Appealing Khadr

It may well make sense to appeal Khadr to clarify the law. But that doesn't mean that the Government need delay seeking to assist a Canadian in foreign custody. No matter what his crimes, Khadr remains a Canadian, and one held by a close ally in very poor conditions. Indeed, held as a minor and subject to what a Canadian court has found to be torture.

I believe, if the facts are as alleged, that Khadr acted very wrongly. To a large extent, however, the blame there falls on his family -- remember Khadr was 15.

A trial in Canada may be impossible but a US trial, based on who knows what, would be a farce. Bring Khadr back to Canada.

Tories flip-flop on Khadr appeal

OMAR EL AKKAD
From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Conservative government officials contradicted themselves on the Omar Khadr file

Friday, with Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister telling Parliament that Ottawa will appeal a court decision ordering the government to attempt to bring the detained Canadian home, and the minister's assistant contradicting him only hours later.

Federal Court Judge James O'Reilly ruled Thursday that the government has a duty to repatriate Mr. Khadr, who was captured by U.S. troops at the age of 15 after a 2002 Afghanistan firefight. The ruling marks a rare if not unprecedented instance in which a court has ordered the government to bring someone home from a foreign prison, in this case the controversial one in Guantanamo Bay where Mr. Khadr has spent almost a third of his life.

The ruling was the subject of several questions in the House of Commons Friday. In response, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said the government will be appealing the Federal Court's decision. In some answers, he said the government will probably appeal the decision after reviewing it. In other answers, he simply said the government was going to appeal.

But the government's legal team is still looking at the decision, which had been public for less than 24 hours when Mr. Cannon made his comments. It wasn't long before officials were backtracking, saying the government had not yet made a decision on whether to appeal.

"An appeal is certainly an option and the government is seriously looking at it," said Catherine Loubier, Mr. Cannon's director of communications. But she added that no decision will be made until a legal team reviews the judgment – the government has 30 days to make up its mind, although Mr. Cannon hinted very strongly that the government's mind is already made up.

But Mr. Cannon's comments in the Commons Friday also strayed from the usual Conservative talking points on the file – namely, that Mr. Khadr faces serious charges, including murder, and that Ottawa will not interfere with continuing legal proceedings in the United States.

"As a matter of fact, last night we were able to see television footage of Mr. Khadr's alleged building and planting of explosive devices that are actually planted in Afghanistan," Mr. Cannon told the House. "Those devices are the devices that basically have taken away the lives of young Canadian men and women."

Mr. Cannon was apparently referring to footage that was previously leaked, in violation of court rules, to the news show 60 Minutes. Mr. Khadr's defence lawyers have so far been unable to prove who leaked the video. "There's never been any allegation that Omar conspired to injure Canadians," said Nate Whitling, one of Mr. Khadr's Canadian lawyers.

"This is clearly an attempt to prejudice our client on spurious grounds." The Obama administration is expected to determine the future of Mr. Khadr and other inmates some time in the next few weeks.

Given that an appeal by Ottawa of the Federal Court decision will almost certainly take longer than that, such an appeal may prove moot, especially if the Obama administration decides to settle Mr. Khadr's case through political channels, rather than legal ones. Mr. Whitling said a U.S. military defence lawyer had visited Mr. Khadr in Guantanamo Bay recently, but left before Thursday's Federal Court decision, which means Mr. Khadr probably hasn't heard of the ruling yet.
James Morton
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