International Law

'First Guantanamo video' released

By John Hirst

A videotape of a detainee being questioned at the US' Guantanamo Bay prison camp has been released for the first time.

It shows 16-year-old Omar Khadr being asked by Canadian officials in 2003 about events leading up to his capture by US forces, Canadian media say.

Mr Khadr is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a US soldier during a gun battle in Afghanistan in 2002.

He is seen in a distressed state and complains he has been tortured.

The footage was made public by Mr Khadr's lawyers following a Supreme Court ruling in May that the Canadian government had to hand over key evidence against him to allow a full defence of the charges he is facing.

'Disgraceful treatment'

During the 10-minute video - filmed secretly through a ventilation shaft - Mr Khadr can be seen crying, his face buried in his hands, and pulling at his hair.

He can be heard repeatedly chanting: "Help me."

At one point he tells the foreign ministry official and agents from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) that he was tortured while being held at the US military detention centre at Bagram air base in Afghanistan.

He raises his orange shirt to show the wounds he sustained and tells them: "You don't care about me."

One of Mr Khadr's lawyers, Dennis Edney, said they hoped the video would create an outcry in Canada and pressure Prime Minister Stephen Harper to demand the US not prosecute their client.

"I hope Canadians will be outraged to see the callous and disgraceful treatment of a Canadian youth," Mr Edney told the Toronto Star newspaper.

"Canadians should demand to know why they've been lied to."

Full post as published by prisonlawinsideout on July 15, 2008 (boomark / email).