Here in Medicine Hat we have the sad and dubious distinction of being home to the youngest mass murderer in Canadian History. A 12 year old girl, convicted of the heinous crime of murdering her mother, father and little brother. The facts of the case showed that she was a willing conspirator, an active participant and her time in our justice system was handled delicately. Our courts refused to admit evidence of letters sent between her and her co conspirator, refused evidence seized from her school locker. At every turn this criminal murderer was handled much like a co victim. After being found guilty of mass murder, our justice system our justice system lowered the boom on “JR” and gave her almost 18 months of closed custody per murder victim. Later we have learned that “closed custody” has been changed to “supervised” visits to malls and other freedoms. When she turns 20 years old her criminal record will be sealed.
By Contrast
The story of a 14 year old Canadian Boy.
His strict father moved him to an area of world conflict to support his own radical political views. He was then “given” to a gorilla warlord sensitive to his father political beliefs. As a 14 year old he was made into what the United Nations calls a child soldier.
As a child soldier he was brought to a combat zone. The US military had invaded this area of world conflict. As happens in a combat zone a fight ensued. 50 US soldiers, a pair of UH-60’s and Apache Helicopters, and A-10 Warthogs began strafing and attacking the mud huts where the child soldier lay. In total a pretty massive amount of fire was brought to bear on them. At some point during that battle a grenade was lobbed towards the American position. 5 men were killed and the child soldier lay wounded. Shrapnel from the offending grenade permanently damaged the child soldiers eye and he had been shot twice in his chest. Initial reports on the scene could not conclude where the grenade came from. 1 US soldier died later in hospital.
The Canadian child soldier was taken by the US military for medical treatment. “JR” in Medicine Hat was allowed to write letters to her boyfriend and killer. These letters were excluded from her court case and the police were admonished by the judge…
The Child Solider in US custody was told by his captors that detainees that lied to interrogators were allowed to be raped in the shower by big black men. The child was interrogated by a US citizen who was later convicted of abusing detainees to elicit confessions following the torture death of another detainee. The child soldier claims that he was refused pain medication for his wounds, that he had his hands tied above a door frame for hours, had cold water thrown on him, had a bag placed over his head and was threatened with military dogs, was flatulated upon, forced to carry 5-gallon pails of water to aggravate his shoulder wound. He was not allowed to use washrooms, he was forced to urinate on himself
He was transferred to Gitmo Cuba.
Here he was held in solitary confinement with no access to a trial for his crimes and went more than 2 years without being allowed to contact family.
He was told by an interrogator that “Your life is in my hands” they spat on him, tore out some of his hair and threatened to send him to a country that would torture him more thoroughly, making specific reference to an Egyptian Askri raqm tisa (“Soldier Number Nine”) who enjoyed raping prisoners. The interrogation ended with Khadr being told he would spend the rest of his life in Guantanamo. A few weeks later, an interrogator giving his name as Izmarai spoke to Khadr in Pashto, threatening to send him to a “new prison” at Bagram Airbase where “they like small boys” When he told Canadians that he had been tortured into giving false confessions by the Americans, the Canadian authorities called him a liar, causing him to cry. He later recalled that he had “tried to cooperate so that they would take me back to Canada
After 8 years of torture and solitary custody, in a prison condemned by the United Nations and the US supreme court – the first child soldier since WWII was to be prosecuted by a military commission. The US military tribunal ruled that confessions obtained from the child by his interrogators were admissible as evidence in his trial. Faced with certain conviction in a legal process denounced by every credible international agency the Canadian Child soldier Omar Khadr who had already been shot in the field of battle, already incarcerated and tortured for 8 years – was sentenced to 40 more years in prison. The key to the deal was that he could serve a portion in Canada. Canadian officials initially decline the request.
Canadian officials at almost any time in the past 8 years could have asked to have him returned to Canada and never did.
As a Canadian I am profoundly embarrassed by our response to both “JR” – whose identity is hidden, record cleared and crimes generally unpunshied and Omar Khadr who had no lawyer, no family, no due process, no “Miranda” rights and a no criminal trial – for a crime that has precious little evidence that he might have even broken a law, certainly not in the jurisdiction in which the “crime” occurred.
How can both of these cases be handled so different by the Canadian government? What common set of values do we as a people have represented in this case. Any casual outside observer would have to conclude that Canadians are firmly committed to hypocrisy.
Medicine Hat Media
I dont feel too good about how Canada treated Omar Khadr either – but i never thought of it like JR and a young offender. good point about JR being treated the most softly of any killer and Omar Khadr being treated the worst of any youth.
I agree that JR was given a very soft sentence however must disagree with your acceptance of the the acts of Omar. He ,as you state is a Canadian and as you point out was involved supporting an armed conflict against Canada and her allies. He has committed treason and when he returns to Canada he should be tried,convicted and sentenced to life. Was he treated badly after his capture,yes, was he a willing participant fighting against Canada and our allies,yes. How many IEDs did he make that inflicted death and injury to our forces? We will never no the full extent of his participation however in my mind what he did was enough to incarcerate him for life. There should never be any support for treason,no matter the circumstance.
He didn’t attack Canada – whether you support the war in Afghanistan or not (and I do)
America invaded Afghanistan – its a plain fact.
As a “soldier” he was defending it, and by rules of international law nobody considers that illegal. We did not prosecute every German or Italian soldier in WWII who threw grenades back at our forces that were firing on them. In fact within the conflict Canadian and US forces have used the same warlords as allies for some battles. No one can possibly believe that Omar Khadr was in charge of the Taliban or its activities. He was a child, same as the children in Khmer Rouge.
UNICEF doesnt agree that his being put in an Taliban fighting cell was his own voluntary action. They label all child soldiers as victims. I agree. Where did he ever have a choice?
Compared to JR Omar Khadr’s crime is suspect, his treatment unconscionable and Canada’s lack of action on his case demonstrates that deep down – there is no set of unified ideals regarding the treatment of children that we actually uphold.
When I think of what it means to be Canadian, and I contemplate the treatment of Omar Khadr, I am embarrassed by the implication back on our society. Is that really what we are about?
.First I will not even talk about “JR” as she was guilty as charged and was fully compliant in the murders but then so was Omar. His presence was testament to his complacency as he went there from Canada and makes no mistake him and his cronies were there for one thing. To kill allied forces. If you carry a Canadian passport and go to a country to kill Canadians and or American then you are a traitor and should not have the protection of Canadian law. A passport of convenience does not/or should not give you the privileges of that passport because their intention was to destroy the very representatives sworn to defend that passport. If they cannot abide by and attempt to destroy the laws of the country they claim then why should they be accorded those laws?
Why is JR accountable (despite her age) but Omar is not? Because he was a child soldier? First he is not Afghan but Pakistani so he has no citizenship and cannot be considered a “soldier” of the country. Many of the “soldiers” of the Taliban forces (and of Al Qaida) are not afghan. A “child soldier” my son killed in Afghanistan was not and had he been a Passport holding “Canadian” and killed my son and his fellow soldiers then I would not consider his “child soldier” status as an excuse. The fact he was a drug induced mentally challenged tool of the Taliban and used to provoke a response would, but not someone with their total compliance as omar was.
Second the US did not invade. The Taliban government supported a terror group and allowed an attack on the US to happen by said group. The US then supported a change of government from friendly afghans and then was asked to support the new government. Al Qaida is attacking both Canadian and Americans with the support and aid of the Taliban so yes they and he are attacking Canadians. Just ask the dead Canadians.
You say “did omar ever have a choice?” He most certainly did. Was he ever under threat of death from his fellow “soldiers” if he did not carry out his own attacks or actions? no. The real child soldiers used by people such as the khmer and Sudan and the Rawanda rebels had been forced to kill or be killed. Big Big difference.
On another topic since this one isn’t moving on. Again Cathy Smith is trying to stir the pot about council and proclaim knowledge of how Democracy works. Really does this woman know anything about democracy? She doesn’t have a clue.
While this time she doesn’t name names she does imply who they are…namely the ones that oppose the events center at this time. Her letter doesn’t make sense. She is asking for a public vote on the Event Center and states that the “opposition” fear a vote for the events center yet low voter turnout in the election show that it would not be a majority one way or another. But to Smith a “yes” would still be the majority even if 35% of the voting public even voted (be they for or against) and then claim democracy.
Bull crap.
Smith who corrupted the process while she was in office and then when she was not still contaminates the word democracy every time she speaks or writes. She resurfaces every time like a bad case of haemorrhoids.
Perhaps Smith can answer why the Arena was filled with empty seats during the curling event this past week even when we had Olympic Gold and Silver medalists in the event. If the events center was to be built to allow a mass of people to attend the event and the taxpayers held with the bil then why was tthe arena not filled to capacity. The empty seats would have been even more had there been more seating. People complain that the Esplanade can not fill the seats then why would we expect the Events Center would every time as well?
I missed her letter …what day was it in the paper?
Not a curling fan, so can’t speak to the event at the Arena specifically, but perhaps a newer facility would have a better draw for fans. As to people complaining about the Esplanade not filling seats, have they been to a show lately? Many events are sold out/held over, and those that are not still satisfy the people that do attend, so maybe they are events/performers that just don’t have a large fan base. At least there is a wide variety of performers so satisfy many tastes.
On a side note to DM/Skeet, what’s the best way to suggest new topics?
In mondays paper…it was a small letter and not carried over to the news website. ..like many others that don’t. Fairly lousy website for the news I must say.
new topics you can e-mail me ***Dangermousemh@gmail.com***
i will look up her e-mail…
and Man the MH News coverage of our city has to be a major concern for people who care about this city …if that is your main source of news for MH then there is a very high chance you are completly misinformed.
You how the Daily Show runs commentary on Fox News …I think we might need to start doing that here to balance the story a tad.