Omar Khadr at Guantanamo Bay: Descriptive Essay

In Claire Theobald’s article, “Omar Khadr walks out of Edmonton court a free man”, she explains the life of Canadian-born Omar Khadr, and how he finally achieved legal freedom after being infringed of his rights for 13 years. At 15 years old, Omar’s father sent him to translate in Afghanistan for a group of Islamic militants (Theobald, 2019). Shortly after his arrival, a fight broke out between the militants and the U.S. forces. The firefight resulted in three deaths: two Afghani translators, and an American soldier (Theobald, 2019). Khadr was seriously injured during the fight, and, “was accused of throwing a grenade that killed American Soldier Christopher Speer.” (Theobald, 2019). After the fight, American troops took him to the base in Bagram to be interrogated for three months, where he was put through various events of physical and sexual abuse by guards, and interrogators (Reed & Sheppard, 2017). Khadr was then sent to Guantanamo Bay. Upon arrival, Omar’s hands were double shackled, a shackle around the waist, long leg shackles, then cargo strapped to the floor, and handcuffed behind his back (Reed & Sheppard, 2017). The guards went to extreme measures to prove their power and authority over the inmate, even though Omar was only 15 years old. In 2003 and 2004, the Canadian Intelligence visited Khadr to interrogate him for four days (Perkel, 2015). During the interrogation, Khadr was seen crying, and pleading for medical attention for his wounds that were not properly healing.

At one point during the interrogation, Khadr urinated on the floor after being refused permission to use the washroom, and then he was forced by an interrogator to clean the mess by rolling in it (Reed & Sheppard, 2017). Omar was subject to a lot of abuse and was ignored every time he would beg for help. After being locked in Guantanamo for 8 years, Omar Khadr accepted a plea deal. Even though Omar was unsure if his grenade killed Sgt. Speer, he pleaded guilty because that was the only guaranteed way for him to get out of Guantanamo Bay, and back to Canada (Perkel, 2015). Khadr pleaded guilty to, “murder and attempted murder in violation of the law of war, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism and spying.” (Theobald, 2019). The deal he accepted assured that he would serve eight years in total, one at Guantanamo Bay, and the remainder of the sentence to be in Canada (Theobald, 2019). In Theobald’s article, she speaks about Omar’s return to Canada, saying, “Khadr was transferred to Canada in 2012, where he spent two years and nine months between maximum- and medium-security prisons… Khadr was released on bail in 2015 pending an appeal of his convictions.” (Theobald, 2019). The reactions toward Khadr’s arrival in Canada greatly varied among the population, “some believe pleading guilty was the Canadian’s only way out of the detention facility where he came of age. Others argue the sentence was too lenient and urged Ottawa to refuse his transfer request.” (Shephard & MacCharles, 2012). In 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada actively recognized the infringement of Omar Khadr’s rights by acknowledging that, “the interrogation of a youth detained without access to counsel, to elicit statements about serious criminal charges while knowing that the fruits of the interrogations would be shared with the prosecutors, offends the most basic Canadian standards about the treatment of detained youth suspects.” (Theobald, 2019).

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Omar Khadr later sued the Canadian government for violating his human rights, resulting in a $10.5 million settlement, and an official apology (Theobald, 2019). As of Monday, March 25, 2019, Omar Khadr is now a free man, after being subjected to extremely inhumane treatment from the justice system for nearly 13 years (Theobald, 2019). Chief Justice Mary Moreau believed Khadr, “between the years spent in custody and under strict court supervision while on bail, had more than served his original sentence… she lifted all of Khadr’s remaining conditions, meaning he will be a free man for the first time in his adult life.” (Theobald, 2019). The emotions towards Khadr’s freedom are wide-ranging, but he deserves to be given a chance to create a new life for himself in Canada, and have the support he needs in order to strive. Theobald’s article outlines the story of Omar Khadr, and how he was finally able to reach freedom from the justice system (Theobald, 2019). Omar Khadr was a victim of inhumane treatment by penal guards during his time captive and was denied acknowledgement as a child in the justice system (Reed & Sheppard, 2017). Khadr’s case reveals the corruption of the justice system, and how a young offender was treated like a piece of trash. Omar’s time in Pakistan and Afghanistan exposed him to damaging experiences that led to his act of crime. Omar Khadr's actions were influenced by social learning, social control, and the consequences of socialization.

Social learning provides a perspective that can be used when analyzing Omar Khadr’s case because throughout his early years he was exposed to many different experiences and people, that ultimately caused him to be where he is today. During Khadr’s childhood, his parents exposed him to unsafe conditions by moving to Pakistan and sending him to work with Islamic militants (Reed & Sheppard, 2017). Khadr’s parents failed to attain very important aspects of parenting that are essential in ensuring a safe environment and favourable future for a child. According to Diana Baumrind, two important qualities of parenting are parental responsiveness, and parental demandingness (Bell, 2016, p. 211). Parental responsiveness is the emotional characteristic of parenting and supporting the needs of the child, and parental demandingness is the extent to which parents enforce discipline and expect proper behaviour from their child (Bibi, et al., 2013, p. 91). Omar's parents rejected the concept of parental responsiveness and accepted parental demandingness. It is evident that Omar's parents ignored the importance of parental responsiveness by sending him to translate for Islamic militants, placing him in a dangerous environment that could be fatal. The Khadr parents followed the elements of parental demandingness because the children were raised to follow the instruction of their parents, and would have been faced with consequences if disobeyed (Reed & Sheppard, 2017). Interactional theory can be credited when analyzing the Khadr case because the theory argues that an individual's, 'social class, race, and community and neighbourhood characteristics affect the social bond and social learning variables.' (Bell, 2016, p. 185). Omar's father worked for Muslim charities in Pakistan and Afghanistan and became involved with al-Qaeda.

The characteristics of the community that Omar was living in, exposed him to many influences that instigated an act of violence delinquency (Reed & Sheppard, 2017). Omar Khadr was also exposed to the differential association because he was introduced to people with radical beliefs that accept the use of terrorist acts throughout his time in Afghanistan with Islamic fighters. Differential association is the idea that behaviour is learned through the interactions with the people who have delinquent tendencies (Bell, 2016, p. 173). The society that Omar was living in could have had an influence on his actions because he was associating with people who were accustomed to using violence as a form of defence. So, when Omar was put into a fearful situation during a firefight, he presumably used violence because of the normality of it within the Afghanistan society. Social control is very apparent when examining the Khadr case because Omar’s delinquent behaviour could have been the consequence of the limited opportunities he had growing up. After moving out of Canada, Omar would have experienced strain because of the different opportunities that are offered in Canada, in comparison to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Hirschi and Kornhauser’s classic strain theory, “focuses on one type of strain: the inability to achieve conventional success goals-like educational and occupational success – through legitimate means.” (Agnew, 2001, p. 336). Agnew expressed the importance of social bonds when attempting to reject strain and achieve conventional success (Agnew, 2001, p. 336). The social bond consists of attachment (to parents, school and friends), commitment (success, and achievements), involvement (engaging in productive activities), and beliefs (committed to conventional value system) (Bell, 2016, p. 175). During Omar Khadr’s childhood, the attachment he had with his family was not healthy because of the radical ideas and experiences that they exposed to him. Omar’s commitment to success and productive involvement was limited because of the position he was put into by his parents. Shaw and Mckay believe that 'social disorganization describes a condition in which: controls that would prevent delinquency are absent; parent and neighbours may actually approve of certain delinquent behaviours; opportunities for delinquency are numerous, and there is little opportunity for or encouragement towards employment.' (Bell, 2016, p. 169).

Khadr was faced with social disorganization because throughout his time in Pakistan and Afghanistan he was exposed to numerous opportunities for delinquency, due to the lack of delinquency control. When analysing the Omar Khadr case, it is important to question extralegal factors, especially race. Racialization can be seen as the main reason for his denial of rights during Khadr's time spent in the justice system (Capurri, 2016, p. 147). Backhouse defines racialization as, 'the process by which attributes such as skin colour, language, birthplace and cultural practices are given social significance as markers of distinction.' (Capurri, 2016, p. 148). Khadr can be seen as a victim of racialization because of the differential treatment he received, because of being labelled as an Islamic terrorist. Since Omar is Muslim he was immediately stereotyped as an Islamic terrorist based off his appearance. Although his actions could be seen as a terrorist act, the main issue was that Khadr was automatically assumed to be a terrorist just because of being Muslim. Coll. Morris Davis was the chief prosecutor of the Omar Khadr case, and cause serious moral panic throughout the media because of the statements he made, referring to Omar as a Muslim terrorist, who was undeserving of returning to Canada (Reed & Sheppard, 2017). Labelling someone as deviant is to, 'assign one to a kind of master status seen as the essence of the person's personality. To call a person mad or criminal is to imply that he is different in kind from ordinary people and that all areas of his personality are affected by his problem.' (Gay, 2000, p.3). Upon achieving legal freedom, Omar purchased an Edmonton strip mall but has been faced with stigmatization because of his purchase (Yousif, 2019). Khadr’s home address was released online, and he began receiving threats of violence, and arson (Theobald, 2019). Omar was labelled as a terrorist, and although his charges are officially dropped, he will forever be faced with stigmatization in society because of the label he was once given. The US and Canadian government and justice system inflicted mental, physical and sexual abuse during his time in prison (Reed & Sheppard, 2017). During Omar’s time in Pakistan and Afghanistan, he was exposed to potentially harmful experiences that could have led him to his act of deathly violence during a firefight between U.S. troops and Afghani militants. Omar Khadr’s criminal event was influenced by elements from social learning, social control, and racialization. ‘

References

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