14 June 2007
Omar Khadr - Open Letter to Stephen Harper
June 14, 2007
The Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper, PC, MP
Prime Minister of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
Dear Prime Minister Harper:
The undersigned call upon the Canadian government to intervene in the case of Omar Khadr, the Canadian detained by the United States military at Guantánamo Bay since 2002. Now 20, Khadr was apprehended when he was 15 years old and has spent a quarter of his life in US detention.
Khadr has twice been brought before military commissions in Guantánamo – and twice the charges have been dismissed. In June 2006, the first case against him was dismissed when the United States Supreme Court declared the entire commission system set up by President Bush unlawful. Only days ago, the charges brought against him under the new Congressionally-authorized military commissions were also dismissed when the judge determined the commissions did not have jurisdiction to hear the case. Khadr has now been returned to detention without charge as the United States government tries to decide what to do next. Just prior to these events, a US government official declared that even if Khadr were acquitted of all charges against him, the United States could detain him indefinitely anyway. That same official also added that Canada has initiated no discussions with the United States over the transfer of Khadr from Guantánamo Bay to Canada.
The military commission’s dismissal of charges against Khadr confirms our apprehension that the process devised by the United States to try detainees is fundamentally and irreparably flawed. Our concern about the unfairness of this ad hoc regime at Guantánamo Bay is underscored by the fact that the military commission is authorized to try only non-US citizens. If the system is not good enough for Americans, it should not suffice for Canadians either. We do not believe that Canada should remain silent while the US subjects a Canadian citizen—especially someone who was a minor when first detained—to such a process.
Every other ally of the United States, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Australia, has acted to protect their citizens detained at Guantánamo Bay. Each of these states has succeeded in repatriating its citizens and, in the case of Germany and the UK, permanent resident non-citizens. In all cases except that of Australian David Hicks, the country of citizenship undertook to investigate whether its citizen had committed any war crimes, crimes against humanity, or violations of domestic criminal law.
We urge the Canadian government to follow the precedent of other US allies and insist on the repatriation of Khadr. Like these states, Canada must assert its sovereign interest by providing diplomatic protection to its citizen. We are confident that the Canadian justice system is competent to adjudicate the appropriate legal consequences for Khadr, bearing in mind his age at the time the alleged acts occurred.
We are aware that, setting aside any of Khadr’s own actions, the notoriety of his family makes him unsympathetic in the eyes of some. But it is plainly unjust to punish the son for the sins of the father, or to deny a citizen the protection of his government because of the words or deeds of family members. Passively allowing the travesty at Guantánamo Bay to continue not only deepens the damage done to Khadr, it also does a disservice to all those Canadians who, when abroad, expect their government to exercise its full influence in securing their proper treatment. Canadians rightly pride themselves on their global commitment to fair play and human rights. That commitment must now be brought home to Canada. And that means bringing Omar Khadr to Canada.
Yours truly,
The Undersigned.
CURRENT AND FORMER PARLIAMENTARIANS
Honourable Lloyd Axworthy
President and Vice-Chancellor
University of Winnipeg
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Honourable Ed Broadbent
Former Leader, New Democratic Party
Former Chair, Rights & Democracy
Rt. Honourable Joe Clark
Former Prime Minister
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Honourable Bill Graham
MP Toronto Centre
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Former Minister of National Defence
Honourable Flora MacDonald
Former Minister of External Affairs
Former Minister of Employment & Immigration
Honourable Pierre Pettigrew
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Former Minister of International Trade
Honourable Jack Layton
MP Toronto-Danforth
Leader of the Federal NDP
Charlie Angus
MP Timmins-James Bay (NDP)
Alex Atamanenko
MP British Columbia Southern Interior (NDP)
Dawn Black
MP New Westminster-Coquitlam (NDP)
Chris Charlton
MP Hamilton Mountain
NDP Critic – Seniors and Pensions
Olivia Chow
MP Trinity-Spadina (NDP)
Joe Comartin
MP Windsor-Tecumseh (NDP)
NDP Deputy House Leader
Jean Crowder
MP Nanaimo-Cowichan (NDP)
Libby Davies
MP Vancouver East
NDP House Leader
Paul Dewar
MP Ottawa Centre (NDP)
Cheri di Novo
Member of Provincial Parliament (NDP),
Parkdale-High Park, Toronto
Meili Faille,
Députée Vaudreuil-Soulanges (Bloc)
Francine Lalonde
Députée La Pointe-de-l’île (Bloc)
Honourable Alexa McDonough
MP Halifax
NDP Critic – Foreign Affairs and International Development
Wayne Marston
MP Hamilton East-Stoney Creek
NDP Advocate on Human Rights, Multiculturalism and Sports Issues
Peggy Nash,
MP Parkdale (NDP)
Pierre Paquette
Député Joliette
Leader parlementaire du Bloc Québécois et porte-parole en matière de réforme démocratique
Penny Priddy
MP Surrey North (NDP)
Bill Siksay
MP Burnaby-Douglas (NDP)
Judy Wasylycia-Leis
MP Winnipeg North (NDP)
ORGANIZATIONS
Amnesty International (Canada)
British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
Canadian Arab Federation
Center for Constitutional Rights, Washington DC
Human Rights Watch
International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
Justice for Children and Youth
Ligue des droits et libertés du Québec
Physicians for Human Rights, Washington DC
INDIVIDUALS
Professor Sharryn Aiken
Faculty of Law, Queen’s University, Kingston
Professor Amir Attaran
Faculties of Law and Medicine, University of Ottawa
Professor Lisa Austin
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Maude Barlow
National Chair, Council of Canadians
Professor Nehal Bhuta
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Professor Vaughan Black
Faculty of Law, Dalhousie University, Halifax
Professor W A Bogart
Faculty of Law, University of Windsor
Professor Kim Brooks
Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia
Andrew Brouwer
Barrister and Solicitor, Toronto
Professor Alan Brudner
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Dr Rosemary Byrne
Senior Lecturer in International Law
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Oscar Cabrerra
University of Toronto
Professor Angela Campbell
Faculty of Law, McGill University, Montréal
Professor Emily F Carasco
Faculty of Law, University of Windsor
Professor Joseph Carens
Department of Political Science, University of Toronto
Professor Geneviève Cartier
Faculté de droit, Université de Sherbrooke
Professor Sujit Choudhry
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Professor Rebecca Cook
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Paul Copeland
Barrister and Solicitor, Toronto
Jack Costello SJ
Jesuit Refugee and Migrant Service, Toronto
Catherine Coumans, PhD
Ottawa
Professor François Crépeau
Centre d'études et de recherches internationales / Centre for International Studies (CÉRIUM)
Université de Montréal / University of Montreal
Professor John H Currie
Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
Nora Currie
Activist, Toronto
Sanja Dejanovic
Department of Political Science ,York University, Toronto
Professor Richard Devlin
Faculty of Law, Dalhousie University, Halifax
Professor Emeritus Bernard Dickens
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Professor Alexandra Dobrowolsky
Chair, Department of Political Science, St. Mary’s University, Halifax
Professor David Duff
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Professor David Dyzenhaus
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Professor Avigail Eisenberg
Department of Political Science, University of Victoria
Professor Jaye Ellis
McGill School of Environment and Faculty of Law, Montréal
Professor Anver Emon
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Professor Richard Evans
Faculty of Law, Dalhousie University, Halifax
Professor Mohammad Fadel
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Professor Colleen Flood
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Professor Craig Forcese
Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
Professor Cristie Ford
Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia
Professor Hamar Foster
Faculty of Law, University of Victoria
Professor Evan Fox-Decent
Faculty of Law, McGill University, Montreal
Professor Judy Fudge
Faculty of Law, University of Victoria
Professor Donald Galloway
Faculty of Law, University of Victoria
Professor Elaine Gibson
Faculty of Law, Dalhousie University, Halifax
Professor Wenona Giles
Associate Director, Centre for Refugee Studies, York University, Toronto
Professor Philip Girard
Faculty of Law, Dalhousie University, Halifax
Professor Luin Goldring
Department of Sociology, York University, Toronto
Datejie Green
Department of Environmental Science, York University, Toronto
Professor Elspeth Guild
Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands
Professor Randall Hansen,
Department of Political Science, University of Toronto
Professor Thomas Heyd
Department of Philosophy, University of Victoria
Professor Jula Hughes
Faculty of Law, University of New Brunswick, Fredricton
Professor Jennifer Hyndman
Department of Geography, Syracuse University, Syracuse New York
Barbara Jackman
Barrister and Solicitor, Jackman & Associates, Toronto
Associate Professor Rebecca Johnson
Faculty of Law, University of Victoria
Professor Pierre-Gabriel Jobin
Faculty of Law, McGill University, Montréal
Amal Kandar
Toronto
Ali Kazimi
Filmmaker, Toronto
Professor Gerald Kernerman
Department of Political Science,York University, Toronto
Professor Freya Kodar
Faculty of Law, University of Victoria
Professor Thomas Kuttner
Faculty of Law, University of New Brunswick, Fredricton
Roger J M Lagassé
Halfmoon Bay BC
Professor Nicole LaViolette
Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
Mary Jo Leddy
Writer and Activist, Order of Canada
Professor Hester Lessard
Faculty of Law
University of Victoria
Me Peter Leuprecht, professeur
Directeur de l’Institut d’Études Internationales de Montréal
Dr. Mary Liston
University of Toronto
Professor Glen Luther
College of Law, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon
Ian Macdonald QC
Arden Court Chambers, London England
Professor Audrey Macklin
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Professor Moira L McConnell
Faculty of Law, Dalhousie University, Halifax
Professor Susan McGrath
Director, Centre for Refugee Studies, York University, Toronto
Professor Colin MacLeod
Faculty of Law, University of Victoria
Professor Maeve McMahon
Department of Law, Carleton University, Ottawa
Professor Ronalda Murphy
Faculty of Law, Dalhousie University, Halifax
John Norris
Barrister and Solicitor, Ruby & Edwardh, Toronto
Professor Martha O’Brien
Faculty of Law, University of Victoria
Professor Obiora Okafor,
Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto
Professor Karen Pearlston
Faculty of Law, University of New Brunswick, Fredricton
Sarah Perkins
Acting Director, International Human Rights Program
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Professor Jim Phillips,
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Professor Dianne Pothier
Faculty of Law, Dalhousie University, Halifax
Professor Valerie Preston
Department of Geography, York University, Toronto
Dr Lisa S Price
Gibsons BC
Janna Promislow
Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto
Professor René Provost
Director / Directeur
Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism
Centre sur les droits de la personne et le pluralisme juridique,
McGill University, Faculty of Law, Montreal
Professor Jeffrey Reitz
Department of Sociology, University of Toronto
Professor Tim Richards
Faculty of Law, University of Victoria
Professor Joanne St Lewis
Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
Professor Dayna Scott
Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto
Stephanie Sersli
Department of Geography, York University, Toronto
Professor Martha Shaffer
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Associate Dean Lorne Sossin
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Professor Marjorie Stone
Department of English, Dalhousie University, Halifax
Professor Angus Taylor
Department of Philosophy, University of Victoria
Zool Suleman,
Barrister and Solicitor, Suleman & Co., Vancouver
Professor David Szablowski
Department of Law & Society, York University, Toronto
Professor William Tetley QC
Faculty of Law, McGill University, Montréal
Professor Barbara von Tigerstrom
College of Law, University of Saskatchewan
Professor Mariana Valverde
Centre for Criminology, University of Toronto
Professor J Andrew Wainwright
Department of English, Dalhousie University, Halifax
Lorne Waldman
Barrister and Solicitor, Waldman and Associates, Toronto
Professor Rosemary Warskett
Department of Law, Carleton University, Ottawa
Professor Scott Watson
Department of Political Science, University of Victoria
Kathy Wazana
Filmmaker, Toronto
Richard Wazana,
Barrister and Solicitor, Toronto
Professor Sheila Wildeman
Dalhousie Law School, Halifax
Professor Scott Woodcock
Department of Philosophy, University of Victoria
Sujith Xavier
University of Toronto
Professor Jacob Ziegel, Professor Emeritus
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Additional information
The Legal Inadequacy of US Military Commissions for Trying Omar Khadr
The Case of Omar Khadr
Detainee Treatment After Transfers