Child Soldier Turns 22 In Guantanamo

[Nonno (Premo)]

Seized at 15, Omar Khadr turns 22 in Guantánamo | Andy Worthington

Today, Omar Khadr, the sole Canadian citizen in Guantánamo, marks his 22nd birthday in isolation. Seized in Afghanistan when he was just 15 years old, Omar has now spent nearly a third of his life in US custody, in conditions that ought to be shameful to the US administration responsible for holding him, and to the Canadian government that has abdicated its responsibilities towards him.

Under the terms of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (on the involvement of children in armed conflict), to which both the US and Canada are signatories, juvenile prisoners — defined as those accused of a crime that took place when they were under 18 years of age — “require special protection.” The Optional Protocol specifically recognizes “the special needs of those children who are particularly vulnerable to recruitment or use in hostilities”, and requires its signatories to promote “the physical and psychosocial rehabilitation and social reintegration of children who are victims of armed conflict.”

[ImnoMensa]

Too bad. He never should have turned 16.

[Baja28]

Originally Posted by ImnoMensa

Too bad. He never should have turned 16.

[RPMDAD]

Originally Posted by ImnoMensa

Too bad. He never should have turned 16.

agreed

[PsyOps]

to Omar Khadr

[flomaster]

Originally Posted by PsyOps

to Omar Khadr