Key events in the Omar Khadr case
Omar Khadr pleaded guilty and was convicted of killing Sgt. Christopher Speer, a U.S. special forces soldier, with a hand grenade in Afghanistan in 2002 when he was 15. Here is a timeline of events, going back to the Khadr family's arrival to Canada in 1977.
July 2017
The government publicly apologizes to Khadr on July 7 "for any role Canadian officials may have played in relation to his ordeal abroad and any resulting harm" as part of a settlement of a civil suit launched over the violation of his Charter rights. The settlement includes a $10.5-million payment, according to sources. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer denounces the payout as "disgusting" and a "slap in the face" to Canadian "men and women in uniform."
A day earlier, it was reported by the Globe and Mail, and later confirmed by a source to CBC News, that the government had transfered $10.5 million to Khadr on July 5. A source tells The Canadian Press the government wanted to get ahead of an attempt by Speer's widow and another U.S. soldier injured in the 2002 fight to enforce a massive U.S. court award against Khadr in Canadian court.
Word of a pending apology and settlement had been reported by multiple outlets on July 4.
March 2017
Khadr recovers from a 19-hour operation on a shoulder that was badly injured in Afghanistan 15 years earlier.
July 2016
Guantanamo's Child, a documentary made about Khadr's life from age 15 on, is nominated for an Emmy Award.
May 7, 2015
Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Myra Bielby ordered Khadr released on bail, turning down the federal government appeal of the April 24 bail order. She had set out the terms of his release on May 5.
April 24, 2015
An Alberta judge grants bail to Omar Khadr at a hearing of Khadr's application for bail pending the outcome of his appeal in the U.S. of his conviction for war crimes. The federal government appeals the bail decision.
- Omar Khadr's legal odyssey, from Guantanamo Bay to Alberta
- Profiles of the controversial Khadr family
March 17, 2015
The federal government says Canadian courts don't have the authority to grant Omar Khadr bail before his American legal proceedings are final. Even if they do have the power, the federal government says the courts should refuse to release him.
February 2015
King's University in Edmonton, Alta., offers Omar Khadr a spot as a student if he is released from prison. The university's president, Melanie Humphries, has spent time with Khadr and says, "my impression of him is that he's an articulate, thoughtful, non-radicalized individual."
January 2015
Omar Khadr seeks bail pending disposition of his appeal in the United States against his disputed conviction for war crimes.
Dec. 11, 2014
The Supreme Court of Canada decides to hear the federal government's challenge of Omar Khadr's youth status. Khadr had already agreed to remain in federal prison despite a prior ruling by Alberta's top court that he should be moved to a provincial facility.
Oct. 23, 2014
A Federal Court judge rules that Omar Khadr should be allowed to claim the Canadian government conspired with the Americans to torture him and breach his rights. The ruling allows him to significantly expand his $20-million civil lawsuit against Ottawa.
July 14, 2014
Omar Khadr loses his bid to have his war-crimes convictions tossed in a military commission appeals court decision. He will now have to wait even longer to make his case to a regular American court.
July 8, 2014
The Alberta Court of Appeal rules that Omar Khadr should be serving his time in a provincial facility and must be transferred from federal prison. The federal government is appealing the ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada.
July 2014
The CBC, the Toronto Star and documentary producer White Pine Pictures take the federal government to court to ask that Omar Khadr be allowed to be interviewed by media for the first time. Khadr has been willing to talk, but Correctional Service Canada and Public Safety Canada have repeatedly blocked media access.
May 22, 2014
Speer's widow and an American soldier blinded by the grenade sue Khadr for close to $45 million.
Feb. 7, 2014
Omar Khadr is transferred to Bowden Institution in Innisfail, Alta., as a medium-security inmate.
November 2013
May 28, 2013
Omar Khadr is transferred to a maximum security facility, the Edmonton Institution, in Edmonton.
April 27, 2013
Khadr will appeal his plea-bargained guilty plea and war crimes convictions in a U.S. civilian federal court, his Canadian lawyer tells CBC News. Khadr's charges, according to his lawyer, Dennis Edney, "are not recognized international law–of–war offences. We questioned the validity of the charges before the Military Commission Process."
"We expect the military tribunal convictions will be overturned considering the present state of the law and ultimately putting to rest the Harper government's characterization of Omar Khadr as a war criminal and a terrorist."
Julie Carmichael, a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, issued a statement regarding Khadr's decision to appeal: "Omar Khadr is a convicted terrorist. Decisions related to his future will be made by the Parole Board of Canada."
Sept. 29, 2012
A U.S. military plane brings Khadr back to Canada. The 26 year-old is transferred to the Millhaven Institution, a maximum security prison, near Kingston.
Sept. 6, 2012
Ottawa is given videotapes and documents assessing Khadr's mental health by American military officials. The material includes an interview of Khadr by a psychiatrist.
July 26, 2012
July 13, 2012
Lawyers file a notice of application in the Federal Court to ask it to review why Canada was delaying Khadr's repatriation.
April 18, 2012
Ottawa receives an application from Khadr officially requesting a transfer to Canada from Guantanamo Bay.
April 2012
U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta signs off on Khadr's transfer.
Aug. 4, 2011
Khadr fires his longtime lawyers Dennis Edney and Nate Whitling and hires Toronto-based lawyers John Norris and Brydie Bethell.
May 26, 2011
The Convening Authority for Military Commissions rejects a clemency appeal filed by Khadr. The prisoner had appealed to have his sentence cut in half, arguing that improper testimony swayed the jury at his sentencing hearing.
Oct. 31, 2010
Jurors sentence Khadr to 40 years in prison for war crimes but a pre-trial deal limits the actual sentence to eight years.
Oct. 26, 2010
Jurors scheduled to attend start of Khadr sentencing hearing.
Oct. 25, 2010
Amid talk of an agreement, Khadr changes his plea to guilty on all five counts; gets opportunity to apply for a transfer to a Canadian prison after one year in a U.S. facility.
Aug. 9, 2010
Khadr's pre-trial hearing begins before a U.S. military court in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Khadr officially pleads not guilty to five war crimes charges, including murder, at a pre-trial hearing. Judge Col. Patrick Parrish rules Khadr's confessions will be admissible as evidence.
July 12, 2010
A U.S. military judge refuses to allow Omar Khadr to dismiss his court-appointed military lawyer. Khadr tells the court there's no chance of him receiving a fair trial, regardless of his legal representation. He vows to boycott the legal proceedings.
On the same day, the federal government says it will appeal the court ruling that ordered it to remedy the breach of Khadr's constitutional rights.
July 7, 2010
Omar Khadr fires his three American lawyers — two civilians and one court-appointed military lawyer — one of the attorney says. The move comes less than a week before his military commission pre-trial hearings are slated to resume in Guantanamo Bay.
July 5, 2010
The Federal Court of Canada gives the federal government seven days to come up with a list of remedies to its breach of Omar Khadr's constitutional rights.
June 15, 2010
Abdulkareem Ahmed Khadr, 21, is charged with one count each of sexual assault and sexual exploitation, according to police.
April 29, 2010
Omar Khadr's defence team rejects a plea-bargain offer from U.S. military prosecutors that would have forced him to serve any sentence in a U.S. prison, one of Khadr's lawyers says.
April 28, 2010
Pretrial proceedings for Canadian Omar Khadr get underway in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with the prosecution and defence both wrangling over what witnesses will be allowed to testify before the U.S. military commission hearing the case.
Feb. 16, 2010
Ottawa seeks assurances that the United States will not use evidence obtained by Canadian officials in their interviews with accused terrorist Omar Khadr in any future prosecution against him. The official request is made in a diplomatic note to the U.S. government.
Feb. 3, 2010
The Canadian government says it has no plans to push for the repatriation of Omar Khadr, according to the Prime Minister's Office spokesman Dimitri Soudas and Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon.
Jan. 29, 2010
The Supreme Court of Canada has overturned lower-court orders that the Canadian government must try to return Omar Khadr to Canada from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay — even though the court agrees his human rights have been violated and continue to be violated by Canadian officials.
Nov. 13, 2009
Omar Khadr will be transferred from Guantanamo Bay to the United States, where he will face terrorism charges in a military commission, The Associated Press reports. Ottawa meanwhile presents its case at the Supreme Court of Canada, appealing a Federal Appeal Court decision to uphold a lower-court ruling that required the federal government to try to repatriate Khadr.
Oct. 7, 2009
Lt.-Cmdr. Bill Kuebler is officially dismissed from Omar Khadr's legal defence team. Khadr's Canadian lawyer, Dennis Edney, says Kuebler put his self-interest ahead of his client.
Aug. 25, 2009
The federal government will appeal a ruling forcing Ottawa to press for the release of Omar Khadr from Guantanamo Bay.
"After careful consideration of the legal merits of the ruling … the government has decided to seek leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court" of Canada, Foreign Affairs says in a statement.
Aug. 14, 2009
The Federal Court of Appeal upholds a ruling that orders the Canadian government to press for Omar Khadr's return from the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.
June 23, 2009
Federal lawyers file an appeal of the court ruling that ordered the government to seek Omar Khadr's return to Canada from Guantanamo Bay.
April 28, 2009
Col. Patrick Parrish, the judge presiding over Omar Khadr's military commission proceedings, orders that the hearings will go ahead June 1.
April 24, 2009
During question period, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon tells the House of Commons that the government will "probably appeal" Justice James O'Reilly's ruling that Canada must press the U.S. for the return of Omar Khadr.
Cannon's office later tells CBC News that the government is going ahead with the appeal.
April 23, 2009
Federal Court Justice James O'Reilly rules in favour of Omar Khadr's charter challenge of the Canadian government's decision not to request his repatriation from the U.S. detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
O'Reilly rules that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is required to press the United States for the return of Khadr to Canada to "comply with a principle of fundamental justice."
April 4, 2009
Lt.-Cmdr. William Kuebler, the Pentagon-appointed lawyer for Omar Khadr is removed from the case and reassigned following an internal probe into his conduct. The reasons for Kuebler's dismissal are not released.
Feb. 10, 2009
Omar Khadr's lawyer, Dennis Edney, tells the Canadian Press that Khadr would be willing to face prosecution in Canada and undergo a period of transition under the guidance of an expert team if the United States sent him home.
Jan. 22, 2009
U.S. President Barack Obama signs an executive order to close the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba within a year.
Jan. 20, 2009
Military prosecutors request a suspension of all trials at Guantanamo Bay, including the trail of Omar Khadr, on order of U.S. President Barack Obama. Col. Patrick Parrish, the U.S. military judge overseeing Khadr's case, calls a halt to proceedings.
Jan. 19, 2009
At a military commission hearing in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, FBI Special Agent Robert Fuller says a then teenaged Khadr identified Canadian Maher Arar as someone he saw at al-Qaeda safe houses and possibly training camps in Afghanistan.
Arar was cleared of any links to terrorism by a public inquiry in 2006.
Fuller initially said that Khadr immediately identified Arar from black-and-white photos showed him during two weeks of interrogations. On cross-examination, however, Fuller admitted it took Khadr several minutes to identify the man in a photograph.
Dec. 12, 2008
Omar Khadr's military-appointed lawyer tells a pretrial hearing that a photograph and an American soldier's testimony prove that Khadr could not have thrown the grenade that killed a U.S. soldier in a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan.
Oct. 28, 2008
Khadr lawyer Nate Whitling tells a Canadian federal court that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has an obligation to demand the repatriation of Omar Khadr because Canada was complicit in his torture.
Whitling says his client was subjected to the "frequent flyer program" — a process of constantly waking and moving a prisoner from cell to cell — to soften him up for interrogation by Canadian intelligence officials.
Government lawyers argue that the government had nothing to do with any mistreatment.
Oct. 24, 2008
U.S. military judge Col. Patrick Parrish delays the trial of Omar Khadr until Jan. 26, 2009. The trial was slated to go before a military commission at the U.S. naval base on Nov. 10.
July 15, 2008
Video is released of Canadian spy agents questioning Omar Khadr at Guantanamo Bay in February 2003. In the video, made public under a court order obtained by his lawyers, a teenaged Omar sobs uncontrollably and tells a Canadian Security Intelligence Service official several times: "You don't care about me."
July 10, 2008
Prime Minister Stephen Harper repeats vows to leave Omar Khadr's case in U.S. hands, despite reports a day earlier that Canadian officials knew of Omar's harsh treatment by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay.
June 3, 2008
Foreign Affairs documents report that U.S. soldiers guarding Omar Khadr at Guantanamo Bay have said that he is a "good kid" and "salvageable," but a prolonged detention at Guantanamo Bay could turn him into a radical.
May 29, 2008
Omar Khadr's lawyer, Lt.-Cmdr. William C. Kuebler, says the U.S. military judge presiding over Khadr's trial has been fired.
April 17, 2008
A letter submitted in court filings by Omar Khadr's defence lawyers shows Canada asked the United States not to send Khadr to Guantanamo after he was captured in Afghanistan in 2002.
March 18, 2008
In an affidavit, Omar Khadr says U.S. military interrogators in Afghanistan threatened him with rape and treated him harshly, forcing him to make false statements.
September 2007
A three-member appeal panel rules that the decision was in error and reinstates the charges against Khadr. Khadr's lawyers later filed an appeal, seeking to stop the U.S. military case against their client. A judge ordered in October that Khadr's trial proceed.
June 4, 2007
A U.S. military judge drops all charges against Omar Khadr because he is an "enemy combatant," and the military commissions have jurisdiction only over "unlawful enemy combatants."
April 19, 2006
Omar Khadr's U.S. military attorney tries to have two Canadian lawyers officially added to the legal team defending Omar against murder charges. Lt.-Col. Colby Vokey says his client needs extra lawyers on his side, given what he calls the arbitrary nature of the military proceedings at Guantanamo.
Jan. 9, 2006
U.S. authorities say Omar Khadr will appear before a military commission on Jan. 11. The 19-year-old is accused of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and "aiding the enemy."
Dec. 23, 2005
Abdullah Khadr is denied bail by a judge who says al-Qaeda could help him escape. He is to face an extradition hearing in January.
Dec. 19, 2005
Abdullah Khadr appears in a Toronto court, accused of plotting to kill American soldiers abroad. He is ordered to return to court two days later for a bail hearing. The RCMP arrested Khadr on Dec. 17 at the request of U.S. authorities.
Dec. 7, 2005
Abdullah Khadr returns to Toronto – a free man – after being released from custody in Pakistan, where he had been held for a year. There had been allegations that Abdullah ran an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan while he was a teenager in the 1990s. But he had not been criminally charged.
Nov. 7, 2005
Omar Khadr, held by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is charged with murder and conspiracy. Khadr and four others who face serious charges are entitled to "representation by a military defense counsel free of charge with the option to retain a civilian defense counsel at no expense to the U.S. government," according to a statement on the U.S. Department of Defence website.
Aug. 10, 2005
A Federal Court judge rules that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms extends to Omar Khadr, being held by Americans in Cuba, and that CSIS must stop interrogating him.
June 18, 2005
An Ontario judge rules that RCMP officers can hold items seized from Zaynab Khadr, Ahmed Said Khadr's daughter, while they investigate her possible connections to al-Qaeda. The items, including a laptop computer, a diary and audio tapes, were seized when Khadr entered Canada in February 2005.
Feb. 9, 2005
Lawyers for Omar Khadr reveal that CSIS officials have interrogated their client in Cuba, and say the Canadian government has done little to protect his rights.
Sept. 16, 2004
The U.S. Department of Defence releases unclassified documents that claim Omar Khadr has admitted to being a "terrorist."
July 12, 2004
The Globe and Mail reports that Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham invoked his Crown prerogative in March 2004 to act outside the laws and deny Abdurahman Khadr a Canadian passport. In a letter to Khadr's lawyer, Clayton Ruby, Attorney General Irwin Cotler says the decision was based on information from CSIS that must remain secret. Ruby says Khadr can't be denied a passport based on secret information and calls it a breach of his rights under the Charter.
April 9, 2004
Two more members of the Khadr family, Maha Elsamnah Khadr and her 14-year-old son Karim, land in Toronto, after the Canadian government granted them emergency passports so Karim could get medical treatment for injuries sustained in a shootout in October 2003.
March 4, 2004
In an interview with the CBC's The National Abdurahman Khadr says his family has ties to al-Qaeda and he was trained to become a suicide bomber. But he says he does not share the views of some members of his family.
Feb. 25, 2004
Abdullah Khadr agrees to meet with CBC News in a secret location in Islamabad for an interview. "If I was the suicide bomber, I wouldn't be doing this interview with you right now," he says. He says he wanted to return to Canada, but was afraid of being arrested at the border.
Feb. 4, 2004
A Taliban official tells Agence France-Presse that the suicide bomber who killed a Canadian soldier, Cpl. Jamie Murphy, in Kabul in late January 2004 was Abdullah Khadr. He identifies the bomber as Mohammad Abdullah, the son of a Canadian citizen and al-Qaeda member named Abdul Rehman. Ahmed Said Khadr sometimes assumed the name Ahmed Saeed Abdur Rehman Khadar in Pakistani media reports.
Jan. 24, 2004
Pakistani officials use DNA testing to confirm that Ahmed Said Khadr was killed in the raid the past October. Abdul Karim Khadr is reportedly paralysed in the shootout. The Khadr family demands that Abdul Karim and the body of Ahmed Said Khadr be returned to Canada.
Dec. 4, 2003
Abdurahman's lawyer, Rocco Galati, announces he is stepping down from all national security cases because of a death threat. Omar Khadr remains in Guantanamo among an estimated 660 detainees.
Nov. 30, 2003
Abdurahman Khadr arrives in Toronto.
Oct. 2, 2003
After reports that senior members of al-Qaeda are hiding in Waziristan, Pakistan, armed forces in Pakistan stage an attack on their hideout. After a firefight lasting several hours, the Pakistan army takes 18 prisoners and pulls eight bodies, including that of patriarch Ahmed Said Khadr, from the safe house.
At the time, his 14-year-old son Abdul Karim is also believed dead. It is later confirmed that Abdul survived but was badly hurt.
July 21, 2003
American officials release Abdurahman and send him to Afghanistan. He maintains he was unaware of his rights as a citizen to be sent to Canada. He accuses the Canadian Embassy in Pakistan of denying him access to consular services. After making his way to Pakistan, Khadr says the guards at the embassy turned him away. Khadr travels to Iran, Turkey and Bosnia. The Canadian Embassy in Bosnia arranges for him to return to Canada.
Early 2003
Abdurahman is transferred to the stockade at Guantanamo where he is held as an "enemy combatant."
2002
Omar Khadr is shot three times in a battle with American troops in Afghanistan. He loses the sight of one eye. He is captured and sent to Guantanamo, Cuba, accused of killing an American soldier with a grenade.
Nov. 10, 2001
Abdurahman is arrested as a suspected member of al-Qaeda one day before the Taliban falls to the U.S.-supported Northern Alliance.
Sept. 11, 2001
After the Sept. 11 attacks, Osama Bin Laden and other members of Al-Qaeda leave Jalalabad, Afghanistan for the Pakistan-Afghan border. The U.S. government compiles and releases a list of suspected terrorists. Ahmed Said Khadr is on the list
2001
The Khadr family attends the wedding of Osama bin Laden's son, Muhammed.
2000
Abdurahman says Canadian spies question him during a visit to Toronto. After a few months in Canada, he rejoins the rest of the Khadr family in Kabul.
September 9, 1999
Bin Laden attends the wedding of Zaynab Khadr, one of two Khadr daughters.
Aug. 21, 1998
The U.S. government retaliates by launching three missiles from naval destroyers in the Arabian Sea. One of them is aimed at a training camp led by Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda and where Abdurahman was training. He says he was with a Canadian friend when a missile hits the camp.
Aug. 7, 1998
Al-Qaeda bombs the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Abdurahman says he was in an Afghan training camp at the time.
January 1996
After having been detained in Pakistan on suspicion of funding the bombing of the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad, Ahmed Said launches a hunger strike. He gathers his six children, contacts Canadian journalists and asks Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to intervene. Chrétien later raises the issue with the Pakistani government during a trade mission.
Ahmed Said is released. He then encourages his four boys to attend training camps in Afghanistan.
Sept. 19, 1986
The couple has their second youngest child, Omar Khadr, who is born in Toronto. He has three older siblings: Zaynab Khadr, Abdullah Khadr and Abdurahman Khadr.
1980
The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, which provokes the declaration of a holy war. Ahmed Said travels to Afghanistan to fight against Soviet forces as a volunteer. It is during this time that he met fellow volunteer Osama Bin Laden.
1977
Ahmed Said Khadr immigrates to Canada from Egypt and meets his wife, Maha. She is a Palestinian-Canadian and a long-time Ottawa resident.
With files from the Canadian Press