Khadr's "frequent flyer program"

A 2004 report on Omar Khadr's treatment at Guantanamo Bay has caused an uproar in Canada:

The report — dated April 20, 2004, and written by R. Scott Heatherington, who was the director of the department's foreign intelligence division — states Foreign Affairs official Jim Gould was told Khadr was placed on a "frequent flyer program" for three weeks before Gould's visit. That meant Khadr was "not permitted more than three hours in any one location.

"At three-hour intervals, he is moved to another cellblock, thus denying him uninterrupted sleep," according to the report. "He will soon be placed in isolation for up to three weeks, and then he will be interviewed again."

The report notes Khadr did not appear much affected by the sleep deprivation and refused to answer questions, all the while "smiling broadly" and appearing to enjoy the two-hour exchange with Gould on March 30, 2004.

"He did not yawn or indicate in any way that he was tired throughout the two-hour interview," likely a result of the "natural resilience of a well-fed and healthy 17-year-old," the report says.

The Toronto-born Khadr, now 21, is at the U.S. naval base in Cuba awaiting trial before a military commission on charges he murdered a U.S. army sergeant in Afghanistan in 2002.

They say justice must be seen to be done, not just done, and while this treatment ranks pretty low on the "torture" scale, it does raise more questions about whether Khadr is getting anything like a fair trial. (Certainly, evidence obtained in this fashion would never be allowed in normal criminal proceedings.) The Prime Minister's assertion that there's no real alternative to keeping him there rings hollow, considering that the UK and Australia have negotiated to bring their citizens home from Guantanamo.

I have no idea whether Khadr is guilty or not, but I found this passage particularly interesting:

In Heatherington's report, he also describes an incident with a U.S. Defence Department interrogator in which Khadr was shown a picture of his family, but denied knowing anyone in the photo.

When Khadr was left alone with the picture, he urinated on it, Heatherington writes.

After he was cleaned up and his shackles shortened to prevent him from doing it again, he still managed to lower his pants and urinate on the picture, the report says.

He was cleaned up a second time. After 2½ hours passed, Khadr "laid his head down on the table beside the picture in what was seen as an affectionate manner," likely assuming he was no longer being watched, the report says.

Heatherington says Gould described Khadr as a "screwed up" young man abused by many people in positions of authority for their own purposes, including fellow detainees and even grandparents and parents. His father was an avowed al-Qaeda sympathizer before he was killed in fighting with Pakistani military forces in 2003.

Note the date of the report, by the way. Hmmm...now, which political party was in power on April 20, 2004?

Back in Canada, the Liberal Party's foreign affairs critic, Bob Rae, took issue with Harper's assertions and described the military tribunal that will try Khadr as akin to "martial law."

"I think we should be doing everything we can to get Mr. Khadr home," Rae told CBC News, "He went into a training camp when he was 13; he went into Afghanistan when he was 15. I think he should be brought home, and he should face justice here."

Rae said he couldn't answer for the actions taken by earlier Liberal governments at a time when he wasn't a member of the party.

Damian P.

Posted by damian at July 10, 2008 05:32 PM