Evidence of meeting #10 for Subcommittee on International Human Rights in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was children.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON
Could you give me more precisely how many hours you've spent with Mr. Khadr?
LCdr William Kuebler
I would say we've gone down probably once a month on average since then. When we go down, we usually spend two or sometimes three days, anywhere from six to eight hours a day, with him. I don't want to sit here and bore you by doing the math, but that's a rough outline of how much time we have spent.
Conservative
Conservative
David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON
In recent legal history, have you seen any parallels to this case?
Conservative
David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON
Yes, any parallels to this case that we're dealing with here with Mr. Khadr?
LCdr William Kuebler
Certainly in the post World War II history of war crimes tribunals, it is generally unprecedented to prosecute children for war crimes.
Conservative
David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON
Has Mr. Khadr had communication with his family back here in Canada?
Conservative
Conservative
David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON
Could you tell me what the status is of the various challenges in the Guantánamo process before the U.S. federal courts?
LCdr William Kuebler
There's a case pending in the U.S. Supreme Court, of which we're a part, that is assessing whether or not the.... I referred previously to how Congress had attempted to strip the right of detainees to access to the court through habeas corpus. The constitutionality of those habeas stripping provisions is on review. There are actually two cases pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. One is based on an appeal from the military appeals court decision. There are two cases pending in the D.C. Circuit concerning Omar.
Conservative
Conservative
David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON
Have you any idea about when that's going to be heard?
LCdr William Kuebler
Well, a number of them have been ruled upon already. The first batch of motions that we filed related to some of the issues that Mr. Silva talked about: the Geneva Conventions and the Law of Armed Conflict. Most, if not all, of those motions have been denied, with very little analysis by the military judge, following an argument in which he asked no questions.
The child soldier motion, or the motion attacking jurisdiction based on Omar's age at the time of the offences, is still pending and has not been ruled upon.
Conservative
David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON
I might be mistaken, but you have a motion to withdraw pending, don't you?
Conservative
David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON
Don't you have a defence...? Pardon me?
LCdr William Kuebler
Yes, there is a motion to dismiss, based on the Optional Protocol, pending before the military commission now.
Conservative
David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON
So then, compared to the total growth in world population, the growth in the Jewish population is declining.Thank you.
Some have suggested that the trials be moved from Guantánamo to the regular federal court system in the U.S. Give us an idea of what that would look like.
