Detainee's lawyer to press U.S.
Hot on heels of court ruling, counsel seeks speedy access to Canadian held in Cuba
By ESTANISLAO OZIEWICZ
Wednesday, June 30, 2004 - Page A17
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The lawyer for Omar Khadr, the last Canadian being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, intends to press for immediate access to his client on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that terrorism suspects have a legal right to question their detention.
"I want to see my client. I want to find out how he is being treated. I'll also be asking the American government to provide me with any and all documentation they have relied upon to justify his incarceration," Edmonton-based lawyer Dennis Edney said in an interview yesterday.
The Foreign Affairs Department said it welcomes Monday's U.S. ruling and might consider intervening on Mr. Khadr's behalf if his lawyer launches a judicial review of his imprisonment. But Mr. Edney reiterated previous complaints that the Canadian government has consistently turned aside his pleas for help, saying he has no confidence that Ottawa is willing to take up the challenge now.
"Here we have a Canadian citizen, facing the death penalty, and what have they done to this point in time? Absolutely nothing. . . . The Canadian government has been absolutely silent about the treatment of this young boy," he said.
Mr. Edney's client is a 17-year-old Canadian accused of, but not charged with, killing an American soldier in Afghanistan when he was 15. Together with hundreds of other detainees whom Washington has labelled "enemy combatants," Mr. Khadr has been held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay for almost two years.
Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "enemy combatants" must have recourse to challenge their detention before a judge or a neutral court. The ruling effectively undermines the assertion by President George W. Bush's administration that such detainees have no right to protection under the Geneva Conventions and can be held indefinitely without access to lawyers.
However, it remains unclear what legal route lawyers and family members must take to win the detainees' release or to effect major changes in the conditions of their confinement. Nor is it clear how long the process may take.
As if to undercut the ruling, the U.S. military announced yesterday that it has formed a five-member tribunal to try three terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo.
The three charged are Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al-Bahlul of Yemen, Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi of Sudan and David Hicks of Australia. The three are charged with conspiring to commit war crimes. Mr. Hicks also is charged with attempted murder and supporting the enemy.
Mr. Edney, who says he is acting for Mr. Khadr through his grandmother, Fatima Elsamnah, won intervenor status in the U.S. Supreme Court hearing and argued that Washington is not only flouting the Geneva Conventions, but also the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and principles consistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Mr. Khadr is the only Canadian citizen currently at Guantanamo, and one of just a handful of juveniles among the nearly 600 remaining prisoners. He is the younger brother of Abdurahman Khadr, who was released last year although he admitted to attending an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in 1998.
Mr. Edney said he decided to act on behalf of Omar because Ottawa has refused to do so. Foreign Affairs has said it decided not to intervene in the U.S. court case because it decided the case dealt not with universal human rights but with the division of powers under the U.S. Constitution.
In contrast to Canada, countries such as Britain, France and Australia, and some in the Middle East, have all publicly insisted that any of their citizens held at Guantanamo be released or afforded due process under international law. Yesterday, Stockholm said it is considering providing legal aid to a detained Swede.
Mr. Edney said it took Foreign Minister Bill Graham seven months to reply to his letters asking Ottawa for help. Canadian officials have visited Mr. Khadr, but Mr. Graham refused to give his lawyer any information about his health or treatment in detention.
"He wrote to me and said, 'By now, you'll understand that we chose not to participate in the challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court because it was an issue of jurisdiction.' "
Rodney Moore, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs, said yesterday that Ottawa is concerned about Mr. Khadr's detention and continues to discuss his treatment with Washington, "including his entitlement to due process."
