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Canada v. Khadr, the Empire Strikes Back

After the jump, the official statement from Foreign Affairs on the government’s second appeal of the Federal Court ruling that it repatriate Omar Khadr.

For the sake of argument, here is the Supreme Court’s previous ruling on issues related to Khadr’s imprisonment and here is the Federal Court’s ruling.

Both links courtesy of the indispensable Khadr files database maintained here.

UPDATE TO MEDIA

Supreme Court Appeal:

The Government of Canada has consistently stated that Omar Khadr faces serious charges. After careful consideration of the legal merits of the ruling from the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal, the Government has decided to seek leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. As the matter is currently under litigation, we will provide no further comment at this time. The Government of Canada has filed a motion for stay pending appeal.

Canada’s Position:

Our position regarding Mr. Khadr remains unchanged. In fact, it is the same policy held by two previous governments. Omar Khadr has been accused of serious crimes (including murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, material support for terrorism and spying, all in violation of the laws of war).

President Obama has not communicated any decision to the Government of Canada with respect to the case of Mr. Khadr. As you know the Obama administration has recently taken decisions to proceed with the closure of Guantanamo, halt the judiciary process and also to evaluate each of the cases. It is in our interest to wait for the outcome of these decisions just put forward by President Obama. The Government of Canada has taken its responsibilities with regards to Mr. Khadr, and we will also take our responsibilities when the US Government shares its decision on this case.

We continue to closely monitor the situation, including the work of the American committee formed to study the fate of Guantanamo detainees, including Mr. Khadr. Departmental officials have carried out several welfare visits with Mr. Khadr and will continue to do so. We will not speculate on hypothetical scenarios.

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