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August 10, 2010

Trial of Omar Khadr to Begin at Guantánamo
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In news from Guantánamo, a US military judge has ruled that Canadian
prisoner Omar Khadr’s confessions to interrogators can be used as
evidence against him in his trial, even though Khadr’s lawyers say the
statements were illegally obtained through torture and cruelty. Khadr’s
attorney Dennis Edney criticized the judge’s decision.

Dennis Edney: "Well, my reaction is that Judge Parrish should go back to
school and learn some of the basic principles of law. I guess what he
says is it’s OK for a young fifteen-year-old boy who was picked up off
the battlefield in an environment that’s hostile, and it’s OK to
threaten him with rape and sexual abuse."

Omar Khadr’s trial on charges including murder and terrorism conspiracy
is due to start today. Khadr is a twenty-three-year-old Canadian citizen
who has already spent a third of his life in the Guantánamo prison camp.
His trial will be the first war crimes tribunal anywhere since World War
II to prosecute someone for acts allegedly committed as a juvenile. He
was captured in Afghanistan at the age of fifteen.



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