U.S. hands over Omar Khadr mental evaluation documents, lawyers await Toews’ decision

By macleans.ca - Thursday, September 6, 2012 at 10:29 AM - 0 Comments

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has received the documents he requested on Canadian Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr, the Canadian Press reports. Toews said he needed the videotapes and transcripts of the mental evaluations of Khadr from American military authorities in order to decide on Khadr’s application to transfer into Canadian custody. His office has said he will now review the documents before making a decision.

Khadr’s Canadian lawyers have said there is now no reason for the government to drag out the process any longer, as Canada already committed to taking Khadr into Canadian custody almost two years ago.

In 2010, Khadr plead guilty to war crimes and was sentenced to eight years in prison, one year in Guantanamo Bay, seven in Canada. He had already served 8 years in Guantanamo without trial. He was imprisoned in 2002, when he was 15 years old.

Despite his decade spent in prison, two mental-health reports done for the defence portray Khadr as non-radicalized and a good candidate for reintegration. A report done for the prosecution says that Khadr is unrepentant for his actions. Toews already had access to these mental health reports, and Khadr’s lawyers are frustrated with the minister’s continued indecision.

The Khadr psychiatric reports: Alan Hopewell’s report

By macleans.ca - Friday, August 31, 2012 at 6:34 PM - 0 Comments

Was Omar Khadr sexually abused? Read the full story here.

The Khadr psychiatric reports: Dr. Stephen Xenakis’ report

By macleans.ca - Friday, August 31, 2012 at 6:33 PM - 0 Comments

Was Omar Khadr sexually abused? Read the full story here.

The Khadr psychiatric reports: Katherine Porterfield’s report

By macleans.ca - Friday, August 31, 2012 at 6:33 PM - 0 Comments

Was Omar Khadr sexually abused? Read the full story here.

The Khadr psychiatric reports: Michael Welner’s report

By macleans.ca - Friday, August 31, 2012 at 6:33 PM - 0 Comments

Was Omar Khadr sexually abused? Read the full story here.

Was Omar Khadr sexually abused?

By Michael Friscolanti - Friday, August 31, 2012 at 6:27 PM - 0 Comments

Michelle Shephard/Toronto Star/Getstock

Sexual abuse is the unspoken topic looming over the Khadr case. Click here to read the full text of newly released psychiatric reports that delve into the question.  

The story of Omar Khadr—or at least some version of it—has been told and retold so many times that even he has trouble keeping track of the details. As Khadr confided to one psychologist, he sometimes gets “mixed up with what I remember and with what other people tell me.” At last count, his young, twisted life has filled three books, half a dozen documentaries and thousands of news reports from across the globe. Even poets have mused about Canada’s most chronicled prisoner.

There are, of course, two competing narratives in the Khadr lexicon: the one he pleaded guilty to, and the one he didn’t. Khadr the aspiring Muslim martyr who proudly killed an American special forces medic. Or Khadr the helpless 15-year-old, thrust into battle by his al-Qaeda father, only to be shot, captured, and shipped to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. By now, most fellow Canadians are firmly convinced, one way or the other. Enemy combatant. Abandoned citizen.

What happens next is up to Vic Toews, Canada’s public safety minister. In exchange for that guilty plea (to five war crimes, including murder) Khadr received an eight-year sentence and the chance to request a transfer to a Canadian prison after serving just 12 more months at Gitmo. But almost two years later, Stephen Harper’s government is still pondering Khadr’s homecoming, and last month the feds prolonged the process yet again by asking the Pentagon to hand over two lengthy videotapes of Khadr being questioned by mental health professionals. As Toews explained, the raw footage will help corrections officials “appropriately administer” the rest of Khadr’s incarceration.

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The Khadr psychiatric reports: Michael Welner’s testimony

By macleans.ca - Friday, August 31, 2012 at 6:19 PM - 0 Comments

Was Omar Khadr sexually abused? Read the full story here.

Canada gives $2 million to group collecting for the charitable alma mater of Omar Khadr’s dad

By Michael Petrou - Sunday, August 12, 2012 at 10:00 PM - 0 Comments

Canada is giving two million dollars to a group collecting money on behalf of a charity whose Pakistan office was once run by alleged al-Qaeda financier Ahmed Said Khadr, the late father of Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr.

On Saturday, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced the donation to “Canadian Relief for Syria.” The group is not a registered charity, though its website says it is in the process of obtaining Canada Revenue Agency registration.

In the meantime, anyone wishing to donate to Canadian Relief for Syria is directed by its website to Human Concern International, an Ottawa-based charity. “Founded on Islamic principles of charity and goodwill to humanity, HCI has always believed in helping the needy regardless of their race, nationality or religion,” its website says.

Human Concern International was established in 1980 to help Afghans who had fled to Pakistan to escape the war in their home country.

In 1995, Osama bin Laden told an Egyptian interviewer that Human Concern International funded an al-Qaeda charitable front called “Blessed Relief.” Khadr was in charge of Human Concern International’s Pakistan office at this time. Khadr was arrested on charges of helping an Islamist bombing attack against the Egyptian embassy in Pakistan but was later released following an appeal by then-prime minister Jean Chrétien.

Khadr died in 2003 in the company of Taliban and al-Qaeda members, when Pakistani troops attacked their South Waziristan safe house. An al-Qaeda website profiling “120 Martyrs of Afghanistan” described him as an al-Qaeda leader and praised him for “tossing his little child [Omar] in the furnace of the battle.”

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The courts and Omar Khadr

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, August 1, 2012 at 1:27 PM - 0 Comments

Elsewhere on Macleans.ca, Emmett Macfarlane gives the Supreme Court a share of the blame for Omar Khadr’s situation.

Seemingly lost in the controversy surrounding Omar Khadr and the federal government’s ongoing efforts to delay his return to Canada is the culpability of the Supreme Court of Canada in the entire affair … Basing the need for deference on the executive’s prerogative powers over foreign affairs, the Supreme Court decided to leave it to the federal government to determine how best to remedy the Charter breach. This was an unusual – and disturbing – move for a Court that in other contexts has made it clear that the Charter is not worth the paper it is written on without meaningful remedies.

At iPolitics, Stephen Neil considers Mr. Khadr’s chances of winning financial compensation when he returns to Canada.

The Supreme Court is culpable in the Omar Khadr case

By Emmett Macfarlane - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 at 3:39 PM - 0 Comments

Adrian Wyld/CP Images

Emmett Macfarlane is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Waterloo. You can follow him on Twitter @EmmMacfarlane

Seemingly lost in the controversy surrounding Omar Khadr and the federal government’s ongoing efforts to delay his return to Canada is the culpability of the Supreme Court of Canada in the entire affair.

Back in January 2010, the Court found that Khadr’s Charter rights had been violated by virtue of Canada’s participation in the regime of torture and imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Despite this finding, though, the Supreme Court overturned Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal rulings that ordered the government to request Khadr’s immediate return.

Basing the need for deference on the executive’s prerogative powers over foreign affairs, the Supreme Court decided to leave it to the federal government to determine how best to remedy the Charter breach. This was an unusual – and disturbing – move for a Court that in other contexts has made it clear that the Charter is not worth the paper it is written on without meaningful remedies.

Assessing whether the Court made the correct call in Khadr’s case quickly gets complicated because normally I’d be one of the first to applaud the type of deference the Court showed in this case. Providing absolute remedies in instances where a Charter violation has been found can run the risk of unnecessarily limiting the available range of policy options, something that elected governments, with a civil service at their disposal, are in a much better position to assess than courts.

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10 years for Omar Khadr

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, July 27, 2012 at 5:48 PM - 0 Comments

Liberal Senator Romeo Dallaire releases a statement on the tenth anniversary of Omar Khadr’s capture in Afghanistan.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of Omar Khadr’s capture—a Canadian citizen and former child soldier. During his decade at Bagram and Guantánamo Bay, Mr. Khadr’s rights have been consistently violated. He has been denied the right to due process and a fair trial, the right to protection from torture and the rights afforded to him under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“After years of inertia, Canada finally agreed to Mr. Khadr’s return in 2010, as long as he served one additional year in Guantánamo. That year has passed, and yet the transfer request continues to gather dust on Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews’ desk, awaiting his signature.

Jennifer Turner of the American Civil Liberties Union reviews Mr. Khadr’s case. The UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict calls for him to be repatriated.

The Canadian Press looks at some of the psychiatric assessments that are now being sought here and here.

So you’ve decided to marry a cabinet minister

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, July 26, 2012 at 5:44 PM - 0 Comments

In interviews with the Globe and Post, the reporter who interviewed Nazanin Afshin-Jam for the Guardian explains his side of the story.

Day said “Afshin-Jam was free to refuse comment on Khadr but she freely chose to answer my questions.”

As for referring to her as the Defence Minister’s wife…

The reporter said he identified Ms. Afshin-Jam MacKay as the Defence Minister’s wife because, in Canada, that is the status that gives her the highest recognition, not the fact that she is a former Miss World Canada or a human rights activist.

‘It’s time to bring him back to Canada’

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, July 26, 2012 at 9:53 AM - 0 Comments

International human rights activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam says Omar Khadr was a child soldier and it’s time to bring him back to Canada.

“Omar Khadr was a child when he was involved in combat under the UN (United Nations) definition and so we should abide by the international laws and rules that we expect of other countries as well,” she said. ”So I’m not saying that he shouldn’t be kept in prison but definitely I think it’s time to bring him back to Canada. He was a Canadian citizen and he can be tried here or looked after here in terms of how long his sentence is going to be or what is going to be his fate.”

Coincidentally, Ms. Afshin-Jam is the wife of Defence Minister Peter MacKay. And, in a Facebook note, she objects to how her views were presented.

When responding I specifically qualified that what I said was my personal view. I am very disappointed that once again my personal view has been distorted … I am confident that Mr. Khadr will be transferred back to Canada. Let’s leave it to the Canadian and US governments who have all the facts and details about the case to take the proper actions in due course.

This is not the first time she has been asked about the case of Mr. Khadr—she commented on his status as a child soldier during an interview with the Chronicle-Herald in July.

‘Thank god’

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, July 20, 2012 at 4:44 PM - 0 Comments

In an interview today, Vic Toews apparently noted that he has the power to keep Omar Khadr from returning to Canada for another seven years.

Conservative MP Kyle Seeback is apparently thankful.

Vic Toews: Still not ready to say yes

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, July 20, 2012 at 12:20 PM - 0 Comments

Three months after first receiving Omar Khadr’s application to return to Canada—and 21 months after the Harper government assured the American government that it was inclined to look favourably upon such an application—Public Safety Minister Vic Toews says he needs more information.

In a formal letter sent Thursday to both U.S. defence secretary Leon Panetta and Khadr’s Toronto lawyer, John Norris, Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews states that in order to have Khadr sent back to serve the remainder of his sentence in Canada, officials north of the boarder must be given access to sealed video footage of separate interviews with Khadr that were carried out by two psychiatrists during the lead-up to Khadr’s trial in 2010.

Toews also stated complete reports from Dr. Michael Welner and Dr. Alan Hopewell have not been supplied to Correctional Service of Canada and the parole board, and that both are required to administer Khadr’s sentence in Canada, according to sources familiar with the letter.

As Jonathan Kay notes, there are questions about the involvement of Dr. Welner in this case. Reg Whitaker’s review of Ezra Levant’s book on Omar Khadr is here. Ezra Levant’s response to Whitaker’s review is here. More on Dr. Welner’s testimony here, here, here, here and here.

The CBC recently interviewed both Dr. Welner, who worked for the prosecution in Mr. Khadr’s case, and Dr. Stephen Xenakis, who worked for the defence.

The long wait for Omar Khadr

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 3:18 PM - 0 Comments

Omar Khadr’s lawyers are seeking a judicial review of his application to return to Canada. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews received the application in April.

In October 2010, the Harper government assured the Obama administration that “Government of Canada is inclined to favourably consider Mr. Khadr’s application to be transferred to Canada to serve the remainder of his sentence, or such portion of the remainder of his sentence as the National Parole Board determines.” In October 2011, the Harper government managed to say both that it would respect the agreement between Mr. Khadr and the U.S. government and assert that that agreement had no bearing on the Harper government’s decision.

Mr. Toews says he’s still waiting for “relevant information.”

“I’m not going to make any decisions that would in any way jeopardize public safety. I have an obligation to satisfy myself that I have all of the relevant information before I make a decision,” Toews said in Saskatchewan. ”At this point I do not have all the relevant information and I will not be pushed into making a decision that would have me consider less than the full facts.”

Omar Khadr was first captured by American forces in Afghanistan on July 27, 2002. He was transferred to Guantanamo Bay in late October 2002.

Omar Khadr’s day of reckoning

By Michael Friscolanti - Monday, April 30, 2012 at 10:43 AM - 0 Comments

AP/US Department of Defense

As always, the latest “development” in the endless Omar Khadr saga provides few definitive answers. Here’s what we know for sure: Khadr’s official application for a prison transfer—from a cage at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to a cell in his home country—is now on the desk of Vic Toews, Stephen Harper’s public safety minister. And Toews has confirmed, as reluctantly as ever, that he will sign his name to the bottom of the page. At some point.

Beyond that, the future of Canada’s most (in)famous child soldier/homicidal jihadist remains as hazy as ever.

When will the minister actually pull out his pen? When will Khadr spend his final night at Gitmo? Which Canadian prison will become his next temporary home? Could he be eligible for parole the same day his plane touches down? And when the Toronto native is eventually set free (whether it’s five months from now or five years), where exactly will he go? Will Khadr run back into the arms of his notorious family and their fanatical sympathizers? Or will the feds ask a judge to impose special conditions on the convicted war criminal, limiting his movements and dictating his associates?

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He’s coming back

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at 11:37 AM - 0 Comments

After some degree of wrangling over the necessary paperwork, a request for the transfer of Omar Khadr is now in the hands of the Harper government.

Though Vic Toews’ office has attempted to distance itself from Omar Khadr’s legal arrangement, the Harper government assured the U.S. administration that it would look “favourably” upon a transfer ahead of Mr. Khadr’s plea deal.

Khadr, a convicted murderer, could be back in Canada by the end of May: CP reports

By Alex Ballingall - Thursday, March 29, 2012 at 10:04 AM - 0 Comments

Some see Omar Khadr as a victim, a child soldier who’s spent 40 per cent of his life behind bars at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Others say he’s a terrorist who deserves to be locked away.

Now, regardless of his status as victim or malefactor, the Toronto-born Khadr—a convicted murderer—could be transferred to Canada by the end of May, the Canadian Press reports. According to CP, a source familiar with the matter expects U.S. Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta to sign off on the prison transfer within a week. “It’s on his desk, it’s ready,” said the source.

In front of a military tribunal in October 2010, Khadr pleaded guilty to five war crimes that he committed as a 15-year-old during a firefight with American soldiers in Afghanistan in July 2002. Among the crimes he admitted to were the murder of American Sergeant 1st Class Christopher Speer, and to being an al-Qaeda terrorist bent on killing as many Americans as possible. In exchange, Khadr was sentenced to eight years in prison, seven of which could be served in Canada.

According to the anonymous source, the Harper government in Ottawa has been in no hurry to transfer Khadr back to his native Canada. “I think they have stalled the proceedings—the U.S. would have sent him home a lot earlier if things had been worked out in Canada,” the source said. “The U.S. does not want to act summarily and sign off on his transfer without Canada having everything prepared and ready.”

Once Panetta signs off on Khadr’s transfer, U.S. President Barack Obama must give Congress 30 days to give it the go ahead. Khadr’s Pentagon-appointed lawyer Lieutenant-Colonel Jon Jackson told the Canadian Press that his client is “frustrated” and that if he isn’t back in Canada by the end of May, “I think there are going to be serious problems.”

Omar Khadr to spend New Year in Guantanamo, again

By macleans.ca - Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 5:03 PM - 0 Comments

Omar Khadr will spend his tenth New Year in Guantanamo Bay prison, according to the Globe and Mail. He remains the only Canadian citizen in the U.S. run facility. Khadr, son of a family supportive of al-Queda, was born in Toronto, raised in Pakistan, and captured in a battle with U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2002 at the age of 15. Khadr pleaded guilty in October of 2010 to murder, spying, and terrorism. Khadr, whom many see as a child soldier rather than a murderer, was eligible three months ago for repatriation, but a series of bureaucratic issues remains. The Canadian government has not sought his return. A member of Khadr’s legal team, John Norris, says they “have received no word about a transfer date.”

Globe and Mail

This is the week that was

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, October 9, 2011 at 2:21 PM - 1 Comment

Paul Dewar, a man of faith, launched his bid for the NDP leadership. Martin Singh joined the race too. Peter Julian decided to stay out. Brian Topp stated his cases for supporting the arts and taxing the rich. Team Mulcair and Team Topp took shape.

Peter MacKay wasn’t involved in the decision to launch an independent review of the Afghan mission. The NDP questioned the Prime Minister’s control and the government insisted on a separation of public and private business. David Johnston celebrated one year at Rideau. PEI, Manitoba and Ontario voted for their incumbents. The Harper government worked towards an office of religious freedom. The Liberals called for a national strategy on suicide prevention and the House came together to consider the challenge.

Continue…

Choose your own position

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, October 7, 2011 at 4:05 PM - 19 Comments

Yesterday during QP, Liberal MP Geoff Regan stood and asked about the case of a Nova Scotia resident languishing in a Spanish prison. In response, Diane Ablonczy stood and outlined the government’s position on the repatriation of Omar Khadr. She later lamented for the House audio system.

All of which wouldn’t have been cause for much notice except for the fact that Ms. Ablonczy’s volunteered comment on Mr. Khadr—”We will respect the agreement between Omar Khadr and the U.S. government”—seems to contradict the position of the Public Safety Minister.

A spokesman for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said Thursday the minister’s decision about the 25-year-old Guantanamo prisoner’s transfer to Canada will be made irrespective of the deal Khadr signed. “It would not affect the minister at all,” spokesman Michael Patton told the Toronto Star. “I don’t know what’s in the plea deal but it wouldn’t matter because the minister is not a signatory.”

… According to government sources in Ottawa and Washington, the embarrassing exchange reflects a behind-the-scenes uncertainty about the Khadr case, which has divided Canadians for almost a decade and which the Obama administration seems eager to hand over. Senior officials with the U.S. Defense and State Departments met with their counterparts in Ottawa last month to discuss the case, but left without finalizing details.

Khadr fires Canadian lawyers

By macleans.ca - Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 6:32 PM - 4 Comments

Months before he is due to be repatriated from Guantanamo Bay, Omar Khadr has fired his lawyers, Dennis Edney and Nate Whitling, the Canadian Press reports. The pair have represented Khadr for several years, and have repeatedly called for Canada to repatriate the Canadian-born convicted war criminal and successfully argued before the Supreme Court that Ottawa had violated Khadr’s rights. Toronto lawyers John Norris and Brydie Bethell will now represent him. “I have no idea what pressures are being placed on Omar Khadr in Guantanamo to make that decision,” Edney told the Canadian Press. Edney had previously expressed suspicions that Khadr’s Pentagon-appointed attorney Lt.-Col. Jon Jackson had pressured his client to give his Canadian lawyers the boot. Lt.-Col. Jackson has yet to comment. Khadr was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 after an American soldier was killed by a grenade he allegedly threw, and was transferred to Guantanamo, where he has remained since.

The Globe and Mail

Good news, bad news: May 19-26, 2011

By macleans.ca - Friday, June 3, 2011 at 9:00 AM - 0 Comments

Good news

Manu Fernandez/AP

Upper house repair

The Tories plan to overhaul the Senate by introducing a bill later this month that will put term limits on senators—as low as eight or 10 years—and allow provinces to elect members when positions open up. Stephen Harper and the Conservatives have long talked about Senate reform, but their actions lately have been anything but democratic. Harper recently appointed to the Senate three Tory candidates who had failed to get elected to the House of Commons in the May election. Real Senate reform means more democracy, less hypocrisy.

The fast lane

The Canadian economic recovery is alive and well. The economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.9 per cent in the first quarter—double the rate in the U.S. The manufacturing sector also received a vote of confidence as Chrysler paid back $1.7 billion in loans to Ottawa, and Fiat’s CEO, Sergio Marchionne, said this week his company is interested in buying Canada’s remaining shares in Chrysler. The bailout of Chrysler two years ago was widely criticized, but the automaker now appears to be back on the road to being a profitable, job-producing company.

In the name of hockey

In a show of hometown support, the Richmond, B.C.-based Boston Pizza will become “Vancouver Pizza” for the duration of the Stanley Cup playoffs. All restaurants will receive Vancouver Pizza banners to hang over their signage and Vancouver Pizza stickers for takeout containers. The strategy might play well outside B.C., too—a new Sportsnet poll shows 85 per cent of Canadian hockey followers are pulling for the team.

Pop till you drop

America’s knack for innovation keeps on giving. Google unveiled a mobile payment system called Google Wallet that allows shoppers to swipe their cellphones at registers to pay for purchases. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola is rolling out touch-screen vending machines that offer customers a choice between more than 100 different pop flavours. The machines use ink-jet-like syrup mixers and send data about people’s preferences back to Coke headquarters. It’s never been a better time to be a consumer.

Bad news

Julian Stratenschulte/EPA/KEYSTONE

Losing control

Yemen slipped closer to civil war as a ceasefire between government and opposition forces broke down. Fighting in the capital of Sanaa has led to over 100 deaths since President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to follow through on a pledge to resign. The government also bombed the city of Zinjibar after it was seized by Islamic militants. Saleh is accused of trying to curry favour with Western allies by exaggerating the militants’ connection to al-Qaeda, but there is little doubt the chaos raises dangerous instability. This is a black eye for the Arab Spring.

No mercy

After nearly nine years locked inside the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Omar Khadr should be accustomed to dreary news. This week brought even more: his clemency claim has been denied. The Toronto native, who was captured in Afghanistan at the age of 15 and convicted of killing an American soldier, will be transferred to a Canadian penitentiary later this year. The failed clemency bid effectively rubber-stamps the eight-year sentence he received at his recent trial, and eliminates any hope that he could apply for early parole before June 2013.

Mailing it in

The union representing 50,000 Canada Post employees is threatening to strike unless workers can keep banking sick days and get a roughly three per cent raise annually for the next four years. These demands come despite a 17 per cent drop in letter mail—not to mention that employees begin with seven weeks vacation, earn $24 an hour to start, and can retire as early as age 55. The timing of the strike also couldn’t be worse. In B.C., the long overdue HST referendum would have to be delayed because three million mail-in ballots wouldn’t reach voters.

To catch a criminal

California mistakenly released hundreds of violent inmates after being ordered to limit overcrowding in prisons. Over 450 inmates “with a high risk of violence” were let out on unsupervised parole. At least on the other side of the country, police caught a lucky break. In Maine, a man wanted on two warrants accidently “pocket-dialled” 911 while doing yardwork. He was promptly tracked down by officers.