The courts should not force Canada to ask the United States to return Omar Khadr from Guantanamo Bay, federal lawyers argued Tuesday.
The federal government has filed an appeal of a Federal Court ruling that it seek the return of Khadr, 22, from the U.S. military prison in Cuba.
Justice Department lawyer Doreen Mueller told three Federal Appeals court justices that Canada has gone out of its way to help Khadr.
She recounted several visits Canadian officials paid to Khadr… Continue
A federal government lawyer said the courts need to back off when it comes to the Omar Khadr case and leave foreign affairs decisions to the Prime Minister and his cabinet.
Justice department lawyer Doreen Mueller spoke on behalf of the Crown today as she urged the Federal Court of Appeal to reject an April ruling calling on the government to request Mr. Khadr’s return from the United States.
Ms. Mueller said the Crown rejects the view that it is legally required to protect Canadians under the Charter … Continue
A judge ruled Thursday that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is required to press the United States to return a Canadian citizen who is the last Western detainee at Guantanamo Bay.
Harper has steadfastly refused to get involved in Omar Khadr’s case, saying that the Toronto native faces serious charges and that the legal process in the U.S. has to play itself out.
“The facts in our judgement have not changed. We will be looking at the decision very carefully and obvioulsy considering an appeal,” Harper said… Continue
PM Harper tells Fox News Canada not willing to take Gitmo detainees
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper tells Fox News today that Canada is not willing to take in Guantanamo Bay detainees.
In an interview from his office on Parliament Hill, Harper says his government has a strong record in opposing terrorism and is not offering Canada “as a safe haven” for anyone the United States considers to be a terrorist.
Without mentioning Omar Khadr by name, the prime minister said there is a Canadian in Guantanamo who’s charged, and his government is waiting to see what U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration does in that particular case.
This week, four of the 17 Uighurs being held at Guantanamo were sent to Bermuda, and the Pacific islands country of Palau said it would accept others.
When asked what he thought about Obama’s decision to shut the U.S. naval prison in Cuba down by early 2010, Harper said it’s ultimately a decision of the United States.
Saying his government has been more understanding than some, Harper notes there’s been a lot of international concern about the process at Guantanamo. He said the U.S. will have to find a balance between addressing those concerns while maintaining a strong defence against the potential activity of terrorists.
Toronto-born Khadr, 22, is accused of killing a U.S. medic during a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002 when he was 15 years old.
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Canada refused a U.S. request to take Chinese Uighur Muslim inmates from the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba because they have no ties to Canada, a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.
The 17 Chinese nationals captured after the Sept. 11 attacks were cleared for release or transfer between 2003 and 2008, and the U.S. hasn’t found a country willing to accept them. The U.S. says they traveled to camps in Afghanistan operated by a Uighur separatist group that the State Department calls a terrorist organization.
“Canada sees no justification for taking Guantanamo detainees who have no connection to Canada,”… Continue
Omar Khadr lost his bid to fire his Pentagon lawyers as the bitter disputes between his attorneys were publicly aired yesterday during the Obama administration’s first war crimes court hearing.
Speaking directly to the military judge, the Canadian detainee said he no longer trusts his lawyers after watching them fight in front of him for months.
“If it was my wish I want to erase all of them, but I don’t have any choices,” Khadr told U.S. Army Col. Patrick Parrish. He later added: “It’s not the first… Continue
