Statement by the Central Executive Committee
Communist Party of Canada
April 17, 2008

As more light is shed on the case of Omar Khadr, it becomes increasingly obvious to the world that the Pentagon’s prosecution of this young Canadian “child soldier” is a sickening violation of international legal standards and human rights.

The charges of murder and other serious crimes against Khadr have already been dismissed twice, amply demonstrating the lack of any real evidence that he killed a U.S. soldier. On each occasion, the charges have been renewed by a U.S. military seeking to justify its wars of occupation.

Captured during a firefight in Afghanistan in July 2002, Khadr was just 15 at the time � a child soldier. Charges were not laid until he had spent years in Guantanamo, a violation of his right to a fair and timely trial. Then last year, a military judge tossed out the charges because Khadr was classed as an “enemy combatant”, which should have granted him the right to be held under the Geneva Conventions and the laws of war, not locked up under horrifying conditions for years without adequate legal counsel. But the U.S. military said it would appeal, and marched Omar Khadr back to solitary detention.

Since then, the case has disintegrated in the face of new evidence. Revelations in pre-trial proceedings have shown that nobody saw Omar Khadr toss the grenade which allegedly killed a U.S. soldier. At least one other wounded combatant was still resisting the U.S. attack, and could have thrown a grenade before he was shot in the head and killed. Another distinct possibility is that the U.S. soldier may have been hit by “friendly fire” during the confusing battle. Omar Khadr himself, immobile and facing away from his attackers, was shot twice in the back but survived his injuries.

Despite the prosecution claims to be conducting the case in an open and fair manner, most of the new evidence has emerged by accident, such as the unplanned release to reporters of documents which were supposed to be censored.

Just as significant, Omar Khadr is charged under the Military Commission Act, which was never intended for the prosecution of juveniles. As his defence attorneys have pointed out, the prosecution’s position would open the door to military-based charges against even a five‑year‑old.

Omar Khadr is the last citizen of a western country still detained in Guantanamo. Every other country whose citizens have been sucked into this vortex of torture and solitary confinement has vigorously demanded the return of these prisoners. But in line with Stephen Harper’s position that every arbitrary violation of human rights by the U.S. Empire must be given complete support, not a finger has been lifted by the Tory government to win a fair trial for Omar Khadr. The shameful abandonment of unfairly jailed overseas Canadian citizens by the Harper Tories, and the similar policy of turning Afghan detainees over to the corrupt and brutal Karzai government, are scandals condemned by a wide range of democratic organizations and the opposition parties in Parliament. But this government simply prefers to lick the boots of its masters in Washington.

Any country— including the United States—which has been the target of terrorist attacks has the legal right to bring charges against those responsible. But no country has the right to trample on international law by invading other countries and by concocting trumped-up murder charges against children. The continued renewal of charges against Omar Khadr shows that he cannot expect to receive a fair trial from the U.S. military.

The CEC of the Communist Party of Canada joins with Omar Khadr’s lawyers, and with labour, democratic and human right organizations to demand the dropping of all charges, his immediate repatriation to Canada, and the closure of the Guantanamo detention centre, illegally operated by the US on Cuban territory. We call for an independent Canadian foreign policy of peace and disarmament, beginning immediately by withdrawing Canadian troops from Afghanistan.