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Last week Omar Khadr’s military lawyer petitioned the US Supreme Court to delay his trial, until the legality of the Military Commissions could be determined. That petition was unsuccessful. Accordingly, Mr. Khadr’s trial before the Military Commissions will go ahead.
At a pre-trial hearing August 9th, 2010, the Military Judge ruled that Mr. Khadr’s ‘confessions’ — taken after his arrest when he was badly injured, chained, at times hooded, and subjected to sleep deprivation and apparent threats of serious harm — are admissible. Mr. Khadr himself, who was 15 years old at the time, has stated that he told the interrogators whatever they wanted to hear so they would not further mistreat him.
CCLA argues that Canada should call for Omar Khadr’s repatriation. The trial of a child soldier in these circumstances violates the First International Protocol of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Canada and the US have ratified. International law recognizes that children act either without full awareness or independence in armed conflict, and are often forcibly conscripted into hostilities, therefore requiring special protections which Omar Khadr did not receive. Child soldiers must be rehabilitated, not punished. Further, the lower evidentiary standards of the Military Commissions admitting evidence obtained by torture or improper treatment, contravenes international standards. The Supreme Court of Canada in January 2010 ruled that Omar Khadr’s Charter rights were breached when Canadian officials interrogated him at Guantanamo Bay knowing he was a child, knowing he was subjected to ‘improper treatment’, and passed on this information to US officials. Because that information may be used to keep Mr. Khadr in Guantanamo Bay and may form part of the case against him, the Supreme Court of Canada noted that the effects of the Charter breach continue to this day, and ordered Canada to provide Mr. Khadr with a remedy for the breach of his rights. CCLA believes Canada must protect Mr. Khadr. He is the last westerner remaining at Guantanamo Bay, as all other western countries have repatriated their citizens.
Omar Khadr’s US lawyer has petitioned the US Supreme Court to delay Mr. Khadr’s military trials, until the legality of the Military Commissions is determined. Mr. Khadr’s military trials are set to resume August 10th, 2010. His lawyer argues that the Military Commissions are unconstitutional and discriminatory because they apply only to non-citizens who receive lesser procedural and evidentiary protections than citizens receive in Federal Court.
CCLA renews its call for Canada to repatriate Omar Khadr. Canada has legal obligations in international law that require it to protect Omar Khadr’s rights. At this stage, CCLA believes the best way for Canada to protect Omar Khadr’s rights is to repatriate him. Read more…
On Friday, July 30, 2010 the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its decision in R. v. Cornell, 2010 SCC 31, a case that considered the reasonableness of “hard entry” searches. A hard entry usually involves the police entering a home to conduct a search with the use of force and surprise. In this case, nine members of the Calgary Tactical Unit, all wearing balaclavas, rammed through the front of the Appellant’s home and entered the dwelling with loaded weapons drawn and raised. The CCLA intervened in the case and argued that invasive entry tactics to search personal residences should only be used when they are necessary to protect officer safety or prevent the destruction of evidence, and even then, only where the benefits outweigh the potential dangers. A four-judge majority of the Supreme Court found the search in Cornell was reasonable while three judges dissented, finding the search a violation of s. 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The dissenting judges would have excluded the evidence as a result of the breach.
Read a copy of the CCLA’s factum here.
Read a copy of the decision here.
On July 22nd, 2010, the Federal Court of Appeal stayed a recent Federal Court decision in the case of Omar Khadr. Chief Justice Blais found that serious questions are raised about the division of powers between Courts and the Executive.
Earlier this month, Justice Zinn of the Federal Court ruled that Canada must provide Mr. Khadr with a list of remedies, within seven days, to cure the Charter violations he suffered when interrogated by Canadian officials at Guantanamo Bay. Read more…
The Supreme Court of Canada released its decision today in Vancouver (City) v. Ward, a case in which the CCLA intervened to argue in favour of an award of damages for breach of Charter rights. Mr. Ward was detained and strip searched by police after they received a tip that someone matching his description planned to throw a pie in the Prime Minister’s face at a public event. Mr. Ward had been mistakenly identified and was released over four hours after his arrest. The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the lower courts’ rulings that Mr. Ward is entitled to monetary damages for breach of his s.8 Charter right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.
Read more…
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