Omar Khadr

Omar Ahmed Khadr born September 19, 1986 in Toronto, is a Canadian who was captured by American forces in Afghanistan when he was 15 years of age. His case has drawn considerable attention as a child soldier, and he is among the youngest prisoners held in extrajudicial detention in the Guantánamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba, and the only Canadian.

On June 4, 2007, a military court dismissed all charges against Khadr because of a procedural flaw - the court was authorized to try unlawful enemy combatants, but an earlier review had labelled Khadr as merely an "enemy combatant". On September 24, 2007, a military court ruled that the dismissal was in error. The terrorism case against Mr. Kadhr will then be reopened..

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Omar Khadr

Life in Canada

Omar Khadr, like most of the children in the Khadr family, was born in Canada, and both parents were Canadian citizens. Through 1985 to 1997 mostly the family was living in Peshawar, Pakistan, where the father Ahmed Said Khadr was working, they visited Canada on a 1-2 year basis.

In 1992 Ahmed Said Khadr was wounded by a land-mine, and spent a year back in Canada recovering his health.

Life in bin Laden's compound

Khadr's father moved his family to Afghanistan in 1997, where they lived in their office compound, they later moved to bin laden's compound but only after it had been evacuated. During their stay in their office the family visited the bin Laden compound occasionaly and the children played with his children amongst others. Khadr's father has been described as one of bin Laden's senior lieutenants.

Omar's older brother Abdurahman Khadr described being sent to military training camps shortly after his arrival, when he was just eleven years old. All of the Khadr boys are believed to have military training while they were children.

Capture

On July 27, 2002, 15-year-old Khadr was in a compound near Khost that was surrounded by US special forces. According to the US version of events, the Americans called on those in the compound to surrender. When they refused, a firefight ensued. Sergeant Layne Morris was injured early in the skirmish. The Americans called in a bombardment.

Most press accounts of the skirmish say that Khadr killed a "medic", implying that he had attacked a noncombatant after giving his surrender, but although Sgt. Christopher Speer had been trained as a medic, he was actually part of the combat squad combing the compound after they believed all occupants had been killed.

Khadr leapt from hiding and threw a grenade, which injured Sgt. Speer and led to his death, and injured three other members of the squad. Omar was shot three times, and left nearly blind in one eye. He received medical treatment for the gunshot wounds upon being captured.

Accusations against Khadr

The Americans claim to have found a video-tape in the ruins that shows Khadr planting mines. They say that while being interrogated at Bagram Air Base, Khadr confessed to entering a US occupied section of Afghanistan, to gather surveillance intelligence on the local airport.

Incarceration at Guantánamo Bay

Although there were other child detainees incarcerated at Guantánamo Bay, Khadr was treated as an adult. Khadr has been reported to have been kept in solitary confinement, for long periods of time [1]; to have been denied adequate medical treatment; to have been subjected to "short shackling" [2], and left bound, in uncomfortable "stress positions" until he soiled himself [3]. In a press conference on January 16, 2005, Khadr's lawyers described how Khadr's captors took Khadr's still bound body and wiped his hair and clothes in his urine and feces.

Bryan Del Monte, the United States Department of Defense deputy director for political development and international issues in the Office of Detainee Affairs, gave a press conference following his return from testifying before the United Nations Committee against torture. During this press conference he asserted that Khadr, and two other youths, were incarcerated separately from adults, and were provided with daily lessons:

Del Monte said that those in charge of the Guantanamo detention camp provide the three youngsters with lessons every morning in Mathematics, English, Sciences, and other subjects for their mental and psychological needs in addition to teaching physical fitness and sports.

Del Monte's assertion stands in contrast to the other accounts of Khadr's incarceration, where he has been described as leading the prayer sessions of the other detainees in his cell block.

Khadr's Combatant Status Review

Khadr's case was reviewed by the Combatant Status Review Tribunal on September 8, 2004. The review released a one page summary of their conclusions on September 17, 2004. Khadr's lawyers had written him a letter, recommending that he refrain from cooperating with the tribunal, or any questioning conducted without adequate legal representation.

The tribunal concluded that Khadr was an "enemy combatant".

At the time of his hearing Khadr had not been allowed to meet with any lawyer and no consideration was given to the fact he was a child soldier at the time of the attack.

Access to lawyers and family

Defence attorney Dennis Edney (L) and Lt. Cmdr. Bill Kuebler (R)

Omar Khadr's brother Abdurahman Khadr claimed in the documentary Son of al Qaeda that he talked with Omar over a fence in 2003. At the time, Abdurahman was a prisoner at Guantanamo as well, though he later claimed that he was there on a mission for the American Central Intelligence Agency. Omar reportedly told Abdurahman to stick to a previously agreed-upon story that the family had no connections to Al Qaeda, and that his health was fine.

A June 15, 2005 article in Newsday cited Muneer Ahmad's experience as an example of the difficulties the Pentagon presented to detainees' lawyers. Ahmad also reported that Khadr had described extensive abusive treatment to him, but that when he arrived at the Virginia security centre, all twenty pages of his notes had been redacted.

Mr Ahmad's first meeting with Khadr was not until November 2004. Khadr has still not been permitted to speak with the Canadian lawyers who were his family's first choice. CBCNews reported that Khadr was finally permitted to speak with his mother by phone in March, 2007, after approximately five years of detainment.

Hunger strikes

On September 1 2005, the Globe and Mail reported that Dennis Edney, one of Khadr's Canadian lawyers reported that Khadr was participating in a second hunger strike. Khadr participated in the 200-member hunger strike that occurred in late June and July. The Globe article reports that lawyers said Khadr's first hunger strike lasted 15 days, and that prison authorities administered intravenous fluid. Khadr reported collapsing as he left the hospital, and that his guards administered a brutal beating [4].

On September 11 2005, The Independent published an extract from Guantánamo detainee Omar Deghayes. On July 20 2005, he wrote about Khadr:

Omar Khadr [the Canadian juvenile] is very sick in our block. He is throwing [up] blood. They gave him cyrum [serum] when they found him on the floor in his cell. Galib Fiyhani also.

Khadr Military Commission

On November 7, 2005, Khadr and nine other Guantanamo inmates were charged to be tried by "Military Commission", but the commission was struck down as unlawful by the US Supreme Court in 2006. After the MCA was signed in October 2006, new charges were sworn against Khadr on February 2, 2007. Khadr also petitioned the US Supreme Court to review the legality of the military commission and his detention, but this request was denied April, 2007.

First round of charges on November 7, 2005

Khadr was charged with murder for his actions against the squad inside the compound near Khost, Afghanistan. The charges against Mr. Khadr allege that his father, the late Ahmed Said Khadr, a Canadian Islamic extremist, was a close friend of Osama bin Laden and his Egyptian deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, and that Omar Khadr also was acquainted with Mr. bin Laden, the Al Qaeda leader.

On November 9, 2005, the Globe and Mail reported that the United States had informally indicated they would not seek the death penalty in Omar's trial. On December 1, 2005 the officers were appointed to the Guantanamo military commission that would judge Khadr.

The charges Khadr faced in 2005 were:

Charge 1:Conspiracy

Omar Ahmed Khadr did, in and around Afghanistan, from on or about June 2002 to on or about 27 July 2002, willfully and knowingly join an enterprise of persons who shared a common criminal purpose and conspired and agreed with Usama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri, Sheikh Sayeed al Masri, Muhammad Atef (a/k/a Abu Hafs al Masri), Saif al adel, Ahmad Sa'id Khadr (a/k/a Abu Al-Rahman Al-Kanadi), and various other members of the al Qaida organization, known and unknown, to commit the following offenses triable by military commission: attacking civilians; attacking civilian objects; murder by an unprivileged belligerent; destruction of property by an unprivileged belligerent; destruction of property by an unprivileged belligerent; and terrorism.

In furtherance of this enterprise and conspiracy, Khadr and other members of al Qaida committed the following overt acts:

• On or about June 2002, Khadr received approximately one month of one-on-one, private al Qaida basic training from an al Qaida member named "Abu Haddi." This training was arranged by Omar Khadr's father, Ahmad Sa'id Khadr, and consisted of training in the use of rocket propelled grenades, rifles, pistols, hand grenades and explosives.

• On or about June 2002, Khadr conducted surveillance and reconnaissance against the U.S. military. Khadr went to an airport near Khost, Afghanistan, and watched U.S. convoys in support of future attacks against the U.S. military.

• On or about July 2002, Khadr received one month of land mine training.

• On or about July 2002, Khadr joined a group of Al Qaida operatives and converted land mines to improvised explosive devices in the ground [sic] where, based on previous surveillance, U.S. troops were expected to be traveling.

• On or about July 27, 2002, Khadr and other Al Qaida members engaged U.S military personnel when military members surrounded their compound. During the firefight, Khadr threw a grenade, killing Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer. In addition to the death of SFC Speer, two Afghan Militia Force members who were accompanying U.S. Forces were shot and killed and several U.S. service members were wounded.

Charge 2: Murder by an unprivileged belligerent

Omar Ahmed Khadr did, in Afghanistan, on or about July 27, 2002, murder Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer, U.S. Army, while in the context of and associated with armed conflict and without enjoying combatant immunity, by throwing a hand grenade that caused Sergeant First Class Speer's death.

Charge 3: Attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent

Omar Ahmed Khadr did, in Afghanistan, between, on, or about June 1, 2002 and July 27, 2002, attempt to murder diverse persons, while in the context of and associated with armed conflict and without enjoying combatant immunity, by converting land mines to improvised explosive devices and planting said improvised explosive devices in the ground where, based on previous surveillance, U.S. troops were expected to be traveling.

Charge 4: Aiding the enemy

Omar Ahmed Khadr did, in Afghanistan, on divers occasions between on or about June 1, 2002 and July 27, 2002, while in the context of associated with armed conflict, intentionally aid the enemy, to wit: al Qaida.

Second round of charges on February 2, 2007

Charge 1: Violation of Part IV, M.M.C., Section 950v(I5), Murder in Violation of the Law of War

Paragraph 25: In that Omar Ahmed Khadr, a person subject to trial by military commission as an alien unlawful combatant, did, in Afghanistan, on or about July 27, 2002, while in the context of and associated with armed conflict and without enjoying combatant immunity, unlawfully and intentionally murder U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer, in violation of the law of war, by throwing a hand grenade at U.S. forces resulting in the death of Sergeant First Class Speer.

Charge II: Violation of Part IV, M.M.C., Section 950t, Attempted Murder in Violation of the Law of War

Paragraph 26: In that Omar Ahmed Khadr, a person subject to trial by military commission as an alien unlawful enemy combatant, did, in and around Afghanistan, between, on, or about June 1, 2002, and July 27, 2002, while in the context of and associated with armed conflict and without enjoying combatant immunity, attempt to commit murder in violation of the law of war, by converting land mines into improvised explosive devices and planting said improvised explosive devices in the ground with the intent to kill U.S. or coalition forces.

Charge III: Violation of Part IV, M.M.C., Section 950v(28), Conspiracy

Paragraph 27: In that Omar Ahmed Khadr, a person subject to trial by military commission as an alien unlawful enemy combatant, did, in and around Afghanistan, from on or about June 1, 2002 to on or about July 27, 2002, willfully join an enterprise of persons who shared a common criminal purpose, said purpose known to the acused, and conspired and agreed with Usama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri, Sheikh Sayeed al Masri, Muhammad Atef (a/k/ Abu Hafs al Masri), Saif al adel, Ahmed Sa’id Khadr (a/k/a/ Abu Al-Rahman Al-Kanadi), and various other members and associates of the al Qaeda organization, known and unknown, to commit the following offenses triable by military commission to include: attacking protected property; attacking civilians; attacking civilian objects; murder in violation of the law of war; destruction of property in violation of the law of war; hijacking or hazarding a vessel or aircraft; and terrorism.

Paragraph 28: In addition to paragraph 27, this specification realleges and incorporates by reference the general allegations contained in paragraphs 13 through 24 of this charge sheet.

Paragraph 29: Additionally, in furtherance of this enterprise and conspiracy, Khadr and other members of al Qaeda performed overt acts, including, but not limited to the following: a. In or about June 2002, Khadr received approximately one month of one-on-one, private al Qaeda basic training from an al Qaeda member named “Abu Haddi.” This training was arranged by Omar Khadr’s father, Ahmad Sa’id Khadr, and consisted of training in the use of rocket propelled grenades, rifles, pistols, hand grenades, and explosives. b. In or about June 2002, Khadr conducted surveillance and reconnaissance against the U.S. military in support of efforts to target U.S. forces in Afghanistan. c. In or about July 2002, Khadr attended one month of land mine training. d. In or about July 2002, Khadr joined a group of Al Qaeda operatives and converted land mines to improvised explosive devices and planted said improvised explosive devices in the ground where, based on previous surveillance, U.S. troops were expected to be traveling. e. On or about July 27, 2002, near the village of Ayub Kheil, Afghanistan, U.S. forces surrounded a compound housing suspected al Qaeda members. Khadr and/or other suspected al Qaeda members engaged U.S. military and coalition personnel with small arms fire, killing two Afghan Militia Force members. Khadr and/or the ther suspected al Qaeda members also threw and/or fired grenades at nearby coalition forces resulting in numerous injuries. f. When U.S. forces entered the compound upon completion of the firefight, Khadr threw a grenade, killing Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer.

Charge IV: Violation of Part IV, M.M.C., Section 950v(25), Providing Material Support for Terrorism

Paragraph 30: In that Omar Ahmed Khadr, a person subject to trial by military commission as an alien unlawful enemy combatant, did, in or around Afghanistan, from about June 2002 through on or about July 27, 2002, provide material support or resources to an international terrorist organization engaged in hostilities against the United States, namely al Qaeda, which the accused knew to be such organization that engaged, or engages, in terrorism, that the conduct of the accused took place in the context of and was associated with an armed conflict, namely al Qaeda or its associated forces against the United States or its Coalition partners.

Paragraph 31: In addition to paragraph 30, this specification realleges and incorporates by reference the general allegations contained in paragraphs 13 through 24 of this charge sheet. This specification also realleges and incorporates by reference the allegations contained in paragraphs 29(a) through 2(f) above.

Paragraph 32: In that Omar Ahmed Khadr, a person subject to trial by military commission as an alien unlawful enemy combatant, did, in Afghanistan, from about June 2002 through on or about July 27, 2002, provide material support or resources to be used in preparation for, or carrying out an act of terrorism, that the accused knew or intended that the material support or resources were to be used for those purposes, and that the conduct of the accused took place in the context of and was associated with an armed conflict, namely al Qaeda or its associated forces against the United States or its Coalition partners.

Paragraph 33: In addition to paragraph 32, this specification realleges and incorporates by reference the general allegations contained in paragraphs 13 through 24 of this charge sheet. This specification also realleges and incorporates by reference the allegations contained in paragraphs 29(a) through 29(f) above.

Charge V: Violation of Part IV, M.M.C., Section 950v(27), Spying

Paragraph 34: In that Omar Ahmed Khadr, a person subject to military commission as an alien unlawful enemy combatant, did in Afghanistan, in or about June 2002, collect certain information by clandestine means or while acting under false pretenses, information that he intended or had reason to believe would be used to injure the United States or provide an advantage ot a foreign power; that the accused intended to convey such information to an enemy of the United States, namely al Qaeda or its associated forces; that the conduct of the accused took place in the context of and was associated with an armed conflict; and that the accused committed any or all of the following acts: on at least one occasion, at the direction of a known al Qaeda member or associate, and in preparation for operations targeting U.S. forces, the accused conducted surveillance of U.S. forces and made notations as to the number and types of vehicles, distances between the vehicles, approximate speed of the convoy, time, and direction of the convoys.

Early prosecutorial accusations

Colonel Morris Davis, a Khadr Prosecutor, spoke out against Khadr, to the press.

Preliminary hearing

On March 30 2006, Khadr, and the other nine detainees who face charges, were transferred to solitary confinement.

Commander Robert Durand said, "Consistent with Army regulations, individuals in a pretrial status are separated from the general population. These measures are largely for the protection of the detainee."

On April 5 2006 Khadr read out a note that said: "Excuse me Mr. Judge,.. I'm being punished for exercising my right and being co-operative in participating in this military commission. For that, I say with my respect to you and everybody else here, that I'm boycotting these procedures until I be treated humanely and fair."

On April 7, 2006, Khadr's lawyers reversed course stating on the record in front of the commission that after consulting with U.S. military officials that Khadr's current conditions of confinement were indeed humane and not done in order to "punish" Khadr for being cooperative in participating in commission proceedings. [5]

Independent medical examination

Khadr lawyers have been trying, with no success so far, to arrange for Khadr to get an independent medical examination. They assert that a psychological evaluation is routine for any suspect charged with a murder committed when they were a minor. They state that an independent examination is essential for them to be able to effectively craft their defense. Further they assert that the suicides on June 10 2006 put Khadr at greater risk.

Khadr's lawyers had administered a psychological questionnaire to Khadr during one of their earlier visits. An analysis of Khadr's answers indicated that he was at moderate to high risk of committing suicide.

See "The Unending Torture of Omar Khadr", Rolling Stone, August 24, 2006, by Jeff Tietz.

Charges dismissed

On June 4, 2007, the second round of charges were dismissed by Army Judge Col. Peter Brownback because Khadr was not classified as an "alien unlawful enemy combatant." Khadr was previously classified as an "enemy combatant" by his Combatant Status Review Tribunal, in late 2004. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 says that military commissions do not have jurisdiction over those classified as "lawful combatants". Despite the dismissal of charges, Khadr will remain in detention.

The Court of Military Commission Review's ruling

On September 25, 2007, Thomas W. Hartmann, the Legal Adviser to the Convening Authority in the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions, announced that the Court of Military Commission Review had reached a decision about the Bush Presidency's appeal of Brownback's ruling.

Brownback and Allred's ruling took the Department of Defense by surprise. The United States Congress, when it passed the Military Commissions Act, had mandated that the DoD set up a court where appeals to the Commissions' ruling could take place. But the Court had not been appointed, and the rules under which the court should function had not been fleshed out.

Hartmann anncounced that the Court of Review confirmed that the distinction between an "enemy combatant" and an "unlawful enemy combatant" was a significant distinction. However, the Court of Review also ruled that the Military Commissions themselves had the authority to make the determination that a captive was an "unlawful enemy combatant". Consequently, Khadr continues to face the second set of charges laid against him on February 2 2007.

Official Canadian reaction

An article published on August 20 2007 in the Toronto Star quotes a 2002 press release from Bill Graham, who was then Canada's Foreign Minister:

"It is an unfortunate reality that juveniles are too often the victims in military actions and that many groups and countries actively recruit and use them in armed conflicts and in terrorist activities. Canada is working hard to eliminate these practices, but child soldiers still exist, in Afghanistan, and in other parts of the world."

The article notes that Graham's office subsequently tried to claw back the concerns over Khadr's youth.

In early 2003 Jim Gould, an official with Foreign Affairs' intelligence division, and an official from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, were allowed to meet with Khadr. The USA was not allowing consular access to the captives, but Gould's observations were to be used by Foreign Affairs to report that: "Officials met Mr. Khadr and he seems well."

The Toronto Star's report states that when they achieved access to Gould's report it stated:

"In a fit of anger, he tore off his shirt revealing extensive scarring on the upper torso and a cluster of smaller ones on the upper left side of his body and on the back of his left shoulder."

Amnesty International call for official Canadian intervention

In late June of 2007 Amnesty International Canada called on the Canadian Government to intervene on Khadr's behalf. The open letter AI released was signed by two former foreign affairs ministers and several sitting members of parliament.

The letter acknowledges that the Khadr family has an unsympathetic reception in Canada:

"We are aware that, setting aside any of Khadr's own actions, the notoriety of his family makes him unsympathetic in the eyes of some. But it is plainly unjust to punish the son for the sins of the fathers, or to deny a citizen the protection of his government because of the words or deeds of family members."

The Los Angeles Times interviewed Khadr's mother and older sister, quoting his mother about how Omar came to be in the compound where the skirmish took place.

According to the article:

"Khadr. The 15-year-old, fluent in English, Arabic and the local Pashtun dialect, had been sent by his father to interpret for a senior Al Qaeda official. His mother said he was sent without her knowledge and was with the militants against her wishes."

The Canadian Bar Association urged Canadian Prime Minister to repatriate Khadr to stand trial in the Canadian justice system. Other legal experts outlined difficulties in trying Khadr in Canada.

Further allegations

On July 12 2007 Prosecutor Major Jeffrey Groharing leveled new allegations against Khadr. Groharing accused Khadr of confessing to wishing to kill Americans to earn a $1,500 bounty.

The Globe and Mail quoted from the 24 pages of new charges Groharing released:

• “...related that he had been told about a $1,500 reward being placed on the head of each American killed. It was not made clear who offered the bounty. When asked how he felt about the reward system he replied, ‘I wanted to kill a lot of American[s] to get lots of money,'”

• “After vowing to die fighting, the accused armed himself with an AK-47 assault rifle, put on an ammunition vest, and took a position by a window in the compound,” reads the appeal brief. “Toward the end of the firefight, the accused threw a grenade that killed Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer, U.S. Army.”

• “When asked on 17 September, 2002, why he helped the men construct the explosives, the accused responded ‘to kill U.S. forces.' The accused then related during the same interview that he had been told the U.S. wanted to go to war against Islam.”

Khadr's lawyers noted the allegations had never been leveled in any of the previous documents or proceedings during Khadr's five years in custody.

Nathan Whiting, one of Khadr's Canadian lawyers, response to the American claims that Khadr was motivated by a bounty was:

“It is hardly convincing for the U.S. to suggest that in the midst of this battle, and after the entire site had been flattened by 500-pound bombs and everyone else in the compound killed, Omar was lying under the rubble thinking about how to earn himself $1,500.”

Khadr didn't arrive at Guantanamo until October 2002. This interrogation where Groharing claims Khadr confessed would have occurred in Afghanistan, while Khadr was still recovering from his wounds. Khadr's lawyers have previously claimed that Khadr's interrogators in Afghanistan denied him pain medication to soften him up for interrogation.

The Speer/Morris lawsuit

Tabitha Speer, Sergeant Speer's widow, and Sergeant Layne Morris, launched a civil suit against the estate of Ahmed Said Khadr, Omar Khadr's father. They argue that as Khadr was a child, his parents were responsible for his actions, and that since his parents should have kept him from picking up a gun on the battlefield, they were responsible for any wounds he inflicted. Normally, under US law, one can't sue for damages that were caused by "acts of war". Speer and Morris argue that Khadr was engaged in an act of terrorism, not an act of war.

They have described the law-suit as "an attempt to attack terrorism in its bank account".

An article published in the June 14 2007 Salt Lake Tribune said that Morris and Speer's widow might collect funds via the U.S. Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. The article quotes a Treasury Department official who acknowledged that Ahmed Khadr's assets had been frozen, but said it was up to Morris and Speer to locate them.

Gag order on his military Counsel

Sergeant Heather Cerveny, the paralegal for Colby Vokey, Khadr's military lawyer, issued an affidavit reporting that off-duty Guantanamo guards had bragged to her of abusing detainees. On October 14 2006 Vokey's boss imposed a gag order on the two while the matter is investigated.

See also

Minors detained in the global war on terror

External links

• Interview with Muneer Ahmad (counsel) and Bernard Amyot (CBA President), Law is Cool Podcast #6, October 22, 2007
• Khadr teen called an 'enemy combatant', CTV, September 17, 2004
• Lawyers Level Guantanamo Torture Charges, Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, February 9 2005
• Extremist has rights! Federal judge rules visits from CSIS violate Charter rights of Gitmo guest, Edmonton Sun, August 10, 2005
• Canadian teen in Guantanamo on hunger strike, lawyers say, Globe and Mail, September 1, 2005
• Factsheet
• Interview with Layne Morris, CBC News: The Hour- November 9 2005
• Selected filings U.S. v Khadr (.pdf) 280 pages US Department of Defense
• The Unending Torture of Omar Khadr - Rolling Stone (magazine)
• Son of al Qaeda, Frontline (PBS)
• Colin Freeze (July 19, 2007). "Detainee's lawyers dispute legality of judicial review". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2007-7-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)