The Harper government (OUR GOVERNMENT FOR NOW) is still refusing to move on the Omar Khadr case. This is confirmed in Minister Cannon's recent meeting with Secretary of State Clinton.
Khadr is a child soldier and has been rotting in Gitmo for a third of his young life, thanks to Harper, Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney. He is not getting the benefit of the American system fo due process of law and he is being denied the legal protections that ought to be afforded every Canadian citizen by our government.
Globe and Mail has a piece just out on line that shows even those who were prosecuting in Gitmo can't take it any more. A link that is well worth a read.
Bring Omar home Mr. Prime Minister. I can't believe we still have to protest this kind of crap.
Showing posts with label Khadr. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Khadr. Show all posts
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
U.K. Repatriates a Former Resident - Not Even a Citizen - from Gitmo! Omar Khadr - a Canadian Citizen - Still Rots
The U.K. expect the return of a Gitmo prisoner on Monday. This prisoner is not even a British citizen and was only a former resident of England but the U.K. government has been lobbying for his release and return to the U.K. since 2007
Omar Khadr is a child soldier and Canadian citizen who has been in Gitmo for a third of his life and our Prime Minister Stephen Harper could care less. Michael Ignatieff used some of his airport hanger time meeting with President Obama last week to bring up Omar's case. At least somebody in our government cares about the rights of Canadian citizens incarcerated in foreign prisons.
What is wrong with this picture? Pray you never get imprisoned in a foreign jurisdiction and tortured while Stephen Harper is still Prime Minister. This is not the first time this has happened. Just ask Maher Arar.
Omar Khadr is a child soldier and Canadian citizen who has been in Gitmo for a third of his life and our Prime Minister Stephen Harper could care less. Michael Ignatieff used some of his airport hanger time meeting with President Obama last week to bring up Omar's case. At least somebody in our government cares about the rights of Canadian citizens incarcerated in foreign prisons.
What is wrong with this picture? Pray you never get imprisoned in a foreign jurisdiction and tortured while Stephen Harper is still Prime Minister. This is not the first time this has happened. Just ask Maher Arar.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Lawyers Layout Omar Khadr's Repatriation Plan to Harper
We at Cambridge Strategies have been working with Omar Khadr’s Canadian lawyer Dennis Edney, to help bring Omar home. There was a news conference this morning about Omar’s case and outlining how his legal counsel has a plan to reintegrate him into Canadian society.
This Blog has commented on Omar’s case as a social justice issue over his incarceration and arrest as a child soldier. I have bemoaned the shoddy treatment and torture he has received while in the custody of the Americans and the breathtaking disinterest in his case by our own Canadian governments, both Conservative and Liberal
Here is the text of the letter Dennis Edney delivered to Prime Minister Harper’s office on Sunday evening in preparation for today's news conference.
February 08, 2009
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2
Dear Prime Minister Harper,
Re: Omar Khadr and Reintegration Plan
I write on behalf of various Canadian citizens, scholars, lawyers, academics, medical doctors, Imams, social activists and human rights and civil liberties organisations. We have prepared a reintegration plan for Omar Khadr, the details of which follow in this letter.
We, concerned citizens, believe in human compassion and the principle that no child should be forgotten and abandoned.
We have long advocated the return of Omar Khadr to Canada to be afforded the opportunity for a full and healthy reintegration within the Canadian society.
The recent changes in US policy with respect to Guantánamo Bay announced by President Obama offer the Canadian government a remarkable opportunity to take action to defend Omar Khadr’s rights.
We urge you to act expeditiously and request the repatriation of Omar Khadr to Canada, without further delay.
In anticipation of the possible release of Omar Khadr to Canada, we have developed a reintegration strategy for Omar’s return which we ask you to consider very seriously.
Our plan is designed to allow eminent organizations, representing a broad cross-section of Canadian institutions and agencies, to take legal responsibility for designing, implementing, and supervising all aspects of Omar’s life in Canada, until such time as he is able to become a fully functioning member of the Canadian mosaic.
An Oversight Committee will include but not limited to institutions and organizations representing the legal system, medical system and community, the educational system and community, the public service system and community, and the spiritual institutions and community representing several major faith based traditions.
This Oversight Committee will guide, direct and supervise the work of specialist professionals comprising the Khadr transition team. The transition team will bring together physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, temporal and spiritual counselors, specialists in rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers, professionals versed in treating post traumatic stress, teachers and educators, and other professionals as requested and required by the Oversight Committee.
To illustrate, the Khadr Transition team would include educators who would deliver a custom–designed schooling curriculum for Omar (which will be designed by King’s University College, Edmonton, Alberta, at their expense, and delivered in a home schooling enviroment) to bring him to the level of passing standard Canadian achievement tests.
The spiritual team would include leading clerics of the Muslim faith who belong to the mainstream of Canadian Muslims who are the majority that categorically denounces and opposes terrorism and radicalism; to impart to Omar the core message of humility, public service, peace and co - existence that is at the heart of Muslim teaching.
We see Omar living separate and apart from his family in another family setting until the Oversight Committee is advised by the Transition Team that Omar has developed the strengths to re-enter everyday life in Canada. This approach has the understanding and approval of Omar’s immediate family.
Much of Omar’s financial living costs will be borne by Canadian Muslim Organizations
We believe our reintegration and monitoring plan is comprehensive and addreses many of the concerns raised by the Canadian public should Omar return to Canada.
A recent Harris/Decima poll suggests 54% of Canadians believe Omar Khadr be returned to Canada while 38% believe he should face the court system in Canada, if returned.
We would welcome the opportunity for Omar to clear his name, face his abusers and put Guantanamo Bay on trial.
We would be pleased to provide further details about our reintegration plan on request.
We would also invite you to meet with members of the Oversight Committee prior to the visit by President Obama so that you can pass along a formal request.
In conclusion, we wish to assure you that we are prepared to work with your government in the interest of justice to ensure the reintegration and monitoring plan will prevail.
Yours sincerely,
DENNIS EDNEY, LLB hon.
NATHAN WHITLING, B.Comm, LL.B. dist., LL.M.
IT IS TIME TO BRING OMAR HOME.
This Blog has commented on Omar’s case as a social justice issue over his incarceration and arrest as a child soldier. I have bemoaned the shoddy treatment and torture he has received while in the custody of the Americans and the breathtaking disinterest in his case by our own Canadian governments, both Conservative and Liberal
Here is the text of the letter Dennis Edney delivered to Prime Minister Harper’s office on Sunday evening in preparation for today's news conference.
February 08, 2009
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2
Dear Prime Minister Harper,
Re: Omar Khadr and Reintegration Plan
I write on behalf of various Canadian citizens, scholars, lawyers, academics, medical doctors, Imams, social activists and human rights and civil liberties organisations. We have prepared a reintegration plan for Omar Khadr, the details of which follow in this letter.
We, concerned citizens, believe in human compassion and the principle that no child should be forgotten and abandoned.
We have long advocated the return of Omar Khadr to Canada to be afforded the opportunity for a full and healthy reintegration within the Canadian society.
The recent changes in US policy with respect to Guantánamo Bay announced by President Obama offer the Canadian government a remarkable opportunity to take action to defend Omar Khadr’s rights.
We urge you to act expeditiously and request the repatriation of Omar Khadr to Canada, without further delay.
In anticipation of the possible release of Omar Khadr to Canada, we have developed a reintegration strategy for Omar’s return which we ask you to consider very seriously.
Our plan is designed to allow eminent organizations, representing a broad cross-section of Canadian institutions and agencies, to take legal responsibility for designing, implementing, and supervising all aspects of Omar’s life in Canada, until such time as he is able to become a fully functioning member of the Canadian mosaic.
An Oversight Committee will include but not limited to institutions and organizations representing the legal system, medical system and community, the educational system and community, the public service system and community, and the spiritual institutions and community representing several major faith based traditions.
This Oversight Committee will guide, direct and supervise the work of specialist professionals comprising the Khadr transition team. The transition team will bring together physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, temporal and spiritual counselors, specialists in rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers, professionals versed in treating post traumatic stress, teachers and educators, and other professionals as requested and required by the Oversight Committee.
To illustrate, the Khadr Transition team would include educators who would deliver a custom–designed schooling curriculum for Omar (which will be designed by King’s University College, Edmonton, Alberta, at their expense, and delivered in a home schooling enviroment) to bring him to the level of passing standard Canadian achievement tests.
The spiritual team would include leading clerics of the Muslim faith who belong to the mainstream of Canadian Muslims who are the majority that categorically denounces and opposes terrorism and radicalism; to impart to Omar the core message of humility, public service, peace and co - existence that is at the heart of Muslim teaching.
We see Omar living separate and apart from his family in another family setting until the Oversight Committee is advised by the Transition Team that Omar has developed the strengths to re-enter everyday life in Canada. This approach has the understanding and approval of Omar’s immediate family.
Much of Omar’s financial living costs will be borne by Canadian Muslim Organizations
We believe our reintegration and monitoring plan is comprehensive and addreses many of the concerns raised by the Canadian public should Omar return to Canada.
A recent Harris/Decima poll suggests 54% of Canadians believe Omar Khadr be returned to Canada while 38% believe he should face the court system in Canada, if returned.
We would welcome the opportunity for Omar to clear his name, face his abusers and put Guantanamo Bay on trial.
We would be pleased to provide further details about our reintegration plan on request.
We would also invite you to meet with members of the Oversight Committee prior to the visit by President Obama so that you can pass along a formal request.
In conclusion, we wish to assure you that we are prepared to work with your government in the interest of justice to ensure the reintegration and monitoring plan will prevail.
Yours sincerely,
DENNIS EDNEY, LLB hon.
NATHAN WHITLING, B.Comm, LL.B. dist., LL.M.
IT IS TIME TO BRING OMAR HOME.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
President Obama, Please Bring Omar Home!
Nice to see the Harper government is “reassessing” its deplorable stand to let the Omar Khadr, the Canadian child soldier who has been tortured and rotting in the Bush/Cheney Guantanamo disgrace.
President Obama promised to undo Guantanamo human rights disgrace perpetrated by the Bush White House that not only suspended the Rule of Law in the United States, it breeched it constantly.
Khadr is charged and being tried in a U.S. military “court” process that is seriously deficient as a fair and impartial judicial process. Obama knows this, has said so repeatedly and now is acting on it, in the first day of his Presidency by staying all prosecutions and saying Guantanamo must be closed within a year. It is nice to have a lawyer in the White House that didn’t graduate in the bottom of his class for a change.
The Harper government has been intellectually and morally bankrupt on the Khadr case. The previous Liberal government was not much better but they didn’t know all the facts Harper has come to know. Khadr is the only western national still in Guantanamo that has not been repatriated to his homeland. Perhaps President Obama will bring Omar home with him on Air Force One when he visits Canada in the next few weeks. That would be sweet.
That moral and legal deficit is entirely on the shoulders of Stephen Harper how has failed, refused and neglected to act because pleasing George Bush was more important to him than protecting a Canadian citizen .
The recent “evidence” in an FBI agent’s “testimony” in Gitmo alleging Khadr saw Maher Arar in an Afghan “safe house” has been discredited under cross-examination. Arar is the other Canadian who has been victimized by the morally lax and intellectually lazy leadership of Stephen Harper. Hopefully this is the last of this kind of abuse of authority and legal processes by governments and their agents - like the FBI.
The world has been delivered from the vile and viciousness of the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld regime. Our very own Prime Minister Harper was all ready and prepared to be their political instrument on too many of their reprehensible policy positions from social to environmental to economic abuses and disasters.
It is time to bring Omar home and face a real court in a real judicial proceeding in Canada for any charges that are serious and of substance; not merely politically motivated. Too many men and women have died over the centuries to enable, preserve and protect those freedoms for the rest of us.
Harper has dishonoured those sacrifices and we as citizens have been way too complacent and indifferent to such abuses of rights of fairness and freedom. It is time for Harper to go and with Rick Hillier showing some interest in replacing him, the time is ripening.
President Obama promised to undo Guantanamo human rights disgrace perpetrated by the Bush White House that not only suspended the Rule of Law in the United States, it breeched it constantly.
Khadr is charged and being tried in a U.S. military “court” process that is seriously deficient as a fair and impartial judicial process. Obama knows this, has said so repeatedly and now is acting on it, in the first day of his Presidency by staying all prosecutions and saying Guantanamo must be closed within a year. It is nice to have a lawyer in the White House that didn’t graduate in the bottom of his class for a change.
The Harper government has been intellectually and morally bankrupt on the Khadr case. The previous Liberal government was not much better but they didn’t know all the facts Harper has come to know. Khadr is the only western national still in Guantanamo that has not been repatriated to his homeland. Perhaps President Obama will bring Omar home with him on Air Force One when he visits Canada in the next few weeks. That would be sweet.
That moral and legal deficit is entirely on the shoulders of Stephen Harper how has failed, refused and neglected to act because pleasing George Bush was more important to him than protecting a Canadian citizen .
The recent “evidence” in an FBI agent’s “testimony” in Gitmo alleging Khadr saw Maher Arar in an Afghan “safe house” has been discredited under cross-examination. Arar is the other Canadian who has been victimized by the morally lax and intellectually lazy leadership of Stephen Harper. Hopefully this is the last of this kind of abuse of authority and legal processes by governments and their agents - like the FBI.
The world has been delivered from the vile and viciousness of the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld regime. Our very own Prime Minister Harper was all ready and prepared to be their political instrument on too many of their reprehensible policy positions from social to environmental to economic abuses and disasters.
It is time to bring Omar home and face a real court in a real judicial proceeding in Canada for any charges that are serious and of substance; not merely politically motivated. Too many men and women have died over the centuries to enable, preserve and protect those freedoms for the rest of us.
Harper has dishonoured those sacrifices and we as citizens have been way too complacent and indifferent to such abuses of rights of fairness and freedom. It is time for Harper to go and with Rick Hillier showing some interest in replacing him, the time is ripening.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Happy Birthday Omar Khadr
Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen, child soldier, and only westerner still left in Guantanamo prison “celebrated” his 22nd birthday yesterday.
He has spent a third of his life in a foreign (meaning American) prison because our government, both Liberal and Conservative, have found the protection of his citizenship rights “inconvenient.”
Khadr has been denied the protection of the Geneva Convention and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. He is entitled to the protection of both Conventions but he is disposable for political reasons.
Every other western country has repatriated their Gitmo prisoners and then tried them domestically – with the cooperation of the US government. Why is Canada so far out of step with the rest of the world?
This just one more example why we need to be careful who we elect so we s individual citizens do not have to fear our government.
He has spent a third of his life in a foreign (meaning American) prison because our government, both Liberal and Conservative, have found the protection of his citizenship rights “inconvenient.”
Khadr has been denied the protection of the Geneva Convention and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. He is entitled to the protection of both Conventions but he is disposable for political reasons.
Every other western country has repatriated their Gitmo prisoners and then tried them domestically – with the cooperation of the US government. Why is Canada so far out of step with the rest of the world?
This just one more example why we need to be careful who we elect so we s individual citizens do not have to fear our government.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Bring Omar Khadr Home Prime Minister Harper
The media has finally attended to the plight of Omar Khadr, the last western detainee in the American terrorist detention centre at Guantanamo Cuba. Looks like every other western country, except Canada, has repatriated their citizens from the American military justice system from the GITMO terrorist prison.
This travesty of politics over justice suffered by Omar Khadr ought to make every Canadian wonder if they have to fear their own government, not just the Bush-Cheney political regime. Makes you wonder if our government, and our political leaders, will be there to protect and assist us should we fall into such difficult circumstances in a foreign country.
That military justice system has been undermined by just about every civil court application made against it as of late, including many rejections by the US Supreme Court. Bush’s GITMO detention policy and approaches to justifying torture are not akin to the kind of the free, open and civil society we know American citizens continue aspire to.
Prime Minister Harper dodges and retreats on the Khadr crisis. He defaults yet again to his old saw that this is all the fault of the former Liberal government. This is typical of the half-truths of Mr. Harper’s form of leadership. He is right that the former Liberal government was equally as pandering to the US safety and security concerns post 9-11. But Harper has been in power for over two and a half years so blaming the Liberals for this continuing policy of pandering to the Bush White House is a little old – and dangerous.
It is time to protect the rights and rescue a Canadian citizen who we know has been tortured while detained and who was a child soldier at the time of arrest. He may have enough evidence to justify standing trial but as a Canadian and under our laws and not the Bush-Cheney version of “justice.”
Khadr was a 15 year old child soldier as the time of the alleged “terrorist” activity he is charged with. He has been tortured and left without some the most fundamental of legal protections as a Canadian citizen and that is reprehensible. If fact our intelligence and security agencies have been compliant in the mistreating of Mr. Khadr, a Canadian citizen and a minor, who is still in detention. He deserves a fair and speedy trial regardless of the odious opinions and utterances of his family and the terrorist fears of Bush and his boys.
When our government and its political leadership fails, refuses or neglects to protect the rights of Canadian citizens in foreign jurisdictions, it is time to refuse them our consent to continue to govern us. I believe that was true of the Chretien and Martin Liberals of their day. With the new evidence the Canadian courts have forced the authorities to release we now know about the abuse of Mr. Khadr’s fundamental human rights, mistreatment and torture at the hands of the American military “justice” system.
Bring this abused and tortured Canadian citizen home to face a fair trial in our justice system that still respects the rule of law Prime Minister Harper. To continue to allow Khadr to be subject to a discredited military tribunal process that has been found to be illegal even by American courts puts power and politics above the protection of Canadian citizens. Time to put away your posturing politics and pandering to the Bush government and do the right thing a citizen of Canada Mr. Harper.
This travesty of politics over justice suffered by Omar Khadr ought to make every Canadian wonder if they have to fear their own government, not just the Bush-Cheney political regime. Makes you wonder if our government, and our political leaders, will be there to protect and assist us should we fall into such difficult circumstances in a foreign country.
That military justice system has been undermined by just about every civil court application made against it as of late, including many rejections by the US Supreme Court. Bush’s GITMO detention policy and approaches to justifying torture are not akin to the kind of the free, open and civil society we know American citizens continue aspire to.
Prime Minister Harper dodges and retreats on the Khadr crisis. He defaults yet again to his old saw that this is all the fault of the former Liberal government. This is typical of the half-truths of Mr. Harper’s form of leadership. He is right that the former Liberal government was equally as pandering to the US safety and security concerns post 9-11. But Harper has been in power for over two and a half years so blaming the Liberals for this continuing policy of pandering to the Bush White House is a little old – and dangerous.
It is time to protect the rights and rescue a Canadian citizen who we know has been tortured while detained and who was a child soldier at the time of arrest. He may have enough evidence to justify standing trial but as a Canadian and under our laws and not the Bush-Cheney version of “justice.”
Khadr was a 15 year old child soldier as the time of the alleged “terrorist” activity he is charged with. He has been tortured and left without some the most fundamental of legal protections as a Canadian citizen and that is reprehensible. If fact our intelligence and security agencies have been compliant in the mistreating of Mr. Khadr, a Canadian citizen and a minor, who is still in detention. He deserves a fair and speedy trial regardless of the odious opinions and utterances of his family and the terrorist fears of Bush and his boys.
When our government and its political leadership fails, refuses or neglects to protect the rights of Canadian citizens in foreign jurisdictions, it is time to refuse them our consent to continue to govern us. I believe that was true of the Chretien and Martin Liberals of their day. With the new evidence the Canadian courts have forced the authorities to release we now know about the abuse of Mr. Khadr’s fundamental human rights, mistreatment and torture at the hands of the American military “justice” system.
Bring this abused and tortured Canadian citizen home to face a fair trial in our justice system that still respects the rule of law Prime Minister Harper. To continue to allow Khadr to be subject to a discredited military tribunal process that has been found to be illegal even by American courts puts power and politics above the protection of Canadian citizens. Time to put away your posturing politics and pandering to the Bush government and do the right thing a citizen of Canada Mr. Harper.
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