Omar Khadr - Judge Runs In Circles Over Boycott

One of the most interesting parts of today's hearings at Guantanamo Bay were the exchanges between Omar Khadr and the military judge presiding over his case.

Shortly after arriving in court, Khadr announced that he planned to "boycott" the proceedings. The judge, Army Col. Patrick Parrish, then spent considerable time probing Khadr to determine exactly what this means, and what the implications will be for Khadr's upcoming trial.

Khadr, who has spent the last eight years detained at Guantanamo Bay, calmly answered most of the judge's questions. But at times he seemed indifferent to and frustrated by Parrish's queries. According to Khadr's Canadian defence lawyers, the 23-year-old has lost faith in the process, and no longer wants to participate. Whether that means not showing up in court or serving as his own defence counsel is, in other words, beside the point, in Khadr's view.

At one point, Parrish asked Khadr if he has any legal training. Khadr snidely replied that living at Guantanamo since he was 15 and appearing at the military commission had given him considerable legal training. Parrish also asked the Toronto-born terrorism suspect if he understands the legal rules of evidence. Khadr said he's "not familiar" with the rules but was puzzled at the question, because the military-commission rules had frequently changed. Parrish argued that Khadr would be better off with a trained lawyer who knows the rules of evidence and understands how the military tribunal works, such as Lieut. Col. Jon Jackson, the court-appointed military lawyer who Khadr now refuses to work with. However, Khadr argued that Jackson is just as "untrained" as he, because of the unprecedented nature of the Guantanamo court process.

Parrish later asked Khadr if he believed he was mentally fit to represent himself.

"This place is not a five-star hotel, so I'm sure it has affected me," Khadr responded.

Here, by the way, is the full, unedited text of the statement Khadr read in court today. Khadr scrawled the statement on a sheet of paper under the heading "Arabic-English language class."

"Your honour, I'm boycotting this military commission because, firstly, the unfairness and unjustice of it.

I say this because not one of the lawyers I've had, or human rights organizations, or any person, ever say that this commission is fair or looking for justice, but on the contrary they say it's unfair and unjust and that it has been constructed to convict detainees, not to find the truth (so how can I ask for justice from a process that does not have it or offer it) and to accomplish political and public goal.

And what I mean is when I was offered a plea bargain, it was up to 30 years which I was going to spend only five years so I asked why the 30 years. I was told it make the U.S. government look good in the public eyes and other political causes.

Secondly: The unfairness of the rules that will make a person so depressed that he will admit to alligations 1/8sic 3/8 made upon him or take a plea offer that will satisfy the U.S. government and get him the least sentence possible and legitimize this sham process.

Therefore I will not willingly let the U.S. government use me to fulfil its goal. I have been used many times when I was a child and that's why I'm here taking blame and paying for things I didn't have a choice in doing but was told to do by elders.

Lastly I will not take any plea offer because it will give excuse for the government for torturing and abusing me when I was a child."

Andrew Mayeda

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