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News :: Civil & Human Rights

Gitmo interrogation video of Omar Khadr released on Internet

TORONTO - Wrenching video of a teenaged Omar Khadr under interrogation by a Canadian spy service agent at Guantanamo Bay was released early Tuesday on the Internet.
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The 10 minutes of video - selected by his lawyers from more than seven hours of footage - shows the 16-year-old Khadr weeping, his face buried in his hands.

In one section, the agent accuses Khadr of using his injuries and emotional state to avoid the interrogation.

"You see, you're not going to believe me," Khadr says.

"Well, look me straight in the eyes and tell me that you're being honest."

"I am being honest."

"You can't even bear to look at me when you're saying that."

"Why I can't bear to look at you?"

"You know - put your hand down."

"No, you don't care about me."

Khadr is accused by the U.S. military of throwing a grenade that killed an American soldier during a firefight in Afghanistan in July 2002.

He was just 15 when he was found in the rubble of a bombed-out compound - badly wounded and near death.

The remarkable footage from February 2003 was made public under Canadian court orders and offers an unprecedented glimpse into an interrogation by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

It shows Khadr at times calm, at other times in despair, and at other times seemingly resigned and indifferent.

At one point in the interrogation, Khadr pulls off the top of orange prison uniform and shows the wounds he sustained in the firefight from six months earlier.

He complains he can't move his arms and says he had requested, but hadn't received, proper medical attention.

"They look like they're healing well to me," the agent says of the injuries.

"No, I'm not. You're not here (at Guantanamo)," Khadr whimpers.

At another point, Khadr complains about his vision, saying, "I lost my eyes."

"No, you still have your eyes. Your feet are still at the end of your legs."

Later on in the tape, a distraught Khadr is seen rocking, his face in his hands.

"Help me," he sobs repeatedly in despair.

The interrogation takes place over three days.

On the final day, the agent tells Khadr that he was "very disappointed" in how Khadr had behaved, and tries to impress upon him that he should co-operate.

Khadr says he wants to go back to Canada.

"There's not anything I can do about that," the agent says. "I want to stay in Cuba with you. The weather is nice - no snow."

The video camera was hidden in a vent and some of the audio is of poor quality, and can barely be made out.

The video can be seen at [ 98.130.220.175/. ]
 
 

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