"The civilized world condemns the recruitment of child soldiers. Yet Canada sits quietly by as one of its citizens, Omar Khadr, is prosecuted by the United States for war crimes he allegedly committed at age 15 as a member of al-Qaeda," Sean Fine wrote Saturday in his Globe essay A most peculiar young offender
"It is impossible to square. Al-Qaeda's recruitment of child soldiers is immoral and abusive; consequently, it is immoral and abusive to prosecute as a war criminal a child recruited by al-Qaeda, and punish him accordingly. We can't have it both ways . . .
"And what has Canada done to help Mr. Khadr? It sent intelligence officers to interrogate him without counsel, and passed summaries of the interrogations to the Americans. Some help. (The Supreme Court of Canada is hearing Mr. Khadr's request next week for access to Canada's files from those visits.)"
Mr. Fine quotes experts as saying the recruitment and use of child soldiers is "one of the most flagrant violations of international norms.
The Globe's Sean Fine
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Why?
"Because children are not to be made a mere instrument of the state or terror group. Because children are manipulable. Because children cannot assess risk as adults can. To prosecute children as if they were fully responsible for war crimes is to legitimize their recruitment.
"As other Western countries have repatriated adult suspected terrorists — several, in Britain's case — it seems strange that Canada would not bring a lone 21-year-old home to face fair processes that would take into account his age and background, and his long incarceration at Guantanamo.
"Omar Khadr, child soldier, has been dehumanized enough. Bring him home."
Whether you agree or not, it's a provocative argument.
That's why we're glad that Mr. Fine took your questions on his essay and on the Omar Khadr case.
Your questions and Mr. Fine's answers appear at the bottom of this page.
Sean Fine is an editorial writer with The Globe and Mail who specializes in legal issues, civil liberties and human rights. He received a National Newspaper Award citation of merit in each of the last four years.
He's a father of three children and hopes none of them wind up in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length or clarity. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym.
Jim Sheppard, Executive Editor, globeandmail.com: Welcome, Sean, and thanks for joining us today to take questions from the readers of globeandmail.com about your Saturday essay on Omar Khadr.
He's a controversial figure, from a controversial family, and doesn't appear to arouse much sympathy from the Canadian public.
Can you elaborate a bit on why you and The Globe chose at this stage to make the argument that he should be tried in Canada as a juvenile for whatever actions he took in Afghanistan?
Sean Fine: Jim, I've long felt troubled by Omar Khadr's situation.
To be placed into the black hole at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, at 15 and treated as if your chance at any kind of a life is over is plain wrong. Not only wrong but a violation of civilized norms.
It amazes me that Canada has let this child rot in a situation of utter rightslessness for most of those six years and we treat him as if what he has endured he somehow deserved. No one deserves to be beyond the reach of the law, especially not a kid.
Why write now? It's timely, given the revelations from his pre-trial proceedings at the U.S. Military Commission in Guantanamo.
Let's clarify something. You said I want him tried here as a juvenile. I've argued he's a child soldier who lacked the ability to consent to joining al-Qaeda, and I've said he should be brought back here and receive fair processes.
What those processes should be I'm not sure. There's no recent precedent for trying a 15-year-old for war crimes, and while a group of University of Ottawa law students has taken an exhaustive look at options for trying him under a variety of statutes here, I'm not convinced that any of them make sense if we acknowlege he's a child soldier.
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