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Monday, November 01, 2010

Omar Khadr: Wrongfully Prosecuted

Yesterday, a military jury sentenced Omar Khadr to forty years in prison on top of the eight he has already served in Guantanamo Bay. This shows the shortcomings of the US military justice system and the Canadian government as well to protect its citizens. Even though he was fifteen when he committed the crime of tossing a grenade at a soldier, he was still tried under the standards of an adult. Even though he was eleven when his parents put him in a training camp for terrorists. And did the court really need to accept evidence retrieved in bad ways, such as threatening one with gang rape or during the grogginess after surgery.
And what did Harper do about this obvious attack on a Canadian? Nothing. Actually, worse than nothing. He sent officers to coerce Khadr into giving the incriminating evidence and then handed over to the prosecutors. Even the Canadian Supreme Court condemned this action!
But, after all this will Harper allow Khadr to come back to Canada? The answer will be evident in one year, when he's allowed to apply for transfer. But, in the end, the sentencing really isn't so bad for Khadr. Since he pleaded guilty, he only gets eight years of prison time. But, still, the prosecution of Omar Khadr has brought shame onto both the Canadian government for allowing a citizen to go unfairly prosecuted in a foreign country and the US justice system which accepted for use in court tainted evidence.
And what role did Canada play? Shamefully, it sent its officials to bully him into giving out incriminating information that it then handed to his prosecutors, an act the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously condemned. The Canadian government then declared, “Let the process work.” Some process.
Read more at the Globe and Mail.
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5 comments:

  1. My god, he didn't get 40 years on top of the eight! In the jury's opinion he should have gotten 40 years for what he did, but a special deal means he will only get eight. And if a 15 year old tossed a hand grenade and someone in Canada and killed one and wounded others he'd be getting about the same sentence.

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  2. The prosecution was not wrong just because he was a child, the prosecution was wrong because there is nothing wrong with throwing a grenade at a military invader in the midst of a war. Every person in the US would do the same if they were invaded. The US is just mad that anyone ever has the gall to fight back. President Bush is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, he lives in a mansion with champagne and caviar. Khadr killed one in the middle of a battle, he gets years in prison. It is just wrong in so many ways.

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  3. Oh ya, terrorists have the right to throw grenades and kill innocent people. What type of an idiot are you? Even though you think its perfectly okay I sincerely hope no one in your family is ever killed or wounded by a terrorist.

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  4. Harper was wrong not to try to repatriate him as soon as the US signalled it was going to try rather than release him like the other Westerners & child soldiers, but I think the CSIS interrogation you mention happened under the Liberals.

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  5. Harper was wrong not to try to repatriate him, it was under the Liberals that the CSIS interrogation happened, and the 'torture' Kadhr was subjected to was wrong. However, under international law Omar Kadhr was not a soldier he was a terrorist. He doesn't even come close to meeting the definition of a soldier. And yes, the law actually does recognize 15 year old soldiers as adults. The kid was dealt a terrible set of cards, and that needs to be taken into account. But he's still a terrorist.

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