EDMONTON — Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr wants to be granted a Canadian passport to travel to Saudi Arabia and permission to speak to his controversial sister. Khadr, who is now 32, will be back in the Court of Queen’s Bench in Edmonton Thursday to apply for changes to his bail conditions which were imposed while he appeals war crime convictions by a U.S. military commission. An affidavit by Khadr filed with the court says the impact of his bail conditions are mainly psychological — a daily reminder of what he went through. “I feel like the indefinite and potentially endless detention that I suffered in Guantanamo Bay is continuing,” Khadr writes in the affidavit. “I hope that there will be some end to this process, but there is none in sight.”

Khadr spent years in U.S. detention at Guantanamo Bay after he was caught when he was 15 and accused of tossing a grenade that killed special forces soldier Christopher Speer at a militant compound in Afghanistan in 2002. I feel like the indefinite and potentially endless detention that I suffered in Guantanamo Bay is continuing

He says in his affidavit that he would like to be able to speak on the phone or over Skype to his sister Zaynab Khadr. What Khadr is seeking is for two restrictions to be dropped: He wants to apply for a Canadian passport so he can visit Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. “She is living with her husband and family. As far as I am aware, she is not in any sort of trouble.”

The rules of Khadr’s bail allow him to meet with her but only in the presence of his bail supervisor or one of his lawyers. “I have not gotten into any trouble of any kind with the authorities.”

His case has ignited sharp and divisive debate among Canadians over terrorism, human rights and the rule of law since the summer of 2017 when it was revealed the federal government had settled a lawsuit filed by him for a reported $10.5 million. The payout followed a ruling by Canada’s Supreme Court in 2010 that Khadr’s charter rights were violated at Guantanamo and that Canadian officials contributed to that violation.
Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr asks for a Canadian passport to travel to Saudi Arabia and speak with his sister Zaynab Khadr.