Ottawa asks U.S. to omit evidence in Khadr case – But observers call response to last month’s Supreme Court of Canada ruling ‘inadequate and invalid’
Omar Khadr is shown in an interrogation room at the Guatanamo U.S. Naval Base prison while being question by CSIS, in this image taken from a 2003 surveillance video, release by his Canadian defense team on Tuesday July 15, 2008.
The federal government has asked the United States not to use Canadian-collected evidence in prosecutions against Omar Khadr, a gesture observers are calling “inadequate and invalid.”
In a statement released late Tuesday, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Ottawa delivered a “diplomatic note” to the United States in response to last month’s Supreme Court of Canada ruling that the government’s participation in Mr. Khadr’s detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, violated his constitutional rights.
The evidence that is the subject of the letter was gleaned in interrogations with Mr. Khadr in 2003 and 2004 that the court deemed illegal, and that could be used against him in U.S. proceedings.
In its 9-0 ruling, the court also denounced the government’s participation in the interrogation and U.S. officials’ use of sleep deprivation to weaken the prisoner, who was 15 at the time.
Mr. Khadr’s Canadian legal team will attempt to quash the government’s decision to extend only a note to the United States, and will apply for a hearing as early as Wednesday to request that Ottawa do more, his Edmonton lawyer, Nathan Whitling, said.
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Tags: Guantanamo Bay, Omar Khadr, Ottawa, Rob Nicholson, United States
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