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Omar Khadr Gets 40 Year Trophy Sentence, Could Be Freed Next Year

By Jeralyn

A Guantanamo military commission jury has sentenced child soldier Omar Khadr to 40 years.

The Pentagon makes a big deal of saying Khadr won't get credit for time served. And they bury the most salient fact: It's an 8 year sentence, limited by the plea agreement, and he'll serve one more year at Guantanamo and then be returned to Canada to serve the rest.

Khadr’s sentence is limited by the terms of his plea agreement to eight years confinement, but he receives the benefit of whichever is less -- the adjudged sentence or the eight-year sentence limitation. Consistent with the terms of Khadr's plea agreement, the governments of Canada and the United States exchanged notes reflecting that both would support Khadr's transfer to Canadian custody to serve the remainder of his approved sentence after he serves one year in U.S. custody.

Omar has spent the last 8 years, one-third of his life, in U.S. detention. Hopefully, Canada will grant him an early release. The U.S. acknowledged in its diplomatic note exchange with Canada that Canada could release him at any time after he arrives there. [More...]

Canada states the amount of time Omar would serve is up to the parole board but prisoners are generally eligible after serving one-third of their sentence.

The Globe and Mail says Omar will be eligible for immediate release when he returns, because Canada will give him credit for time served.

The next year won't be pleasant for Omar:

Mr. Khadr, now a convicted war criminal, was taken after sentencing to Camp 5, a fortress-like copy of a U.S. maximum security prison where he will spend most all but a few hours a day in solitary for the next year.

Omar gave the sentencing panel a statement at the hearing.

In his last statement to the panel, Mr. Khadr... said he hoped they would consider that a U.S. military interrogator threatened to have him gang-raped to death...."This story scared me very much and made me cry," the burly Mr. Khadr, now 24, said in an unsworn statement read by his lawyer to the panel on Friday.

At least one U.S. soldier has confessed to making such threats to detainees:

Joshua Claus, a former U.S. army interrogator, convicted of assault in connection with the beating death of an Afghan detainee at the U.S. detention centre in Bagram, Afghanistan, boasted under oath that he told young detainees a horrific tale of an Afghan boy gang-raped to death by "four big black guys" to persuade them to confess.

Here's a gruesome photo of a wounded Omar on the battlefield where he was captured. He was shot three times by U.S. soldiers and blinded in one eye. After his capture, he was used as a human mop.

As his lawyer says, ""He is not a radical jihadist, he is a victim of his family, his father, …. and he is a victim of this system."

What should we have done with Omar after capturing him at 15? Protected him, provided him with counsel and tried him in accordance with international standards of juvenile justice . Human Rights Watch says:

International standards recognize that children under the age of 18 are a particularly vulnerable group, and are entitled to special care and protection because they are still developing physically, mentally and emotionally. These standards include certain key principles, including the use of detention only as a measure of last resort, the separation of children from adults, the right of children to maintain contact with their families, and the right to a prompt determination of their case. In addition, treaties binding on the United States recognize the special situation of children who have been recruited or used in armed conflict, and their rights to prompt demobilization, and rehabilitation and reintegration assistance.

In cases where children are believed to have committed war crimes, they can be formally charged and should be provided with counsel and tried in accordance with international standards of juvenile justice.

All of our coverage of his case since 2004 is accessible here.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on November 01, 2010 (boomark / email).