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[25 April 2007] - Omar Khadr may be the first person put on trial anywhere in the world for “war crimes” allegedly committed when he was a juvenile. Nearly five years after being taken into custody by US forces in Afghanistan, Canadian citizen Omar Khadr was charged for the second time on 24 April 2007 with five counts including conspiracy, murder and supplying material support to terrorism. He will be arraigned within 30 days, and within months faces an unfair trial before a military commission in Guantánamo Bay. Amnesty International is concerned that Omar Khadr – now 20 years of age – was granted none of the special protections for juveniles under international law and that his fundamental human rights continue to be denied. Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he was wounded during a battle with US forces near Khost, Afghanistan and taken into US custody on 27 July 2002. The US military says that Omar Khadr killed a US soldier, Sergeant Christopher J. Speer, during the operation. Despite serious injuries, Omar Khadr’s interrogation began immediately and it is alleged that he was denied adequate medical care and forced into stress positions. In October 2002, he was transferred from Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan to the detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay. There he says he has been beaten, “short shackled” (wrists and ankles chained together to a fixed point on the ground), exposed to extreme temperatures, held in isolation for prolonged periods and threatened with rape. An expert on the mental health of juveniles in correctional facilities who reviewed a series of psychological tests administered by his US lawyers in 2004 concluded that Omar Khadr’s symptoms were “consistent with those exhibited by victims of torture” and he had a mental disorder “including but not limited to post-traumatic stress disorder.” Along with upwards of 200 other detainees, Omar Khadr has participated in periodic hunger strikes protesting the conditions and treatment at the Guantánamo facility. While Canadian security and intelligence officials have had access to Omar Khadr and have taken part in his interrogation, he has not been permitted consular visits. In August 2005, the Federal Court of Canada issued an injunction barring Canadian officials from conducting any further interviews or questioning him on a variety of the grounds including that his rights were not being adequately protected. Omar Khadr was first charged in November 2005 under an earlier version of the military commissions. Although the US Supreme Court struck down the first military commissions as unconstitutional, they were restored in late 2006 with the new Military Commissions Act. Few substantial changes were made and they continue to fall far short of international fair trial standards. Omar Khadr is the second Guantánamo detainee to be brought before the new military commissions. In this case, Amnesty International is particularly concerned that evidence may be used which was obtained during improper treatment while Omar Khadr was a juvenile with no access to a parent, guardian or legal representative and in conditions possibly amounting to torture. More information
pdf: http://www.amnesty.ca/take_action/actions/canada_omar_khadr.php
For information on Omar Khadr and the issue of children, see pages 25-26.