Extradite Omar Khadr Now

We call on the Canadian Government and all its members to do the following:

1. Extradite Khadr Immediately: It is clear from the recent videos that have emerged that Khadr has been mistreated during his time at Guantanamo. This is unacceptable due to the following reasons:

a. Under its international obligations, both the United States and Canada have committed to acting in the best interest of child soldiers. All combatants who are 15 years old and under are considered child soldiers according to the 1977 Additional Protocols to the four Geneva Conventions. Thus, Khadr was a child soldier at the time of his capture. As such, international guidelines state that he should have been treated in the following way:

i. The Optional Protocol of the UN Convention on the Rights of Child of 2000 (of which BOTH the United States and Canada are a party), states the following:

No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age. (Article 37, A).

ii. Furthermore, the Paris Principles, an international initiative, states that children who participate in armed conflict, “should be considered primarily as victims of offences against international law," and that “all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration must be taken.”

Sleep deprivation and disorientation are not methods of rehabilitation, nor do they promote physical and psychological recovery. They are certainly not appropriate in the treatment of a victim. Rather, they are degrading, cruel and inhuman. Because of the failure of the U.S court where Khadr is being tried to acknowledge that Khadr is a child soldier, despite clear international guidelines that he is, we demand that Khadr be extradited and treated in the way that is mandated by the international community.

b. Khadr is a Canadian citizen and yet, he is the only Western detainee at Guantanamo. He needs to be extradited, so that he can be tried in a way that complies with the rule of law, and international humanitarian law.

2. Formally Acknowledge Khadr’s Status as a Child Soldier. All of his subsequent treatment must be in accordance with this acknowledgement. The government must thus act in Khadr’s best interests.

We, the Undersigned, call on the Canadian Government to Bring Omar Khadr Back Home Now!