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Human Rights Ignored by Canadian Intelligence Agency (CSIS) Khadr

by albertacowpoke | July 15, 2009 at 12:38 pm

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Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen, is the only Westerner still held at Guantanamo Bay, He was captured on the battle field and is accused with the murder of a US soldier.

The Government of Canada has been ordered by the Supreme Court of Canada to pursue his release with US authorities.

A parliamentary committee, that oversees the Canadian spy agency CSIS, has now issued a report that says the agency ignored Khadr's human rights by not considering his age. Khadr was 15 at the time of his arrest.

Khadr has alleged that US authorities threatened him with rape, left him alone and deprived him of sleep.

CSIS also interrogated Khadr and shared that informatiion with American interrogators.

CSIS ignored human-rights concerns and did not take Omar Khadr's age into account in deciding to interview him at the U.S. military's Guantanamo Bay prison, says a report from the parliamentary committee that oversees the spy agency.

The Toronto-born Khadr, now 22, is being held at the U.S. detention centre in Cuba for allegedly throwing a grenade in Afghanistan when he was 15, killing an American soldier. He is the only Westerner still detained at Guantanamo.

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158

at 13:13 on July 15th, 2009

This is a difficult thing to

figure out. If he was captured on the battle field he should be a prisoner of war.

His age could be relevant if he was to be executed but I an not sure if it matters on whether to release him.

albertacowpoke

at 13:21 on July 15th, 2009

Thanks for your comments 158. Depending on how you read the convention of child soldier, Khadr could be considered one. In this case he should have been rehabilitated and not imprisoned.

He is one of the Gitmo prisoners that has actually been charged. This has been an issue in Canada for a long time. The Conservative government in Canada was not interested in trying to obtain his release until the Supreme Court of Canada ordered them to. I believe the Federal government is still considering an appeal of that decision.

Khadr is scheduled to be tried by a Military Tribunal based on the revised rules implemented by the new administration. Obviously the Obama administration did not consider him in their relocation plans.