The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a decision to halt extradition proceedings for an alleged al Qaeda arms supplier, citing the extent of US human rights abuses tied to his capture in Pakistan.
A 3-0 ruling by the court ruled that a Toronto judge was justified in releasing Abdullah Khadr, the older brother of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp's youngest detainee Omar Khadr. Both are Canadian. Khadr's lawyer Dennis Edney hailed what he called a "victory for the rule of law."
"Evidence should be (obtained while respecting) human rights, and it was not," he told AFP.
The United States had requested Khadr's extradition to Boston, where is wanted on charges of providing weapons to al Qaeda to be used against US and coalition forces in Afghanistan.
He was released in August 2010, at which time Justice Christopher Speyer said Khadr had suffered "shocking and unjustifiable" human rights violations, including being physically mistreated and abused. But the Ontario court suggested that releasing Khadr to the United States would be tantamount to being complacent with his alleged torture.
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