Guantanamo Interrogation Tape Released

Canadian Detainee, Arrested At Age 15, Weeps, Shows Wounds In Clips Released By Lawyers

(CBS/AP)  In a video released Tuesday, a 16-year-old captured in Afghanistan cries out for his mother and says he needs treatment for his battle wounds during questioning by Canadian officials at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay.

"Oh Mommy," he cries in despair in Arabic when he is alone in the room, watched only by hidden cameras.

The 10 minutes of video - selected by Omar Khadr's Canadian lawyers from more than seven hours of footage recorded by a camera hidden in a vent - provides the first glimpse of interrogations at the U.S. military prison. It shows Khadr weeping, his face buried in his hands, as he is questioned by Canadian intelligence agents over four days in 2003. The lawyers hope to pressure Canada into seeking Khadr's return, but the government said its position was unchanged.

The video, created by U.S. government agents at the prison in Cuba and originally marked as secret, provides insight into the effects of prolonged interrogation and detention on the Guantanamo prisoner.

A Canadian Security Intelligence Services agent in the video grills Khadr about events leading up to his capture as an enemy combatant when he was 15.

American officials say Khadr, a Canadian citizen, may look like a little boy lost but he is really a hardened terrorist, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. He allegedly served as a translator for a top al Qaeda operative being hunted by American commandos who leveled the compound where Khadr was hiding.

Sgt. Christopher Speer was killed when someone threw a grenade from the rubble. Khadr was the only one still alive in there, although no one actually saw him throw the grenade, reports Martin.

At one point in the interrogation, Khadr pulls off his orange prisoner shirt and shows the wounds he sustained in the firefight. He complains he cannot move his arms and says he had not received proper medical attention, despite requests.

"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)," says Khadr, the son of an alleged al Qaeda financier.

The agent later accuses Khadr of using his injuries and emotional state to avoid the interrogation.

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

Khadr also tells his interrogator that he was tortured while at the U.S. military detention center at the Bagram air base in Afghanistan, where he was first detained after his arrest in 2002.

---

60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon reported in November 2007 that Khadr was the only person in modern history to have been charged for war crimes he allegedly committed as a minor.

---

Later on in the tape, a distraught Khadr is seen rocking and moaning, his face in his hands. His family said he was calling out for his mother in Arabic, repeatedly crying "Ya Umi." His lawyers, listening to the same audio, said they believed he was calling out 'help me' but acknowledged they were unsure.

On the final day, the agent tells Khadr that he was "very disappointed" in Khadr's behavior, and tries to impress upon him that he should cooperate.

Khadr says he wants to go back to Canada.

"There's not anything I can do about that," the agent says.

Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, Khadr's U.S. military lawyer, said the video shows "a frightened boy" who should be permitted to return to Canada. He said Khadr is cooperative at the beginning of the four-day stretch of interviews, because "he believed that if he was cooperative and told them what he thought they wanted to hear that they would take him home."

"So between Day One and Day Two he figures out that that is not going to happen and so you see a very emotional reaction on Day Two when this very scared 16-year-old boy finally figures out that the Canadians aren't going to do anything for him and are going to leave him there. He is devastated," Kuebler said.

"The tapes do not show a dangerous terrorist, but instead a frightened, wounded Canadian boy pleading for help from Canadian officials. But instead of helping, they casually dismiss his claims of abuse and mistreatment, and tell him they will do nothing for him," Khadr's Canadian lawyer Nathan Whitling told reporters in Edmonton Tuesday before releasing video of the seven-hour interrogation.

"This kid has suffered enough," added Whitling's co-counsel Dennis Edney. "Which one of us would allow our children to be treated the way Khadr was?"

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. J.D. Gordon, denied that Khadr was mistreated. "Our policy is to treat detainees humanely and Khadr has been treated humanely," Gordon said.

The video was made by U.S. authorities and turned over to Khadr's defense team, Gordon said. The tapes are U.S. property.

A Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs report said Canadian official Jim Gould visited Khadr in 2004 and was told by the American military that the detainee was moved every three hours to different cells. That technique, dubbed, "frequent flyer," was one of at least two sleep deprivation programs the U.S. military used against Guantanamo prisoners. Detainees were moved from cell to cell throughout the night to keep them awake and weaken their resistance to interrogation.

The document also says Khadr was placed in isolation for up to three weeks and then interviewed again and noted in an aside that at least one of his interrogators "seemed to be trying to intimidate (Khadr) or force (him) to talk rather than trying to cajole him into cooperation."

"What you see in the video is a teenager begging for help and what you see is an interrogation that violates U.S. law and any international law concerning the rights of children," said Wells Dixon, a lawyer for the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents dozens of Guantanamo prisoners. "If this is the way a teenager in Guantanamo has been treated, you can just imagine how anyone else has been treated."

The Supreme Court of Canada in May ordered the Canadian government to hand over key evidence against Khadr to his legal team to allow a full defense of the U.S. charges against him, which include accusations by the U.S. that he spied for and provided material support to terrorists.

In June, a Canadian Federal Court judge ordered the Canadian government to release the video to the defense team after the court ruled the U.S. military's treatment of Khadr broke human rights laws, including the Geneva Conventions.

The Canadian report indicates that Khadr, who was born in Canada and raised in Afghanistan, is questioned about his family, which has a long history of alleged involvement with radical Islamic causes. His Egyptian-born father, Ahmed Said Khadr, and some of his brothers fought for al Qaeda and had stayed with Osama bin Laden.

"He acknowledges his family's responsibility for letting him be exploited as a child soldier," Whitling said, adding that Khadr emphasizes that "he had no choice but to do what his father told him to do" when he is questioned about his participation in the 2002 firefight in Afghanistan.

Khadr faces up to life in prison on U.S. charges that include murder.

Gould later wrote a briefing note related to his visit stating he had met a "screwed up young man" whose trust had been abused by just about everyone who had ever been responsible for him - including his family and the U.S. military.

Canada's Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper has maintained he will not seek Khadr's return to Canada and his position was unchanged after the release of the video.

Anne Howland, a spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson, repeated the statement Tuesday that was issued by the prime minister last week, that the Conservative government believes Khadr is in "a legal process that must continue."

Khadr's sister, Zaynab Khadr, who lives in Toronto, said she was pessimistic his situation would improve soon.

She noted that another brother, Abdullah Khadr, now in prison on terror charges in Canada awaiting extradition to the United States, was interrogated by Canadian agents despite having been abused in detention in Pakistan.

"He was tortured for their benefit and he still continues to be in jail and it hasn't changed much, so I can't expect it to be any different in Guantanamo," Zaynab Khadr said.

[skyk-2009]

Anyone who thinks things like this keep us safe are flat out insane! Anyone who doubts the goals of this nation, anyone who has any doubts at all, could be shifted to the side of those who wish to kill us VERY easy. We have got to stop this slide into fascism. We must turn our backs on those who are opposed to EVERYTHING this nation has ever believed in.

[anecdote1]

Is it on Youtube yet?

[borris007-2009]

Shame on the USA... The whole world is disgusted in the USA... In future when US citizens are tortured, people around the world will show little emotion to US plight... Nazi mentality is alive and well in the Good ole US of A... American ignorance is Bliss!!

[gramto7]

If one of our 15 year old children had been arrested in a foreign country for whatever reason, I would venture to say that everyone would be up in arms if he or she were not released ASAP!! The fact that this child was detained on what the general called circumstantial evidence makes me so angry I am shaking. I almost wish that Dumbya''s family could go through a similar situation so they would know what is like.

[borris007-2009]

Funny, if Afghanistan invaders, invaded the US, trying to capture you, seize your belongings, would you put up a fight???? Hell Yes!%u2026Even if this boy did kill the precious American soldier in the heat of battle, he was only defending his home (in Afghanistan)%u2026. Why do US folks overlook this? 15 year old boy was shot in the back, tortured, still in detention%u2026.Now you know why foreign folks rejoice when dead Americans are dragged through the streets.

[xraytwonine]

even if he was a terrorist he is still innocent; the twisted mind of some adults easily overcome the fragile mind of a child

[speets-2009]

close this detention center already, it''s been enough.

[langx]

I wondered how did the German people go along with Hitler. How could they want to torture and eliminate an entire race off the planet.


I look at America and now I completely understand it.

[langx]

Welcome to the United States of Fascism.

The Fourth Reich.

1. Torture.
2. Secret Prisons
3. Illegal wars
4. Kidnapping
5. Genocide
6. Illegal Spying
7. Broad Retroactive immunity for crimes against Americans.
8. Blackwater - Private Army.


George Bush - Will go down as the 21st Century Hitler.

[btree50]

You may be disgusted with America, but you love the money we send there. These religous fanatics will kill you in a blink of an eye, whether they are 15 or 50.

[shoebox119]

Where''s all the neocons this morning? I''m surprised they''re not up bright and early complaining that this video is some kind of hoax put up by the Democrats... or some other verbal diarrhea that they always seem to spew.

[borris007-2009]

George W Bush''s Legacy... is comprised of his actions and inactions. George, you made your bed, now you''ll have to sleep on it... Just pray to your God that the US remains strong enough for the duration of your years in this world, to shelter you from the Hague

[borris007-2009]

You may be disgusted with America, but you love the money we send there. These religous fanatics will kill you in a blink of an eye, whether they are 15 or 50.


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Posted by btree50

Yup we kill them and they kill us...

[omnibus66]

Maybe Guantanamo is not as bad as Auschwitz, but what has happened there will live in infamy just the same. The true shame is that we the people have allowed it to continue.

If you voted for Bush, if you voted for any of the Republican Congressmen or Senators who have been Bush''s enablers, you must share some of the burden.

God Bless America, GD the people who have been running it.

[mrlib]

These poor poor terrorists are so being mistreated. We must defend them at all costs!

[borris007-2009]

demslie2u you%u2019re one dumb individual... Continue rooting for your Conservative Agenda, and see just how low the US will fall... Your kind only drag this country''s stature down the toilet

[omnibus66]

Democrat Lawyers helping terrorists. Nothing new here. And of course this guy killed American Soldiers. Democrats of course, love the terrorists and hate the American.troops. Nothing new here.

Posted by demslie2u at 07:49 AM : Jul 15, 2008
-------------------

Absolutely nothing new here, just more neocon lies.

[borris007-2009]

demslie2u, Many Nazis from World War II Germany are still alive.... Hilter is still glorious in their eyes.

[scoleridge-2009]

To demslie2u:
Before we start to torture people, we better make sure they are guilty. A tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye. If you are innoncent and tortured, you have the right to torture your tormentor.

[borris007-2009]

demslie2u did you watch the "Omar Khadr under interrogation video%u201D?

Former General Eisenhower visited the German concentration camps, forced the surrounding Nazi brainwashed citizenry to view the camp''s hell, made dam sure the Nazi Prison Guards were shot on the spot...Now that was justice

[itchyb-2009]

:We do not torture,%u201D George W. Bush declared during a brief press conference.....

[borris007-2009]

demslie2u did you watch the "Omar Khadr under interrogation video?

[closethippy1]

Democrats have never been angry when IRAN trained and financed terrorists to kill Americans. But let a poor little terrorist get hurt and Democrats are outraged.
Posted by demslie2u at 07:55 AM : Jul 15, 2008

I don''t know about the Democrats but I''m angry at how the CIA trained the Iranian secret service police under the Shah of Iran, the SAVAK, to torture and kill over 100,000 Iranians during the Shah''s rule.
The Shah was placed in power by the CIA after they deposed the democratically elected Prime Minister of that country in 1953.
The Iranians endured the Shah for 26 years until he was overthrown and Iranian democracy reestablished in 1979.
I just don''t understand what the US has up its @ss to make it do things like these.

[waterandsand]

Honestly Boris, the lack of conservative viewpoints in our country are whats crumbling it. This guy should of been hung after his failure to provide any information. *** are we caring about a muslim extremist that wants to destroy our country?

[scoleridge-2009]

Are we assuming that because they are in Guantanamo, therefore they are terrorists and guilty? We better make sure thay are guilty before we torture them. If we don''t, the retribution should be severe. Are the Conservatives taking a page from the Gestapo or the Romans on torture? Or from the Inquisition?

[waterandsand]

OMG scoleridge ,, you call that torture? Cause they didnt rub his back during his interogation you call that torture. Seriously dude ****.

[ozonmojo]

Is the video worse than those showing Americans being beheaded in Iraq?

[rafterman1]

===Is the video worse than those showing Americans being beheaded in Iraq?===
Posted by ozonmojo

Because it''s Americans and Candians doing it and we are supposed to be better than the terrorists, yes it is worse. Its worse because terrorists are just doing what we expect them to always do while we are the ones going against our principles.

Honorable people do not believe the ends justifies the means.

[shoebox119]

Is the video worse than those showing Americans being beheaded in Iraq?

Posted by ozonmojo

__________


Just the fact that you wish to compare the two incidents just goes to show how low America has gone since 9/11.

Face it, folks, the terrorists have won.

[pentangyl]

Being ex-military, it hurts to know a soldier died at this kids hands, but are we fighting a war or is this not a war. How during a "WAR" to you make any enemy combatant a terrorist. But if we kill civilians through shelling or in crossfires it is called a non-bombatant casualty of war.

How do we get to play both sides of the fence!

[shoebox119]

Honestly Boris, the lack of conservative viewpoints in our country are whats crumbling it. This guy should of been hung after his failure to provide any information. *** are we caring about a muslim extremist that wants to destroy our country?

Posted by waterandsand

__________

Oh, please give me a break. My country has been under neocon rule for the last seven years and one-half years. I think I''ve seen enough of what the conservatives can do when given the full reins of power.

Our economy is reeling into a full-blown recession, our foreign policy blunders have put this country at risk for the next century and beyond, and when we were once the shining beacon of hope for the rest of the world, we''re now the most despised and hated country on the face of the earth... thanks entirely to the war criminals Bush and Cheney.

[rafterman1]

===Again, let''''s blame America for the "mistreatment" of individuals who want to kill us.===
Posted by mike071067

I do blame us for ths. Our leaders have made a conscious choice to act just like the terrorists do.

The lack of honor - the "win at any cost" attitude shown by conservatives around here is astounding. Even if that cost is the soul of our nation. Disgusting.

[rushlimbaug4]

Ooooh, the pooooor baby!

Again, let''''s blame America for the "mistreatment" of individuals who want to kill us.

Posted by mike071067 at 08:24 AM : Jul 15, 2008

Mike, I think you are a True Patriot, but I am not sure!!! I went through hours and hours of torture, just to prove that I am and always will be a True ''Red, Black and Blue'' Patriot.

If you have not been through several hundred hours of intensive electro shock, sleep deprivation, sound and light torture and simulated drowning, I can not vouch for your authenticity as an American citizen!!!!

God BLESS AMERICA, and I better see you in line at your nearest Patriotism Test Center!!!

[shoebox119]

Ooooh, the pooooor baby!

Again, let''''s blame America for the "mistreatment" of individuals who want to kill us.

Posted by mike071067

__________


easy for Mr. Mike to say from the comfort of his bedroom. Next time one of our brave young soldiers is captured in some conflict overseas, just what reminders will his captors need to justify beating and torturing him? The "high moral standards" of conduct that we demonstrated at Abu Ghraib and are still continuing at Guantanamo Bay?

Honestly, do any of you neocons ever bother to READ or educate yourselves just a little bit beyond Fox News?

[extremophil]

He''s so cute and helpless, let''s give him a medal. Here, I''ll pin it to his eyeball.

[pointbreak14]

how come we felt bad about the hostages that were released from columbia and there horrible ordeal...and it is okey for us to keep people in prison in gauntanomo and torture them without any public trial ...double standards as usual it seems my friend is right about americans whining about there issues and totally insensitive towards the others in the world....how shameful for us...

[pointbreak14]

Bodie says;how come we felt bad about the hostages that were released from columbia and there horrible ordeal...and it is okey for us to keep people in prison in gauntanomo and torture them without any public trial ...double standards as usual it seems my friend is right about americans whining about there issues and totally insensitive towards the others in the world....how shameful for us...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[yankeerebel7]

Cry me a river. This kid was being interogated (and freakin Canadians)...how is that torture? I''m so sick of self-loathing liberals and their moral equivalency. This kid was found on the battle field lobbing a grenade at US troops. I guess we should just immediately release him.

[rushlimbaug4]

He''''s so cute and helpless, let''''s give him a medal. Here, I''''ll pin it to his eyeball.

Posted by Extremophil at 08:34 AM : Jul 15, 2008

Ooooh, the pooooor baby!

Again, let''''''''s blame America for the "mistreatment" of individuals who want to kill us.

Posted by mike071067 at 08:24 AM : Jul 15, 2008

Mike, I think you are a True Patriot, but I am not sure!!! I went through hours and hours of torture, just to prove that I am and always will be a True ''''Red, Black and Blue'''' Patriot.

If you have not been through several hundred hours of intensive electro shock, sleep deprivation, sound and light torture and simulated drowning, I can not vouch for your authenticity as an American citizen!!!!

God BLESS AMERICA, and I better see you in line at your nearest Patriotism Test Center!!!

And Phil, I have not see your name on the Unquestionably Patriotic list yet???!!! I am forced to extend you an invitation to vist you nearest Patriotism Test Center! Until such time, you here by considered a Terrorist!!@!!!

Posted by RushLimbaug4 at 08:32 AM : Jul 15, 2008

[Mccarthyaw]

the "win at any cost" attitude shown by conservatives around here is astounding. Even if that cost is the soul of our nation. Disgusting ----------------------------------------
---------------- Posted by Rafterman1

That attitude worked pretty good against the British, and the French, and the Indians, and Spain, and Hitler, and Tojo, and Grenada...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by DaVicar2 at 08:38 AM : Jul 15, 2008

Vietnam too right?!

[Mccarthyaw]

Cry me a river. This kid was being interogated (and freakin Canadians)...how is that torture? I''''m so sick of self-loathing liberals and their moral equivalency. This kid was found on the battle field lobbing a grenade at US troops. I guess we should just immediately release him.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by yankeerebel7 at 08:38 AM : Jul 15, 2008

Alledegly.

[yankeerebel7]

Well why would I give this kid the benefit of the doubt and what''s so bad about this intergation? Why was this kid in Afghanistan to begin with?

[neoconrcrazy]

a peek at the bushit/cheney "enhanced" interrogation on a 16 yr old.....

real tough guys those chickenhawk neocons -

got alot of high-level intel too - like his favorite dish from his mommie....

the bush war on terror is a the biggest scam ever!

[rushlimbaug4]

I''''m so sick of self-loathing liberals and their moral equivalency. I guess we should just immediately release him.

Posted by yankeerebel7 at 08:38 AM : Jul 15, 2008


give him a medal. Here, I''''''''ll pin it to his eyeball.

Posted by Extremophil at 08:34 AM : Jul 15, 2008

Ooooh, the pooooor baby!

Again, let''''''''''''''''s blame America for the "mistreatment" of individuals who want to kill us.

Posted by mike071067 at 08:24 AM : Jul 15, 2008

Mike, I think you are a True Patriot, but I am not sure!!! I went through hours and hours of torture, just to prove that I am and always will be a True ''''''''Red, Black and Blue'''''''' Patriot.

If you have not been through several hundred hours of intensive electro shock, sleep deprivation, sound and light torture and simulated drowning, I can not vouch for your authenticity as an American citizen!!!!

God BLESS AMERICA, and I better see you in line at your nearest Patriotism Test Center!!!

And Phil, I have not seen your name on the Unquestionably Patriotic list yet???!!! I am forced to extend you an invitation to vist your nearest Patriotism Test Center! Until such time, you are here by considered a Terrorist!!@!!!

yanker, I dont see you name on the LIST either. I am an important man who dispenses invaluable wisdom upon the masses and I havent much time to Filter out the True Americans from the Terrorist Appologist LIBZ!!! So please, do not force me to send a mobile PATRIOTISM TEST UNIT to your HOME!!

Posted by RushLimbaug4 at 08:32 AM : Jul 15, 2008

[jbright9]

Gitmo is a disgrace. The Iraqi war is a disgrace. This has not only tarnished America in the eyes of the world but in the heart of this American. I am waiting anxiously for January 20, 2009. My only hope is that the American people will select leaders who can get us back on the right track. The last eight years have been a disaster.

[mbcsmith]

I hate whining terrorists. He apparently didn''t mind the medical attention he received that saved his life

[pointbreak14]

Bodie says;how come we felt bad about the hostages that were released from columbia and there horrible ordeal...and it is okey for us to keep people in prison in gauntanomo and torture them without any public trial ...double standards as usual it seems my friend is right about americans whining about there issues and totally insensitive towards the others in the world....how shameful for us...

[mbcsmith]

The sheer fact that we are interrogating and torturing minors is both sad and shameful. Those officers and Bush/Cheney should be put under a jail for this horror. Being an American these days is not what it used to be...we used to have ethics.


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Posted by jh6379 at 08:53 AM : Jul 15, 2008



Do you read the articles?
Tell it to the Canadian interrogator.

what next we''re going to torture babies ''cause they may have been on a small farm next to the battle field? we used to be a great country, so much for that. it makes me sad. call me a lib, but it''s not right

[zerato-2009]

Who gives a S?H?I?T about these scumbags. They have done far worse to our troops in these situations.

Posted by rusty9j

As I read the article, the interrogator had no evidence taht this kid did anything. So other than being a muslim why would you call him a scumbag.