Senator Mobina Jaffer

Khadr Clock Day 5

 Today was day 5 since Justice Zinn issued his ruling towards the Government in regards to the Omar Khadr situation. Unfortunately, there was no evident progress made. I wanted to bring up the matter in Senate, but there was no sitting today. The next sitting is on Monday, and rest assured, I plan on bringing Khadrs plight to light, as Monday will be the end of the one week deadline given by Zinn.

 Whenever it comes to Khadr, I always get confused when one promotes the idea that the matter is much more complicated than it seems. I believe it is a very simple situation. We have laws that clearly state what should happen in circumstances such as these, but somehow these regulations are mysteriously forgotten or ignored. The Convention on the Rights of the Child says that children under the age of 18 who are in Khadr’s situation, should not be prosecuted for their actions because they do not fully know what they are doing. Khadr was 15 during his infamous firefight, but is still being legally pursued. Why is this?

During the war in Sierra Leone, children were recruited and used as soldiers and made to do horrible things. However, it was recognized that they were forced into these situations and did not act willingly. As a result, international law was followed and the children were not punished, but rather rehabilitated. Why shouldn’t the same happen with Khadr - who by the way has neither been fully tried nor convicted yet?

Nevertheless, the correct course of action is there. I don’t understand why the government doesn’t take it. Mr. Harper, please do the right thing and bring Khadr home. Please do not hide behind the excuse of ‘letting the US judicial process run its course.’ No other Western leader did. Why should you?

-Mobina

Khadr Clock Day 4

There are four days left until Justice Zinn’s deadline is up. And yet, there has been no substantial progress made, or at least any that the public is made aware of.

I made two comments on Omar Khadr in the Senate today.

Firstly, I made a statement during the sitting in which I updated my colleagues on the current situation with Khadr and urged the government to do the right thing and bring the Canadian home.

A little later in the session, I was able to ask Sen. Marjory LeBreton (Leader of the Government) a question – ‘What exactly the government has done this week in regards to Khadr, and equally important - what they plan to do in the remaining days?’ Her response was standard and in line with the Conservative Party position – “Khadr is facing serious charges in the US. We will let the US justice system play out before acting.” This in other words means, they will not do anything out of their own motivations, but wait. All we can do now is wait to see what they will in the upcoming days.

On another note, tonight, it was made aware that Khadrs pre-trial hearings scheduled for next week (ahead of his trial which is scheduled to begin Aug. 10) was cancelled. After Khadr, fired his 3 US lawyers yesterday, the Judge of the court decided to indefinetly cancel the pre-trial hearing and instead hold a meeting with Khadr next week to discuss his choice to fire his lawyers. With everything that has been happening in the last few days, the case is now in limbo and “its not clear if [Khadr’s] trial will go ahead on Aug. 10 as scheduled,” as Michelle Shephard of the Toronto Star has written in her July 8^th online article entitled “Omar Khadr’s Guantanamo hearing suspended.”

-Mobina

Today is Day 3 of the Khadr clock and thus far has proven to be a very busy day.

Firstly, in terms of Justice Zinn’s ruling, it has been three days since it came out and there has been no concrete decision/position taken by the government yet. The issue has rarely been brought up in the Senate, but I have been following it very closely myself. I am hoping that this important issue doesn’t get lost in the next few days and that by Monday the 12^th (the one week deadline), the government finally makes the decision to repatriate Khadr back to Khadr.

Tomorrow, I am planning to ask a question in the Senate directly to the government in regards to what they have done thus far on the matter and what they plan to do in the remaining four days?

Secondly, today Khadr fired his three US defence lawyers. The Global and Mail reports in their July 8^th newspaper, that “Omar has lost hope of a fair trial at Guantanamo [and] he can see the trial is rigged.”

This has put Khadrs upcoming US military trial (scheduled to start on Aug. 10) in disarray and jeopardy. There are numerous possible outcomes now. The trial may proceed with Khadr representing himself or the trial itself may be postponed until his issues with counsel are fixed. Regardless, this new development further complicates an already intricate situation.

-Mobina

I have been following the Omar Khadr case for several years now. For those of you who are not familiar with this case, Omar Khadr is a young Canadian who has unjustly been imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay for the past 8 years. During this time, he has not had a trial nor has he been convicted. Furthermore, he is the last remaining Westerner in the prison.

I have raised this matter time and time again both in the Senate Chambers and in Committee Meetings. The most recent of which was today, when I made a statement which reflected yesterday’s development on the Khadr case, where Justice Russell Zinn, of the Federal Court of Canada, told the government that they had one week to come up with a list of remedies to fix their violations of Khadr’s rights.

In January, the Supreme Court of Canada found that the Government had in fact violated Khadr’s constitutional rights and ordered them to right their wrongs. Since this time, there has been little to no progress made, as the Government has failed to act on the Supreme Courts declarations. Therefore, Justice Zinn’s demand was more than appropriate.

Below is a copy of my statement from July 6th, 2010:

I rise before you today to speak about Omar Khadr.

Omar Khadr was 15 when he was captured in Afghanistan. He was just a child. He was there not out of personal choice, but because his father had taken him there.

After being captured Khadr was then transferred to the infamous Guantanomo Bay where he has been imprisoned for 8 years. He has grown up in this horrible place and remains there today as the last prisoner from the Western world. He is now 23 years old.

Yesterday, Justice Russell Zinn of the Federal Court of Canada gave the government 7 days to come up with a list of remedies for its violations of Khadrs rights.

In January of this year, the Supreme Court declared that Omar Khadr’s constitutional rights had indeed been infringed upon. In response to this declaration, Justice Zinn ruled that Khadr “is entitled to procedural fairness and natural justice.”

The Supreme Court, after acknowledging their wrong doing, demanded that our Government take action to come up with a remedy to right their wrongs.

Unfortunately, our government has made very little progress on the issue and has stated that Canada must let the US justice process run its course.

Our judicial system has looked at this issue over and over and on a number of occasions has ruled progressively on the matter. However, each and every time, the government has found ways of escaping their responsibilities.

The ruling yesterday by Justice Zinn was yet another example of the courts bending backward to accommodate the Governments inaction. Justice Zinn has now given the government one week to propose remedies on what they will do to fix Khadrs violations.

Justice Zinn went on to say that repatriating Khadr to Canada is “the only alternative remedy I can see that can potentially cure the breach,” of his rights.

Honourable Senators, I think we all know that this is the proper course of action in all regards. I urge the government, as I have done many times before, to listen to all Supreme and Federal court judgements including this most recent one.

Honourable Senators, let us do the right thing, let us bring Omar Khadr home.”

The Khadr situation is made much more complicated than it actually is. If one looks at the existing international laws surrounding this matter, one can easily see what needs to be done – repatriate and rehabilitate. Simply put, Khadr should be repatriated back to Canada and then rehabilitated. This is what the Canadian public wants, this is what the international community wants and this is what I want. Right now, the power is in the Prime Ministers hands. I strongly urge you to write a letter to Prime Minister Harper about this matter and demand that he follows international law and brings Omar Khadr back to Canada where he belongs.

Letters to the PM are free and can be mailed to:

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper

Prime Minister of Canada

111 Wellington Street

Ottawa, ON

K1A 0A6

I have always believed that change does not come from the few, but the many. I hope that in Khadr’s case, this can prove to be true.

-Mobina          

Today Justice Russell Zinn of the Federal Court of Canada gave the Government a one week deadline to produce a list of ways they can remedy the breech of Omar Khadr’s constitutional rights.

As you may know, Khadr has been imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay since he was 15 years old. He is now 23 and has neither been tried or convicted. Our Government has continuously ignored international law regarding this matter and has not acted on behalf of one of it’s citizens.

Today’s report will force the Government to finally take action and do so within a limited time frame. I have been following this case for several years and I intend to continue to do so during the next seven days.

-Mobina