Omar Khadr, shown here at 15, not long before he was captured by U.S. forces in July 2002. (Canadian Press)Omar Khadr, shown here at 15, not long before he was captured by U.S. forces in July 2002. (Canadian Press)

The Canadian Bar Association and more than a half-dozen other legal groups demanded on Tuesday that the Canadian government repatriate Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, now awaiting trial at a U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The groups, led by the bar association and Lawyers Without Borders, held a news conference in Montreal to urge the federal government to bring Khadr to Canada, where they want authorities to hear his case.

"Prisoners in Guantanamo Bay have been detained indefinitely — many for years — without being charged or allowed to communicate privately with their lawyers," Marie Laure Leclercq of the association said on Tuesday.

"This is a clear case of disrespect for the rule of law."

The groups have said that Khadr's detention is in violation of international law. The news conference coincided with the launch of a public information campaign by Lawyers Without Borders, which aims to inform Canadians why the Khadr case is important.

The campaign got off to a colourful start with the help of a group of young volunteers who were dressed in orange jumpsuits similar to those worn by prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

The CBA has repeatedly requested that the government push for Khadr's repatriation.

Khadr was captured in July 2002 following a gunfight by U.S troops in Afghanistan when he was 15 years old. The Pentagon alleges Khadr threw a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier.

Khadr is the only citizen from a western nation imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay.

With files from the Canadian Press