Two articles in the national newspapers explain in great detail that the U.S. knew there was no legal basis to charge Omar Khadr with war crimes when they ‘convicted’ him in a Guantanamo military tribunal. It offers proof that there are no legal grounds for Omar’s detention -now in a Canadian jail- that began at the age of 15, and that marks twelve years this month.
By Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press | July 2, 2014:
- Secret U.S. memo suggests no legal basis to charge Omar Khadr with war crimes;
- Omar Khadr Shouldn’t Have Been Charged With War Crimes, Secret U.S. Memo Suggests.
By Michelle Shephard, The Star | July 2, 2014:
- U.S. ‘drone memo’ offers legal ammunition in Omar Khadr case.
In their article, Russia Today also includes the US court motion UNITED STATES COURT OF MILITARY COMMISSION REVIEW that was filed on June 30, 2020 by Omar’s attorneys:
Drone memo should reverse Gitmo convictions, attorneys claim
Russia Today | July 3, 2020
Attorneys for a Canadian man who spent a decade detained by the United States military at Guantanamo Bay say details in the Obama administration’s recently released “drone memo” exonerates their client of war crimes.
Omar Khadr was only 15 years old when he was captured by American forces in Afghanistan in 2002 and taken to the Bagram Air Base, then Guantanamo, where he later pleaded guilty to murder in violation of the laws of war — according to military prosecutors, Khadr tossed a grenade that killed Sgt. Christopher Speer.
After being transferred to Canadian custody in 2012, Khadr said he pleaded guilty to war crimes because he was “left with a hopeless choice” of either accepting the charges or risk facing “continued abuse and torture” at the hands of his Gitmo jailers. … Continue reading →
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