Child or Adult?

The first U.S. war-crime tribunals since the Second World War era begin at the military base in Guantanamo Bay is stalled as new developments in Omar Khadr's case have stalled the court. Omar Khadr was captured in Afghanistan at age 15 after a 2002 battle with there left an Army medic dead. Born in Toronto, his case has drawn considerable attention as a child soldier who is the youngest prisoner held in extrajudicial detention by the United States. Last week, the Pentagon accidentally released evidence that revealed that although Khadr was present during the firefight, there was no other evidence that he had thrown a grenade to kill the US army medic.

While Khadr has managed to evade trial under the Military Commission, not because he was a child at the time of committing the alleged crime, but because of procedural complications, he is now being tried under a special U.S. war-crime tribunal.

The prosecution argues that age does not matter because The Military Commissions Act, which Congress passed in 2006, did not make a separate distinction for juveniles when it set up procedures for trying individuals classified by the government as enemy combatants.

However, Khadr's lawyers argue that this act, authorizing U.S. military tribunals, should not apply to Khadr because the alleged offenses occurred before the court was created in 2006.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been requested by various human rights groups to put pressure on the US so that Khadr either be tried under juvenile offender laws or be sent back to Canada.