Hundreds rally for Khadr release back to Canada
Last Updated: Saturday, July 26, 2008 | 10:23 PM ET
CBC News
Hundreds took to the streets in Toronto and Ottawa on Saturday to press the federal government to bring Omar Khadr back to Canada from the American prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Khadr's family joined an estimated 200 demonstrators in the rain to protest in front of the U.S. consulate in Toronto.
"We're hoping to raise awareness of Omar's situation," Karim Khadr said from his wheelchair on Saturday.
"Hopefully we'll get the support of the Canadian government, but most of all we want the support of the Canadian people, because they're what matters."
Karim was paralyzed from the waist down in the same gun battle that killed his father in Afghanistan in 2003. He returned to Canada in 2004 with his mother to seek medical attention.
Toronto-born Omar Khadr, 21, is facing a trial in the fall before a U.S. military commission for allegedly killing an American military medic with a hand grenade in Afghanistan in 2002. He was 15 at the time of his arrest and has spent nearly six years in custody.
A smaller rally was also held in Ottawa.
Speaking on behalf of the federal government, Conservative MP Jason Kenny reiterated the position that Omar Khadr is being treated fairly.
"[The government] has sought and received assurances that Mr. Khadr is being treated humanely and has carried out several welfare visits to verify this. We will continue to do this," he said in a statement on Saturday. "Mr. Khadr faces some very serious charges."
In announcing the rallies Friday, social activists said the government's refusal to press for his repatriation from Guantanamo Bay is a political and legal travesty.
The Toronto Coalition to Stop the War, which helped organize the protest, called Khadr's detention and treatment at Guantanamo Bay a "national disgrace and an international embarrassment."
The Network to Oppose War and Racism, which organized the Ottawa rally, said assurances from the government that Khadr is being treated well are false.
On Friday, a similar protest was held in Montreal. Another pro-Khadr rally is planned in Vancouver on Wednesday.
With files from the Canadian PressShare Tools
Top News Headlines
- Refugee reforms include fingerprints, no appeals for some
- New, tougher reforms to refugee legislation that hasn't yet come into force are already drawing fire from critics who say they give Canada's immigration minister too much power and risk the lives of claimants. more »
- Underwear bomber sentenced to life in prison
- A Nigerian man who tried to blow up an international flight near Detroit on behalf of al-Qaida has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. more »
- 7 MPs and their fiery quotes
- The election of a majority government was seen by some as a chance for less acrimonious politics on Parliament Hill. But the past week has seen its fair share of inflammatory rhetoric on both sides of the House. more »
- Bully victim's mother tells of 'suicide box'
- A mother who hired a bodyguard to protect her bullied daughter says the girl had prepared a "suicide box" in case the violence became unbearable. more »
Latest Canada News Headlines
- Dog kills newborn in Alberta community
- Officials in Airdrie are revealing few details about the fatal mauling of an infant by a family dog in the southern Alberta city. more »
- Refugee reforms include fingerprints, no appeals for some
- New, tougher reforms to refugee legislation that hasn't yet come into force are already drawing fire from critics who say they give Canada's immigration minister too much power and risk the lives of claimants. more »
- 7 MPs and their fiery quotes
- The election of a majority government was seen by some as a chance for less acrimonious politics on Parliament Hill. But the past week has seen its fair share of inflammatory rhetoric on both sides of the House. more »
- Bully victim's mother tells of 'suicide box'
- A mother who hired a bodyguard to protect her bullied daughter says the girl had prepared a "suicide box" in case the violence became unbearable. more »
The National
The Current
- Time Banking - Prosperity without Cash Feb. 16, 2012 4:03 PM A look at alternatives to cash in the economy, including the "time bank" movement where participants donate a hour of their labour or expertise in return for an equal amount of time from someone else
- Dog kills newborn in Alberta community
- Montreal telemarketers in fraud case still making calls
- Refugee reforms include fingerprints, no appeals for some
- Bully victim's mother tells of 'suicide box'
- Honduras prison fire is world's deadliest
- Degrassi's Wheels death announced, 5 years later
- Nortel collapse linked to Chinese hackers
- 2 small earthquakes rattle Vancouver Island
- Barefoot girl's icy trek not blamed on babysitter
