Omar Khadr is the tortured Canadian child, now grown, who is the last Western prisoner still in Guantanamo, and the only one whose government has refused to request his repatriation.
In November of 2010, Omar pled guilty to the charges against him, because it was the only way he was ever getting out of Guantanamo. In the plea agreement, he was going to spend another year in Guantanamo, and then he would be allowed to apply for repatriation to Canada, where he would spend the rest of his eight year agreed to sentence. Canada and the US signed a memorandum of agreement, in which Canada agreed to look on the petition for repatriation favourably, although it was not agreed that the answer would be yes.
Around the time Omar was allowed to request his repatriation, Canadians were told that Vic Toews, the Minister of Public Safety, would be the one making the decision to repatriate Omar or not, as opposed to the Foreign Affairs Minister. After the request was filed, Canadians were told that it was an 18 month process that the bureaucracy would go through to decide how to advise the Minister in this case. (I have always wondered if Omar was told about the length of the process.)
On Friday, July 13th, Omar's Canadian lawyers filed a notice of application asking the Federal Court of Canada to review the Canadian government's delay in requesting Omar's repatriation.
Word comes today that yesterday Vic Toews wrote to Leon Panetta asking for uncensored video tapes and reports from the two psychiatrists who interviewed Omar.
"To that end, I am now writing to formally request that you obtained the unedited and unredacted copies of the two videotapes and interviews of Mr Khadr," Toews writes.
"Once I have received these items, I will be in a position to render my decision."
Omar was first imprisoned by the US when he was fifteen years old, and transferred to Guantanamo Bay two weeks after his sixteenth birthday, almost ten years. He has been deprived of sleep for weeks at a time, by being move from his cell every three hours, shackled in stress positions for hours, held in solitary confinement for weeks and months, and deprived of necessary medical treatment, among many other forms of torture. Is it coming to an end ?
Only Mr. Toews knows what his decision will be, but I will say that I do not trust him.
Please, if you are Canadian, contact your MP and the Prime Minister's office of Monday, and tell them, "Not In My Name", and "Bring Omar Home Now".
Please, if you are American, contact the White House on Monday, and the Secretary of State's office, and tell them to repatriate Omar now.
Thank you !
You CAN make a difference !
Standing for justice and accountability,
For Dan,
Heather