Canada appeals ruling on Guantanamo detainee

[JonLP24]

Source: Associated Press

KINGSTON, Ontario (AP) — Canada said Friday it would appeal a court ruling requiring it to press the United States for the return of the last Western detainee still being held at Guantanamo Bay.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Alain Cacchione said the government has been very vocal in stating that Omar Khadr faces serious charges. Khadr, a Toronto native, was one of the youngest people ever charged with war crimes. He was 15 when he was accused of killing an American soldier with a grenade during a 2002 battle in Afghanistan.

Canada's three opposition parties have demanded the Conservative government bring Khadr home. But Prime Minister Stephen Harper has steadfastly refused to get involved in the case, saying the U.S. legal process must play itself out.

Khadr's lawyer called the government's decision to appeal mean spirited.

"Mr. Harper has simply put in his mind that he doesn't like Omar Khadr," attorney Dennis Edney said. "How can Mr. Harper take that position? We're not talking about guilt or innocence. We're talking about providing assistance to a Canadian who has been abused abroad, particularly a young Canadian."

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jWFIqpdGMks2qti1mZ51Ftgar3awD982A9F81

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[LakeSamish706]

2. Lets hope that in the not to distant future Canada can rid itself of this Bush Styled...

Conservative Government. Lets hope Michael Ignatieff can kick ass before long.

[CHIMO]

3. This Is Not An Isolated

Item.

Abdelrazik case violates principle of equal citizenship

Abousfian Abdelrazik is the Canadian citizen who is being denied the right to return to his home in Montreal from Sudan by the federal government's incomprehensible refusal to issue him an emergency travel document. His predicament raises a profound question that is of importance to every Canadian.

What does citizenship mean in Canada?

When Canadian citizenship was created in 1947, it was presented as a whole in itself, with no hierarchies in which one type of Canadian ranks above another.

In fact, the introduction to the Citizenship Act explicitly states that all citizens are equal before the law and provides "that a naturalized citizen is entitled to all the rights, powers and privileges, and is subject to all the obligations, duties and liabilities, of a citizen who was born in Canada ... that a ... citizen by naturalization has the same status as a Canadian citizen by birth ... (has) the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada ... and the right to apply for a Canadian passport."

http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/630816#

[struggle4progress]

4. ... "We're disappointed that Prime Minister Harper refuses to be part of the solution to

the Guantanamo problem faced by President Obama," said Canadian lawyer Nathan Whitling, who acts for Khadr ...

Khadr ruling appealed
Federal government will challenge judge's order to seek return of Canadian from Guantanamo
May 09, 2009 04:30 AM
Tonda MacCharles
Joanna Smith
STAFF REPORTERS
http://www.thestar.com/specialsections/article/631671

[time_has_come]

5. A Canadian Federal Court has said our Charter of Rights and Freedoms

has been violated by Harper's refusal to try and repatriate Khadr.

The court said the Harper government must respect international law that classifies Kadhr as a child soldier.

Harper's response has been that Khadr was not part of any army, so then he's not a child soldier. Nowhere in the UN document does it say anything about child soldiers needing to be part of an army in order to be classified as child soldiers. It's pitiful and disgraceful behavior.

[Posteritatis]

7. Harper's sitting on Khadr because that's what Bush would do

It's pretty much just that simple; guy isn't even in office anymore and Harper still wants to be his puppet. Khadr won't leave Guantanamo until either it's closed or Harper's removed from office.

[Spazito]

6. No surprise there...

Khadr's lawyer is right, it is mean spirited and that, in a nutshell, describes Harper and his cabal. I hope the Supreme Court of Canada refuses to hear the case and does it sooner than later.

[No Elephants]

8. Wonder what the few Canadian posters here who make anti-American posts all the time will say about

this. Anyone? Anyone? Buehler? Anyone?

[Senator]

9. K&R

[Wednesdays]

10. K&R

:kick: