Omar Khadr Revisted

I know it's been a while. I've been living the high life in Shanghai and access to Blogger has been limited. With the Great Firewall of China lifted in time for the Olympics I'll have some access. It may or may be lowered after the Olympics. Time will tell. In the meantime I am writing from the comfort of my Canadian home--well not mine, more like my mothers. I'll be returning to the cesspool that is Smelly Shanghai in August.

I've returned back to Blogger because I have an excellent post I wish to revisit. I'm revisiting this post on the heels of the released video of Omar Khadr. From previous posts one knows my stance on this issue. It's a sad day in Canadian history when this kind of illegal treatment of a human being takes place. I'm going to repost what I have said in the past instead of making it easier for you to read instead of being linked. I don't know about you but I'm getting tired of being linked here and there. Anyways here's an exert of my previous post.

I think Rosie Dimanno put it right in her editorial for The
Star. In this editorial she compared two teenage boys who grew up in similar
situations with similar outcomes yet because one happened on US soil and one
happened in Iraq they should be treated differently. The other child Omar was
compared to was Lee Boyd Malvo. You might have heard of him. He committed a
terrorist like act. He will go down in history as the Washington Sniper.

Both boys grew up in a 'family' that used and abused them by moulding their
minds of hate. I'm aware that the Khadr family has a rocky relationship with
Canada but to allow one of our children to suffer the torture of the American
Army in Abu Ghraib-we all know how that story ended-and the torture in
Guantanamo Bay is quite sickening. We as Canadians should be ashamed of
ourselves for not becoming involved in this case.This detainment of Khadr is in
direct violation of the United Nations Charter of Rights for Children and The
Geneva Convention special treatment of children in armed conflicts.

In these two documents it is said that children under the age of 18 shall not be recruited to the military as well as making it a war crime to recruit those under the age of 15 into armed conflict. It also allows for special treatment of children of
armed conflict and the International Court Court will not charge those under the
age of 18 with a war crime. According to them they are not criminally
responsible for their actions.

The Optional Protocol of the Children's Rights
Charter that specifically deals with child soldiers states the
specific:

Reaffirming that the rights of children require special protection,
andcalling for continuous improvement of the situation of children
withoutdistinction, as well as for their development and education in
conditions ofpeace and security, Disturbed by the harmful and
widespreadimpact of armed conflict on children and the long-termconsequences this has for durable peace, security and development,Mindful of the necessity of taking into consideration the economic,social and political root causes of the involvement of children in armedconflicts, Convinced of the need to strengtheninternational cooperation in the implementation of thisProtocol, as well as the physical and psychosocial rehabilitation and social reintegration of
children who are victims of armed conflict, Encouraging the participation of the community and, inparticular, children and child victims in the dissemination of informationaland educational programmes concerning the implementation of the Protocol,

What it says in essential is that someone like Khadr requires specific
consideration regarding what he has been accused of. Sure he killed a US solider
during the Iraq war but when he committed the crime he was just a child. A child
solider who has every right to be re-educated and protected under international
law. Unfortunately the US doesn't see it that way and their War on Terror is
blinding them to the call for the release of a child in Guantanamo.The war and
prison industrial complex that is the US has blinded them to basic rights of
children. I could go on about my thoughts on the US juvenile justice but I'll
leave that for another day. My concern to date is the inability of the Canadian
government to become involved in this case. We are failing a child and that
saddens me.