Omar Khadr's lawyer made a forceful plea before a federal subcommittee Tuesday, asking Ottawa to help get his Canadian client out of a U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
U.S. navy Lt.-Cmdr. William Kuebler was the first witness to appear before hearings this week by a human rights subcommittee looking into the Khadr case. Kuebler told committee members that the media and the American military have told largely fictitious lies about Khadr, who he says has been portrayed unjustly as a dangerous terrorist.
"The Omar Khadr they describe does not exist," said Kuebler.
"He is not one of our enemies in the war on terror, he is a fellow victim of those enemies."
Fictitious case
Khadr, 21, is the only remaining Western prisoner at Guantanamo Bay. Canada, unlike other Western nations who had citizens detained there, has not pushed to have Khadr returned home.
Khadr was captured in 2002 following a firefight with U.S. Special Forces. The Pentagon maintains Khadr threw a grenade during the fight, killing a U.S. soldier.
"No part of this story is true, however, and the Omar Khadr it described does not exist," Kuebler said.
He was a "frightened, wounded 15-year-old boy" during his capture, Kuebler said.
He said Khadr was then shot twice in the back by a U.S. soldier and would have been summarily executed on the spot had another soldier not intervened.
He noted that "an overwhelming majority of Canadians" polled don't believe Khadr will receive a fair hearing in the U.S. and would like him returned home to Canada.
But Kuebler said that even those who believe he has been treated unfairly are concerned about the threat he may pose to Canada if he is returned.
"Such concerns are understandable," he told the committee.
"Understandable in light of the deplorable and offensive behaviour of certain members of the Khadr family (and) understandable in light of the lies that have been told about Omar and his actions in the July 2002 firefight in Afghanistan."
But Kuebler said Canadians do not need to fear Khadr.
Sins of the father
Kuebler said his client should not be blamed for what his family members have said and done, particularly his father, Ahmed Said Khadr, a militant linked to al Qaeda who was killed by Pakistani forces in 2003.
"The son should not go on being punished for the sins of the father," Kuebler said.
"Omar Khadr did not choose to go into combat ... Like other child soldiers he was put there."
Kuebler said international protocol establishes that soldiers under 18 cannot be considered voluntary participants in armed conflict. He said the protocol has established that child soldiers should receive "rehabilitative rather than punitive sentences."
He also noted that the Pentagon had exceeded its lawful authority by pursuing the case after they captured the boy.
Kuebler described Khadr as a young man who "identifies himself strongly with Canada."
He said after years of hopelessness, Khadr has "allowed himself to dream."
Kuebler said Khadr wants to do what other Canadians do -- such as go to school, get a job, watch movies like "Lord of the Rings," and visit the Rocky Mountains.
"They are not the dreams of a dangerous jihadist," he said.
"They are the dreams that we can admire and relate to."
