October 31 is the anniversary of the sentencing of Omar Khadr to 8 years of prison for war crimes in 2010. Killing an invading American soldier in Afghanistan was the war crime in question.

Born in Canada to Afghan parents, his father had taken him home to Afghanistan when he was just 14 years old to fight the US. When the US attacked Ayub Kheyl, the village he was living in, he took several bullet and shrapnel wounds, including a close range shotgun blast. But the very suspect claim was made that while he was lying wounded, he managed to throw a grenade that killed an American soldier.

He was first transferred to Bagram Airbase, where he was interrogated by known torture artist Joshua Claus. Another man imprisoned with him remembered him at the camp:

He looked like a child. Very skinny, gaunt, pale, weak, quiet, shy. Soldiers would scream insults at him, with his hands tied and his legs tied and a hood over his head.

Following his ordeal at Bagram, he was sent to Guantanamo Bay, where he received more torture. Canada did absolutely nothing to help him. When Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) agents arrived, he asked them to “promise me you’ll protect me from the Americans”. They did nothing to stop the abuse or to return him to Canada. When Omar realised that Canada was not going to save him, the 16 year old wept and called for his mother.

They beat a confession out of him. Canada’s supreme court ruled that Canada had violated his human rights. Canada continued to do nothing.

He was held without charge for 3 years before they charged him with murder in violation of the laws of war. The logic was that as a civilian, he was not subject to the combatant’s privilege, and could be tried for murder in the US. And if a civilian kills a soldier in war zone, then that becomes a war crime. His lawyers unsuccessfully attempted to point out the absurdity of this statement. Nor did they successfully argue that if he was subject to domestic law, he should have been tried in civilian court. International Law further reveals this as a major human rights violation as he was legally a child. He offered a guilty plea in exchange for a transfer home to Canada. The US rejected that deal.

So 5 years later, the Military Commision finally gave him his sentence. 40 years of prison, but cut down to 8 years due to agreeing to plead guilty pre-trial. Unable to use his already horrific experience as time served, he was forced to spend more time in US custody. He applied to be transferred home, and the US approved it. Canada would drag its feet for nearly half a year. He spent more years in Canadian maximum security prisons before he was finally released on May 7, 2015. He was released on bail pending review of his case (despite resistance from the federal government). The wounded 16 year old child soldier was now 28.

The Canadian government later made a weak apology and settled with him for $10.5 million. He now faces a $134 million wrongful death and injury suit from the soldier’s widow.