As usual I'm having trouble finding the rights words to describe how I feel about Omar Khadr, Stephen Harper, and this kangaroo court.
It's difficult to imagine that a 15-year-old, handcuffed to a stretcher after surgery, bullet holes in his chest and his eyes full of shrapnel, would feel anything but coerced during an interrogation. Yet a U.S. military commission judge ruled yesterday that statements given eight years ago in these circumstances by the Canadian Omar Khadr to U.S. authorities at a prison camp in Bagram, Afghanistan, were reliable and not the product of coercion.
It is a painful irony that the 15-year-old who was coerced by his family to be a terrorist could then be coerced by a democratic state to give evidence against himself.
Because after that what can you say? Except that the trial is a travesty. The judge is a Pentagon goon.
And this outrageous violation of a young Canadian's human rights won't just shame Barack Obama and Stephen Harper
His historic trial before a discredited American military tribunal promises to shame not only U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration but also Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s acquiescent Conservative government. And it may well bring the law into disrepute in both countries.
It will shame us ALL.
In short, Khadr has been cut adrift by his own government, denied rightful status as a child soldier and will be judged by his enemies.
However this case plays out, powerful figures have shown cavalier disregard for a Canadian citizen’s rights, Parliament’s will, and international law. Khadr may be alone in the dock, but judgment will fall on others, too.
Which is why I keep writing about this case. So that if a hundred years from now anyone ever stumbles across this humble blog they will know that some Canadians never went along with this mockery of justice.
Never let this foul Con government, and all the other racists and Pentagon stooges in this country, get away with this crime against a Canadian child soldier.
And never stopped repeating, even when most Canadians didn't give a damn, or would rather not know.
This trial is a TRAVESTY.
And Omar Khadr lives HERE...
The atrocities of the Harper government against Omar Kadr is countless! How dare we discuss the plight of war children elsewhere in the world when we have a national Shame on our hands? A 15 year old Canadian has spent 9 years in Gitmo because Canadians don't care and or that we have failed to hold our government responsible for Omar Kadr's life. It is a question of our Constitutional and human rights as Canadian citizens. It is also about the treatment of children fighting in combat zones.
ReplyDeleteOmar Kadr, the youngest and most infamous Child Soldier facing injustice is Canadian, born and raised in the streets of Toronto .He has been exploited by his family, his country, and the Whole world.
He is our Shame as Canadians, and Horrific example of how the world treats child soldiers.
Shame on us!
To be fair - Omar Khadr has been there longer than Stephen Harper has been PM. Liberals share responsibility too.
ReplyDeleteOmar Khadr and his whole family rejected Canadian values their whole lives. They don't care about us - why care about them.