Government “within its rights” – Goldring

January 29, 2010

OTTAWA - Edmonton East Member of Parliament Peter Goldring says the Supreme Court ruling on Omar Khadr reinforces the Government position taken in a dissenting opinion of an NDP motion in the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development’s 2008 report on the matter.

“Mr. Khadr is charged with serious crimes that allegedly happened in another country. The Canadian government’s position has been that it cannot compel another country to observe Canadian law. Therefore the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms cannot be used to order the government to request the repatriation of Mr. Khadr from the United States.

“However with this ruling the Court has determined that Canadian officials taking part in Mr. Khadr’s interrogation did breach his Charter rights. The Court has suggested that repatriating Mr. Khadr could be a remedy for this breach of his rights – but that the Government has the final say on matters of foreign affairs and is within its rights in not requesting Mr. Khadr’s repatriation.

“I am pleased that in this very complex case the Supreme Court has affirmed the rights of the Government regarding foreign affairs.”

Canadian citizen Omar Khadr was arrested by American troops in Afghanistan in 2002 when he was 15 years old. According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of The Child, which Afghanistan subscribes to, a 15-year-old is not a child soldier.  He is accused of killing an American Soldier in battle and is being held at the US military installation in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.