Constitutional Law

Binyam Mohamed: Omar Khadr is a Scapegoat for a Failed "War on Terror"

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU

Earlier this week, British journalist Andy Worthington reposted an article written by former Guantánamo detainee and ACLU rendition client Binyam Mohamed about Omar Khadr, one of the child soldiers detained at Gitmo since he was 15. Mohamed and Khadr were held in neighboring cages at Gitmo. Mohamed writes:

The American government is guaranteed a conviction in an illegal system they call 'military commissions.' And what a great victory it must be for them: America versus a juvenile, imprisoned and tortured for eight long years. Yet the question greater than this is, 'where is justice, equality and a fair trial?'

Khadr has now spent a third of his life at Gitmo, where he's been subjected to sleep deprivation, stress positions, threats of rape, and menaced by dogs. His case remains in the unconstitutional military commission system. Despite the Canadian Supreme Court's ruling last month, the Canadian government could still request Khadr's repatriation, but while he waits, another pre-trial hearing is scheduled for April; his trial could commence in July.

To read more about and see documentary evidence of the Bush administration's torture program, go to thetorturereport.com.

Full post as published by Blog of Rights on February 18, 2010 (boomark / email).