For a while I wondered if CBC lied to me

I got this email this morning from Aeneas Campbell, former aide to Roméo Dallaire, who as the reader may recall, sponsored the latest petition to bring Omar Khadr home.

It finally happened. After more than a decade in Guantanamo Bay and Bagram, Omar Khadr is home.

Early Saturday morning, the former child soldier and Canadian citizen was transferred to a maximum-security prison near Kingston, Ontario, where he is now in the hands of correctional services.

Over the past 10 years, Omar Khadr’s rights have been violated time and again. He has been denied the right to due process and a fair trial, the right to protection from torture, and the rights stemming from the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on Children in Armed Conflict.

While it’s still early, and the road ahead is long, what’s clear is the political battle is now over.

Thank you for joining us and over 30,000 Canadian Change.org users—along with global citizens from over 90 countries—in our call to repatriate Omar Khadr. This victory is yours as much as it is Omar’s.

Regrettably, the Canadian government has continued to demonize Khadr in an effort to undermine his rehabilitation. Canadians ought to expect more from their elected officials.

Against all odds, Khadr has been a model prisoner and a keen student. He has the right to prove himself. Now, he will finally have that chance.

This development is long overdue—but it is an unmistakable step towards protecting human rights and the rights of children in armed conflict. And it marks the end of a decade-long national embarrassment.

For now, let us wish Omar well.

Aeneas Campbell,
The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative

Just as well. I needed some good news for a change.