Khadr’s human rights were violated by our government

Dear Cam Cooper (re: Reasons for Khadr payout are pure nonsense, June 10):

Have you ever heard of Patricia Hearst? She was in her 20s when she was kidnapped by the SLA in the 1970s. After several weeks of abuse and brainwashing, she held a gun as she took part in a bank robbery. People like you howled that she was guilty, that she had a choice. Other, more thoughtful and educated professionals, pointed out that she was a victim, not a terrorist.

If a young privileged woman can be so influenced by those in charge of her survival, just imagine how strong the influence was on Omar Khadr, raised by his family to hate oppression by the Americans. He was immersed in this ideology, and was still legally a child when captured after a fierce battle that killed his father. Like the child soldiers in Africa, it is impossible to say that he had a choice.

He was a child soldier when the Canadian government illegally passed on information about him to the Americans. He was still a child soldier when he was sent to Guantanamo to be incarcerated for many long years. His rights as a child and as a Canadian citizen were trampled on by our Canadian government, and they knowingly allowed his imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Americans.

What I find amazing is that after all that he suffered, he has emerged from that grotesque experience as a sane and thoughtful adult. His supporters, who finally got him freed from Guantanamo, were instrumental in helping him learn to live outside of prison, to get an education, to think like a man and a citizen, and they are the ones who advised him to sue the Canadian government for its abuse of his rights.

Amnesty International exists to keep watch over the rights of prisoners all over the world. They are aware of human rights violations in many countries, and fight to help those imprisoned without fair trial.

It is sad to think that it was a Canadian violation of human rights that has placed Omar Khadr in the centre of this storm of controversy. Instead of berating Mr. Khadr for being greedy, go and berate the Canadian politicians who perpetrated this abuse of human rights upon a child citizen of Canada.