Perhaps no legal case encapsulates the Conservative government鈥檚 disrespect for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the rule of law than that of Omar Khadr.
Khadr was 15 years old when he was present during a 2002 firefight between U.S. forces and suspected terrorists in an Afghan village. A high ranking American official (dubbed OC-1), claimed he shot the boy twice in the back because he was the only person left alive in the compound who could have thrown a grenade that allegedly killed special forces soldier Sgt. Christopher Speer.
Never mind that summary executions are not allowed under the Geneva Conventions, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Canadian law and many other statutes, it turned out not to be true. There was another enemy combatant still alive whom OC-1 killed. Nevertheless, Khadr survived and was interred in the American detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
This is where the Liberal Party gets to share the shame. From the minute we knew a Canadian Citizen, a child no less, was being held without charge, the Canadian government should have been fighting for his repatriation. Instead, we actually were actually complicit in his torture as determined later by the Supreme Court.
For eight years this went on. In 2005, the Federal Court ruled that Canada must actively seek Khadr鈥檚 return. The Canadian government challenged the ruling, which was upheld on appeal. Again the government challenged and the Supreme Court overturned it, even though it had previously ruled the Canadian government was violating Khadr鈥檚 rights, saying the courts did not have the authority to direct Parliament on matters of foreign affairs.
The case never should have even gone to the courts. It was our duty to bring him back even if only to try him ourselves. A Canadian citizen has that right. Instead, he was denied the most basic right of habeus corpus.
Ultimately, our government ignored every plea for repatriation including the urgings of Amnesty International, UNICEF, the Canadian Bar Association and many other organizations. He became the last citizen of a western country to be held at Guantanamo. For that we should all be ashamed.
Finally, in 2010, the Americans offered him a plea deal, for pleading guilty to five charges鈥攕ome of which did not exist at the time of the alleged offence, which is also illegal鈥攈e would get eight years in prison, most of which he would be able to spend in Canada.
Once home, Khadr recanted his so-called 鈥渃onfession鈥� and is currently appealing the conviction in the United States. Last week, an Alberta judge granted him bail pending the outcome of the appeal.
The Conservatives are going to shamefully fight that too. They say it is a breach of their agreement with the Americans, which is simply not true.
And what is equally shameful is that they are using Khadr as political fodder to try to paint the opposition as being weak on terror. They are fanning the flames of fear and hate at the expense of a youth, who if there ever were grounds that he owed a debt to society, has paid in full.
Court of Queen鈥檚 Bench Justice June Ross鈥檚 decision to release Khadr shows that despite Conservative efforts to erode it, the rule of law still exists in Canada. He is finally being treated the way he should have been from the very beginning.
