The Glimmer of Hope in the Khadr Circus (er … trial)
It is and will be a complete farce. Using information ‘solicited’ while someone is under ‘duress’ is not information. It’s a tainted plea for mercy.
Allowing a trial to proceed with evidence based on torture is just plain wrong.
If our government had any consideration for the plight of Canadians, they would have brought Khadr back long ago. But they didn’t and here we are.
There is, however, a glimmer of hope … no matter how small.
As the judge in the trial declared, information obtained by any means of coercion will likely be admissible in this case. The ‘hope’ is that in order to make this information known, the Khadr defense should insist on seeing exact video for at least 60 minutes prior to and after such evidence was obtained.
This way we’ll know for sure if the information is voluntary or not.
More importantly, the face of torture in the US and American society will be revealed, humiliating Americans and shaming them into the lowest of the low when it comes to respect for basic human dignities and rights. Everyone around the world will see how Americans are treating people and expose them for being the grandest of hypocrites.
Unfortunately, Khadr may have to become a martyr to prove just how vile and corrupt the American war machine has become.