Dear Supporters of Justice for Omar Khadr,

As you are aware Omar has endured years of suffering and abuse due to the Canadian government’s refusal to award protection guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and international conventions.

In 2004 a civil claim was filed against the Canadian government seeking compensation for the violations of Omar’s fundamental rights, including the participation of Canadian officials in his torture and abuse in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Over the past 13 years the Canadian government has persistently fought Omar’s legal team at every level of court, all at the tax payers expense; only to lose each and every time. It is time for this government to be accountable for its actions.

History tells us that: “Some cases enshrine the defining moments of their time. Omar Khadr’s case is one. Future generations will rightly judge our shocking dereliction of responsibility in this matter and our collective failure to extend justice and humanity”. – Constance Backhouse, Distinguished Professor of Law.

Urgent action is required to settle the civil suit. Please use the template letter provided here [PDF and Word format], or choose your own message to write (no postage required), email or fax Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister of Justice Jodi Wilson-Raybould and your Member of Parliament. Encourage them to provide a positive and immediate resolution for Omar. (See contact information following the letter.)

Thank you,

The Free Omar Campaign

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TEMPLATE LETTER

Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8

Member of Parliament  _____________

Date:

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Member of Parliament _____________ :

Canada has a legal and moral responsibility to offer Omar Khadr remedy for the suffering and denial of justice he has incurred since his capture by U.S. forces in 2002.

On May 7, 2015, after a 13 year imprisonment, Omar Khadr was finally freed on bail. His ordeal is far from over.

If fundamental principles of justice and international protocols had been honoured, Omar Khadr – a 15-year-old, wounded and captured in Afghanistan – would have been returned to Canada immediately; not abandoned and subjected to more than a decade of torture and abuse in the notorious prison camps Bagram and Guantanamo Bay.

The Canadian government (first the Liberal, then the Conservative) has a 13 year record of flouting Omar’s rights. Our obligation to ensure fair treatment and to provide protection accorded by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and international human rights treaties, was consistently ignored.The settlement of a civil suit launched in 2004 to address these violations is long over due.

Rights to equality before the law, and equal access to legal remedies are fundamental guarantees of democratic nations. Our individual liberty and access to fair treatment before the courts depend on the maintenance of our Charter rights, their universal application and enforcement. Violations of those rights must be remedied otherwise our entire legal system is in jeopardy.

The UN Committee Against Torture has called on Canada to honour its legal obligation to ensure that Omar receives redress for human rights violations that the Canadian Supreme Court has ruled he experienced.

It is time for the government to settle the lawsuit and award remedy for the violation of Omar’s rights.

I thereby call on the Canadian government to:

• Immediately settle the civil suit launched in 2004;
• Establish an inquiry to fully investigate and hold accountable the Canadian officials deemed by the Supreme Court and Federal Court to have violated Omar’s fundamental and Charter rights;
• Facilitate the annulment of Omar’s illegitimate Guantanamo ‘conviction’ now before the U.S. Military Commission Court of Review.

Sincerely,

Name:
Address:

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MAILING INFORMATION: If you address your letter to MP and indicate a Canadian return address, you don’t need a stamp!

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER, EMAIL OR FAX TO:
Office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
[email protected]
Fax: 613-941-6900

Please send your letter to:
Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
Telephone: 613-992-1416
Fax: 613-992-1460

Your Member of Parliament: http://www.lop.parl.gc.ca/ParlInfo/compilations/houseofcommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC

BACKGROUND: For more information on Omar’s story, how to support him and donate to the Free Omar legal fund, please go to http://FreeOmar.ca

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In solidarity,

The Free Omar Campaign