Imagine being only 15 years old and ending up in one of the most well-known military prisons on Earth. Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen, was only 15 when he was accused of throwing a grenade at a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan, which killed Sgt 1st Class, Christopher Speer. The injured Khadr was taken as a prisoner and eventually transferred to Guantanamo Bay in October of 2002, only a short few months after the incident. Now in 2017, Khadr was finally classified as a minimum security prisoner, back in Canada, and will be receiving CA $10.5 million from the government as a result of a Supreme Court ruling.
Time in Guantanamo
After President Obama failed to close down the prison, the Cuban government began to use the threat of locking up prisoners in Guantanamo Bay as well. Multiple accusations of Human Rights violations have been levied against the prison, with accusations of not only physical abuse, but also sexual, psychological, as well as degrading prisoners. Khadr says he was not immune to the treatment, despite being the only child soldier ever prosecuted for war crimes.
Khadr stated he had been hogtied for hours, eventually urinating himself. On one occasion, he was used as a "human mop" and his body was used to wipe up cleaner off the floor. Other methods allegedly used on him were sleep deprivation, stress positions, and threats of rape.
Khadr said he was subject to the "frequent flyer program," in which he was moved to a different cell every three hours. This form of torture is not allowed to be used by Canadian military force interrogation due to severity. Khadr, after eight years, eventually pled guilty to war crimes, and only two years after his capture was he allowed access to legal counsel.
He states he only pled guilty to somehow leave Guantanamo. Wikileaks has leaked information confirming that these allocations of violating rights are true and common amongst detainees.
The Settlement
On July 4, the government decided to settle the ongoing lawsuit against Ottawa and award CA $10.5 million to Khadr after concluding his rights had been violated.
After his release, he appealed his guilty plea and said it was only made under duress. The government had attempted to block bail during his arrest, which was shot down.
A fellow detainee at the time provided information about Khadr's arrival at Guantanamo, stating his eye was shot out and he had huge wounds. He also stated that he was abused in front of him, with being assaulted, screamed at, and stripped. He said everybody, including soldiers, knew this was not the way to treat a child.
The $20 million lawful imprisonment suit argued that the Canadian Government not only failed to protect their citizen but also had conspired with the U.S. regarding his abuse. His lawyers argued Khadr was also thought to be influenced by his father and family due to spending time with Osama bin Laden when he was a child.
His father was killed in 2003 during a Pakistani helicopter shelling of an Al-Queda operative area. Following his release in May of 2015, Khadr apologized to the families of the victims and says he rejects violent jihadism and wants a new start in life by finishing his education to begin work in health care while living in an apartment in Alberta.
Speer's widow and another soldier blinded by the grenade had filed a wrongful death and injury suit against Khadr in hopes to somehow block the potential $20 million he may be awarded. A U.S. judge granted an award for damages of $134.2 million. However, due to Khadr not being an American citizen, the The settlement was never enforced at the time.
