Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
April 30, 2008 By Ian Austen
OTTAWA — A United States military lawyer representing the only Canadian held at the naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, urged Parliament on Tuesday to push for his client’s repatriation.
The lawyer, Lt. Cmdr. William C. Kuebler, told the House of Commons subcommittee on international human rights that the Canadian, Omar Khadr, who was 15 when he was arrested by American forces in Afghanistan, would not receive a fair hearing from a United States military commission. He added that Mr. Khadr, who was born in Toronto, would probably be convicted.
“Justice will not result from a military commission that cannot try U.S. citizens and treats a Canadian as worth less than an American,” Commander Kuebler said. “Bring this young man home to face due process under a legitimate system.”
After his capture in 2002, Mr. Khadr, now 21, was charged with, among other things, throwing a grenade during a battle that killed Sgt. Christopher Speer, an American medic.
Commander Kuebler’s appearance here was the first public hearing outside of a court into Mr. Khadr’s case in Canada, reflecting a shift in the public’s attitude about his treatment.
Last week, Bill Graham, the foreign affairs minister during much of Mr. Khadr’s early detention, told The Toronto Star that the Liberal government at the time was insufficiently vigilant about protecting Mr. Khadr’s rights.
A United States officer’s diary, unintentionally released by the military commission last month, appears to have undermined the military’s claim that Mr. Khadr was the last insurgent fighting at the time Sergeant Speer died. It indicates that at least one other person was alive. The officer, who is not identified, wrote that only the intervention of Special Forces officers stopped him from killing Mr. Khadr, who was shot in the back during his capture.
“There’s no real evidence to support the theory Omar threw a hand grenade,” Commander Kuebler said.
April 30, 2008 By Ian Austen
OTTAWA — A United States military lawyer representing the only Canadian held at the naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, urged Parliament on Tuesday to push for his client’s repatriation.
The lawyer, Lt. Cmdr. William C. Kuebler, told the House of Commons subcommittee on international human rights that the Canadian, Omar Khadr, who was 15 when he was arrested by American forces in Afghanistan, would not receive a fair hearing from a United States military commission. He added that Mr. Khadr, who was born in Toronto, would probably be convicted.
“Justice will not result from a military commission that cannot try U.S. citizens and treats a Canadian as worth less than an American,” Commander Kuebler said. “Bring this young man home to face due process under a legitimate system.”
After his capture in 2002, Mr. Khadr, now 21, was charged with, among other things, throwing a grenade during a battle that killed Sgt. Christopher Speer, an American medic.
Commander Kuebler’s appearance here was the first public hearing outside of a court into Mr. Khadr’s case in Canada, reflecting a shift in the public’s attitude about his treatment.
Last week, Bill Graham, the foreign affairs minister during much of Mr. Khadr’s early detention, told The Toronto Star that the Liberal government at the time was insufficiently vigilant about protecting Mr. Khadr’s rights.
A United States officer’s diary, unintentionally released by the military commission last month, appears to have undermined the military’s claim that Mr. Khadr was the last insurgent fighting at the time Sergeant Speer died. It indicates that at least one other person was alive. The officer, who is not identified, wrote that only the intervention of Special Forces officers stopped him from killing Mr. Khadr, who was shot in the back during his capture.
“There’s no real evidence to support the theory Omar threw a hand grenade,” Commander Kuebler said.