Pretrial hearings in the case of Canadian child soldier Omar Khadr got underway today--but Khadr wasn't there. The reason? Yet another attempt to humiliate him at Gitmo.
Khadr refused to attend because he was asked to wear blackout goggles and earmuffs to prevent him from seeing and hearing while he was transported in a secure van to court — something his lawyer said he's never been required to do before, the CBC's Bill Gillespie reported.
Khadr refused to wear the eye and ear coverings, saying they were meant to humiliate him. The guards refused to move him to court without the headgear.
Rather than admonish the guards, the presiding judge, Patrick Parrish, said he didn't want to tell the guards how to do their jobs.
In-freaking-credible. This would never, EVER, be allowed to happen in an American trial. I can't recall an instance where even a truly dangerous criminal was forced to be blindfolded on the way to court. As if this whole affair isn't already a black mark on our image, this only adds to it.