Litigation

Landmark Gitmo Trial Begins

By Peter Hardin

Jury selection began today for the first war crimes trial held during the Obama administration, at Guantanamo Bay. The age of accused terror suspect Omar Khadr when captured–he was 15–has raised international outcries.

The United Nation’s special representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, said, “Since World War II, no child has been prosecuted for a war crime.” He added, “Child soldiers must be treated primarily as victims ? The Omar Khadr case will set a precedent that may endanger the status of child soldiers all over the world,” according to a MSNBC report.

Now 23, Khadr was captured in a firefight in Afghanistan in which he allegedly threw a grenade that left one U.S. soldier dead and another blind.

The trial “will mark a defining test of the Obama administration’s decision to go forward with military tribunals at the Guantanamo Bay prison,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

The jury pool was comprised of American military officers brought to Guantanamo from different locations around the world, according to a Miami Herald article.

Full post as published by The Gavel on August 10, 2010 (boomark / email).