From One Canadian to Another: an open letter to Prime Minister Harper regarding Omar Khadr

Stephen Harper
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington St
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A2

Dear Mr. Harper,

I am most concerned about your government's treatment of Omar Khadr. I recently read a book, authored by a German survivor of Guantanamo, Murat Kurnaz. In his book, Five Years of My Life: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo, he outlines in sickening clarity the extent of the atrocities occurring there. But of course you do not need to make the trip to the library or the bookstore to know this. I understand your government already knows that Omar is the regular recipient of numerous forms of torture. The fact that your government has not secured his release is an atrocity in itself.

Omar is the only remaining Guantanamo prisoner from a U.S. allied country. The fact that our federal government has not secured his release adds to a shameful legacy; a legacy of purposely exposing Canadians of Arab descent to torture, crimes against humanity and violations of international law -- a legacy Canadians will have to bear before the world. We have already been angered and shamed by the revelations that Canada knowingly turned over Maher Arar to Syria, without granting him due process of law, fully aware that he would likely be tortured. In Omar and Maher's case a pattern presents itself: the Canadian government lied to the Canadians and the world about our knowledge of their tortures. As lawyer Dennis Edney notes, "Time and time again, the Canadian government is on the record as saying they have been assured by U.S. authorities that Omar Khadr was being treated well, knowing this was a lie."(1) That Canada was aware of Omar's torture as early as February 2003, and definitively so in March, 2004, but refused to disclose this information until forced to do so by a Supreme Court decision last June(2), and lied about it in the intervening years is, in my opinion, grounds for criminal charges to be laid against those responsible for perpetuating this ruse.

Omar was just 15-years-old when he was captured in Afghanistan in July 2002. He was therefore legally protected as a child under international law. Nevertheless, Omar has been held and tortured without regard for his youth or the law as it relates to his age. As Andy Worthington notes, "the Canadian government is guilty of double standards in its refusal to act on behalf of Omar Khadr..." whereas "his US military lawyer, Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, contrasted the Canadian government's "leadership in international efforts to recognize child soldiers as victims in need of special protection and rehabilitation" with its "virtual silence" in the case of his client"(3).

Of course, since your government has only been in power since January, 2006, the responsibility for these crimes is only partly on your party's shoulders and you would only have come upon this background information once in your position as PM. Yet, in my view, this makes matters worse for your party since you failed to alert the public to federal wrongdoings and failed to take action against those responsible once you became aware of those wrongdoings. Instead, your party is now complicit in perpetuating the torture, the incarceration and the lies.

I believe that some of the people responsible for these torture chambers will be held accountable to the public. I also ardently believe that in but a few years, prisons such as Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib will be universally considered abominations against humanity and against the rule of law. This is already occurring. Even General Colin Powell, certainly no bleeding heart, has said "If it were up to me I would close Guantanamo not tomorrow but this afternoon....Essentially, we have shaken the belief the world had in America's justice system by keeping a place like Guantanamo open and creating things like the military commission."(4)

The Canadian and U.S. Supreme Courts have both ruled that Khadr's treatment is illegal in accordance with international law. I invite you and your government to change its ways and to work on the side of justice and humanity by doing what is in your power to save a young fellow Canadian from torture and to delegitimize the madness that is occurring in places like Guantanamo Bay. Please bring Omar Khadr home immediately.

Thank you for your attention; I very much look forward to your response.

Sincerely,


C.M. Nolan

1 The Toronto Star, July 9th, 2008 (http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/457600)
2 Ibid.
3 The Huffington Post, August 1st, 2008 (http://209.85.141.104/search?q=cache:JP7pGq6MJCIJ:www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-worthington/omar-khadr-canadas-guanta_b_82306.html+government+canada+omar+khadr+torture&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca&client=firefox-a)
4 BBC News, June 11th, 2007 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6739745.stm)