[Maritime Q-Scout]

This is a complicated case.

First we must look at what happened to trigger these events.

A Canadian child whose father was a terrorist was moved from Canada to Pakistan when he was 9; then to Afghanistan when he was 10.

At 15 he was involved in an incident where he allegedly threw a grenade that killed a US solider.

Let's stop there for a moment.

What should then be done? How should the child, not yet of an age to drive a car, be dealt with?

If on Canadian soil, he would have been arrested and tried for murder. Likely, sentenced as a juvenile, and likely a psychiatric evaluation to determine state of mind, and mental competence given the undue influence of the terrorist cell/parent around him.

I think we can all agree, in a civilized society, that is a reasonable outcome, and we let the courts take it as they may.


Now what did happen?

The 15 year old who has been now living among Al-Qaeda for five years, was captured by the US and he was flown to Guantanamo Bay where he was then tortured, denied the ability to go to the washroom, waterboarded, threatened with rape, for ten years. No trial, no due process, no innocent until proven guilty, no security of self, no fair treatment, no dignity. To put it in perspective Charles Manson, Zacarias Moussaoui, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Thomas Silverstein, Ted Bundy, and John Wayne Gacy, were all/are all treated better than this 15 year old was. They all had due process, they all are torture free, they all get their security of person while in prison. However, this 15 year old, who was alleged to have committed a crime lower on the scale than the above was tortured without any due process.

I think it's fair to say that this 15 year old should have been treated, at minimum, the same as Charles Manson, Zacarias Moussaoui, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Thomas Silverstein, Ted Bundy, and John Wayne Gacy. I think we can all agree on that.


But he was at Guantanamo, that a US base. Yes it is. However, Canada sent agents to Guantanamo Bay to see this 15 year old Canadian. Rather than provide aid, legal counsel, and ensure a torture free environment, which was their job, they aided the US, and left this 15 year old as he was.

Can you imagine being arrested by mall security, then tortured, waterboarded, denied the ability to use the bathroom, and threatened with rape, only to have the police come in. You'd think they'd be there to help you, as this unlawful confinement and torture is clearly illegal. Only to have the police then walk out on you and allow this torture to continue for years. Not hours, not days, YEARS.

I think you'd hold the police department with some level of culpability. I know I would.


That's basically where we're at with the Omar Khadr case. A 15 year old was tortured for a decade, and when the people who were supposed to ensure that his human rights and dignity were not violated, arrived, they turned their back.


Is Khadr innocent? I don't think so. Does that give the US the right to, and allow Canada to aid, torturing him? No.

Have we treated any other alleged criminal like this? No. Paul Bernardo, Allan Legere, Clifford Olson, Robert Pickton, Russell Williams, all treated fairly under the law; but this 15 year old who allegedly killed one; tortured for a decade.

Don't get me wrong, this doesn't excuse the alleged act. And without reading any evidence, I do think he committed it. But due process needs to happen. Hell it's what Christopher Speer was fighting for.


At the end of the day, I don't support torturing people... furthermore I don't support torturing kids.

Let's deal with both of these issues, and deal with them separately. Omar Khadr can be a piece of sh*t, but that doesn't excuse the Government of Canada's actions. That should be looked at independent of his alleged crime; just as his alleged crime should be looked at independent of his torture.