The Conservative government reiterated its stance on Omar Khadr's detainment Tuesday, following the unprecedented release of a Guantanamo Bay interrogation video, in which a sobbing 16-year-old Khadr is questioned by a Canadian agent.
Neither Prime Minister Stephen Harper nor Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson spoke publicly about the issue. Instead, Anne Howard, a spokesperson for Emerson, repeated the government's position that "a legal process ... must continue."
Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, also spoke to reporters. He told Â鶹´«Ã½ the government had been assured by U.S. officials that Khadr "is being treated humanely."
Khadr's Canadian lawyers, Dennis Edney and Nathan Whitling, blasted the Conservatives for failing to bring Khadr back to Canada, and said Guantanamo Bay exists "beyond the rule of law."
At one point in the 10 minutes of video -- highlights from more than seven hours of footage taken in February 2003 -- Khadr is shown crying with his face buried in his hands.
The agent accuses Khadr of using his injuries and emotional state to avoid being interrogated.
"You see, you're not going to believe me," Khadr says.
"Well, look me straight in the eyes and tell me that you're being honest,'' the unidentified agent says.
"I am being honest,'' Khadr says, rubbing his face with his hand.
"You can't even bear to look at me when you're saying that.''
"Why I can't bear to look at you?''
"You know -- put your hand down.''
"No, you don't care about me.''
Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae said Khadr was possibly abused and brainwashed as a child and should be considered a child soldier. Khadr was 15 when he was captured in Afghanistan.
Rae told Â鶹´«Ã½net that Canada has a moral obligation to bring Khadr home.
"The tribunal in the U.S. has refused to recognize him as a child soldier," he said. "And when they did that, that is exactly the moment when Canada needed to say, 'We're going to bring him home because he needs to be considered and treated as a child soldier.'"
Khadr is accused of throwing a grenade that killed U.S. soldier Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer during a violent 2002 firefight, moments before he was shot three times and captured. The Canadian government has said it wants the U.S. legal process to play itself out, and will not take action to bring Khadr home.
Edney said part of Canada's reticence may be the notorious reputation of Khadr's family. Khadr's father, Ahmed Said Khadr, was a reputed al Qaeda financier and friend of bin Laden. He died in a gun battle in Pakistan in 2003.
"We always lean to the easy answer: the Khadr effect. That is, the family's statements have tainted the perception of Omar Khadr," he said. "But it must be more than that. Perhaps part of it is that Canada has a difficult time requesting him when Canada itself was complicit with the Americans (in his detainment)."
Six years at Gitmo
The video released Tuesday was shot over three days in February 2003, six months after Khadr was injured in a firefight with U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Khadr is accused of killing an American soldier in the firefight and has spent nearly six years in prison at Guantanamo Bay.
The interrogation video was made public following orders from a Canadian court.
"It is beyond comprehension that Prime Minister Stephen Harper continues to tolerate the treatment of a Canadian citizen in this manner," Whitling told reporters in Edmonton Tuesday.
"His excuse is the existence of what he continually refers to as serious charges -- charges we now know to be based on no evidence except for what the U.S. government was able to torture and torment out of a critically wounded Canadian boy."
Khadr's U.S. military lawyer, Lt.-Cmdr. William Kuebler, says the video shows his client has been wrongly vilified in the media.
"He's been portrayed as this 15-year-old bloodthirsty terrorist," Kuebler told CTV's Canada AM.
"What I take away from this video is that this is a frightened 16-year-old kid who is literally begging for help from Canadian authorities.
"It really puts the lie to the justification for holding Omar and treating him as an adult for these many years."
Details of the tape
Kuebler said the video is meant to give viewers a sample of how the interrogation progressed.
"Day one starts with Omar very happy and very pleased because he's been asking for the Canadians to come and they're finally there," said Kuebler.
"He expects them to help him and to maybe take him home."
On day two, when Khadr realizes he's not going anywhere, he breaks down.
"That's certainly the most compelling part of the tape," said Kuebler.
On days three and four, Khadr has a more subdued tone saying he wants to come home. However, the agent says he can't help him, said Kuebler.
During one part of the interrogation, Khadr pulls his shirt off to display the bullet wounds he sustained in the firefight.
He says he can't move his arms and claims he hasn't received proper medical attention.
"They look like they're healing well to me,'' the agent says of the injuries.
"No, I'm not. You're not here (at Guantanamo),'' Khadr whimpers.
At another point in the tape, Khadr complains about his vision saying, "I lost my eyes."
"No, you still have your eyes. Your feet are still at the end of your legs.''
Edney said Canadians have been misled by Harper's government because they've maintained that they've received assurances that Khadr was being treated well.
"They knew from Omar Khadr that he had been mistreated, that he was frightened of the Americans and he'd been tortured," said Edney.
"They also knew that he had been softened up for... those interviews by being deprived of sleep for weeks."
Later in the video, Khadr is seen rocking his body, his face in his hands.
"Help me,'' he sobs repeatedly in despair.
On the last day of the interrogation, the agent tells Khadr that he's "very disappointed" in him.
He tells Khadr that he should co-operate.
Khadr says he wants to return to Canada.
"This kid has suffered enough, this kid needs to come home, this kid is not a terrorist," said Edney.
The video camera was hidden in a vent so some of the audio is poor and distorted.
With files from The Canadian Press
