Accused Terrorist Omar Khadr Delays Hearing at Guantanamo
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/04/29/accused-terrorist-omar-khadr-delays-hearing-at-guantanamo/
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – Accused war criminal Omar Khadr initially did not show up for the second day of his pretrial hearing Thursday because of what his lawyers described as severe pain in his left eye.The absence of Khadr, a 23-year-old Canadian citizen captured in Afghanistan and charged with murder, conspiracy and support of terrorism, sparked a debate in the courtroom. Eventually Col. Patrick Parrish, the presiding judge, called a recess to give Khadr’s attorneys a chance to convince him to attend. If Khadr failed to show, Parrish said he would order him to be brought to court. Parrish ordered Khadr’s attorneys to make sure their client was fully aware of his rights to be at the hearing.
Khadr appeared in the afternoon. “Mr. Khadr is showing a great deal of courage in spite of his physical condition,” said defense attorney Barry Coburn.
It is the first substantial military commission hearing of the Obama administration. Khadr is accused of throwing a grenade that killed Sgt. Christopher Speer, a Delta Force commando, during a July 2002 firefight in Afghanistan. After the fight Khadr — 15 years old at the time — was found unconscious, partly blinded by shrapnel and shot twice in the back by American forces. He was airlifted to Bagram for medical attention.
Khadr says that while detained at Bagram and then Guantánamo Bay, he was subjected to a variety of abuses, including stress positions, suffocation, threats of rape and being used as “human mop” to wipe up his own urine. During those interrogation sessions, Khadr now says he told his interrogators what he thought they wanted to hear.
A debate about Khadr’s initial decision to skip Thursday’s hearing filled the morning hours.
According to testimony by Marine Capt. Laura Bruzzese, a detention facility guard who spoke with Khadr Thursday morning, Khadr initially agreed to attend the hearing, but asked first to be taken to the detainee hospital because of pain in his left eye, which still contains shrapnel from the firefight and is permanently blind.
After he returned from the hospital, Khadr refused to wear the “eyes and ears,” a pair of goggles and ear muffs that block a detainee’s sight and sound while in transit, said Bruzzeese. According to Bruzzese, Khadr said he would not wear them because their sole purpose was to humiliate him.
Prosecuting attorney Jeffrey Groharing said Bruzzese’s testimony made clear that Khadr’s decision not to attend was voluntary rather than because he was physically unable to be there.
But Coburn argued that further testimony was needed because Bruzzese was not at the detainee hospital and because of Khadr’s medical condition and the trauma he has suffered.
Coburn wanted retired Army General Dr. Stephen Xenakis, who has psychiatrically evaluated Khadr numerous times, to testify, but Parrish denied his request.
Coburn said Khadr’s face was red and he was in so much pain that, at points, he appeared to be crying. During a post-hearing news conference, Xenakis said the goggles Khadr had objected to earlier but wore in transit to the courtroom had aggravated the pain.
Coburn and Xenakis said Khadr is is suffering from high blood pressure, as well as from severe conjunctivitis, more commonly known as “pink eye,” in the eye hit by shrapnel. Those combine to cause him severe pain that, according to Xenakis, requires further medical attention.
Navy Cmdr. Brad Fagan said that Khadr would be examined by a doctor and an optometrist Thursday evening.
During the courtroom session, as Khadr held his hands to his face, FBI agent Robert Fuller, who interrogated Khadr while he was held at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, returned to the stand. Fuller testified that, during interrogations at Bagram, Khadr said he had built and planted IEDs as well as been taught to fire an AK-47.
The prosecution then showed a roughly 25-minute-long video of a young Khadr smiling and laughing while building and planting improvised explosive devices, known as IEDs.
Defense attorney Kobie Flowers objected to the showing of the video, but Parrish overruled the attorney, saying he could not judge its relevance if he had not seen it.
As on Wednesday, Parrish ended the day’s proceedings promptly at 4 p.m. so Khadr could fulfill his religious obligation to pray.
After the hearing, attorneys from human rights organizations said they were very surprised by the judge’s attitude about Khadr’s physical condition.
“The fact that we saw such little concern from the court today is astounding,” said Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International.
Comments are closed.
