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Lawyers show Guantanamo tape
15/07/2008 14:05 - (SA)
Ottawa - Lawyers have released a video showing the interrogation at Guantanamo of the youngest detainee in the "war on terror", a tearful Canadian teenager accused of killing a US soldier in Afghanistan.
The video was released by attorneys for terror suspect Omar Khadr, who is shown being questioned by Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) agents in February, 2003 at the US-run prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
The footage covers seven and a half hours of questioning over three days for Khadr, who was just 15 years old when he was captured in Afghanistan in 2002.
A 10-minute tape was initially posted on the internet and a complete version was due to be issued later on Tuesday by Khadr's lawyers, following Canadian court orders.
In the tape, apparently shot through the flaps of a ventilation shaft, Khadr is asked what he knows about al-Qaeda and questioned about his Islamic faith.
At times, he weeps uncontrollably and pulls at his hair in despair.
He also displays his wounds to his interrogators.
'We can't do anything for you'
One interrogator responds by telling Khadr he is receiving good medical care and that he needs to co-operate.
At one point, an interrogator tries to calm Khadr, who is clearly distraught, saying he needs to get a "bite to eat" and adding: "I understand this is stressful."
When Khadr complains his compatriots have not helped his case, an interrogator replies: "We can't do anything for you."
The 10-minute video shows no beating or physical abuse of Khadr.
The Canadian remains behind bars at Guantanamo where he has been accused of killing a US soldier during a battle in Afghanistan.
The video's release comes after Canadian media reports that government documents showed Khadr was forcibly deprived of sleep by his US captors in Guantanamo to soften him up for questioning.
Citing government files released by court order, Canadian media said Khadr was moved to a different cell every three hours to make him more amenable to talking in what US authorities described as their "frequent-flyer programme".
Human rights groups have demanded Khadr be released
"At three-hours intervals he is moved to another cell block, thus denying him uninterrupted sleep and a continued change of neighbours," said the report from the Foreign Intelligence Division of Canada's Foreign Affairs department, quoted by Canadian television and newspapers.
The documents said that after Canadian officials met with Khadr in March 2004, he was due to be placed in isolation for three weeks before being interviewed again.
Khadr is the youngest detainee in the US "war on terror", accused of throwing a hand grenade that killed a US soldier in a clash in Afghanistan.
He was captured in Afghanistan in 2002, when he was 15 years old, and faces trial by a special military tribunal in October in Guantanamo Bay.
Human rights groups have demanded Khadr be released from Guantanamo, saying his age at the time of capture precludes any war crime proceeding.
A Canadian judge studying the Foreign Affairs documents said last month that Khadr's treatment violated international laws on human rights, and ordered the information to be released to Khadr's lawyers.
- AFP
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