JURIST - Paper Chase: US transfers Guantanamo detainee Khadr to Canada

[JURIST] Canadian citizen Omar Khadr [JURIST news archive] was transferred to Canada [Public Safety Canada statement; DOD press release] from Guantanamo Bay [JURIST backgrounder] early Saturday morning to serve out the rest of his prison sentence under the authority of the Correctional Service of Canada [official website]. Khadr pleaded guilty to murdering US Sergeant First Class Christoper Speer, an Army medic, as well as charges of conspiracy and spying, material support of a terrorist group and attempted murder. He was originally sentenced to eight years [JURIST report] in 2010 on top of the eight years he had already spent in prison. The rest of his sentence and future parole hearings, however, will now be handled by Canadian authorities according to Canadian law.

The US delivered Khadr's papers [JURIST report] to Canada earlier this month while it was considering the possibility of transferring him. UN officials called for the transfer of Khadr in July after his lawyers renewed his transfer request [JURIST reports] the previous month. He made a formal request [JURIST report] to the Canadian government in April after being approved for transfer by the US government. He made a claim in 2010 that his confession to charges against him was a byproduct of torture, but those claims were rejected [JURIST report] by a military judge. Khadr, 26, was the youngest prisoner to be held at Guantanamo Bay.