Khadr’s supporters lash out at Ottawa
Teenager faces U.S. military trial on murder charge Liberal MP denies Canada neglecting detainee’s case
Canada has not stood up to the United States and protested the military trial and potential death sentence facing Omar Khadr, the Toronto teenager charged by the U. S. military with murder, say his family and lawyers.
“ The Canadians have not been trying anything,” Khadr’s mother Maha Elsamnah told The Canadian Press. “ Ottawa is allied to the Americans, so what do you expect?”
Khadr’s lawyer Dennis Edney said yesterday he’s appalled by what he sees as the federal government’s lack of concern about obtaining even basic concessions for his client, such as consular visits, or the right to Canadian counsel, let alone more pressing issues such as making sure a Canadian will not be sentenced to death.
“ I think there comes a point in time, when silent diplomacy effects no changes whatsoever, that one can be construed as being complicit with the U. S. administration,” Edney said yesterday. The Pentagon announced Monday that Khadr will face a military tribunal on charges of murder, attempted murder and aiding the enemy. The charges stem from a 2002 grenade attack in Afghanistan that killed U. S. medic Sgt. Christopher Speer and injured Sgt. 1st Class Layne Morris, costing him the sight in one eye. As the only survivor of a U. S. raid on an Al Qaeda compound, Khadr, then 15, is alleged to have thrown the grenade as the Americans stormed the building. Khadr has been held by U. S. forces since July 2002 at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — Canada’s only known detainee there. Khadr was formally designated an “unprivileged belligerent,” which indicates he has no legal standing under the Geneva Conventions and, according to the Pentagon, did not have the right to wage war.
Liberal MP Dan McTeague (Pickering- Scarborough East), the parliamentary secretary for Canadians abroad, rebuffed the suggestion the government is standing idly by on the Khadr file. He said Canada has repeatedly stated its position that Khadr should not receive the death penalty should he be convicted by a U. S. military tribunal, and has insisted he be granted full rights to due process under criminal law.
“ We continue to seek firm assurances. This is not the first time — there have been meetings, of course, letters from my minister. . . . previous letters at high levels seeking assurances from the U. S. that Mr. Khadr, who of course was a juvenile at the time of the alleged offences, won’t be subjected to the death penalty,” he said.
High- level Canadian officials, he said, are also pushing for Khadr to have access to his Canadian lawyer in preparation for his trial. The last official correspondence with U. S. officials was on Feb. 10, when Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew wrote seeking a promise Khadr would not be put to death if he were charged and convicted in the grenade attack.
There were no indications yesterday those assurances are forthcoming, but McTeague said such promises have previously been granted “ in cases involving other countries’ nationals.” The governments of Australia and the United Kingdom have obtained such pledges on several occasions, and though Canada has not been as successful, McTeague was content to say simply that Ottawa will continue to press the case for Khadr.
“ It’s really up to the Americans at this stage. My sense is that decision will have to be made soon given the circumstance where now there has been a formal process — albeit challenged before their own courts — and a laying of charges,” he said. The federal opposition parties have been reticent about Khadr and yesterday neither the Conservative and nor the NDP security critic could be reached for comment.
Khadr’s father, Egyptian- born Ahmed Said Khadr, was killed in a fight with Pakistani officials near the Afghan border in October 2003. He was an associate of Osama bin Laden and an accused Al Qaeda financier. The eldest brother in the family, Abdullah, lost contact with his family a year ago and is believed to be in custody in Pakistan. He is a Canadian citizen but the Department of Foreign Affairs will not comment on his whereabouts, citing privacy concerns. Other family members now live in Scarborough.