Omar Khadr trial imperils all child soldiers [View All]

[CHIMO]

In commencing the trial of Omar Khadr at Guantanamo Bay, the current U.S. administration has become the first government in modern history to prosecute a former child soldier for war crimes. This unprecedented case not only risks the rule of law and due process concerning juvenile justice, it puts in peril hundreds of thousands of child soldiers to potential detention and prosecution for war crimes around the world.

Since 2000, both Canada and the U.S., along with more than 125 other state-parties to the Optional Protocol on Children in Armed Conflict, have provided millions of dollars in efforts to demobilize, rehabilitate and reintegrate former child soldiers and have consistently advocated for the elimination of the recruitment and use of children in war. Moreover, demobilized child soldiers are considered victims who were coerced into committing serious crimes by adults.

It is hypocritical that Omar Khadr is not receiving the same rights as former child soldiers from countries such as Sierra Leone. His trial puts all former child soldiers in danger and undermines the tireless work that we have done to show child soldiers can be rehabilitated.

One of the problems with this case is that people do not have compassion for Khadr, but have compassion for child soldiers in other parts of the world. If a 15-year-old child in Sierra Leone or Uganda kills someone in a war, he is a victim in need of rehabilitation, but as soon as that child is accused of killing an American soldier, legal standards no longer apply.

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/849076--omar-khadr-trial-imperils-all-child-soldiers