Khadr appears before U.S. military court in Cuba

Last Updated: Monday, June 4, 2007 | 12:11 PM ET

CBC News

Omar Khadr, the only Canadian being held in Guantanamo Bay, appeared Monday before a U.S. military commission at the detention centre in Cuba to be charged with murder and terrorism.

Khadr, now 20, sat before the judge in an olive prisoner uniform, sporting a full beard. His Canadian lawyers — Dennis Edney and Nate Whitling — were at his side.

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

Khadr fired his American lawyers last week, fearing he wouldn't get fair representation. The military judge, army Col. Peter Brownback, told the court on Monday that he would consider what role the Canadian lawyers could play in the trial. They are currently designated as foreign attorney consultants.

"All parties agree that no one wants to see Khadr proceed without representation," Brownback said.

Khadr is accused of killing an American medic five years ago as U.S. marines fought against al-Qaeda militants in Afghanistan.

While U.S. military prosecutors will seek to portray Khadr as a ruthless al-Qaeda terrorist who murdered a marine medic tending to the wounded, Khadr's Canadian defence team has argued he should be treated with more leniency because he was a child soldier.

Khadr was 15 at the time when he allegedly threw the grenade that fatally injured Sgt. First Class Christopher J. Speer, sending shrapnel through the soldier's skull.

Khadr's case has attracted the attention of international human rights groups and legal scholars who have condemned the prosecution, saying Khadr was too young to be held responsible for his actions.

Senior U.S. military prosecutor Col. Bo Davis rejected that claim and said he will be pushing for a lengthy adult sentence for the serious crime.

"We believe the evidence will show he voluntarily participated and understood what he was doing," Davis said, adding that Khadr would not be the first teen to be handed such a stiff sentence.

"We have 2,002 individuals in U.S. confinement for crimes committed under the age of 15," he said.

Monday's arraignment hearing turned a spotlight on the controversial military commission — a process designed by U.S. President George W. Bush to prevent alleged foreign terrorists from having their cases heard in U.S. civilian courts.

But Khadr's lawyer Edney, of Edmonton, has argued that the makeup of such a court pre-emptively convicts Khadr, since a military judge and a jury composed of American soldiers are deciding the fate of a person accused of killing one of their own.

Edney has said since Khadr's transfer to Guantanamo at age 16, he has been forced to grow up with hardened al-Qaeda terrorists, spend long periods in solitary confinement and has been tortured, leaving him "a broken young man."