Canadian Supreme Court to Put Guantanamo On Trial in Defiance of Government

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Saturday March 22, 2008 03:06 by Seán Ryan

Next Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Canada will begin to hear arguments about the legality of Guantanamo Bay, where Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen has been held since 2002, when he was 15.

Here's some of the story:

Khadr is now the sole Western detainee remaining at Guantanamo, and Canada has come under international pressure to demand his repatriation.

Now 21, Khadr was 15 when he was shot and captured in Afghanistan in July 2002 and accused of throwing a grenade that killed Delta Force soldier Christopher Speer. The Pentagon has charged him with five war crimes, including "murder in violation of the laws of war."

The Supreme Court has already scheduled a hearing for Wednesday, in which the central questions are whether Khadr's lawyers are entitled to evidence from Canada that could help in his defence at Guantanamo and if the Canadian officials who travelled to the base to interrogate him in 2003 and 2004 breached his constitutional rights.

But in hearing arguments about whether Khadr's rights were violated in Guantanamo, the court agreed in its unanimous ruling yesterday that it could consider the actions of American officials and the conditions at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba, which in essence also puts Guantanamo Bay on trial.

Full article here:- http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/349374