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Obama's Canadian favour
Obama's Canadian favour
By George Abraham, political analyst in Ottawa
Para Grandes Montañas
Para Grandes Montañas
Some countries have refused to repatriate their citizens held at Guantanamo Bay [GALLO/GETTY]
Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister, is under mounting pressure to bring Omar Khadr, the only westerner still detained at Guantanamo Bay prison, back home.
Khadr was only 15 when US forces alleged he was captured during a battle in Afghanistan in 2002 after throwing a grenade that killed a soldier.
Local human rights groups have also called on Ottawa to offer refuge to some 240 other prisoners who may be released later this year if Washington carries out its promise to shut down the prison.
On January 22, Barack Obama, the US president, ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp within one year and a review of the military tribunals set up by the former administration to try them.
However, Obama faces two challenges he must overcome before the prisoners are released.
Washington must decide how to deal with the pending prosecution of people like Khadr, but also what to do with the other prisoners who may not be welcome in their own countries.
If Harper does offer Canada as a refuge for prisoners who have nowhere else to go, he may be doing the US president a "favour" that he is unlikely to forget for a long while.
Child Soldier
Guantanamo Bay prison may soon be emptied of its prisoners [AFP]
If Khadr were to ever go on trial – in Guantanamo or elsewhere – he would be the youngest person ever to be charged with war crimes.
It is now doubtful if he can ever be convicted without credible eyewitness accounts.
Calls to bring the Toronto-born Khadr back home have increased in the past few months.
His family's pleas for a Canadian trial got a boost last week when Irwin Cotler, the former federal justice minister, criticised Harper's reluctance to address the Khadr case.
Both Liberal and Conservative governments have long taken the line that the US government must first determine what it intends to do with the young Guantanamo detainee before Canada can suggest an alternative legal route.
Khadr's lawyers have argued that he should be classified as a child soldier, a term Harper has refused to acknowledge."My understanding of international law is, to be a child soldier, you have to be in an army," Harper was quoted as saying.
Goodwill gesture
Cotler has suggested Ottawa make a goodwill gesture to the US administration "by offering a practical solution to its legal quagmire" when Obama visits Canada on February 19.
Amit Attaran, a professor of law and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Law, Population Health and Global Development Policy at the University of Ottawa, believes Harper should commit to more.
He says Canadians must help Obama erase the Guantanamo blot from the US record.
This, he says, will make Canada "an unforgettable friend" of the Obama government and prove an immeasurable advantage if Ottawa ever wished to call in a favour over such stubborn issues as Arctic sovereignty and open borders.
Attaran says up to 60 prisoners have been "approved for release" but US allies, among them Australia, Switzerland, Britain, Germany and Portugal, have balked at suggestions that they take them in.
They say they fear a backlash from their citizens, or, in the case of the Europeans, from neighbouring nations.
Canada has also previously said, "No, thanks".
Domestic opposition
The government will likely find that hosting former Guantanamo prisoners will be a tough sell at home.
Legal experts say the government would have any number of options to grant residency, including Ottawa's vaunted refugee acceptance system or the wholly discretionary practise of granting ministerial permits.
Attaran believes there will be an initial backlash, with local commentators voicing their opposition to the plan.
However, he believes this should not deter the government.
"This would be diplomatically advantageous, even if not politically advantageous for Harper," Attaran said.
The resettlement process is also likely to be expensive - essentially, the detainees would be guests of the government for at least the first three months - but they would have the liberty of making a home in any part of Canada.
After three months, they would be eligible for provincial support programs, although the stigma of Guantanamo is likely to prevent provinces from actively scouting for them.
Obama has come to realise that while Guantanamo has become a universal metaphor for US overreach, it is a legal conundrum that defies easy resolution.
He cannot keep it open, nor can he close it without some international help, because US citizens would never allow any of the terror suspects housed at Guantanamo to set foot on the mainland without shackles, handcuffs and a GPS bracelet.
Canadians just might.
George Abraham is a contributing editor of Diplomat and International Canada magazine, a periodical that examines international affairs and Canadian foreign policy.
Source:
Al Jazeera
Feedback
Number of comments : 2
Christopher RushlauUnited States
19/02/2009
"You have to be in an army to be a child soldier"
And Canadians think US politics is nutty? Maybe they accept it north of the border, two hundred miles from me, because Mr. Harper is only reporting what the lawyers tell him. Who is he to disagree? We are, after all, "a nation of laws, not of men".
Mike MuirBrazil
19/02/2009
No
Why us, why!! Wait a minute there. Why should Canada get them? The US jailed them, the US deal with them. We stayed out of the iraqui war and only sent troops to Kandahar because we were forced to after Chretien. This is the making of a disaster. No, I say, Powell said you fix it you own it. This is your problem, America.
Khadr was only 15 when US forces alleged he was captured during a battle in Afghanistan in 2002 after throwing a grenade that killed a soldier.
Local human rights groups have also called on Ottawa to offer refuge to some 240 other prisoners who may be released later this year if Washington carries out its promise to shut down the prison.
On January 22, Barack Obama, the US president, ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp within one year and a review of the military tribunals set up by the former administration to try them.
However, Obama faces two challenges he must overcome before the prisoners are released.
Washington must decide how to deal with the pending prosecution of people like Khadr, but also what to do with the other prisoners who may not be welcome in their own countries.
If Harper does offer Canada as a refuge for prisoners who have nowhere else to go, he may be doing the US president a "favour" that he is unlikely to forget for a long while.
Child Soldier
Guantanamo Bay prison may soon be emptied of its prisoners [AFP]
If Khadr were to ever go on trial – in Guantanamo or elsewhere – he would be the youngest person ever to be charged with war crimes.
It is now doubtful if he can ever be convicted without credible eyewitness accounts.
Calls to bring the Toronto-born Khadr back home have increased in the past few months.
His family's pleas for a Canadian trial got a boost last week when Irwin Cotler, the former federal justice minister, criticised Harper's reluctance to address the Khadr case.
Both Liberal and Conservative governments have long taken the line that the US government must first determine what it intends to do with the young Guantanamo detainee before Canada can suggest an alternative legal route.
Khadr's lawyers have argued that he should be classified as a child soldier, a term Harper has refused to acknowledge."My understanding of international law is, to be a child soldier, you have to be in an army," Harper was quoted as saying.
Goodwill gesture
Cotler has suggested Ottawa make a goodwill gesture to the US administration "by offering a practical solution to its legal quagmire" when Obama visits Canada on February 19.
Amit Attaran, a professor of law and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Law, Population Health and Global Development Policy at the University of Ottawa, believes Harper should commit to more.
He says Canadians must help Obama erase the Guantanamo blot from the US record.
This, he says, will make Canada "an unforgettable friend" of the Obama government and prove an immeasurable advantage if Ottawa ever wished to call in a favour over such stubborn issues as Arctic sovereignty and open borders.
Attaran says up to 60 prisoners have been "approved for release" but US allies, among them Australia, Switzerland, Britain, Germany and Portugal, have balked at suggestions that they take them in.
They say they fear a backlash from their citizens, or, in the case of the Europeans, from neighbouring nations.
Canada has also previously said, "No, thanks".
Domestic opposition
The government will likely find that hosting former Guantanamo prisoners will be a tough sell at home.
Legal experts say the government would have any number of options to grant residency, including Ottawa's vaunted refugee acceptance system or the wholly discretionary practise of granting ministerial permits.
Attaran believes there will be an initial backlash, with local commentators voicing their opposition to the plan.
However, he believes this should not deter the government.
"This would be diplomatically advantageous, even if not politically advantageous for Harper," Attaran said.
The resettlement process is also likely to be expensive - essentially, the detainees would be guests of the government for at least the first three months - but they would have the liberty of making a home in any part of Canada.
After three months, they would be eligible for provincial support programs, although the stigma of Guantanamo is likely to prevent provinces from actively scouting for them.
Obama has come to realise that while Guantanamo has become a universal metaphor for US overreach, it is a legal conundrum that defies easy resolution.
He cannot keep it open, nor can he close it without some international help, because US citizens would never allow any of the terror suspects housed at Guantanamo to set foot on the mainland without shackles, handcuffs and a GPS bracelet.
Canadians just might.
George Abraham is a contributing editor of Diplomat and International Canada magazine, a periodical that examines international affairs and Canadian foreign policy.
Source:
Al Jazeera
Feedback
Number of comments : 2
Christopher RushlauUnited States
19/02/2009
"You have to be in an army to be a child soldier"
And Canadians think US politics is nutty? Maybe they accept it north of the border, two hundred miles from me, because Mr. Harper is only reporting what the lawyers tell him. Who is he to disagree? We are, after all, "a nation of laws, not of men".
Mike MuirBrazil
19/02/2009
No
Why us, why!! Wait a minute there. Why should Canada get them? The US jailed them, the US deal with them. We stayed out of the iraqui war and only sent troops to Kandahar because we were forced to after Chretien. This is the making of a disaster. No, I say, Powell said you fix it you own it. This is your problem, America.
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Obama's Canadian favour
Legal experts urge Ottawa to offer refuge to Guantanamo prisoners.
Risky agenda for Obama Canada trip
Tough talks on Afghan troops and trade in Obama's first official foreign trip.
Obama's week of political risks
US president scores domestic victories but still faces challenges at home and abroad.
Spain's economic renaissance over
Rapid growth comes to an abrupt end as unemployment reaches 14.4 per cent.
Britain's northeast suffers again
Al Jazeera's Mark Seddon looks at the historical roots of the financial crisis.
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