The Khadr Thread

[CougarKing]

Who has been paying for Khadr's lawyers all these years? His family? Canadian taxpayers' money? 

Canadian Press

Court won't toss Khadr appeal judge but says serious issues at stake
[Colin Pekel, The Canadian Press]

May 24, 2016

TORONTO - An attempt by Canada's Omar Khadr to have a judge thrown off his appeal panel has raised important legal questions that U.S. President Barack Obama and Congress should deal with quickly, a court in Washington has ruled.

Nevertheless, the D.C. Circuit said it was not prepared at this time to grant the former Guantanamo Bay inmate's request.

"Although we deny the writ, we cannot deny that Khadr has raised some significant questions," the D.C. Circuit said.

"We encourage Congress and the executive branch to promptly attend to those issues."

At issue is Khadr's call to have the court toss presiding Judge William (Bill) Pollard from the panel hearing his appeal of his war crimes conviction. Khadr and his lawyers argue that Pollard's position on the panel is illegal based on federal statutes that prohibit a judge from continuing to work as a lawyer.

Pollard, a partner in a Wall Street law firm, is one of two civilian appointees on the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review, which acts as an appeal court for matters related to military commissions.

The presidential appointee has refused to step down, arguing the rules do not apply to his situation. He maintains he's a "special government employee" of the Department of Defence and is allowed to work as a judge on the military review court while maintaining his law practice.

In its decision, the D.C. Circuit said the law does not afford Khadr a "clear and indisputable" right to the "drastic and extraordinary remedy" of having Pollard bumped. At the same time, the court said, if the Court of Military Commission Review denies Khadr's war crimes appeal, he can raise the Pollard issue again.

"Our denial...does not preclude Khadr from advancing these same arguments in a future appeal where the standard of review will not be so daunting," the court said.

In the interim, the court said the U.S. government and Congress must make clear whether civilians who serve as judges on the Court of Military Commission Review can also practise law part time and, if so, the "circumstances under which they may do so."

The appeal over which Pollard resides relates to Khadr's conviction by a widely condemned military commission in Guantanamo Bay in October 2010. Khadr pleaded guilty to five war crimes he was accused of committing as a 15-year-old in Afghanistan in 2002.

The commission sentenced him to a further eight years in prison. He was transferred to Canada to serve out his sentence in 2012 and has been on bail in Alberta for a year pending the outcome of his U.S. appeal, which remains in limbo.

His appeal to the Court of Military Commission Review argues in part those offences were not war crimes under either U.S. domestic or international law at the time they were committed. The review court presided over by Pollard has so far refused to deal with the merits of the appeal.

An analysis in the Lawfare Blog argues the Pollard issue — unlikely to be fixed any time soon given the "highly politicized, dysfunctional context" in which the top levels of the U.S. government operate — is just a "symptom of a broader problem" with the military commissions.

"At nearly every turn, the hastily crafted military commission system shows that being novel and untested comes at a great cost in time, resources and ultimately credibility," authors Robert Loeb and Helen Klein note.

 

[winnipegoo7]

Guess who will be 10 million richer?

 

[jollyjacktar]

My tax dollars being misspent.  :boke:

New
Ottawa reportedly set to pay Omar Khadr $10.5M
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/khadr-settlement-1.4189146

Multiple reports say apology and payment coming for former Guantanamo Bay prisoner

CBC News  Posted: Jul 04, 2017 6:37 AM ET| Last Updated: Jul 04, 2017 6:57 AM ET
Ottawa is going to apologize and give millions to former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr, according to multiple reports.

Khadr — who pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. soldier when he was 15, under interrogation that was later deemed "oppressive" — will receive $10.5 million, according to unnamed sources who spoke to The Associated Press, The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. The government and Khadr's lawyers negotiated the deal last month, according to AP.

Speaking to reporters in Ireland, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said only that a judicial process was underway, and that the process should be ending soon.

The Canadian-born Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops following a firefight at a suspected al-Qaeda compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of an American special forces medic, Sgt. Christopher Speer. Khadr, who was suspected of throwing the grenade that killed Speer, was taken to Guantanamo 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.

Omar 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.

Youngest detainee

Khadr was the youngest and last Western detainee held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

His lawyers filed a $20 million US wrongful imprisonment lawsuit against the Canadian government, arguing the government violated international law by not protecting its own citizen and conspired with the U.S. in its abuse of Khadr.

The widow of Speer and another American soldier blinded by the grenade in Afghanistan filed a wrongful death and injury lawsuit against Khadr in 2014 fearing Khadr might get his hands on money from his wrongful imprisonment lawsuit. A U.S. judge granted $134.2 million US in damages in 2015, but the plaintiffs acknowledged then that there was little chance they would collect any of the money from Khadr because he lives in Canada.

Khadr's lawyers have long said he was pushed into war by his father, Ahmed Said Khadr, whose family stayed with Osama bin Laden briefly when Omar Khadr was a boy. Khadr's Egyptian-born father was killed in 2003 when a Pakistani military helicopter shelled the house where he was staying with senior al-Qaida operatives.

After his 2015 release from prison in Alberta, Omar Khadr apologized to the families of the victims. He said he rejects violent jihad and wants a fresh start to finish his education and work in health care. He currently resides in an apartment in Edmonton, Alberta.

- mod edit to add link to story -

 

[Lightguns]

Lest ye break faith.........

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Why did I know this was going to happen.  :facepalm:

 

[Rifleman62]

And his enemies, including Cdn soldiers, have to fight VAC for a heck of a lot less. He was guilty so why?

 

[FJAG]

No. Words.

:facepalm:

 

[gryphonv]

I hope the Widow of  SFC Christopher James Speer can get some of the money. Will be interesting if the American Government backs her up to pursue it. (The family already won a lawsuit in the US.)

Edit: Because grammar

 

[FJAG]

I hope the Widow SFC Christopher James Speer can some of the money. Will be interesting if the American Government backs her up to pursue it. (The family already won a lawsuit in the US.)

Interesting.

The Ontario Court of Appeal just upheld the right of parties that had judgments in the US against Iran for terrorism to the tune of $1.7 billion, to pursue that judgment in Canada.

http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ontario-court-upholds-1-7b-judgment-against-iran-for-sponsoring-terrorism-against-americans/wcm/9b8e075d-cbd0-4166-9080-16d9030547bf

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/us-judge-awards-134-million-in-suit-against-omar-khadr/article25242269/

The Khadr case should be easier as it doesn't involve a foreign state as a party and ought to work on ordinary reciprocal enforcement of foreign judgment principles. Regretfully, my guess is that the award will be structured by the Feds and Khadr's lawyers in such a way that it can't be garnished or seized.

I'd love to see Speers' family succeed here.

:cheers:

 

[gryphonv]

Interesting.

The Ontario Court of Appeal just upheld the right of parties that had judgments in the US against Iran for terrorism to the tune of $1.7 billion, to pursue that judgment in Canada.

http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ontario-court-upholds-1-7b-judgment-against-iran-for-sponsoring-terrorism-against-americans/wcm/9b8e075d-cbd0-4166-9080-16d9030547bf

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/us-judge-awards-134-million-in-suit-against-omar-khadr/article25242269/

The Khadr case should be easier as it doesn't involve a foreign state as a party and ought to work on ordinary reciprocal enforcement of foreign judgment principles. Regretfully, my guess is that the award will be structured by the Feds and Khadr's lawyers in such a way that it can't be garnished or seized.

I'd love to see Speers' family succeed here.

:cheers:

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, though somehow I think Speer's Family won't see a dime from Khadr.

 

[jollyjacktar]

Evil usually triumphs and decent people like the Speer family get screwed.  I would love to see this money be distributed to the Speers, especially as a taxpayer who will be helping to shell out the dough.  Makes me sick to think about it.

 

[BurnDoctor]

Omar Khadr: Eff that guy. That is all.

 

[George Wallace]

How insulting to Americans to make this announcement on the 4th of July.

 

[George Wallace]

https://twitter.com/larrymillermp/status/882302916413059072

 

[Lex Justitia]

My tax dollars being misspent.  :boke:
- mod edit to add link to story -

And it was somewhat avoidable. Of course, I have the luxury of speaking in hindsight, but the Martin and Harper governments should have had diplomatic/consular staff provide information to Khadr on legal representation; and the intelligence community, despite the risks, should have stayed out of it.

I'm not saying he didn't receive consular assistance, but Canada's involvement should have went no further than that.

 

[George Wallace]

And it was somewhat avoidable. Of course, I have the luxury of speaking in hindsight, but the Martin and Harper governments should have had diplomatic/consular staff provide information to Khadr on legal representation; and the intelligence community, despite the risks, should have stayed out of it.

I'm not saying he didn't receive consular assistance, but Canada's involvement should have went no further than that.

I will add to your less than accurate view, by pointing out that we have had the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act since 2012, which could give the Speer family, and other claimants, all of this money and more, should this in fact happen. 

 

[Jarnhamar]

:rofl:
Wait for the prime minister and this guys selfie.

 

[Lex Justitia]

https://twitter.com/larrymillermp/status/882302916413059072

Did Mr Miller really call Khadr a "self-admitted murderer" after all of the legal determinations that his confession was procured under duress? Mr Miller seems to have ignored and taken for granted Canada's most basic protections, such as to be free from coerced confessions. It's not "plain and simple."

I hope Mr Miller doesn't think confessions procured through nefarious investigative practices, such as those used in the United States beginning around the 1930s through the early 1960s, are appropriate. Unfortunate for Mr Miller's analysis, sleep deprivation and protracted interrogation are coercive. I don't think he would appreciate being subjected to sleep deprivation while under protracted interrogation if he were accused of campaign finance offenses or fraud.

I'd write to Miller reminding him that confessions extracted by coercion do not make for "self-admitted" criminals. Can you imagine if it became acceptable to return to the 1940s  United States—to use stomach pumping (Rochin v. Carlifornia (1952)); deprivation of sleep, water, and food (Watts v. Indiana (1949)); continuous beating, whipping and burning (Ward v. Texas(1942)); protracted interrogation (Chambers v. Florida (1940)), beating, hanging, whipping (Brown v. Mississippi (1936)), to extract confessions. No, Mr Miller, Khadr is not a "self-admitted murderer;" and until he confesses while free of duress, nobody who has respect for our basic legal rights should believe that he is.

 

[jmt18325]

At least 5 different court rulings (3 of the them from the Supreme Court of Canada) determined that Canada was complicit in the violation of Omar Khadr's human rights including those protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  Several legal experts have given the opinion that a real court would have thrown out the circumstantial and conflicting evidence against him, and his forced confession.  He was tortured.  He was illegally placed in a federal penitentiary on return to Canada.  You don't have to like him, but there's no doubt that we've done wrong.

I saw a great quote on Twitter today.  Either the law applies to all or it doesn't apply at all.

 

[jmt18325]

How insulting to Americans to make this announcement on the 4th of July.

No such thing was done.