Omar
Ahmed Khadr is a Canadian citizen, born on 19 September, 1986 in Ottawa
Ontario. On July 27, 2002, at the age of 15, he was captured by American
forces during a four-hour firefight with militants in the village
of Ayub Khey, Afghanistan . Now 21 years of age, Omar has been in
U.S. custody, ever since his capture six years ago.
Omar
Kahdr’s case is unique for following reasons:
1. Omar is the first person in modern history to face a military
commission for alleged
crimes committed as a child.
2. He is the youngest prisoner held in extrajudicial detention
by the United Sates.
3. Canada has refused to seek extradition or repatriation despite
the urgings of
Amnesty International, UNICEF, Lawyers Against the War, Lawyers
Rights Watch
Canada, the Canadian Bar Association and many Canadian jurists,
social justice
advocates and Members of Parliament.
4. Omar is the only Western citizen who still remains at Guantánamo
Bay.
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