Legal limbo

[sabotabby]

Omar Khadr is in "legal limbo." As far as I can tell, this means that while someone's finally acknowledged that holding a 15-year-old Canadian child in an American gulag as a war criminal was kind of a bad move, they still don't exactly know what to do with him.

For a brief refresher, Khadr is a Canadian who allegedly lived in bin Laden's compound, attended a military training camp, and killed an American soldier with a grenade in Afghanistan. At the time, he was 15. Under both Canadian and American law, a 15-year-old is ineligible to vote (and thus participate in the making of foreign policy), attend a school field trip without a note from his parents, or drive a car. He was, however, apparently old enough to be shot, arrested, shipped to Guantanamo Bay, tortured, charged, denied an independent medical examination, and held for five years. For those of you keeping track, that's a fourth of his life.

There's a consistency issue here, and it's not just in terms of how we define "terrorist" or "war crimes" or "enemy combatant" but in terms of how we define adulthood and enfranchisement. Allow me to advance the possibly unpopular proposal that, if we hold that a 15-year-old is too young to cast a ballot, he's too young to be charged in an adult court.

Of course, Khadr is no longer 15. He's 20, and he has yet to be convicted of any crime. Still, it's unlikely, after all this, that even if he's released, he will ever be a functional member of society. Guantanamo has nothing to do with protecting anyone from terrorists, and everything to do with breaking minds and spirits, sowing fear, creating the illusion that you're safe from terror just as long as you don't step out of line. As Amnesty International's Jumana Musa points out:

At this point more people have died of apparent suicides (at Guantanamo) than have faced trial before a military commission. I think that's a pretty ringing endorsement as to why these commissions need to go.

I'm not arguing that he didn't do it, by the way; I'm arguing that he can't be held legally responsible. Not unless we're willing to take on the considerably larger task of redefining what constitutes citizenship.

ETA: A decent Star editorial on the subject.

Comments

[cpxbrex.livejournal.com]

If I understand right, after the most recent ruling a lot of military lawyers are of the opinion that this military commission business is a sick sham.

[sabotabby]

This seems to be the case. The judge is a military judge.

[peterbilt-47.livejournal.com]

You can build a throne of bayonets, but you can't sit on it very long.

-Boris Yeltsin in a moment of clarity.

[terry-terrible.livejournal.com]

If I understand right, after the most recent ruling a lot of military lawyers are of the opinion that this military commission business is a sick sham.

And it only took them five years to figure that little gem of an idea out? If that's so I'd say they wasted thier money on whatever lawschool they went to.

[cpxbrex.livejournal.com]

*snickers* I largely agree! I mean, that's my point! That the obviousness of the awfulness of Gitmo and these commissions is even obvious to military lawyers, whom I regard as being just above banana slugs in terms of reason, mercy and education. ;)

It was obvious to thinking people right from the get-go, and thinking people rarely, if ever, includes military lawyers or American politicians.

[terry-terrible.livejournal.com]

Oh okay I get what you were saying, for some reason I read it as if you were saying that it was hopeful that they realized this.

Sadly I doubt anything will change regarding this, even some democrats hold the line on international law that is a nuanced "we'll reserve the right to decide what's llegal and what is illegal as fits our priorities, if the international war crimes court or other extra-governmental conventions have a problem with that they can go suck it".

[ltmurnau.livejournal.com]

If you're 13, you can join the Ugandan Army (but your parents have to sign you up). Khadr wasn't conscripted, he volunteered, certainly something permitted (but not encouraged) under international humanitarian law.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_soldier

One could say he cast his ballot when he cast his hand grenade; but can we say he was acting as a citizen of Canada when he did it?

[sabotabby]

One could say he cast his ballot when he cast his hand grenade; but can we say he was acting as a citizen of Canada when he did it?

He's a citizen of Canada whether he acted as one or not. I may disagree with a large portion of Canadian legislation, but I'm still subject to it (and presumably protected under it).

At any rate, we don't offer children the choice between ballots and hand grenades for a good reason—most aren't mature enough to handle either.

[ltmurnau.livejournal.com]

Here is an interesting book review in The Tyee that compares and contrasts Khadr and an African child soldier:

http://thetyee.ca/Books/2007/06/11/KidCriminals/

[frandroid.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, this means that while someone's finally acknowledged that holding a 15-year-old Canadian child in an American gulag as a war criminal was kind of a bad move, they still don't exactly know what to do with him.

That's a rosy way to look at it... They just messed up and they'll legally screw him better when they next lay new charges.

You complain that he was old enough to be shot and arrested, after he tossed a hand-grenade? Come on. That's well-deserved of anyone tossing a hand-grenade in a combat situation.

As for the rest, no one deserves it, so his age has little to do with it. Sure, it's worse because he's young. But there's little debate among us that it shouldn't happen to anyone. He should be sent to a civilian court, where a judge would determine how he could be charged and at what level.

As for the citizenship issue, the failure of two (or three?) successive Canadian governments to demand his release (like the British did) is even more galling, in my eyes. In terms of citizenship, our government has more to answer than even the U.S., although that's because of the U.S. behaviour, in this particular case. It's one thing to torture "enemy combatants", it's even worse when you see your friends do it to one of your own citizens and not bat an eyelash.

[frandroid.livejournal.com]

Ehhh, I don't like my tone in this comment. Disregard tone. :P