldier Christopher Speer and retired special forces soldier Layne Morris appeared in a Toronto courtroom to request an “urgent hearing” into their application.
Speer was fatally wounded and Morris was injured, losing sight in one eye during the July 27, 2002, firefight in Afghanistan where Khadr was grievously wounded and taken into U.S. custody.
Tabitha Speer, Morris and their families, are trying to get an Ontario Superior Court Justice to enforce a $134-million wrongful death claim that was awarded by default two years ago in Utah. In the interim, they want Khadr’s funds frozen.
Lawyer Nathan Whitling, who will represent Khadr in the matter, said he believes the Utah ruling will not be considered valid in Canada since Khadr’s guilt is based on a Guantanamo conviction.
“The Supreme Court of Canada has already found that Guantanamo is contrary to our values and principles,” he said in a telephone interview Friday. Khadr is appealing his Guantanamo conviction in a Washington court.