We are currently conducting a fundraising campaign for the legal defence of Omar Khadr. As you may know, Canadian citizen Omar Khadr was severely wounded and captured by US soldiers in 2002 during a firefight with Afghan fighters believed to be Al-Qaeda members. Omar was fifteen years old at the time. He was then taken to Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan where he says he was tortured and interrogated. Next, he was moved to Guantanamo Bay, where he remains to this day and is now the only Western national remaining; all other Western countries have requested the repatriation of their citizens held at this notorious prison. Contrarily, the Harper government has consistently refused to request Omar Khadr’s repatriation, instead noting that he must go through the “due process” of Guantanamo Bay.
In January 2010 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Omar’s constitutional rights had been violated; the ruling stopped short of ordering the government to request his repatriation, however. Earlier this spring, there was hope for Omar as it was revealed that members of President Obama’s Administration were unwilling to put on trial for war crimes someone who was a child (and would therefore be considered a child soldier) at the time of his capture. Nevertheless, the military trial against Omar Khadr is set for August 2010. The prosecution is seeking a sentence of life imprisonment. Omar turns 24 in September and by this time will have spent 1/3 of his life in prison.
For your reference, please find enclosed/ attached a brief fact sheet on Omar’s case. Additionally, if you have not already seen it, Nazim Baksh’s documentary “The U.S. vs Omar Khadr” provides a concise and informative view of the details and legal implications of the case while raising important questions about the strength of the United States’ case against Omar.
The aim of our project is to raise money to go towards Omar Khadr’s legal defence. Although there have been some changes to his legal counsel over the years, one of the most prominent and longest-serving members of Omar’s legal defence team, Dennis Edney, is still actively advocating on Omar’s behalf. If you are able to donate, please make your cheque out to:
University of Toronto Muslim Students’ Association
21 Sussex Avenue,
Suite 505, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada
M5S 1J6
Please make a note of the fact that your donation is intended for Omar’s legal defence. Thank you for your time. JazakAllah khair.
From http://www.omarkhadrproject.com/:
“In 2002 the United States military captured and imprisoned Omar Khadr, a 15-year old Canadian citizen. Since that time, the US has held him in Guantanamo Bay without trial for nearly seven years — over a quarter of his life. To date, Canada is the only Western country that still allows one of its citizens to languish in a place Amnesty International calls “the gulag of our times.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has refused to intervene in Omar Khadr’s case stating that he should face his charges through a judicial process, not a political one. We agree. But the US Military Commissions do not amount to a fair judicial process.
The Pentagon’s former chief prosecutor in Guantanamo, Col. Morris Davis, resigned in protest in October 2007 over concerns of their unfairness. Likewise, former Guantanamo prosecutor Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld resigned in protest in September 2008, stating that the Commissions “had defiled the U.S. Constitution and I see them as a stain on America.” Despite stating in his presidential campaign that they were a flawed judicial process, President Obama announced in May 2009 that he will continue with the Military Commissions.
Prime Minister Harper has also stated that Canada has received guarantees that Omar Khadr is being treated humanely. We know this too is untrue. In summer 2008, the Federal Court of Canada concluded that Omar Khadr’s treatment in Guantanamo violated the UN Convention Against Torture and that Canada was aware of these abuses when they occurred. On January 15, 2009, US military judge Susan J. Crawford, the most senior Pentagon official in charge of the Commissions, admitted that the US had tortured detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
In April 2009, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that the Canadian government was violating the constitution by not requesting the return of Omar. Justice O’Reilly concluded that “the ongoing refusal of Canada to request Mr. Khadr’s repatriation to Canada offends a principle of fundamental justice and violates Mr. Khadr’s rights under s. 7 of the Charter.” We could not agree more. The Federal Court of Appeal reached the same conclusion in August 2009.
The Supreme Court of Canada agreed that Khadr’s rights had been breached and that a remedy was required. However, still the Harper government refused to take appropriate action, so Omar Khadr’s lawyers had to go back to court. On July 5th 2010, the Federal Court of Canada gave the government of Canada seven days to come up with remedies for the breach of Omar’s human rights.
Guantanamo prosecutors, the Supreme Court of Canada and common-sense Canadians have lost faith in Guatanamo Bay and the Military Commissions. Canada’s continuing refusal to intervene in Omar Khadr’s case means that we are now the only country who still believes justice and fairness can be found there. They cannot. The impending closure of Guantanamo and the new Obama administration make this the time for Canada to finally stand up for the rights of the one of its citizens.”
We need YOUR help to repatriate Omar Khadr. Donate below to help this cause.
