Omar Khadr will be tried but not freed

A Special US Military Appeals Court has relaunched proceedings against Omar Khadr. These had been interrupted because there was some doubt over the legal nature of his involvement as « a foreign enemy combatant», but the special military court considered that one could not predict the response prior to judgement.

In a state governed by the rule of law, the accused tries to avoid the judicial process, but Omar Khadr has not been incarcerated in such a state; he is a Canadian national that the US army has incarcerated at Guantanamo before being tried. In order to be released, he hopes to be tried.

We must not get too excited about this news because the Bush administration had already made it known that whatever the outcome of the military process, Omar Khadr will only be released at the end of the War against Terrorism, which is officially forecast for a century.

Omar Khadr is the son of a Canadian Pakistani fighting on the side of Oussama Ben Laden in Afghanistan. Twice a year, he used to go to see his father in Central Asia; then he used to return to live with his family in Canada. On 27 July 2002, Omar was 15 years old. He played with children of his age in the camp of Khost (Afghanistan) where his father had brought him. When special US troops attacked the camp, killing most people there, Omar fought back. He would have killed a sergeant. He became a « foreign enemy fighter». He was imprisoned and tortured and then transferred to Guantanamo and once again tortured.

The Canadian Government led by Harper waived demanding his release, whereas Stephen Dion’s Liberal Party is campaigning for Omar Khadr to be repatriated to Canada.