Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for appearing before us today, Mr. Kuebler.
You know, I am very concerned by the Omar Khadr case. I was born in Haiti and am now a Canadian citizen. When I was young, I was kept in a foreign embassy for a year and nine months because my father was fighting the government. I was already a young adult. But I had a younger sister who was eight at the time. For those two years, that little child was kept in that embassy—I admit that conditions were nothing like those that Omar Khadr is living in—solely because she was the daughter of someone in conflict with a government. I cannot accept that Canada does not look at the Omar Khadr case like that.
We have signed the Geneva Convention that deals with child soldiers. A child soldier is a victim and, in my opinion, Omar Khadr is a victim. I am terribly disappointed that the Canadian government is not living up to its responsibilities to him. When we sign conventions, we espouse their values. Countries like Canada and the United States have to keep their promises, especially when children are involved.
I have to tell you that a petition started by the Ligue des droits et libertés is circulating at the moment. Canadians can support Omar Khadr in writing and express the view that he should be brought back to this country and tried here.
How is it that, in a conflict like this, countries like Canada and the United States that have signed the Geneva Convention do not live up to their obligations under it because of a group like al-Qaeda, which is not a government and which has not signed it. Does it not follow that, as Canadians, we have to act according to our own values and beliefs, not according to how the enemy is acting, which we hold to be evil?
I would also like you to tell us clearly what will happen to Omar Khadr if he is not brought back here? What exactly is he facing?