US on Canadian 'List' of Torturers

Canada's foreign ministry has listed the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, among others, as countries where prisoners are at risk of being tortured.

Al Alzeera reports that "(t)he information comes from a document that forms part of a training course for Canadian diplomats."

You should, however, note that a spokesperson for the Canadian foreign ministry says the document is not a policy document but rather a "training manual."

Of course broer, why the hell would Canada point fingers when its human rights record in the hazy days since 911 hardly paint it as a voice of reason in North America?

In fact, if Canada was really worried about Bush's use of torture in Guantanamo, for example, it would act with urgency in the case of Canadian citizen, Omar Khadr, who is the only Canadian citizen in Guantanamo

Omar Khadr was just 15 when he was captured in 2002. He is 21 now and being held on contentious allegations that he killed an American soldier. He is also accused of attempted murder, conspiracy, spying and supporting terrorism.

Despite the fact that Khadr was just a child when the US captured him in Afghanistan he was, nontheless, treated as an adult by the US.

Khadr's lawyers say that he is often kept in solitary confinement in Guantanamo, denied medical treatment, and put into stress positions until he soils himself.

According to CommonDreams.org a report in the New England Journal of Medicine said that:

"Since late 2003, psychiatrists and psychologists (at Guantanamo) have been part of a strategy that employs extreme stress, combined with behavior-shaping rewards, to extract actionable intelligence from resistant captives."

The authors of the report said that this is "considered torture by many authorities."

George Bush, of course, denies that the US uses torture.

Right!

I am more inclined, to put it mildly, to accept former president Carter's assessment on the US's culpability in matters of torture.

You can see the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) for substantiation of Khadr's claims of torture and further details of his ongoing case.

CRIN points out that Khadr's treatment in detention is in contravention of its international obligations to:

"(P)romote the demobilisation and rehabilitation of child soldiers. Under a treaty banning children under the age of 18 from participating in armed conflict, ratified by the US in 2002, the US is obliged to assist in the demobilisation and rehabilitation of former child soldiers within its jurisdiction."

William Kuebler, Khadr's lawyer, told Canadian television that Canada has "not acted to obtain his release from Guantanamo Bay and protect his rights, unlike every other Western country that has had its nationals detained in Guantanamo Bay."

The Canadian government has even refused to petition for Khadr to be repatriated to Canada.

I think that if Khadr was not a brown Muslim his case would be dealt with in a very differently manner by the Canadian government.

I expect that Canada will move quickly to distance itself from this 'list' ... it is just not prudent in this age of duplicity and sell-out compromised politics.

As of this writing, TheStar.com reports that "Fifty-five law professors and 22 members of Parliament, including Canada's former attorney general, Irwin Cotler, signed the legal brief" ... to "convince a Guantanamo Bay judge to dismiss his case."

The brief states:

"It is a principle of customary international law that children are to be accorded special protections in all criminal proceedings, and in any prosecution for participation in warlike acts."

The Canadian government has responded to the brief by calling its contents "premature and speculative."

Of course broer, why would they respond in terms of the spirit of the customary law that binds the US and Canada in the case of Khadr?

You can find more details on the Khadr case at Trial Watch.

Onward!

***Update***
Minutes after finishing the post above Al Jazeera posted an updated report saying that the US has sharply criticized the Canadian government for its 'list'.

So what you think is going to happen now my sista
Shush li?

Ummmmmm ... Canada is moving to rewrite the manual of course.

Amnesty International is already criticising Canada for being jack-asses (well not in those words exactly).