UK MEP urges Canada to repatriate its 'Guantanamo' citizen

3.21.00pm GMT Fri 18th Jan 2008

Photography by Richard Keith Wolff.

London Liberal Democrat EP Baroness Sarah Ludford has written to the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to request that he take action to secure the return of Canadian citizen Omar Khadr from Guantanamo Bay.

Khadr was 15 when he was incarcerated in Guantanamo 6 years ago, treated without reference to his youth, denied legal assistance for 2 years and otherwise not accorded his human rights. He has not been afforded any trial, let alone a fair one.

Omar Khadr is believed to be the last Westerner currently held in Guantanamo Bay. In her letter to Prime Minister Harper, Baroness Ludford noted the stark contrast between Canada's international reputation as a champion of human rights and its apparent indifference to the plight of its young citizen.

Her letter concludes:

"I therefore respectfully ask that your government reaffirms Canada's commitment to all those principles by acting to secure respect for Omar's rights to a fair trial under US criminal law or otherwise for return to Canada and assessment of his case by a domestic legal team. To leave him in Guantánamo Bay would be a gross undermining of all the commitments that Canada has undertaken."

In view of Canada's leading position in the Commonwealth which like the Canadian government continually calls for respect for fundamental human rights and the rule of law, Sarah Ludford is urging that Secretary-General Donald McKinnon and his successor Kamalesh Sharma who takes over soon should help persuade Canada to act.