henric
03-02-2012, 01:29 PM
01/03/2012 8:30:00 AM
by Nevil Hunt
Omar Khadr wants to come home to Canada from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but our federal government has shown no desire to help that happen.
Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Today he is a 25-year-old man, and he's serving an eight-year sentence for killing an American soldier.
Part of Khadr's plea bargain was an agreement that Canada would have him transferred here after one year. That date came and went last October and he's still being held in an American jail in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Neither the U.S. nor Canadian governments are doing much to send Khadr home. Both blame paperwork and red tape for the delay.
Khadr is not a very likeable figure. Some of his family members were or are terrorists.
He was 15 when an American soldier was killed on an Afghan battlefield, an age that makes him a child soldier. International conventions – including ones signed by Canada – do not hold children responsible for fighting in wars.
Like him or not, Khadr is a Canadian. This is his home and native land, and our federal government has done next to nothing to make him feel Canadian.
It is not a stretch to question if Khadr's race is affecting how our government is treating him. If Khadr had been a white college student caught smuggling drugs, carrying out fraud or had killed a civilian on a street corner outside this country, there's a chance the federal government would try and have him serve some or all of his sentence in Canada.
And if a government department had been able to arrange a plea bargain that included a return home, that inmate would be back on Canadian soil as soon as possible.
But here we are dealing with a visible minority that is easy to dislike and sparks fear in others. Will he be rehabilitated? Is he a risk? If we don't know the answers, we should find out, and no better place to do so than under the watch of Canadian guards and doctors.
And remember we have laws here to deal with prisoners who are a continued risk to others. There's a process, but no one will let it proceed.
If the red tape is finally cleared away, Khadr will reportedly be detained at an immigration centre in Millhaven, Ont.; a building nicknamed Guantanamo North. The government has spent $3.2 million to build space for six prisoners there, possibly making it the highest priced accommodations on the planet.
"No one has told Omar, or us, anything about when he can expect to be transferred," Khadr's lawyer told a reporter, adding patience is wearing thin.
Any Canadian on foreign soil should behave themselves and adhere to local laws. If they break a law, they should face the local consequences.
But if a Canadian has reached an agreement with our government that would see them returned by a certain date, all Canadians should be disgusted if Ottawa fails to keep its part of the bargain.
Should the Canadian government ask for Khadr's immediate return? Is Khadr being treated the way all Canadians deserve to be treated?
by Nevil Hunt
Omar Khadr wants to come home to Canada from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but our federal government has shown no desire to help that happen.
Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Today he is a 25-year-old man, and he's serving an eight-year sentence for killing an American soldier.
Part of Khadr's plea bargain was an agreement that Canada would have him transferred here after one year. That date came and went last October and he's still being held in an American jail in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Neither the U.S. nor Canadian governments are doing much to send Khadr home. Both blame paperwork and red tape for the delay.
Khadr is not a very likeable figure. Some of his family members were or are terrorists.
He was 15 when an American soldier was killed on an Afghan battlefield, an age that makes him a child soldier. International conventions – including ones signed by Canada – do not hold children responsible for fighting in wars.
Like him or not, Khadr is a Canadian. This is his home and native land, and our federal government has done next to nothing to make him feel Canadian.
It is not a stretch to question if Khadr's race is affecting how our government is treating him. If Khadr had been a white college student caught smuggling drugs, carrying out fraud or had killed a civilian on a street corner outside this country, there's a chance the federal government would try and have him serve some or all of his sentence in Canada.
And if a government department had been able to arrange a plea bargain that included a return home, that inmate would be back on Canadian soil as soon as possible.
But here we are dealing with a visible minority that is easy to dislike and sparks fear in others. Will he be rehabilitated? Is he a risk? If we don't know the answers, we should find out, and no better place to do so than under the watch of Canadian guards and doctors.
And remember we have laws here to deal with prisoners who are a continued risk to others. There's a process, but no one will let it proceed.
If the red tape is finally cleared away, Khadr will reportedly be detained at an immigration centre in Millhaven, Ont.; a building nicknamed Guantanamo North. The government has spent $3.2 million to build space for six prisoners there, possibly making it the highest priced accommodations on the planet.
"No one has told Omar, or us, anything about when he can expect to be transferred," Khadr's lawyer told a reporter, adding patience is wearing thin.
Any Canadian on foreign soil should behave themselves and adhere to local laws. If they break a law, they should face the local consequences.
But if a Canadian has reached an agreement with our government that would see them returned by a certain date, all Canadians should be disgusted if Ottawa fails to keep its part of the bargain.
Should the Canadian government ask for Khadr's immediate return? Is Khadr being treated the way all Canadians deserve to be treated?