Accountability for torture: Canada vs. the US

Omar Khadr

Omar Khadr is a Canadian citizen who, in 2003 at the age of 15, was captured in Afghanistan after allegedly killing a US soldier during a military raid on the suspected al-Qaeda compound where he was. He spent the next ten years in Guantanamo Bay, after seven years of which he was coerced into giving a guilty plea, before being transferred to Canada, where he was finally released in 2015 pending a hearing into his conviction. And now, the Canadian government will settle with an apology and $10 million for wrongful imprisonment:

Khadr […] will receive a settlement of more than $10 million, according to unnamed sources who spoke to The Associated Press, the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail.

The Star said Khadr, who now lives in an apartment in Edmonton, will get more than $10 million, not the $20 million he sought in a civil suit. Other reports said he will receive about $10 million.

The government and Khadr's lawyers negotiated the deal last month, according to AP.

[…]

Khadr was suspected of throwing the grenade that killed Speer. The Canadian was taken to the prison at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba and ultimately charged with war crimes by a military commission.

He pleaded guilty in 2010 to charges that included murder and was sentenced to eight years plus the time he had already spent in custody. He returned to Canada two years later to serve the remainder of his sentence and was released in May 2015 pending an appeal of his guilty plea, which he said was made under duress.

Khadr spent 10 years in Guantanamo Bay. His case received international attention after some dubbed him a child soldier.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2010 that Canadian intelligence officials obtained evidence from Khadr under "oppressive circumstances," such as sleep deprivation, during interrogations at Guantanamo Bay in 2003, and then shared that evidence with U.S. officials.

The Canadian government has a disgraceful history of complicity with the US’s War on Terror torture regime. But at least it’s able to recognize its past sins and apologize to (some of) the people it’s wronged … even if it takes a few years. (It would be even nicer if we could have some sanctions for the government officials who condoned and perpetrated these crimes in the first place, but we mustn’t dream.)

Of course, let it never be said that our Conservatives, much like the US Republicans, can’t rush to be on the wrong side of things:

Public safety critic Tony Clement rejected the argument that Khadr was a child soldier because he "admitted his guilt." Clement called it "completely inappropriate" that the government would strike a deal to compensate and apologize to Khadr, forcing the Speer family to relive the ordeal.

"We're absolutely astounded this has happened, that he is now one of the richest Canadians in the country because of this settlement," he told CBC News. "We feel this is an act that betrays those innocent Canadians who were killed on 9/11, 25 of them, and also our soldiers who were working so hard in Afghanistan at the time."

[…]

Alberta Progressive Conservative Leader Jason Kenney also denounced the reported deal.

"Odious. Confessed terrorist who assembled and planted the same kind of IEDs that killed 97 Canadians to be given $10 million by Justin Trudeau," the former federal immigration minister under Stephen Harper tweeted.

You know, I’m really very glad these hawkish, torture-excusing demagogues are out of office.

Now, that’s Canada doing the right thing, if belatedly. Contrast that with how the US handles proven claims of torturing innocents, as described by Glenn Greenwald in 2012 (you know very well it still applies to this day):

Yesterday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals adopted the argument of the Obama DOJ that John Yoo is — needless to say — fully immune from any and all liability for having authorized the torture of Jose Padilla, on the ground that the illegality of Yoo’s conduct was not “beyond debate” at the time he engaged in it. Everything I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the identical shielding of Donald Rumsfeld by federal courts and the Obama DOJ from similar claims applies to yesterday’s ruling […]

(1) not a single War on Terror victim — not one — has been permitted to sue for damages in an American court over what was done to them, even when everyone admits they were completely innocent, even when they were subjected to the most brutal torture, and even when the judiciary of other countries permitted their lawsuits to proceed; and,

(2) not a single government official — not one — has been held legally accountable, either criminally or even civilly, for any War on Terror crimes or abuses; perversely, the only government officials to pay any price were the ones who blew the whistle on those crimes.

A lot more people should break out in laughter whenever they hear the phrase “with liberty and justice for all”.

Edit (07/05/17 @ 6:30 PM ET): Fixed “spent the ten years” to “spent the next ten years”.