Footage of this sort was hardly needed to indicate that action was needed. The farce that is the justice system at Guantanamo which is almost universally denounced globally by jurists is reason enough.
I have always wondered why Khadr was charged with murder when he and his fellow jihadists were responding to a coalition attack. Did we charge captured Germans with murder if they happened to shoot some of our side in a battle? Anyway there is not any eyewitness evidence that Khadr threw the grenade that killed the American. Another jihadist was alive but conveniently shot dead. Khadr himself was shot in the back twice and would also have been shot dead except that some enterprising officer thought that he would be an intelligence asset. That is his value to the CSIS as well. This is from the National Post.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Presented by
Footage shows Khadr needs action: lawyers
PM Rejects Role
Alexandra Zabjek, Bal Brach and Jorge Barrera, Canwest News Service, with files from Andrew Mayeda Published: Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Reuters File Photo
EDMONTON - Omar Khadr's lawyers again called for political action in their client's case yesterday, shortly after releasing more than seven hours of video footage showing Canadian officials interrogating the sobbing youth at Guantanamo Bay in 2003.
"It is beyond comprehension that Prime Minister [Stephen] Harper continues to tolerate the treatment of a Canadian citizen in this manner," said Nathan Whitling, who acts on behalf of Mr. Khadr with Denis Edney. "It is time for this travesty to stop and for Omar Khadr to come home to Canada to face justice under Canadian law."
The Harper government yesterday dismissed the calls to repatriate Mr. Khadr, insisting Canada will let the U. S. military justice process take its course and accusing the opposition of playing "political games" with the case.
Opposition MPs said the footage released yesterday underscored the need to bring Mr. Khadr home to face justice here.
"What we're seeing is a severely traumatized man, who at the time of the interviews is only 16," said Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae. "With every passing day it certainly becomes clearer to me, at any rate, that he's a Canadian justice problem. We've got to take custody of this young man and try to deal with what we're facing."
Mr. Rae said it is clear that Mr. Khadr should be tried before Canadian courts, rather than by the U. S. military tribunal that Mr. Khadr is scheduled to face later this year. "Stephen Harper is now just about the only person in the West who is defending the judicial process at Gitmo," said Mr. Rae.
But the Prime Minister's Office refused to budge. The Harper government has persistently refused entreaties to repatriate Mr. Khadr, emphasizing the seriousness of the charges against him.
"The bottom line is, the government's position has not changed. It's been very consistent, not only over the course of this government, but also the previous government," said Kory Teneycke, the Prime Minister's chief spokesman. "There's a judicial process to deal with these serious charges that have been levelled against Mr. Khadr, and that process, not a political process, should determine his fate."
Mr. Teneycke argued the governing Conservatives have simply adopted the policy on Mr. Khadr set by the two previous Liberal governments. He said it was "both dangerous and unhelpful" to have opposition politicians commenting on the case while it is before the U. S. military tribunal.
"It's playing political games on the part of the Liberals. They made the initial decisions that sent us down this track. The tape that was released was filmed and in their hands when they made those decisions."
Mr. Whitling yesterday describes Mr. Khadr as being "delighted" in the first day of interrogations captured on tape.
"He believes that if he's cooperative and tells them what they want to hear, they will take him home," he said.
The footage cuts to scenes of Mr. Khadr taken the following day, when the youth -- then 16 years old -- starts breaking down in tears, ripping his tunic over his head and showing his wounds. He breaks down, sobbing uncontrollably for almost 20 minutes.
Mr. Khadr's Pentagon-assigned military lawyer may use the tapes as part of the
now-21-year-old's defence in his upcoming trial.
Mr. Khadr is scheduled to be tried before a U. S. military commission in early October on five war crimes charges, including the murder of a U. S. medic in a grenade attack during a 2002 firefight when he was 15.
Mr. Whitling said it is obvious the Toronto-born Mr. Khadr was "devastated" when he realized the Canadians were not there to help him but to further interrogate him.
"Contrary to everything the Canadian public has been told of Omar Khadr, the tapes do not show a dangerous terrorist, but instead a frightened, wounded, Canadian boy, pleading for help from Canadian officials," he said.
"Instead of helping, they casually dismiss his claims of abuse and mistreatment and tell him they will do nothing for him."
The tapes, along with several reports from Canadian officials and intelligence agents, were released to Mr. Khadr's lawyers after a series of legal decisions this year. The Supreme Court ruled this spring that some materials collected in Guantanamo Bay had to be handed over to Mr. Khadr's defence team. A Federal Court judge decided in late June that the tapes would be part of that package.
The audio in the video, which was secretly filmed through a ventilation shaft, is hard to decipher at times, and the segments are strung together in rough splices.
At times friendly, at times hostile, Mr. Khadr's three interrogators, whose faces are blacked out, make it clear they don't buy his tear-drenched pleas. At one point, just before Mr. Khadr is left alone to sob, a female agent is heard saying: "Put your shirt back on."
Mr. Khadr had pulled off his shirt, leaving his shoulders and upper chest bare to show the wounds received during his capture in Afghanistan.
He had been transferred from Afghanistan to the U. S. naval base in Cuba the previous October, in 2002.
"I can't move my arms," said Mr. Khadr, his voice bordering on weeping.
"They look like they are healing well to me," replies the main interrogator. "I am not a doctor, but I think you are getting good medical care."
"No, I am not; you're not here [in Guantanamo Bay]. I lost my eyes. I lost my feet, everything," he said.
"No, you still have your eyes and your feet are at the end of your legs," said the interrogator, after suggesting they take a break. "I understand this is stressful, but by using this strategy to talk to us, it is not going to be ... helpful, we have a limited amount of time. We have heard this story before."
Moments later, Mr. Khadr, with his hand over his face, said in a tear-weary voice: "You don't care about me."
The interrogator takes a friendlier tone. "That is not true, people do care about you."
The interrogator again proposes that they take a break. The female agent tells him to put on his shirt and another agent turns on the fan.
Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
Showing posts with label Guantanamo trials. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guantanamo trials. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Lawyers: Judge's removal political.
Brownback was removed no doubt because he was unreliable. The U.S. authorities want a judge who can be relied upon to convict. Brownback has showed he has a certain independent streak. Best he go back into retirement. Too bad the opposition is not up to forcing this present government to retire. The Harper government repeats the same old saw about not interfering in the U.S. justice system. The fact that the Guantanamo process is a travesty of justice doesn't seem to matter. Here is the tired refrain:
The parliamentary secretary to the Foreign Affairs minister responded with the same three media lines that Conservative members have used to answer all Khadr-related questions -- Khadr is facing a “serious charges,” Canada has sought and received assurances that he is treated humanely and they will not interfere in the U.S legal process, MP Deepak Obhrai responded.
So even though the Guantanamo process is unjust the Canadian government nevertheless sent interrogators to Guanatanamo to question Khadr. The Supreme Court decided this violated Khadr's rights but this doesn't matter. Not only Liberals can sit on their hands and do nothing when they feel like it. The Conservatives can mouth platitudes and do nothing just as well.
Judge’s removal political: lawyers TheStar.com - News - Judge’s removal political: lawyers
.
'Deck is clearly stacked' against a fair trial, Liberal MP charges
May 30, 2008 Michelle ShephardNational Security Reporter The abrupt retirement of the judge presiding over Omar Khadr’s war crimes trial has prompted Canada’s opposition groups to call again for government intervention and provided critics of the military trials fuel for their argument that Guantanamo’s trials are unraveling.
A spokesperson from Guantanamo’s Office of the Military Commission said Friday that U.S. Army Col. Peter Brownback, who has presided over Khadr’s trial since late 2006, has decided to retire mid-way through the Toronto detainee’s trial.
“Col. Brownback was directed by the Army in 2004 to come back on active duty from retirement based on his previous experience as a military judge. He has been serving on a retired recall status for the past four years,” Air Force Capt. André Kok wrote in an emailed statement. “After this period of service, it was a mutual decision between Col. Brownback and the Army that he revert to his retired status when his current active duty orders expire in June.”
Brownback has refused comment.
The announcement of his shocking dismissal came from the chief judge for Guantanamo’s military commissions, Marine Col. Raph Kohlmann, in an email late Thursday. The note simply said that he was assigning U.S. Army Col. Patrick Parrish to replace Brownback.
Khadr’s lawyers charged that Brownback’s dismissal was political, since he had frustrated the prosecution’s attempt to set a trial date at a time when the Pentagon is pushing to have at least one Guantanamo trial completed by this fall’s U.S. presidential election. All three candidates have vowed to shut the U.S. prison on Cuba’s southeast shore.
Prosecutor Marine Major Jeff Groharing disputed any suggestion that there was any push from his office to have Brownback replaced.
“The prosecution does not have any involvement in assignment of military judges and certainly didn’t have anything to do with a new judge being assigned to this case,” Groharing told the Toronto Star. “Despite the insinuation in the press release filed by defense counsel, the prosecution has always acted ethically and transparently in this case and any suggestion otherwise is reckless and irresponsible.”
In Ottawa, Liberal MP Larry Bagnell pressed the federal government Friday to respond to Brownback’s departure by demanding that Khadr be sent home.
“The military commission pressing charges against Omar Khadr at Guantanamo Bay fired the judge overseeing the trial. Unbelievable,” Bagnell said. “How can the government continue to show confidence in this process when the deck is so clearly stacked against Mr. Khadr ever receiving a fair trial?”
The parliamentary secretary to the Foreign Affairs minister responded with the same three media lines that Conservative members have used to answer all Khadr-related questions -- Khadr is facing a “serious charges,” Canada has sought and received assurances that he is treated humanely and they will not interfere in the U.S legal process, MP Deepak Obhrai responded.
Bagnell countered, “It is nice to read a prepared sheet that was prepared before the new information came out. When will this government stop ignoring what is happening? When will it bring Mr. Khadr back to Canada to face justice here?”
Obhrai repeated the same answers.
The American Civil Liberties Union and New York-based Human Rights Watch, who have both sent observers to witness all the Guantanamo hearings, issued statements Friday decrying the lack of information about a military judge’s dismissal.
“While this decision is not surprising, it once again demonstrates the inherent flaws in a system that lacks impartiality and is subject to political influence,” wrote Jamil Dakwar, Director of the ACLU’s Human Rights Program. “The message of the Pentagon’s decision seems to be that it is unwilling to let judges exercise independence if it means a ruling against the government.”
Khadr is scheduled to appear before a military court again next month, although it’s unclear now if a new judge will delay those pre-trial hearings. The Toronto-born detainee was 15 when he was captured in Afghanistan after a firefight where the Pentagon alleges he fatally wounded Delta Force soldier Christopher Speer. Now 21, he is on trial for five war crimes, including murder for Speer’s death.
Khadr’s Canadian lawyers won a partial victory in the Supreme Court last week when the high court justices ordered the government to turn over information concerning his case – but limited the disclosure to only information resulting from interrogations by Canadian agents.
A federal court is now vetting the information for national security concerns and is expected to turn over documents to Khadr’s lawyers as early as next week.
The Star filed a motion to intervene in that case today, arguing that the public should have access to the information since the treatment of a Canadian detainee in Guantanamo and the participation of Canadian officials in that process “raises matters of great public interest.”
The parliamentary secretary to the Foreign Affairs minister responded with the same three media lines that Conservative members have used to answer all Khadr-related questions -- Khadr is facing a “serious charges,” Canada has sought and received assurances that he is treated humanely and they will not interfere in the U.S legal process, MP Deepak Obhrai responded.
So even though the Guantanamo process is unjust the Canadian government nevertheless sent interrogators to Guanatanamo to question Khadr. The Supreme Court decided this violated Khadr's rights but this doesn't matter. Not only Liberals can sit on their hands and do nothing when they feel like it. The Conservatives can mouth platitudes and do nothing just as well.
Judge’s removal political: lawyers TheStar.com - News - Judge’s removal political: lawyers
.
'Deck is clearly stacked' against a fair trial, Liberal MP charges
May 30, 2008 Michelle ShephardNational Security Reporter The abrupt retirement of the judge presiding over Omar Khadr’s war crimes trial has prompted Canada’s opposition groups to call again for government intervention and provided critics of the military trials fuel for their argument that Guantanamo’s trials are unraveling.
A spokesperson from Guantanamo’s Office of the Military Commission said Friday that U.S. Army Col. Peter Brownback, who has presided over Khadr’s trial since late 2006, has decided to retire mid-way through the Toronto detainee’s trial.
“Col. Brownback was directed by the Army in 2004 to come back on active duty from retirement based on his previous experience as a military judge. He has been serving on a retired recall status for the past four years,” Air Force Capt. André Kok wrote in an emailed statement. “After this period of service, it was a mutual decision between Col. Brownback and the Army that he revert to his retired status when his current active duty orders expire in June.”
Brownback has refused comment.
The announcement of his shocking dismissal came from the chief judge for Guantanamo’s military commissions, Marine Col. Raph Kohlmann, in an email late Thursday. The note simply said that he was assigning U.S. Army Col. Patrick Parrish to replace Brownback.
Khadr’s lawyers charged that Brownback’s dismissal was political, since he had frustrated the prosecution’s attempt to set a trial date at a time when the Pentagon is pushing to have at least one Guantanamo trial completed by this fall’s U.S. presidential election. All three candidates have vowed to shut the U.S. prison on Cuba’s southeast shore.
Prosecutor Marine Major Jeff Groharing disputed any suggestion that there was any push from his office to have Brownback replaced.
“The prosecution does not have any involvement in assignment of military judges and certainly didn’t have anything to do with a new judge being assigned to this case,” Groharing told the Toronto Star. “Despite the insinuation in the press release filed by defense counsel, the prosecution has always acted ethically and transparently in this case and any suggestion otherwise is reckless and irresponsible.”
In Ottawa, Liberal MP Larry Bagnell pressed the federal government Friday to respond to Brownback’s departure by demanding that Khadr be sent home.
“The military commission pressing charges against Omar Khadr at Guantanamo Bay fired the judge overseeing the trial. Unbelievable,” Bagnell said. “How can the government continue to show confidence in this process when the deck is so clearly stacked against Mr. Khadr ever receiving a fair trial?”
The parliamentary secretary to the Foreign Affairs minister responded with the same three media lines that Conservative members have used to answer all Khadr-related questions -- Khadr is facing a “serious charges,” Canada has sought and received assurances that he is treated humanely and they will not interfere in the U.S legal process, MP Deepak Obhrai responded.
Bagnell countered, “It is nice to read a prepared sheet that was prepared before the new information came out. When will this government stop ignoring what is happening? When will it bring Mr. Khadr back to Canada to face justice here?”
Obhrai repeated the same answers.
The American Civil Liberties Union and New York-based Human Rights Watch, who have both sent observers to witness all the Guantanamo hearings, issued statements Friday decrying the lack of information about a military judge’s dismissal.
“While this decision is not surprising, it once again demonstrates the inherent flaws in a system that lacks impartiality and is subject to political influence,” wrote Jamil Dakwar, Director of the ACLU’s Human Rights Program. “The message of the Pentagon’s decision seems to be that it is unwilling to let judges exercise independence if it means a ruling against the government.”
Khadr is scheduled to appear before a military court again next month, although it’s unclear now if a new judge will delay those pre-trial hearings. The Toronto-born detainee was 15 when he was captured in Afghanistan after a firefight where the Pentagon alleges he fatally wounded Delta Force soldier Christopher Speer. Now 21, he is on trial for five war crimes, including murder for Speer’s death.
Khadr’s Canadian lawyers won a partial victory in the Supreme Court last week when the high court justices ordered the government to turn over information concerning his case – but limited the disclosure to only information resulting from interrogations by Canadian agents.
A federal court is now vetting the information for national security concerns and is expected to turn over documents to Khadr’s lawyers as early as next week.
The Star filed a motion to intervene in that case today, arguing that the public should have access to the information since the treatment of a Canadian detainee in Guantanamo and the participation of Canadian officials in that process “raises matters of great public interest.”
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