The war crimes accusation should have been against the US soldier who shot Khadr several times in the back on finding him buried under debris in Afghanistan.
Friends:
As this is very much in the news this week and you may be wondering what AI Canada's response is to recent developments, here is a brief update on the Omar Khadr case. Please share it with whoever you think might be interested.
As you may know, Alex Neve is attending the sentencing hearings this week in Guantánamo. He is blogging on daily basis in addition to handling media work. Here are his first three posts:
On the eve of the Omar Khadr trial: On Top of Injustice, Uncertainty [Oct 24]
http://www.amnesty.ca/blog_post2.php?id=2172
The Beginning of the End for Omar Khadr? [Oct 25]
http://www.amnesty.ca/blog_post2.php?id=2167
Omar Khadr Sentencing Hearing: Day One [Oct 26]
http://www.amnesty.ca/blog_post2.php?id=2174
We also continue to campaign on the case: the guilty plea and related plea bargain are not the end of things. There has finally been an exchange of diplomatic letters between the US and Canada that reportedly allows for Omar Khadr's return to Canada to serve the majority of his sentence. However, the government still continues to state that "this is a matter between Khadr and US authorities" and says "no comment" when asked about any potential return to Canada. As a result, and pardon the bluntness, we are worried that the government will weasel out of any initial commitment they have made! In place of our previous call to "request repatriation", we are now calling on the government to finally and truly commit to Omar Khadr's early return to Canada.
Here's the link to our current action: http://www.amnesty.ca/iwriteforjustice/take_action.php?actionid=367&type=Internal. It sends an email directly to Prime Minister Harper.
Last but not least. We issued this news release earlier this week: USA must address Omar Khadr rights violations following plea deal http://www.amnesty.ca/blog_post2.php?id=2166
If you have any questions about the case or our current work, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Thanks,
Hilary
Hilary Homes
Campaigner: International Justice, Security and Human Rights
Amnesty International Canada
613 744 7667 ext 247
Security and Counter-terrorism: check out the blog www.amnesty.ca/security and receive regular updates via Twitter http://twitter.com/AI_SecureRights
International Justice, Arms Trade, Child Soldiers & more: receive regular updates via Twitter http://twitter.com/AI_ArmsWarCrime
