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In a stunning new eyewitness account of Omar Khadr's July 2002 capture, a U.S. officer says he was about to order the execution of the Canadian terror suspect when U.S. Special Forces operatives intervened.

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Originally posted by torontoprofessor:
One hopes that this officer will face charges of one kind or another.

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As the Windsor Star article says:

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Khadr, then 15, was in no condition to fight as he lay prostrate with at least two bullet wounds and shrapnel injuries.

"(He's) missing a piece of his chest and I can see his heart beating," the officer wrote.

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Asked if he had any idea why the soldiers let Mr. Khadr live, his U.S. military defence lawyer replied simply: "Someone had a conscience."

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A soldier was ready to execute a wounded child, his officer was ready to give the order, and everyone involved seemed to think that this standard procedure was entirely ethical. But, says the defence, luckily, "someone had a conscience."

What, just the one?

[ 20 March 2008: Message edited by: Catchfire ]

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When American soldiers rushed the Afghan compound where Omar Khadr is alleged to have committed murder in 2002 they were also throwing grenades, raising the possibility that the American soldier Mr. Khadr allegedly murdered was instead killed by friendly fire, Mr. Khadr's defense team argued at Guantanamo Bay on Friday.
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Mr. Khadr is accused of throwing a grenade at U.S. troops, mortally wounding one – the Canadian was 15 at the time. No eyewitnesses saw Mr. Khadr throw the grenade, and it was revealed earlier this year that another fighter was still alive in the compound after the grenade which killed the U.S. soldier was thrown.

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The U.S. soldier alleged to have been killed in Afghanistan by Canadian Omar Khadr might in fact have been struck by a grenade from a fellow American troop, Khadr's lawyer argued at a pre-trial hearing in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

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Before the trial got underway Friday, Kuebler said his client is encouraged by news that he has growing support back in Canada, with human rights groups and legal scholars taking up his case.

The supporters point out that the Toronto-born Khadr was just a child of 15 when he was captured by U.S. soldiers. They say child soldiers are protected by international law and are supposed to be freed and allowed to re-integrate into society. Khadr should be afforded the same rights and released back to Canada, his backers say.

Kuebler said the support gives Khadr hope that he may one day be freed. Khadr had been battling depression in prison, but his mental health now seems to be improving, Kuebler said.

"He's hopeful that something good might happen to him," Kuebler said of Khadr, who is now 21.

"He wants to go home, he wants to be a Canadian citizen, he wants to get an education, he wants to get a job and lead a normal life."

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A military judge threatened to suspend the war-crimes trial of a Canadian detainee, scolding the government Thursday for failing to provide records of his confinement at Guantanamo.

Attorneys for Omar Khadr say details of his interrogations and mental health could provide grounds to suppress self-incriminating statements at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba. Khadr is accused of killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan.

At a pretrial hearing, Judge Peter Brownback, an Army colonel, criticized the prosecution team led by Marine Maj. Jeffrey Groharing for demanding an expedited trial despite failing to obtain the documents from the detention center.

"I have been badgered, beaten and bruised by Maj. Groharing since the 7th of November to set a trial date," Brownback said. "To get a trial date, I need to get discovery done."

His frustration highlights the dueling interests of two military entities at Guantanamo — the tribunal system, which airs the backgrounds of terror suspects in detail, and the Joint Task Force, which tightly restricts information about inmates whom officials describe as some of America's most dangerous enemies.

Brownback said he understands the military's worry that the documents might identify prison officials who fear retribution. But he ordered the government to provide the records of Khadr's day-to-day confinement by May 22, in complete or edited form, or he will suspend proceedings.

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The US has made it clear that Khadr will be kept in Guantanamo in perpetuity, even if he is acquitted.

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U.S. military doctors drafted policies recommending detainees under the age of 18 be kept out of Guantanamo Bay or receive special treatment to "minimize psychological, emotional and physical harm" at a time when Canadian Omar Khadr was interrogated and held among adult detainees, a newly disclosed document reveals.

The January 2003 document recommends seven pages of treatment specific for "pediatric detainees," including the right to education, psychiatric evaluation and imprisonment out of "sight and sound" of adult detainees.

"All efforts should be made to keep those in the pediatric age range from undergoing detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba," the report states.

"People less than 18 years are emotionally, psychologically and physically dynamic and complex. If it is determined that they must be detained, then all aspects of their transport, in-processing, and detainment should be specific for this age group."

The document indicates for the first time the U.S. administration's recognition that "enemy combatants" under the age of 18 are entitled to special treatment. It was written by four military doctors and released to Khadr's defence team following a request for any directives concerning the treatment of minors at Guantanamo. Khadr's military lawyer, navy Lt.-Cmdr. Bill Kuebler, said it was the only material disclosed.

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Originally posted by Catchfire:

A soldier was ready to execute a wounded child, . . .
[ 20 March 2008: Message edited by: Catchfire ]

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The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, welcomed the decision last week by the United States Supreme Court in Boumediene vs. Bush that the U.S. Constitution extends to foreign detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and that they have the right to challenge their detention by habeas corpus in the civilian courts.

Canada, by refusing to stand up for the legal rights of its own citizen under the Harper government, has been a profound failure on the international front. Perhaps having a Foreign Affairs Minister like Maxime Bernier did not help matters.

In her statement, Louise Arbour said, "The Supreme Court has sent a vitally important message that the protections afforded by fundamental human rights guarantees extend to these individuals and that effective remedies must be available to them. After up to six years in detention in Guantanamo Bay without satisfactory review of the reasons for their detention, these detainees have the right to prompt review in the civilian courts."

"I welcome the Court’s recognition that security and liberty are not trade-offs, but can be reconciled through the framework of the law, and that it is the courts that apply that law," she said. "This has long been the hallmark of American constitutionalism."

Hopefully this will result in an expedited scenario to assess the specific case of Omar Khadr. But only if the Canadian government is willing to forcefully stand up for the rights of its own citizen to have appropriate access to justice. Its ambivalence to intervene has been indicative of an immature foreign policy.

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Apparently the “clicking” of injured captives by American forces (a war crime) is not uncommon, and even has its own slang word. But a medic with the group interceded and stopped the battlefield execution, and took action to save Khadr’s life.

Khadr was eventually shipped off to Guantanamo, at the age of 15, in violation of a 2002 protocol signed by the US which extended the protection of the Geneva Conventions against imprisoning child soldiers from the prior “under 15″ standard to “under 18.” No matter, “bad guy” Khadr would be one of at least 2500 children that the US has admitted to incarcerating in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo and elsewhere as “enemy combatants.”

Today, Khadr is 21. He has spent the second half of his teenage years confined in a prison camp on the naval base at Guantanamo.

This is what Bush and Cheney are really referring to when they assure us that they are holding “the worst of the worst” on the island of Cuba.

They are keeping us safe from 15-year-old boys.

And what, exactly, is Omar Khadr’s “crime”?

As far as I can tell, if he did toss that grenade (and there is testimony from American witnesses that the thrower may have been another man, who was killed in the resulting US barrage of fire), Khadr was simply demonstrating extraordinary bravery of the kind that would earn a silver star, at least, had it been a US soldier or marine doing the same thing under the same circumstances. Consider: he and his comrades-in-arms, battling in defense of their religion and, in some cases, their nation, were bombarded from the air. They were then approached by armed US troops-the very ones who had called in the air strike. This was a battle, and it was not over yet. For all Khadr knew, those US soldiers were going to kill them all. And in any event, Khadr and his fellow fighters had a right to defend themselves to the death to prevent capture. Sure it’s unfortunate that Sgt. Speer was killed, but that’s what happens in wars.

Still, a fighter killing another fighter during warfare is not the act of a “terrorist.” It may be brutal and it may be tragic, but it is the act of a soldier. That soldier, if captured, is not a criminal, but a POW. Moreover, if he is a child, the Geneva Conventions and the subsequent protocol mentioned above, require that he be treated not as a POW but as a victim of war.

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Q: What do you want out of life?

I just want to be as normal as any normal unknown Canadian

Q: When you think of Canada, what comes to your mind?

My most joyful memories of my life were in Canada … like school and going to the zoo and seeing the auto show which, until my last day, I had car posters and magazines

Q: What do you say to Canadians who may have fear of you?

First thing I tell them is not to fear me. I'm a peaceful person and to give me a chance in life and don't believe what you've heard and believe what you see with your eyes.

Q: What are your fondest moments of your life in Canada?

In a normal person there is a connection between him and the place where he was born even if he didn't always live in the country, but he will always want to return to it, and feels his soul connected to it, and that's how I feel.

Q: What are you looking forward to the most?

I always feel I'm in this world to help people and the best way to do that is to be a doctor to help anybody anywhere and anytime, and that's my future dream.

Q: What steps would you take to distance yourself from your past?

First I never had a choice in my past life, but I will build my future with the right bricks, and that Islam is a peaceful, multicultural and anti-racism religion for all.

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Originally posted by unionist:
Q: What steps would you take to distance yourself from your past?

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