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 Editorials | Opinions | March 2008 
Two Classes of Citizens Arrested Abroad
 Thomas Walkom - The Toronto Star
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 |  | If the government can speak up for Canadian Brenda Martin in Mexico, why can't it do so for Canadian Omar Khadr in Guantánamo Bay? |  | | | |
After some prompting, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government is finally coming to the aid of Brenda Martin, a Canadian citizen facing fraud charges in Mexico. In itself, that's a good thing. Canadian citizens can't expect a free pass when they are charged with crimes abroad. But they should be able to count on their government to stand up for them as best it can.
Yet, Ottawa's firm, if belated, action on this file also serves to underline its unforgivable inaction on another. If the government can speak up for Canadian Brenda Martin in Mexico, why can't it do so for Canadian Omar Khadr in Guantánamo Bay?
By all accounts, Martin is in a bad way. The 51-year-old Ontario woman has been in a jail in Guadalajara for two years awaiting trial for her alleged involvement in an international fraud scheme. She is said to be desperate, heavily sedated and near suicidal.
This week, after the issue became a minor cause célèbre, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier quite properly sent Mexican officials a diplomatic note expressing Canada's concern about her "lengthy imprisonment" and requesting them to ensure that her rights are respected.
With luck, it will work.
But Martin, at least, faces a relatively fair civilian trial. Khadr, who is charged with much more serious crimes – including murder – does not. The special U.S. military commission set to try his case is rigged to ensure his conviction. On top of this, it seems that some of the key evidence against the 21-year-old Canadian has been doctored.
Martin has been in jail for 25 months. Khadr has been in jail for almost six years. During most of that time, he was not charged with any offence. Instead, he was interrogated, held incommunicado and, by his own account, brutally mistreated.
A child when arrested, he has spent almost a third of his life in captivity. He can be convicted on the basis of secret evidence he is unable to challenge, as well as on evidence obtained under torture. Even if he is acquitted, the U.S. says it may keep him in jail. His own American military lawyer says that the special commission set up to try him offends almost every civilized principle of jurisprudence.
Indeed, American authorities are so anxious to make an example of Khadr that it seems they have resorted to confecting evidence.
When Khadr was first captured in Afghanistan in 2002, after a firefight between U.S. troops and insurgents, he was accused of having thrown the grenade that killed Sgt. Christopher Speer.
Last month, documents released inadvertently to reporters indicated that it may have been another insurgent, later killed, who threw the fatal grenade.
This week, it was revealed that the original U.S. military field report on the grenade incident was later changed to make it seem that Khadr was responsible.
In short, he is being tried in a kangaroo court for an alleged crime that took place when he was child on the strength of what appears to be fabricated evidence.
Yet, from Ottawa, there is continued silence. There is no diplomatic note expressing concern, no admonition to the Americans to adhere to international law.
Some would argue racism (Martin is white; Khadr a dark-skinned Muslim). I think that's not quite it. The real reason is that this government divides Canadian citizens into two classes – those it likes and those it does not.
Those who run afoul of regimes that the Harperites are opposed or indifferent to – such as the Mexicans, Saudis or Chinese – can expect some help.
Those who irk Harper's friends are out of luck.
Thomas Walkom's column appears Thursday and Saturday. |
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