2,545 Days: Bring Omar Khadr Home
A rally was organized outside the citizenship office in Toronto to keep Omar Khadr’s case in the media spotlight, and ensure that he is not forgotten.
Bting Omar Khadr Back to Canada
Canadian citizen Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he was captured on July 27, 2002, by US forces in Ayub Khey, Afghanistan. Now 21 years old, Omar has been in US custody ever since.
Omar Khadr’s case is unique for the following reasons:
1) Omar is the first person in modern history to face a military commission for alleged crimes committed as a child.
2) He is the youngest prisoner held in extrajudicial detention by the United States.
3) Canada has refused to seek extradition or repatriation despite the urgings of Amnesty International, UNICEF, Lawyers Against the War, Lawyers Rights Watch Canada, the Canadian Bar Association and many Canadian jurists, social justice advocates and Members of Parliament.
4) Omar is the only Western citizen who still remains in Guantanamo Bay.
Source: www.BringOmarHome.ca
Protesters brought unfurled a banner counting the 2,545 days that Omar has spent locked up.
At Guantanamo Bay prison US officials have held Omar “virtually incommunicado” — no access to outsiders and in solitary confinement for over 3 years. Omar was not permitted any contact with a lawyer until November 2004, more than two years after being captured.
US Armed Forces personnel have subjected Omar, throughout his imprisonment to a variety of illegal treatments. Reported abuses to which he has been subjected include:
- not informed of his rights
- short shackled — wrists and ankles tied together and the cuffs bolted to the floor
- his hands tied above a door frame for hours
- had cold water thrown on him
- had a bag placed over his head and was threatened with military dogs
- forced to perform painful exercises while short shackled
- threatened with forced nakedness
- forced to urinate on himself while in stress positions
- detained illegally and illegally held incommunicado, except for the November 2004 visit from a lawyer
- kept in solitary confinement
- forced into stress positions for periods of hours, e.g. forced to lie on his stomach with hands and feet cuffed together behind his back
- forced to provide involuntary statements
- forced to sit, during interrogations, on an extremely cold floor
- had his body dragged back and forth, while short shackled, through the urine and pine oil in order to clean the floor with his body
- repeatedly lifted and dropped while short shackled as a punishment for ‘poor performance’
- threatened with rape/sexual violence
- refused opportunity to say prayers
- held in a cell that is ‘freezing cold’ 24 hours a day that Omar says is causing him shortness of breath and the sensation of not being able to get enough oxygen
- exposed to continuous electric light in his cell
- he has found partially dissolved tablets and/or powder at the bottom of a glass given to him by his captors. He says the pills produce various effects such as sleepiness, dizziness, alertness
- being denied adequate medical treatment
- left bound in uncomfortable stress positions until he soiled himself
source: Omar Khadr: The Continuing Scandal of Illegal Detention and Torture by US Forces in Guantanamo Bay
The banner counting the 2,545 days that Omar has spent locked up went all the way down the street.
Omar has now spent over a third of his life in the US prison at Guantanamo Bay. Canada is the only Western government to refuse to request the repatriation of one of its citizens from Guantanamo.
On March 23 the House of Commons passed a motion calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to request Omar’s repatriation. On April 23 the federal court ruled that the Canadian government must act immediately to repatriate Omar. It is now the will of a majority of Parliamentarians, all three opposition parties and a growing majority of Canadians that Omar be brought home.
counting the 2,545 days that Omar Khadr has been locked up
Shaanaz Gokool, of Amnety International, addressed the rally saying:
“Increasingly disturbing to Amnesty International has been the fundamental lack of protection and the complicity of the Canadian government. That due to our government’s actions, or inaction, [Omar Khadr has] been tortured by foreign security services. … We ask today, where has the rule of law in Canada gone? [This is] not about undermining the legitimacy of foreign governments, or the Canadian courts interfering with foreign affairs; this is about the role of our government and the value of Canadian citizenship. Why do we have to rely on the Canadian courts to demand that our own government treat all of our citizens with the same protection and concern for their human rights. It is not acceptable to assist some citizens and virtually abandon others in the face of ongoing human rights concerns. Our government needs to deal with the reality that they are accountable for truth, justice, and due process to all Canadian citizens…
counting the 2,545 days that Omar Khadr has been locked up
Shaanaz Gokool contintued:
“…As we stand here today and count off all the ticks accross here [on the banner] that represent each day young Omar Khadr has been detained by the US government to today’s date. We are forced to acknowledge, with this powerful visualization, that this has gone on for far too long and enough is enough!
How many days will I be detained by a foreign nation state before the Canadian government intercedes on my behalf? How many days will you be detained before the Canadian government comes to your aid? How many instances of torturemust I endure, instances that our Canadian governemnt knows that I have endured, before my government comes to my aid? These are the questions we must all ask ourselves, it is a long over-due discussion that needs to happen in every home in our country. What is the value of Canadian citizenship, if our own government will not protect our human rights when we are abroad?
counting the 2,545 days that Omar Khadr has been locked up
Shaanaz Gokool continued
“Omar Khadr forces us to take a hard took at who we are as Canadian citizens and to demand that the Canadian government do better by us. Omar Khadr is not a random person who has been detained by the US authorities for the past seven years — Omar Khadr is a Canadian. He is you, he is me, and he is all of us, and he is a benchmark for how we expect to be protected, or not, by our Canadian government. Amnesty International calls on the Canadian governemnt to reclaim our position on the worlds’ stage as a human rights defender. Charity, they say, begins at home. Bring Omar Khadr home!”
James Loney, of the Christian Peacemakers Team, addresses the rally
James Loney, who was once held hostage while doing humanitarian work in Iraq before being rescued in a daring raid by multinational forces, also raised questions about why “some citizens get help, others don’t”, citing the cases of Brenda Martin, who was imprisoned in Mexico before being brought home by the Canadian government, and Abousfian Abdelrazik, who was left in Sudan for six years before finally returning home to Canada this month. “There seems to be two standards of citizenship” Loney concluded.
“I was a Canadian citizen who was in trouble abroad, I went to Baghdad on a peace delegation, contrary to a travel advisory, and unbeknownst to me at the time, our government mobilized vast resources to assist my family to try and secure my release and sent a team to Baghdad … and I was astounded, amazed, I had no idea that the government would do this for me, that I would be claimed in this way.
“…and it really angers me that there are two standards of citizenship. What is it based on, is it colour of skin, or if you were born in Canada or somewhere else, or your last name, or your religion, or what? What is it? Why do some citizens merit the protection of the charter and others do not? In my view, and I think in the view of most Canadians, there is no such thing as second-class citizenship, or a two-tier citizenship. A citizen is a citizen is a citizen! And if we allow even one of us, even one of us, to have our rights trampled upon and abused and neglected, then we are all at risk. And we can’t allow that to happen to anyone.”
Professor Audrey Macklin, part of Omar Khadr's defence team speaks at the rally
Professor Audrey Macklin:
“The last couple of years I’ve had the privilege of working with Omar Khadr’s US Military Defense Council, who has been representing Omar Khadr before the military commissions…
“Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he was captured. A 15 year old who has been detained for seven years without charge, in conditions that amount to torture and cruel and unusual and degrading treatment. Does the fact that he has parents who are pariahs, or that he happened to be somebody who is a minority religion, or that he is being detained by Canada’s biggest ally, are those reasons that justify what otherwise I think we would all immediately and obviously regard as totally unacceptable?
counting the 2,545 days that Omar Khadr has been locked up
Professor Audrey Macklin continued:
“It shouldn’t be necessary to talk about the particular allegations against Omar Khadr … but nevertheless, the Harper government counts on the allegations against Omar Khadr and aspects of his identity and relationships and his familial history to somehow erase from peoples’ minds his status as a Canadian citizen, if not his identity as a human being. So let me just say a couple of words about these allegations, although I repeat it shouldn’t be necessary to do so: Omar Khadr is accused of throwing a grenade at a US soldier in the course of a battle.
“When I started working on this case, I was willing to take as given that maybe that happened. Only since that time have I learned that the evidence that he threw a grenade is, in fact, severely compromised. It initially came from a report written by a US soldier present at the battle who later admitted that the initial report he wrote identified somebody else as throwing the grenade, not Omar Khadr, and that that report was actually changed afterwards to identify Omar Khadr as the culprit. Why? Because the other person was summarily executed on the battlefield. Subsequently, and only years after Omar Khadr’s detention, was it possible for defence council to commission an expert who could examine the shell fragments that were found in the body of the deceased US soldier, only to discover that there might be reason to believe that the grenade that killed him was friendly fire, because it was more consistent with grenades fragments from a US made grenade, rather than Soviet/Russian-made grenades…
counting the 2,545 days that Omar Khadr has been locked up
Professor Audrey Macklin continued:
“Something else about Omar Khadr: he has never been tried. All of the allegations against him, after seven years or a third of his life, remain as mere allegations. These are things that seem to have slipped from notice. A last point about the facts: one of the scare tactics, I think, that the Harper government has used to justify its inertia on this case is that ‘well, what are we gonna do with him? We can’t try him for a crime when he gets back here and, my gosh, we can’t have this man walking the streets!’
“Well whatever one makes of that kind of claim, you should know that his defense council and others ahve worked hard to prepare a program of reintegration and rehabilitation for Omar Khadr if and when he comes back to Canada. Knowing that, if not his life before capture, surely his life after capture; seven years in virtual solitary confinement, as a youth with no access to education, psychological treatement, anything that could be regarded as age-appropriate treatment, surely have left somebody who is profoundly damaged. But know that his has been taken into account, and that people have given long and hard thought to what to be done that would make Omar Khadr’s reintegration and rehabilitation possible…
counting the 2,545 days that Omar Khadr has been locked up
Professor Audrey Macklin continued:
“You may think that you don’t face the same risks as Omar Khadr, because he may be a Canadian citizen but hey, if you get in trouble abroad, well, you got a different profile than Omar Khadr. And it’s true that the Canadian government takes the position that it holds no obligation to any Canadian citizen, not just no obligation to Omar Khadr, but no obligation to any of us. So you may think that ‘ah that’s ok if I get in trouble, the Canadian government will come to my aid because, afterall, I’m not likely to do the things that Omar Khadr is alleged to have done, and I kinda look different, I kinda sound different.’
“Well are you willing to take that gamble? More importantly, should the rule of law be a crapshoot? Should your human rights depend on whether at a particular moment in time the government of Canada likes the way you look or sound or likes what it knows about you? The rule of law is not a gamble, human rights are not a popularity contest. Bring back Omar Khadr now! For his sake and for all of our sakes as Canadian citizens!”
For more information:
Tensions on the rise again surrounding Six Nations’ land claim in Caledonia
Tensions are on the rise again surrounding the three-year standoff over a first nations land dispute in Caledonia, Ontario. Non native residents of Caledonia recently announced the formation of the “Caledonia Militia” in response to the lack of progress in the land dispute with the intent to “follow established procedures on the use of reasonable force to remove illegal trespassers”. The formation of the Caledonia Militia has caused a great deal of concern over the potential for violent escalation in the already tense situation.
As the sun sets over the Six Nations land reclamation site, the Douglas Creek Estates, there is a great deal of uncertainty over how the situation will unfold.
The Douglas Creek Estates is the strip of land at the centre of this dispute. The land in question looks much like any other suburban construction site being developed across Canada, except that members of the Six Nations (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy point out that the land rightfully belongs to them.
One of the unfinished homes that was being built on the Douglas Creek Estates.
This is one of hundreds of indigenous land claims being disputed across Canada. The Six Nations’ claim to this land dates back to 1784 when the British were fighting the Americans during the War of Independence; The British, who had always dealt with the Six Nations Confederacy on a nation-to-nation basis, asked the Six Nations’ to fight alongside them and offered a large area of land in return. The 380,000 hectare tract of land promised to them covered an area of six miles on either side of the Grand River. Today, less than five percent of the land promised to them is in their possession, making up what is now the Six Nations Reserve. The Government of Canada’s official position on the matter is that “the Six Nations validly surrendered all the lands that are not now part of the reserve.”
The women of the Six Nations Confederacy, however, argue that the land in question was never legally surrendered. The Six Nations Confederacy has been called the oldest surviving participatory democracy on earth, and according to their constitution the women are the ‘Title Holders.’ One of the women active at the blockade describes how decisions are made: “There are fifty chiefs who represent the Confederacy Council and they have a clanmother with each chief. It is the people whose voice the chiefs and clanmothers carry. Any decision regarding land comes first from the women, and then to their clans; and through the process of our council, when all are in agreement, or when consensus has been reached, only then does the decision stand,” she says. “In our history of the Haldimand Tract, this has never been done.”
“The idea that British Colonists or their descendents–like Canadians–were the only people who had ‘law’ is a legal fiction,” says Kahentinetha Horn, a Mohawk elder from Kahnawake. Canada “has totally disrespected our laws and agreements to conduct a nation-to-nation relationship.”
According the the constitution of the Six Nations Confederacy, the women are the legal title holders
The remains of one of the unfinished homes that was torn down by members and supporters of the Six Nations land reclamation. Other unfinished homes are being used as shelter by those who have been occupying the area for the past year.
Construction stopped on February 28, 2006, when members of the Six Nations moved in to block construction on the site and reclaim the land. They have remained there for over three years now with little progress being made in negotiations with federal and provincial governments. Both federal and provincial governments have been dodging the issue by claiming that the issue lies in the others’ jurisdiction. With the government completely avoiding the issue, the racial tensions continue to mount between the native and non-natives in the surrounding area. Both sides are growing increasingly worried about the potential for violent escalation.
Keeping a watchful eye from inside one of the unfinished homes on the Six Nations land reclamation site, members and supporters of the Six Nations' land claim have been using some of these unfinished homes as shelter for the past three years, though the unfinished buildings offer little protection from the harsh Canadian winter.
"Gator" (not his real name) poses in front of the blockade at the entrance to the Six Nations land reclamation site next to a sign clearly stating the Six Nations' position: "Never to be Sold."
A makeshift look-out tower can be seen in the distance on the Six Nations land reclamation site. It was built with construction material from some of the unfinished buildings that had been torn down. Hanging from a lamp post in the middle ground is the Unity Flag, also known as the Warrior Flag. The flag was originally created as a symbol of unity among Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island. However, a number of the Clan Mothers at the Six Nations reserve expressed mixed feelings about being associated with the flag. They support the original intended meaning. But they are unhappy with the way the flag has been portrayed in the mainstream Canadian media where it is more commonly associated with violence and used to vilify them.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) squad cars on surveilance on the other side of the blockade at the entrance to the Six Nations land reclamation site. There is a great deal of concern within the Six Nations community that the situation may end in violence. With the formation of the Caledonia Militia - intent on employing "the use of reasonable force to remove illegal trespassers" - the risk of violent escalation increases
The formation of the Caledonia Militia has been met with strong criticism from the Canadian Union of Public Employees’ (CUPE) First Nations Solidarity Working Group, who argue that the formation of the Caledonia Militia “represents a major escalation in regard to the conflict at Six Nations … [increasing] the possibility of violent conflict between natives and non-natives.” To show their opposition, CUPE’s First Nations Solidarity Group brought busloads of protestors from Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Guelph to gather outside the Lion’s Club in Cayuga, Ontario, where the first meeting of the militia was being held.
No Militia; Caledonia needs Peace. Protesters bussed in by CUPE's First Nations Solidarity Working Group show their opposition to the formation of the Caledonia Militia.
CUPE’s First Nations Solidarity Group presented five reasons why people should support the Six Nations’ struggle:
1. Because their claim is just and right
Canada has a long and shameful history of mistreating First Nations peoples. Canada has broken treaty after treaty and has refused to fulfill its obligations to First Nations peoples, the Six Nations people included. Despite the fact that the Six Nations people have always been (and remain to this day) a national Confederation with whom the British Crown entered into nation to nation agreements, the Canadian government imposed its own “Indian Act” by force upon them and encouraged the illegal sale and theft of land and revenue belonging to Six Nations. Respect for First Nations land and treaty rights and respect for indegenous sovereignty is a mattter of upholding human rights, international law and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Colonization and appropriation of other peoples’ resources is morally wrong and must be opposed, even if we or some of our ancestors have benefited from it.
No Militia
2. Because the fault lies with the Government, not the people
The government knew that the Douglas Creek Estates lands were contested when it allowed them to be sold. If the government had developed a comprehensive land claims settlement process and had negotiated in good faith with Six Nations from the start, this problem would never have taken the form it has. People from Six Nations occupied the Douglass Creek Estates to stop a housing development from being built on contested land. Now that the situation has been escalated, non natives on and off the Haldimand tract can best resolve this issue by pressuring the Canadian government to establish a fair and comprehensive settlement of all outstanding land claims with Six Nations.
3. Because this situation will not be resolved by violence
The time when the Canadian government or non-native vigilantes could drive First Nations peoples off their land has passed. Any attempt to use force to resolve the reclamation of Douglas Creek Estates will only make matters far worse and will likely end in bloddshed and serious injury on both sides. As events at Ipperwash and Oka proved, native land rights are political issues that must be solved through dialogue and negotiation. These are political and not “law and order” issues, and the use of force or threat of violence will not resolve them. Might does not make right, and attempts to raise the level of tension through the formation of the so called “Caledonia Militia” will only make the situation worse and increase the likelihood of people being injured or even killed.
Militia=Racist; What's next, KKK?
4. Because our lives and futures are tied together
The conflict over the Douglas Creek Estates and the future conflicts brewing over the Haldimand tract stem from the greed of real estate developers who are turning farmlands, animal habitats and countryside into suburban sprawl in order to enrich themselves. This way of life is not sustainable in the long-term and although it makes profits for the bankers, realtors and lawyers it does not benefit rural life or the average people in small towns like Caledonia. As suburban sprawl spreads small businesses are pushed out by the major chains and big box stores, farmers are pushed off the land and our natural environment is degraded. First Nations peoples have a long history of protecting the environment and of respecting nature. A recognition of their rights will ensure that the lands on and around the Haldimand tract are not ecologically devastated by further suburban sprawl or clogged up by excessive road traffic and smog.
Warning: Militias may be harmful to peace and well-being
5. Because it is the only way that Caledonia can heal itself
The people of Six Nations and of Caledonia live closely connected lives, sharing schools, workplaces, friendships and families. The tensions caused by this conflict need to be resolved. The people of Six Nations have made clear over and over again that they are not calling for the removal of non-natives from their lands. No non-natives living in Caledonia are at risk of eviction. What Six Nations wants is the compensation they are owed and recognition of their land and treaty rights. It is possible for natives and non-natives to live together in peace and harmony, but in order to have peace there must be justice.
The world doesn't need more armies
A gas station in Caledonia, down the street from the Douglass Creek Estates, with separate pumps for native and non-native customers. Natives do not have to pay taxes, so their prices are lower. Unfortunately, such visible forms of differentiation only adds fuel to the already volatile racial tensions by setting the groups up as 'the Other.'
A sign on the side of a building along the perimeter of the Six Nations land reclamation site for all to see. The sign draws attention to the injustice in the way the First Nations have been treated. Over the years, indigenous people have fought bravely, putting their lives on the line, in every war Canada has been involved in. They have recieved little in return, other than racism and perscution.
Members and supporters of the Six Nations land reclamation gather around a sacred fire. As the sun sets over the Six Nations land reclamation site, there is a great deal of uncertainty over how the situation will unfold. Many fear that the situation may end in violence.
For more information:
CUPE’s First Nations Solidarity Working Group
More information about the formation of the Caledonia Militia:
http://www.canace.ca/ click on “Race-Based Policing” for background on why some residents of Caledonia feel the need for the Militia
http://www.marchforfreedom.com/smf/index.php?topic=466.0 This is a discussion board where the event was first announced.
http://www.westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2009/06/caledonia-militia-looking-for-a-few-good-men.html This magazine ran a story on the issue. The comments section is quite informative.
http://voiceofcanada.wordpress.com This is the website of Mark Vandermas
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/652121 This is a Toronto Star article on the issue. If you look at the comments, you’ll see that almost 90 of the 100 are strongly in support of the forming of the militia.
http://caledoniawakeupcall.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/caledonia-militia-draws-criticism-from-cowards/ This is a blogger in Caledonia.
