World

Government's Khadr appeal to be heard by Supreme Court of Canada

by Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke | September 4, 2009 at 10:38 am

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Omar Khadr was captured on the Afghanistan battlefield, after a four hour battle, as a 15 year old and has been in Guantanamo for six years. He has been charged with murdering a US soldier and is awaiting trial by Military Tribunal. He is taunted as being the only Westerner left in Guantanamo.

A lawsuit was brought against the Canadian Government which would require it to make efforts to bring Khadr back to Canada. The government was ordered to do so by a Federal Court, but appealed this decision. A federal appellate court denied the governments appeal.

The Canadian government has decided to, once again, appeal this decision. The Highest court of the land has agreed to hear the governments argument. As is customary the court did not give a reason.

The hearing will take place on November 18th. If the government is denied the appeal, it will then be forced to engage the Obama Administration for Khadr's release. If the Administration agrees, it will most likely attach conditions to his hand over. It will also be a test of the Obama Administration in regards to a detainee which has been charged with committing crimes against US forces on the battlefield.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the federal government's appeal of a ruling forcing Ottawa to press for the release of Canadian Omar Khadr from Guantanamo Bay.

As is customary, the court gave no reasons for its decision Friday morning.

Last month, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld a lower-court ruling that required Ottawa to try to repatriate Khadr, the only Western citizen still being held by the U.S. at its military base in Cuba.

Opposition parties decried the decision to appeal, saying it goes against the government's legal and moral obligations toward its own citizens. Khadr's lawyers called the government's decision "mean-spirited" and argued the top court should not hear the appeal.

Lawyers for the government have argued that only the prime minister and cabinet should have the authority to make decisions regarding foreign policy.