15-Year-Old Terrorist?
by Victoria DeCarmine
In the United States, it is legal to drive at sixteen; vote, join the army, and buy cigarettes at age eighteen; and drink alcoholic beverages at age twenty-one, and . However, in addition to the rite-of-passage feeling that accompanies a teenager on his eighteenth birthday, there is a certain sense of responsibility that is expected at this age, as it is also the age at which one can be, and is, considered an adult in a court of law. But what happens if you are a fifteen-year-old Afghani teenager accused of shooting a U.S. soldier overseas? Under the Bush administration, you were sent to Guantanamo Bay and classified as an enemy combatant and charged with murder, spying, conspiracy, and providing support for terrorism.
This is precisely what happened to Canadian citizen Omar Khadr in October 2002. He is one of two detainees at Guantanamo Bay to be charged for acts committed as a juvenile, and the only Westerner still held at the infamous detention camp in Cuba. He is now in his sixth year of imprisonment and claims he has been questioned under torture at both Guantanamo and the Belgram Air Field in Afghanistan. In fact, in June 2008, Khadr's alleged traumatic experiences at Gitmo were documented and released in a ten-minute video that vividly shows Canadian officials questioning a young, quivering teenager in tears begging for his release from the prison.
Yet what is perhaps most disturbing about Khadr's experience is the constant state of limbo he has been subjected to for the past six years. Stemming from the fact that Khadr was not originally categorized by the Combatant Status Review Tribunal at Guantanamo as either an unlawful or lawful enemy combatant-a difference which plays a major role in the trial of war criminals-there have been many discrepancies within his case. The negligence of Khadr's classification was pointed out by US Army Judge Colonel Peter Brownback in June 2007, whereupon he dismissed the charges as improper. Unfortunately, before young Khadr could breathe a sigh of relief, the charges were immediately reinstated by the Court of Military Commission Review, in its first decision ever. The CMCR hastily reinstated the charges on the grounds that they were self-authorized to make the unlawful enemy combatant determinations, not Colonel Brownback.
During this time of uncertainty, Khadr appealed the decision numerous times to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, but was dismissed because the DC Circuit could not hear a case before the military trial was completed. However, instead of being afforded an immediate trial so that he may properly appeal it, Khadr alleges he was instead tortured immensely by his interrogators at Guantanamo. He cites being spat on, forced to wear a mask that made it hard to breathe, and being terrified when he was interrogated, under blindfold, while barking dogs were brought into the room; there was no indication of a fair trial in his near future. After the 2008 video of Khadr breaking down crying was released, the Canadian Bar Association had had enough. They repudiated the US government for blatantly ignoring Khadr's right to due process.
While the enemies of the United States should be punished to the fullest extent of the law, one must also realize that, in cases such as Khadr's, the emphasis on punishment makes it easy for the legalities to be forgotten. While many people are apt to condone interrogation and torture of an alleged terrorist, it is important to still consider the legalities that our country was founded on and integrate these laws, even when dealing with war criminals.
Khadr's case has been hotly contested by both Canadian and American defense attorneys, but the case may have an end in sight. On January 21, 2009 President Obama signed an order to suspend the proceedings of Guantanamo Bay military proceedings for 120 days and announced that he has plans to completely shut down the facility within a year. For Khadr and others nervously awaiting their trials that may never come, this provides a beacon of hope. Prisoners at Guantanamo will no longer be denied basic civil rights and Khadr may finally be able to return home to his family in Canada, although he will be under a peace bond which will restrict him from contacting his family for a brief period while he meets with counselors that will help him re-adjust to normalcy.
Khadr's story is not unlike the stories of many young prisoners held at Guantanamo. Every day, troubled teenagers that have been influenced by terrorist propaganda and family pressure are ushered into dark interrogation rooms under threats of painful torture. They are pushed to the side and denied civil and legal liberties, including the right to a trial by jury and due process of law. Young lives are left in limbo as teams of lawyers and military officials decide what to do with them. While many alleged terrorists held at Guantanamo are very dangerous and violent individuals, some, like Khadr, are merely troubled teenagers that have now seen the errors in their previous ways and wish to rebuild their lives so that they do not emanate violence and hatred, but a sense of growth and learning. With the recent order from the White House and the presumed eventual shutdown of the Guantanamo Bay detention center, these young people will hopefully be afforded a fair trial at the very least and the chance to rebuild their lives at the very most.
