Government has no plans to bring back Khadr
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 3, 2010 5:39 PM ET CBC News
Omar Khadr shown at a U.S. military hearing in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 2009. (Canadian Press)
The Canadian government still has no plans to push for the repatriation of Omar Khadr, an aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and a cabinet minister said Wednesday.
Last week, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned lower-court orders that the federal government must try to bring Toronto-born Khadr back to Canada from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The top court ruled unanimously that Khadr's rights have been violated, and that the Canadian government should do something to remedy the situation, but stopped short of asking the government to bring Khadr back to Canada.
Prime Minister's Office spokesman Dmitri Soudas told CBC News that there has been "no shift" in government policy regarding Khadr, although the government is still "reviewing" his situation in light of the court ruling.
"There hasn't been a change in position," Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon later told reporters.
Khadr, 23, has been imprisoned since he was arrested in Afghanistan at age 15, accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier. He is scheduled to be tried in July by a U.S. military court on charges of murder, conspiracy and support of terrorism.
The Conservatives have long maintained that Khadr should go before the U.S. justice system to answer for the charges against him.
Cannon said the government respects the decision of U.S. President Barack Obama's administration to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison and put some of the detainees on trial.
In its Jan. 29 decision, the Supreme Court concluded that ordering the government to ask the U.S. for Khadr's repatriation to stop the continuing violation of his rights would interfere with the government's jurisdiction over foreign relations. Therefore, it chose not to issue the order, even though it had the authority to do so.
"We … leave it to the government to decide how best to respond to this judgment in light of current information, its responsibility for foreign affairs and in conformity with the charter," the ruling said.Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/02/03/omar-khadr-government-repetriation.html#socialcomments#ixzz0eXniSvGA