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Canadian Court Says Free Omar Khadr, PM Considering Appeal
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by Rob Walker | April 24, 2009 at 05:55 am
85 views | 22 Recommendations | 1 comment
In the continuing saga of Omar Khadr, the Canadian Federal Court has ordered Prime Minister Stephen Harper to seek his immediate release, but so far the PM has refused to do so.
A Federal Court Justice ruled on Thursday that Canada had denied the Toronto-born man his constitutional right to a fair trial and violated international law. Khadr was only 15-years-old when he was shot and sent to Guantanamo Bay, where he remains the only citizen of a western nation still imprisoned.
Harper released a statement saying only that they will be looking at the judgement carefully and considering an appeal. Opposition parties and Khadr's lawyers stress he should be treated as a child soldier.
"Canada had a duty to protect Mr. Khadr from being subjected to any torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, from being unlawfully detained, and from being locked up for a duration exceeding the shortest appropriate period of time," he wrote.Highlighting the fact that Khadr was only 15 when shot and captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, O'Reilly concluded that Ottawa must request that the "United States return Mr. Khadr to Canada as soon as practicable."
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at 05:59 on April 24th, 2009
Finally the judiciary is speaking out about Omar Khadr. It hasn't even been established that he was a combatant. It has been established that he was 15 at the time that he was 'rendered' to the black prison in Cuba. Boy, Cuba sure came in handy for the Bush Boys dirty work didn't it.