GUANTANAMO BAY AND OMAR KHADR Introduction On July 27, 2002, a U.S. military unit by Osama bin Laden, was responsible Focus on patrol near Khost, in Afghanistan, for the terrorist attacks on New This News in Review story focuses on the stormed a bunker containing a band of York City and Washington, D.C., on case of Omar Khadr, Al Qaeda fighters operating in support September 11, 2001. Khadr’s father, a the young Canadian of Taliban insurgents fighting the NATO native of Egypt, moved the family to who has been held occupation of the country. In the ensuing Afghanistan in the 1990s, where he in the U.S. military firefight and bombing, three insurgents ran a charity organization for orphans. prison in Guantanamo and one American soldier were killed. As He strongly supported the extremist Bay, Cuba, since 2002 the dead and wounded Al Qaeda fighters Taliban regime then ruling the country and the controversy surrounding his were dragged from the bombed-out and was a personal friend of bin Laden. detention there and ruins of their compound, the U.S. troops He encouraged his four sons—Omar, possible release. were astonished to discover that one of Abdurahman, Abdullah and Abdul—to them, a 15-year-old boy, was a Canadian undergo training as jihadists, or Islamic who spoke perfect English. His name holy warriors, against the United States. Did you know . was Omar Khadr, and his subsequent Omar became separated from his father Omar Khadr would have most likely died detention as an alleged “unlawful after the fall of the Taliban during the on the battlefield enemy combatant” in the U.S. prison U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 without the speedy in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has aroused and was part of an Al Qaeda cell when and effective medical considerable controversy during the six he was wounded and captured. Whether assistance of U.S. years of his forcible confinement in that or not he was a willing participant in forces. notorious institution. the group’s military actions against U.S. Khadr was accused of throwing the forces remains unclear. But despite his grenade that killed Sergeant Christopher young age, the United States regarded Speer, a Delta Force medic acting in a him as a terrorist deserving incarceration combat role in the assault on the bunker. in Camp Delta at Guantanamo and However, subsequent investigations eventual trial before a military tribunal, raised serious questions about Khadr’s where he would not be entitled to the responsibility for the soldier’s death. rights normally granted a person accused Severely wounded in the firefight, of a crime. Khadr was initially held in the U.S. In the six years since he was sent to military prison in Bagram, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, Khadr’s case has attracted where he claimed to have been badly considerable attention in his home mistreated. He was subsequently airlifted country and around the world. Many to Guantanamo Bay, where the U.S. had people have accused the United States of established a prison holding hundreds operating a torture centre in Guantanamo of prisoners suspected to be terrorists and flouting the norms of international waging war against U.S. forces in law, such as the Geneva Conventions Afghanistan and Iraq. Khadr alleges that guaranteeing the humane treatment of he was subjected to further abuse and prisoners of war. The United Nations, harsh techniques of interrogation at the the Red Cross, the Canadian and U.S. hands of his American captors there. Supreme Courts, and other respected Omar Khadr was born in Ottawa in institutions have repeatedly demanded 1986 into a family with strong links to that Guantanamo be closed. They also radical fundamentalist Islamic groups argue that the prisoners be released, such as Al Qaeda. This organization, led either to face charges in the United CBC News in Review • March 2009 • Page 29 States itself, or that they be repatriated come back to his homeland, what would Update to their respective homelands. Despite be done to prosecute or rehabilitate him? As this story was being prepared, U.S. a concerted campaign in Canada to Many of those who have come to know Secretary of State pressure the federal government to Omar Khadr in Guantanamo, including Hillary Clinton met intervene on Khadr’s behalf, Prime his U.S. and Canadian lawyers and even with Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Harper has been some of his guards there, regard him as Minister Lawrence reluctant to do so. basically a “good kid” who is potentially Cannon. Cannon On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama “salvageable” and not necessarily a hard- stated that he did not raise the Khadr was inaugurated as president of the core jihadist inclined to violence. But issue with Clinton and United States. Two days later, in one of some members of his family now living said, “I have indicated the first acts of his new administration, in Canada, including his mother Maha today the government he signed an executive order to close and his sister Zaynab, have not done his of Canada fully the Guantanamo prison (but not the base public image any favours through their respects the process itself) within one year. Throughout his widely publicized statements of support that the American successful campaign for the presidency, for Al Qaeda, the September 11 terrorist government has put forward, and we will Obama had denounced Guantanamo and attacks, and the killing of Sergeant Speer. await the outcome the abuse of those detained there as a The case of Omar Khadr has raised of that process, deep stain on the international reputation some important questions regarding before anything takes of the United States as a country that the definition of a “child soldier,” the place” (Toronto Star, purports to uphold the rule of law rights of prisoners of war, and the use February 25, 2009). and human rights. In the meantime, of harsh interrogation techniques and U.S. military officials announced mistreatment of “enemy combatants” that the pending trials of Khadr and in U.S. military prisons such as other detainees at Guantanamo were Guantanamo in Cuba, Bagram in indefinitely postponed. Afghanistan, and Abu Ghraib in Iraq. By late February 2009, it appeared that With the likelihood of imminent release after six long years, Omar Khadr’s days once Camp Delta is closed for good, as a prisoner in Guantanamo would soon Omar Khadr will face an uncertain be over. The question arising at this point future wherever he is finally relocated. was what would happen to him once he His story as an unwitting or willing was released? Would he be brought to participant in the “war on terror” appears the United States to face trial or would far from over. he be returned to Canada? And if he did To Consider 1. Why has the case of Omar Khadr aroused so much controversy in Canada and elsewhere? 2. Why have there been many demands that the United States close down its detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? 3. What important change in U.S. policy regarding the Guantanamo Bay prison was announced in early 2009? 4. What may happen to Omar Khadr if he is released from captivity in Guantanamo Bay? 5. In your opinion, what should be the fate of Omar Khadr? Why? CBC News in Review • March 2009 • Page 30 GUANTANAMO BAY AND OMAR KHADR Video Review Watch the video and answer the following questions. Further Research To learn more about 1. a) How old was Omar Khadr when he was captured in Afghanistan? __________ some of the groups b) Where has he spent the last six years? ________________________________ supporting Khadr’s return to Canada visit 2. What are the views of the following on Khadr as a terrorist? Amnesty International Canada at www. a) Sgt. Layne Morris ___________________________________________________ amnesty.ca and the Canadian Council b) Lieut. William Kuebler ______________________________________________ on American Islamic 3. What prominent retired Canadian military leader has publicly called on the Relations at www. federal government to intervene with the U.S. on Khadr’s behalf? caircan.ca. 4. Why is there such a controversy over whether or not Omar Khadr threw the grenade that killed U.S. soldier Sgt. Christopher Speer? 5. Why was it so important for the U.S. to obtain a conviction on terrorism charges for at least one of the prisoners it had detained in Guantanamo? 6. What kinds of abuse and maltreatment does Khadr claim he has been subjected to at Guantanamo? What proof is there of these charges? 7. What statements have Khadr’s mother and sister made to the media that have provoked a negative public reaction in Canada against the family? 9. What is the opinion of Canadian and U.S. officials who have met with Khadr about his personality and likely terrorist sympathies? 10. Describe your personal view of Omar Khadr. CBC News in Review • March 2009 • Page 31 Did you know . For Discussion Canada was the first Watch the video again and form groups with your classmates to discuss the case country to sign the of Omar Khadr. Focus your discussion on one of the following questions: Optional Protocol to the Convention on • Can the detention of Omar Khadr in the Guantanamo Bay prison be justified the Rights of the Child under international law and/or humanitarian grounds? Explain. on the involvement • How solid is the case against Omar Khadr that he killed an American soldier in of children in armed Afghanistan? conflict (www.unhchr. • What evidence is there that Omar Khadr has been subjected to abuse and ch/html/menu2/6/ maltreatment while under detention in Guantanamo? protocolchild.htm).