Umar Khadr

It is generally accepted that the life of an average fifteen-year-old Canadian boy revolves around his friends, sports teams, video games and perhaps even school. Nowadays teenage boys have little worries such as handing in an assignment on time or waiting in line for hours outside of a big electronics store to get their hands on the release of the latest video game. Omar Khadr, a 15 year old Canadian boy also shared the same interests. Just like every other teenage boy, he loved basketball and video games. However, unlike other children Omar Khadr’s life suddenly changed when he was taken to Afghanistan by his jihadist father, who forcefully tossed his little child in the kiln of the battle and forced his son to become a translator for the Al-Qaida group, which is a known terrorist organization. Victimized by the hands of his own father, Omar Khadr undoubtedly became a child soldier. In 2002, during a firefight in Afghanistan Omar Khadr was captured and imprisoned by the US military officials for allegedly killing an American soldier. This incident changed his life forever. The harsh reality is that Omar Khadr; a fifteen year old Canadian citizen was incarcerated, beaten and tortured for over a decade. As Canadian individuals we would assume that the Canadian government must have taken some steps to fight for his rights as a child soldier and must have demanded for his return. However, the Canadian government simply turned its back against him and left Omar Khadr; an innocent child to fight his battles alone. After a decade of shame the Canadian government needs to set a precedent and stand up for justice. First of all, the Canadian government needs to realize that it has failed to protect the fundamental rights of its own citizen. Next, the government needs to owe up to its failures and pay damages to Omar Khadr while fulfilling its obligations to rehabilitate him back into society. Finally, the government also needs to introduce new legislation, incorporating