Malkavian

Canada rocks. They still have a night club that plays Eurodance sometimes. Just for that, Canada FTW!

__________________
Woof!

Ptech

Malkavian

Yeah, maybe he is one of the guilty ones.

I wonder what percent are actually guilty of something?

serum114

I think the point of the article is the U.S. has a policy about child conscripts. Maybe he was forced to do whatever he did. But it does seem strange that records are missing. The Guildford Four were guilty as sin at one time as well. When it comes to cases in which the government is compelled to convict someone I'm always a little suspicious to say the least.

__________________

The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.
Hunter S. Thompson

"The bad news is, the aliens have landed. The good news is, they eat Mormons and piss gasoline!"
Utah Phillips

ianmine

Evidence revealed in his trial suggests Khadr may not be guilty...there was a dead solider found beside him who may have thrown the grenade that killed the American solider.

you might be shocked to know how few are estimated to be 'guilty'..

this was a very good article:

Follow Omar Khadr From an Al Qaeda Childhood to a Gitmo Cell : Rolling Stone

Malkavian

In Gitmo? Minority, but he is one of them, it looks like...

__________________
Woof!

Malkavian

When zombies attack!
Just because he was 15, doesn't mean he wasn't the fighter... A 15 yo in southern Russia can handle an RPG.

__________________
Woof!

leftparadise

how is being a solider in a war, fighting against the enemy, a "war crime" ? why isn't he a standard issue POW ??

michelemichele

Dallaire compares U.S. actions to those of terrorists
May 13, 2008 03:02 PM
Michelle Shephard
National Security Reporter

OTTAWA—Liberal Senator Roméo Dallaire has compared the actions of the U.S. administration in trying Omar Khadr and other Guantanamo detainees to those of terrorists that "don't play by the rules."

"They are operating on a law of their own," Dallaire said.

"The (Guantanamo trial) is flawed, it is illegal and we're letting it happen," Dallaire told the foreign affairs human right's committee today.

His comments sparked a terse exchange with Conservative MP Jason Kenney who accused the senator of making "extremist" remarks.

Dallaire appeared as a witness at the comittee hearing with David Crane, former U.S. chief prosecutor for Sierra Leone's war crimes trials.

As advocates for the rights of child soldiers, they told the hearing today that Canada is violating international laws in supporting Khadr's trial.

Crane, now a professor at Syracuse University of Law, said that "no child under the age of 18 can be tried for war crimes."

The trial of Khadr starts a "slippery slope" for war crimes trials of child soldiers around the world, he argued.

A military judge recently rejected a motion by Khadr's lawyers to dismiss the Toronto detainee's case due to his age - clearing the path for his prosecution this year.

Khadr's trial before a military commission will set a precedent as the first prosecution of a teenager under the age of 18 for war crimes since World War II.

Crane and Dallaire both argue that Khadr's case goes beyond that of a 21-year-old who has been detained without trial for almost six years, to affect Canada's international reputation as a champion of civil rights.

Khadr remains the only Western detainee held at the U.S. offshore prison in Cuba after other countries demanded the repatriation of their citizens.

"It makes us look like a damn bunch of hypocrites, nothing less. It emasculates all of us who are Canadian, who are trying to work in areas like eradicating child soldiers," Dallaire said in a recent interview with the Toronto Star.

The hearing today marked the third time the committee heard testimony about Khadr's case and future witnesses include Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier.

Khadr appeared last week before a military commission in Guantanamo Bay for pre-trial hearings. The Pentagon has charged him with five war crimes, including murder for the death of Delta Force soldier Christopher Speer who was fatally wounded during the firefight when Khadr was captured.

Prosecutors allege that at the age of 15, Khadr threw the grenade that killed Speer and conspired with Al Qaeda to target U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Whether Khadr should be returned to Canada to be rehabilitated rather than prosecuted by the U.S. in Guantanamo Bay is a debate that has received international attention lately.

The United Nations' Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict raised Khadr's case with the U.S. Secretary of State's top legal adviser, John Bellinger, and last December Britain's top five legal bar associations wrote Prime Minister Stephen Harper urging that he issue a formal protest.

Former child soldier Ishmael Beah, who is now a UNICEF Ambassador, has also spoken out on behalf of Khadr.

"I think one of the problems with this case is the reason people don't have compassion for Omar Khadr, but have compassion for people like me. (It) has to do with how removed it is from people's lives. It's easy for people here to say, `Oh we forgive child soldiers,' because it's not affecting them directly," he said in a recent interview with the Toronto Star.

"(Y)ou can't say that one person's life is more valuable. So, if a 15-year-old kid in Sierra Leone, in Congo, in Uganda, in Liberia, if they kill somebody and shoot somebody in the war it's fine, but as soon as that kid kills an American soldier or ... they are no longer a child soldier, they are a terrorist."

TheStar.com | Canada | Dallaire compares U.S. actions to those of terrorists

__________________
(((start the music)))

Malkavian

That... is a good question. But he is screwed either way - "war on terror" is forever, so he'll be detained forever. At least, in the twisted Bush logic. Since he is a Canadian citizen, and we are not at war with Canada, i don't think "soldier" would quite qualify. Mercenary would be more apt. His payment is his religion.

Btw, is planting land mines a war crime? I know it's banned in Canada, but i'm not sure what the punishment is...

__________________
Woof!

Malkavian

I honestly doubt he was forced...

__________________
Woof!