Omar Khadr - Guilty Plea

Guilty Plea

On October 25, 2010, Khadr pleaded guilty to murder in violation of the laws of war, attempted murder in violation of the laws of war, conspiracy, two counts of providing material support for terrorism and spying. Under the plea deal, Khadr would serve one more year in Guantanamo Bay, and be returned to Canada, but Canadian authorities denied Khadr would be repatriated as part of any agreement. This plea deal was negotiated between Lieutenant Colonel Jon S. Jackson, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of the White House. It is reported the prosecutors objected to the deal but ultimately the Convening Authority agreed with Lieutenant Colonel Jackson's proposal and accepted the deal. The Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs said in Parliament during Oral Question period that Canada was not involved in the agreement between Khadr and the US government, but when asked about an exchange of diplomatic notes indicating that Canada is inclined to favourably consider a request from Khadr for a transfer to Canada after one year, he said Canada would implement the agreement. Reportedly, Khadr will spend the next year in near solitary confinement in the section of Guantanamo reserved for the two prisoners who have been convicted in the Military Commission system, an Al Qaeda cook and an Al Qaeda propagandist.

According to Michelle Shephard, writing in the Toronto Star two different cabinet ministers had made contradictory statements as to whether Canada would accept custody of Khadr on October 31, 2011, when his plea bargain made him eligible for transfer. An official in the office of Vic Toews, Public Safety Minister, said Khadr's plea deal was irrelevant to whether the Minister would decide to have Canada accept custody of Khadr for the remainder of his term, because the Minister was not a signatory to the agreement. However, when answering a question in the House of Commons, Diane Ablonczy, Canada's Minister of State of Foreign Affairs said:

“The member is well aware that the American government has agreed that Omar Khadr will return to Canada. We will respect the agreement between Omar Khadr and the U.S.”

CBC News reported on October 7, 2011 that:

The Canadian Embassy said in a memo dated Oct. 23, 2010, the Canadian government "is inclined to favourably consider" a request for a transfer to Canada for Khadr to serve the rest of his sentence after another year at Guantanamo.

and having served one year of his sentence Khadr's lawyers had "filed the paperwork required to start the repatriation process", which was likely to take up to 18 months at which point he could be transferred to a Canadian prison.

On March 24, 2012, The New York Times reported on continued delays in Khadr's repatriation. They reported that the delays in Khadr's repatriation was working against the prosecution team's attempts to convince other low level captives to agree to plea deals because the delays in Khadr's repatriation caused them to doubt that the plea deal would result in their eventual release.

But as months pass and Mr. Khadr, now 25, remains at Guantánamo, his fellow inmates are growing distrustful that the main inducement prosecutors can offer them — the prospect of leaving by a defined date — is meaningful, defense lawyers say. That mistrust, in turn, is complicating efforts to win more plea deals. —Charlie Savage, New York Times