The famed CBC documentary The U.S. vs. Omar Khadr was screened on Thursday evening to a packed auditorium at the Bahen Centre for Information Technology. Organized by The Muslim Students’ Association, the event brought to light the intricacies of Canada’s role in Khadr’s six-year confinement.
Khadr was 15 years old when he was accused of killing an American soldier with a grenade during a firefight in Afghanistan in July 2002. The evidence used against him is based on a series of confessions Khadr made at the U.S. military base in Bagram and Guantanamo Bay. His defense team has argued that these confessions were wheedled out with torture.
The documentary paints a vivid minute-by-minute account of how Khadr ended up in Guantanamo. Included is the prisoner’s first-hand account of the torture and mistreatment he suffered, and the film leaves the audience sympathizing with Khadr by offering evidence that points to his innocence.
The film contends that U.S. forces were using torture as an interrogative method. This is later confirmed by one of Khadr’s interrogators and various cellmates. Outrageously, one of Khadr’s interrogators, Sergeant Joshua Claus, was convicted of the murder of a detainee in U.S. custody.
As the film poses central questions regarding the Canadian government’s role in prolonging Khadr’s confinement, viewers are introduced to Dennis Edney, Khadr’s Canadian lawyer who lambasts the nation and calls the notorious detention facility a “sham.” We learn that it is probable that the government knew Khadr was tortured in American custody since 2002 and remained apathetic to his condition. We witness what the young man will endure should he stand trial in a U.S. military tribunal—an institution allowed to pick the lawyers, jury, and the judge. They may even remove the judge if rulings are deemed unsatisfactory.
A number of filmgoers expressed alarm that they had remained uninformed of Omar Khadr’s case over the years.
“I was surprised at how much I didn’t know about Omar Khadr,” says Sarah Giles, a first-year student at the University of Toronto, “given that it seems to be such an important case for Canada. You would expect it to make headlines.”
Those like Saida Afroage, a fourth-year student, who have been avidly following the case, expressed their frustrations. “Part of the problem is the law itself. International laws provide protection for someone like Omar Khadr, but the U.S. military tribunals have their own laws and their own definitions of what they want certain things to mean. Like the definition of torture, central to Khadr’s case, is defined in vague terms distinct from the Geneva Conventions.”
“After working on this documentary and coming to know Omar Khadr, I am comfortable using the T-word,” said co-producer and CBC journalist Nazim Baksh, referring to the contention surrounding the role of torture in the Khadr case. “Journalists usually get quizzical and don’t want to get in trouble, but I feel comfortable saying he was tortured.”
Baksh expressed his concerns: “We need to do what people do in democracies, we need to approach our MPs and say we believe what is happening to Omar Khadr is not fair. I believe the aggressive foreign policy that governs the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is wrong.”
Spearheaded by the MSA, the screening was supported by the student faction of a growing coalition to bring the Guantanamo detainee home. Jessica Hedges-Chou, a member of the undergraduate support group, hoped to spike a growing awareness. “Our goals for this event were really twofold. I already knew that it would raise awareness, so I wasn’t worried about that. For me, I wanted to broaden our support base and include a strong student group to join our coalition.”
“We are really at the beginning stages,” she adds, “but I was really happy with the event. After people saw the documentary, there were a lot of questions and emotions. People wanted to know how to get involved.”
How has public perception of Khadr’s case changed since the documentary aired?
According to CBC polls, subsequent to the premiere of The U.S. vs. Omar Khadr, 42 per cent of Canadians believe Khadr should be brought back home, while 20 percent of Canadians are undecided. Given previous polls, it seems the tides are changing in favour of repatriating the young prisoner.
