A top UN official has called on the United States not to imprison Omar Baby FaceKhadr, a former Guantanamo child detainee who was jugged at the age of 15.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN special representative for Children and Armed Conflict, urged the US Military Commission in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to respect international law on underage recruits and not send the Canadian citizen to jail.
| He was old enough to toss a grenade ... |
Coomaraswamy stressed that the process of rehabilitation could help Khadr find a new direction in his life and assist him in pursuing his interest in becoming a medic.
The UN official also depicted Khadr as the "classic child soldier narrative: recruited by unscrupulous groups to undertake actions at the bidding of adults to fight battles they barely understand."
She added the fact that Khadr's abuse by his own father exacerbates the harm done to him.
On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch also urged the military commission to consider Khadr's former status as a child soldier in sentencing.
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US military prosecutors have so far paid no heed to the numerous international pleas on Khadr's behalf and stress that the now 24-year-old should not be seen as a child soldier.
Toronto-born Khadr was only 15 when maimed and nabbed in 2002 by the US military in Afghanistan. Since then, Khadr has been in detention at Guantanamo Bay.
He is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a US soldier during a July 2002 raid on an al-Qaeda compound in Afghanistan.
Khadr now faces charges of murder, conspiracy, providing material assistance to a terrorist organization and espionage by US military prosecutors.
This is while many critics say that the Canadian citizen should not be prosecuted because killing a soldier during a firefight does not amount to a "war crime." They also complain that much of Khadr's confessions were made under torture and duress.