Omar Khadr is my son's age and has been in the custody of U.S. forces since July of 2002. Let's see – my son is 23 years and was 15 years when Omar was whisked away in serious condition by the occupying military forces on an abandoned Soviet base near Khost, Afghanistan. I think of how naïve and irresponsible my son was at 15, and I cannot imagine this teen being held in U.S. interrogation hell for 8 long years. Canadian citizen Omar Khadr's trial by military commission was underway today.
He is being prosecuted pursuant to the Military Commissions Act of 2006 on a list of charges:
Murder in Violation of the Law of War
Attempted Murder in Violation of the Law of War
Conspiracy
Providing Material Support for Terrorism
Spying
It's hard to believe that a 15 year-old committed all of that, or any of that. When my son was 15 he was busy at the mall with his friends, going to the movies and concerts, and learning to drive with his father. It is important to remember that Omar was not so lucky. He lived in Afghanistan and the U.S. military was busy invading, occupying, and bombing any movie theaters that he might have otherwise visited. Hell, they were bombing the residents out of their homes. Unlike your child or my child, Omar was surrounded in the hell of war.
The jury has already been chosen in this military commission trial and it looks like prosecutors managed to have the one truly qualified juror tossed. The U.S. Army officer has an academic background in U.S. foreign policy and history and admitted that he believed Guantanamo should have been shut down long ago. The academic background is similar to my own – though history was my major and I have over 70 undergraduate credits in this area of study, my graduate studies and research examined U.S. foreign policy in history, specifically Cold War history. Of course I feel that the Guantanamo camps should never have been opened to begin with.
We are without rule of law in the US at this point. This military commission trial violates a list of US and International laws. As with many other detainees, Omar Khadr confessed under torture and coercion, but his confession will be admitted into evidence. I thought that 15 year-olds were considered children by the US? They are if in the US, so this is saying that there are special rules when the child is not on US soil.
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine what the US military did to him over the course of 8 years that he has been in custody. Now picture your 15 year-old. The jury of his peers will not be his peers at all. Thus far all military members agreed that age has no significance by itself and children should not be held to a different standard. May the very same happen to one of their children one day.
Why bother with the trial? No doubt in my mind that this group of hard-line military members will convict on any count presented. Do you have doubt?
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