[R-G] Harper government anti-Muslim, letter charges

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/581618

Harper government anti-Muslim, letter charges
185 groups and individuals sign letter seeking return of Omar Khadr
February 03, 2009
Tonda MacCharles
Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA —Advocates seeking the return of Guantanamo detainee Omar  
Khadrsought to pressure the Conservative government today with the  
release of a letter signed by 185 groups and individuals, representing  
a range of Canadian community leaders, academics, human rights  
advocates and civil liberties organizations.

Khadr, a Canadian citizen charged in the death of a U.S. army medic  
during a gunfight in Afghanistan, is the only remaining Westerner  
still imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, the military prison that U.S.  
President Barack Obama is shutting down.

An open letter released today by the Canadian Council on American  
Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) urges Prime Minister Stephen Harper to  
respond to the move by Obama with an offer to repatriate Khadr in  
order to rehabilitate him and re-integrate him into Canadian society.

The letter is copied to the leaders of the three Opposition parties as  
well.

Signed by Muslim and non-Muslim lawyers, academics, and public policy  
commentators, the letter says Harper's silence and inaction on Khadr's  
case is much different than his approach to other cases, and suggests  
it is motivated by a lack of regard for Muslim Canadians.

"Silence is no longer an option. We believe that your inaction with  
regards to this important case, compared to your active involvement in  
other cases (such as the repatriation of Brenda Martin from Mexico),  
has been, rightly or wrongly, interpreted by the Muslim community as  
indicative that your government considers Canadian Muslims to be  
second-class citizens."

The letter, signed by CAIR-CAN's executive director Ihsaan Gardee on  
behalf of a long list of signatories, says Harper should counter the  
"growing perception within the Muslim community" and seek Khadr's  
return.

The signatories to the letter say there is "no doubt" Khadr was a  
child soldier at the time he was captured on the battlefield in  
Afghanistan.

They counter the government's repeated insistence that the allegations  
against Khadr are "very serious" with the observation that  
"revelations about the evidence against him cast more and more doubt  
as to the veracity of those allegations."

The letter says it is "now clear that Omar Khadr has been tortured and  
abused, in Afghanistan and at Guantánamo Bay, by his American captors  
for over six years."

With an executive order that the Guantanamo Bay detention camp will  
close, and offers by European countries to take individuals who are  
non-citizens, the signatories state the Harper government's stance is  
"in stark contrast to that spirit of generosity."

"We do hope that your government will reverse its position immediately  
and ask for Omar Khadr's repatriation to Canada without any further  
delay. He deserves rehabilitation and justice and he can only receive  
them in his country of citizenship."

Among the groups which signed are Arab Canadian Lawyers Association,  
Canadian Arab Federation, Canadian Islamic Congress, Canadian Muslim  
Civil Liberties Association, International Civil Liberties Monitoring  
Group and the Salaheddin Islamic Centre.

Individual signatories include: Amnesty International Canada's Alex  
Neve, and three of four other Canadians once detained and tortured in  
Syria - Ahmad Abou-Elmaati, Maher Arar, and Muayyed Nuredin.

Also signing the letter are NDP MP Libby Davies, former UN ambassador  
Stephen Lewis, University of Windsor law professor David Tanovich,  
Queen's University professor Don Stuart, former B.C. Human Rights  
commission director Kathleen Ruff, and several lawyers involved in  
other national security cases.