Omar Khadr, Canadian Guantanamo Bay Detainee, To Get $10.5 Million Compensation For Rights Violation

A Canada-born Guantanamo Bay detainee is set to get 10.5 million Canadian dollars ($8.5 million) compensation from the country's government for the abuses he suffered while in prison, reports said.

Omar Khadr was arrested at the age of 15 in a firefight during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan on July 27, 2002. Thereafter, he was forced to spend a decade in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, where he claimed the prison staff abused him.

Khadr was convicted of five crimes, including throwing a grenade at the U.S. Army Sergeant Christopher Speer in 2002, BBC reported. He was the youngest prisoner ever to be detained at the naval base.

Read: Once Guantanamo's Youngest Inmate, Canada Wants To Block Release Of Convicted Murderer Omar Khadr

Khadr, who is 30 now, sued the Canadian government for violating an international law by not protecting its citizen. He also alleged his country conspired against him with his U.S. captors.

When asked about the settlement of the compensation sought by Khadr, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “There is a judicial process underway that has been underway for a number of years now and we are anticipating I think, a number of people are, the judicial process is coming to its conclusion,” according to CBC News.

The Canadian Supreme Court on Jan. 29, 2010, ruled Khadr’s human rights were violated at the prison. “The deprivation of [Khadr's] right to liberty and security of the person is not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. The interrogation of a youth detained without access to counsel, to elicit statements about serious criminal charges while knowing that the youth had been subjected to sleep deprivation and while knowing that the fruits of the interrogations would be shared with the prosecutors, offends the most basic Canadian standards about the treatment of detained youth suspects,” the court observed.

Meanwhile, U.S. Sergeant Layne Morris, who was severely wounded and blinded in one eye during the firefight that left Speer dead, told CNN: “I'm very familiar with the Khadr family. This is the third generation of Khadr's that owe humanity an apology, not the other way around. I shudder to think what $10 million in the hands of an avowed and accomplished terrorist will do."

When asked how he knew Khadr’s family, Morris said he was referring to Khadr’s Egyptian-born father who was accused of having ties to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

Read: Does The US Torture? Public Can't See Guantanamo Bay Force-Feeding Videos, Court Says

It is not just Morris who is disturbed by the compensation decision. Jason Kenney, former Canadian defense minister, expressed concern too. He condemned the government’s decision and took to Twitter to criticize the act, saying a terrorist should be in prison paying for the crimes he committed instead of receiving money from the government.

Apart from Morris and Kenney, others too tweeted condemning the settlement between Khadr and the Canadian government.