UBERGALAXY

Omar Khadr was arrested by American soldiers in Afghanistan in 2002 at the age of 15. Khadr was at the scene of a firefight between American soldiers and Afghans. A detailed account of the battle and its aftermath, and the court case that followed, is available on Wikipedia, or by doing a Google News Search of his name. Essentially, Khadr was captured and charged with killing an American solider during the battle. However, as his case unfolded, it became apparent there was no substantial evidence to prove he was directly responsible for the death of the soldier. Rather, he was one of the few Afghan fighters left alive when the smoke cleared. Khadr was also seriously injured upon his capture. He has been held in Guantanamo Bay since the incident, and his court case has dragged on and on. His lawyers, and advocates argue that Khadr is a child soldier, caught up in questionable politics by his extremist family. His lawyer and supporters say Khadr, now 22, should be returned to Canada for psychiatric treatment, instead of tried in the kangaroo courts of Guantanamo Bay. Khadr is the only Canadian held at Guantanamo, and the only remaining Westerner. Every other western country has fought to have its citizens returned and tried under their domestic laws; meanwhile Canada remains silent regarding Khadr's case, claiming its hands are tied, even when Khadr repeatedly pleaded to be helped by his government, and reported being tortured physically and psychologically. Meanwhile, Khadr remains one of, if not the youngest in Guantanamo, and is reportedly emotionally stunted by his ordeal and by his continued isolation.

2) Maher Arar
Maher Arar was born in Syria came to Canada at the age of 17 with his family. He became a citizen in 1991 and eventually became a wireless technology consultant. In 2002 he was detained at JFK Airport while returning home from a vacation with his wife and children. He was detained by Americans for 12 days, interrogated extensively about alleged links to al-Qaeda. Then he was flown to Syria, where he was imprisioned and tortured for over a year, before being released in fall of 2003. During his imprisonment, his wife campaigned on his behalf in Canada, fighting to get her husband returned to Canada. Meanwhile, Arar was beaten and tortured routinely, and ultimately forced to sign a confession that he is a terrorist. Detailed accounts of Arar's experiences can be found on his website, where he continues to fight for accountability and recognition for what happened to him by the American and Canadian governments. Despite his current freedom, the American government keeps Arar and his family on a watchlist, and refuses to acknowledge what happened to him, although the Canadian government eventually did apologize for its handling of the case. However, Arar continues to make headlines as more details are continually unearthed, and the negligence of the Canadian government continues to be exposed.

3) Abousfian Abdelrazik
Abousfian Abdelrazik's case has been compared to Franz Kafka's novel, The Trial, for its apparent aimlessness and redunency of the legal system, its staggering plotlessness and frustrating lack of any evidence, let alone a crime itself. Abdelrazik was born in Sudan but lived with his family in Montreal, where he held dual citizenship. The father of two went to Sudan in 2003 to visit his ailing mother. In Sudan, he was routinely arrested, released, and then re-arrested, accused of links to al-Qaeda with no apparent evidence. He was interrogated extensively and alleges he was also repeatedly tortured by Sudanese officials. A full timeline is available through Wikipedia or by doing a Google News Search of his name. Meanwhile, in Sudan, Abdelrazik struggles to get answers from the Canadian and US governments, who both accuse him and have a hand in his detention. After years of circuitous answers and double-speak, a terrified, depressed, and suicidal Abdelrazik goes to the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum and refuses to leave until he is helped by his government. He sleeps on a cot in the embassy for over a year - his only sanctuary in a virtually lawless country - before he is finally returned to Canada in June 2009. Now Abdelrazik and his lawyer are working to clear his name at home, and struggling to seek answers in what happened to him and why. Meanwhile, details of his case are already slowly leaking out to the media, and what little the public does know about the case is already alarming and, frankly, embarassing.