Next week, on Tuesday 10 August, 23-year old Canadian Omar Khadr, who has spent over a quarter of his life illegally detained at Guantánamo Bay, will become the first person to be tried at Guantánamo under the Obama administration and the first person to be tried for offences allegedly committed as a child (when aged 15) anywhere in the world in over 60 years. International law considers child soldiers like Omar Khadr to be victims and not criminals and in practice is against any form of trial for them.
Take action for Omar Khadr:
Next week, on Tuesday 10 August, 23-year old Canadian Omar Khadr, who has spent over a quarter of his life illegally detained at Guantánamo Bay, will become the first person to be tried at Guantánamo under the Obama administration and the first person to be tried for offences allegedly committed as a child (when aged 15) anywhere in the world in over 60 years. International law considers child soldiers like Omar Khadr to be victims and not criminals and in practice is against any form of trial for them.
In a case which clearly shows how flawed and unfair the legal process at Guantánamo Bay is, a case in Germany against Nazi suspect Samuel Kunz, now aged 88, accused of involvement in the killing of over 400,000 Jews in Belzec will be heard before a youth court as he was 20 at the time. Omar Khadr has never been treated as a child at Guantánamo Bay; he has been denied the right to an education, beaten and tortured and denied adequate medical and legal provision.
The evidence against Omar Khadr is tenuous at best with even an interrogator admitting at a pre-trial hearing that he had been threatened with rape and death to get him to comply and confess. Leaked Pentagon documents have also revealed that he is unlikely to have been involved in the offences he is alleged to have committed in Afghanistan.
Rather than assisting its own citizen and repatriating him, the Canadian government, amid much international criticism, has consistently blocked his return to the country. Omar Khadr has himself described the military commission as a "sham" and has tried to boycott it. His upcoming commission has been condemned by the UN and other international bodies for human rights and the rights of children.
The London Guantánamo Campaign (LGC) asks everyone to take action for Omar Khadr:
1 – Join the LGC demonstration for Omar Khadr outside the US Embassy in London on Friday 6 August at 5-7pm to protest his military commission next week.[The US Embassy is in Grosvenor Square, London, W1A 1AE and the nearest underground is Bond Street or Marble Arch]
2 – Sign the LGC petition for Omar Khadr which we will deliver to the US Embassy at the demonstration on Friday 6 August:
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/38137.html
3 – Take part in the Amnesty USA action by writing to President Obama and the US Defense Department and demand that they end this process: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/c.goJTI0OvElH/b.953489/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?ievent=109623&action=14560&template=x.ascx
London Guantánamo Campaign
london.gtmo[at[gmail.com
Next week, on Tuesday 10 August, 23-year old Canadian Omar Khadr, who has spent over a quarter of his life illegally detained at Guantánamo Bay, will become the first person to be tried at Guantánamo under the Obama administration and the first person to be tried for offences allegedly committed as a child (when aged 15) anywhere in the world in over 60 years. International law considers child soldiers like Omar Khadr to be victims and not criminals and in practice is against any form of trial for them.
In a case which clearly shows how flawed and unfair the legal process at Guantánamo Bay is, a case in Germany against Nazi suspect Samuel Kunz, now aged 88, accused of involvement in the killing of over 400,000 Jews in Belzec will be heard before a youth court as he was 20 at the time. Omar Khadr has never been treated as a child at Guantánamo Bay; he has been denied the right to an education, beaten and tortured and denied adequate medical and legal provision.
The evidence against Omar Khadr is tenuous at best with even an interrogator admitting at a pre-trial hearing that he had been threatened with rape and death to get him to comply and confess. Leaked Pentagon documents have also revealed that he is unlikely to have been involved in the offences he is alleged to have committed in Afghanistan.
Rather than assisting its own citizen and repatriating him, the Canadian government, amid much international criticism, has consistently blocked his return to the country. Omar Khadr has himself described the military commission as a "sham" and has tried to boycott it. His upcoming commission has been condemned by the UN and other international bodies for human rights and the rights of children.
The London Guantánamo Campaign (LGC) asks everyone to take action for Omar Khadr:
1 – Join the LGC demonstration for Omar Khadr outside the US Embassy in London on Friday 6 August at 5-7pm to protest his military commission next week.[The US Embassy is in Grosvenor Square, London, W1A 1AE and the nearest underground is Bond Street or Marble Arch]
2 – Sign the LGC petition for Omar Khadr which we will deliver to the US Embassy at the demonstration on Friday 6 August:
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/38137.html 3 – Take part in the Amnesty USA action by writing to President Obama and the US Defense Department and demand that they end this process:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/c.goJTI0OvElH/b.953489/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?ievent=109623&action=14560&template=x.ascx London Guantánamo Campaign
london.gtmo[at[gmail.com
e-mail:
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