Another Victory! - This one's for the Khadrs

[Umm Khawla]

Alhamdulillaah!!

OTTAWA — A Supreme Court of Canada decision that has shut the door on the possibility of extraditing Abdullah Khadr, the elder brother of Omar Khadr, to the United States was hailed by his lawyers Thursday as a major victory for human rights.


The country's top court announced Thursday it will not hear an appeal from the Canadian and U.S. governments, which were seeking to have Khadr extradited to the United States, where he is wanted in Boston on charges of supplying weapons to al-Qaida in Pakistan.


Khadr, who lives in Toronto, has maintained his innocence.


Lawyer Dennis Edney said his client is "very happy" with the Supreme Court ruling and said the judgment sends a clear message that the alleged conduct leading up to Khadr's confessions are not a solid base for the pursuit of charges in the U.S.


"It's a victory for the rule of law," Edney said Thursday. "The rule of law and upholding human rights trumps so-called security concerns.


"What it means is the rule of law trumps uncivil law — that one just can't kidnap someone off the street, hold them in a dark prison in Islamabad and then wait for that individual to be badly abused and interrogated and then sit outside the door and rely upon self-incriminating statements derived from abuse and torture. We don't live in that kind of world, we shouldn't live in that kind of world."


By refusing to grant leave to appeal the case, the Supreme Court effectively put an end to Khadr's extradition case.


As is its custom, the Supreme Court did not provide reasons for its decision.


The U.S. case against Khadr had been centred around a number of statements he allegedly made about being involved in an assassination plot against the prime minister of Pakistan. Four of those confessions were made after he was allegedly abducted, beaten and deprived of sleep by Pakistani authorities in 2004. Khadr has said threats were also made against his family.


Lower court rulings cited Khadr's more than one year in Pakistani custody as reason enough to grant a stay of proceedings.


The government had argued that by granting a stay of proceedings of the extradition hearings, lower courts failed to strike a balance between the benefits of granting a stay and those of "ensuring that alleged terrorists face trial, whether domestically or through the operation of criminal trials conducted by Canada's extradition partners."


A former senior intelligence officer with CSIS said Thursday's decision is interesting because the alleged abuses took place in a "different era" under the watch of former U.S. president George W. Bush, who has been criticized for some of his administration's conduct during its fight against terrorism.


"The way (things) were done during the Bush administration was really out of line in many cases," said Michel Juneau-Katsuya, who now serves as CEO of the Northgate Group, an Ottawa-based security consulting company.


"Our system has established certain legal standards and those standards were obviously not met by (all three Canadian courts). Obviously, the Canadian justice system agrees to say (the circumstances of the confession) wasn't acceptable."


He was quick to highlight, however, that tough laws are still needed to keep terrorism in check, but that information must be gathered by more responsible methods.


"I'm the first one in favour to catch a terrorist. I'm the first one to put them in jail and throw the key away if we can," he said. "I have no place in my heart for those terrorists, but I am extremely concerned when I see justice (administered) like the Bush administration done."


Edney said Abdullah Khadr has been trying to put the case behind him, and that Thursday's decision marks the final hurdle in terms of carrying on his life of freedom.


"He has been out of custody for over a year now, so this means he gets on with his life and has the same rights as each and every Canadian," Edney said. "He's a free man."


"The American authorities had many opportunities to provide any other evidence they had to corroborate what they were saying about Mr. Khadr and they were never able to do so. Mr. Khadr had a lot of confidence the Supreme Court would hold up the lower court rulings."


The Supreme Court decision comes the same week that Omar Khadr has officially asked for a transfer back to Canada.


Last October, Omar Khadr pleaded guilty to war crimes committed when he was 15 in Afghanistan, including throwing a grenade that killed an American soldier in 2002. The 25-year-old was sentenced to 40 years in prison, but only has to serve eight under a plea agreement.


As part of his sentence, Omar Khadr became eligible to return to Canada after serving one more year in Guantanamo Bay. On Monday, Omar Khadr's year was up.


While his lawyer has said he hopes the transfer to Canada would happen soon, federal government officials say the process could take 18 months.


The Khadr brothers' father, Ahmed Said Khadr, was a well-known al-Qaida financier who was put on a list of suspected terrorists following the 9/11 attacks in New York.


He was killed by Pakistani forces in 2003.


bbouzane@postmedia.com
jpress@postmedia.com
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Read more: Denial of Khadr extradition a 'victory' for human rights: lawyer

[UmmTayyib]

Indeed He is True to His Promise :"The promise of Allaah is true. And who is more truthful in speech than Allaah"
(4:122)

Allaahu Akbar!

[Layth]

Allahu Akbar, great news! Insha Allah more good news will follow when brothers Tarek and Babar get released.

[Umm DJ-N]

great news alhamdulillah, the family of Khadr have had many injustices, this is just a minor victory in comparison to all they have been put through by the hypocratic western goverments, but still very good news

[Sakeena]

Alhamdulillah. May Allaah protect him and the rest of the family. It's painful to think about what they've had to endure over the last ten years.

And may Allaah hasten the release of Omar.