A military officer and licensed psychologist involved in the assessment of Omar Khadr says that others tasked with gauging his mental state were “not basically qualified”.
Reached by Prism Magazine at the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center in Fort Hood, Texas, Alan Hopewell dismissed the views of other psychologists including the controversial psychiatrist who has said that Khadr remains a threat to public safety.
“The other people involved are not military officers; they’re not qualified to make a military opinion,” he said in a phone interview. “They were not basically qualified to make the opinions that they made and I’m not able to comment because of the classified nature of the government information.”
It was widely reported that Public Safety Minister Vic Toews requested unedited and uncensored copies of interviews conducted by both Hopewell and Michael Welner. Welner’s views of Khadr as a continued threat to public safety have spurred controversy and have been discredited by other psychiatrists who spent time with Khadr including Stephen Xenakis, himself a former senior military officer.
Xenakis offered a diametrically different view of Khadr as “peaceful” and determined that he was not a threat to national security. That’s in line with another assessment by Katherine Porterfield, a New-York based psychologist who spent 250 hours with Khadr, who also went on the record to conclude that he showed a “lack of anger and lack of ideologically-based anti-Western beliefs.”
Hopewell ‘s assessment would offer one more take as to Khadr’s mental state as of 2010 when the interviews reportedly took place.
However, Hopewell said for the time being his name should not have been made public at all.
“The people who put it on the public record don’t have the authority to do that and I can’t comment on that.”
He said he would only reconsider speaking further if the information was declassified, which he says he does not foresee happening.
Prism’s future depends on your generosity
Khadr was due to be transferred back to Canada last fall as part of a 2010 plea bargain in which he pleaded guilty to the murder of an American Army medic. At the time of the plea bargain, the Canadian government indicated it was “inclined to favourably consider” his transfer. However, the Public Safety Minister has yet to give formal approval for his return to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Lawyers for Khadr have asked a federal court to force the Canadian government to make a decision. Toews has said he is waiting to see the taped interviews.
Khadr, who was fifteen at the time of his capture by the American government, is the only remaining Western national at Guantanamo Bay.
Alex
July 28, 2012 at 9:00 pm
Toews is a cynical crimminal.
For anyone confused as to his intent, he wants to ensure US authorities know exactly what to do should a similar situation arise with an insufficiently loyal Canadian.
Better to kill children than create a political problem for Harper’s thugs.
Toews has only one use for children, especially babysitters.
Gary Wells
July 28, 2012 at 7:14 pm
Actual criminals, murderers like Russell Williams, Paul Bernardo and Clifford Olsen each had their day in a Canadian court, were not tortured and had their constitutional rights upheld. This is only right despite whatever personal views we may have as individuals regarding these monsters. Omar Kadhr was a child soldier in a war. It can only be vindictiveness, and possibly fear of the consequences, as Paul suggests, that he remains in the military prison in Guantanamo.
Don Kerr
July 28, 2012 at 2:18 pm
I will not be satisfied until:
1. Vic Toews is brought to justice for denying and delaying Khadr’s rights,
2. The CSIS person who psychologically tortured Khadr in his interrogation is exposed and charged, and
3. Khadr is compensated for the miscarriage of justice by the Canadian government.
Paul Repstock
July 29, 2012 at 12:44 am
I agree Don. However, this goes much deeper than Mr Toews or even CSIS. There appears to be a fascist thread running through the fabric of our Canadian governance. The recently released image of the ‘Law and Order’ Mayor of Toronto posing with a neo nazi is just another in a series of incidents which suggest that our democracy is in danger.
When these are combined with Mr. Harper’s serial proroguing of parliament and the Canadian government over-ruling and ignoring the supreme court, we may be on the brink of a dictatorship.
Paul Repstock
July 28, 2012 at 12:53 pm
The Canadian government, specially in its present incarnation refuses the repatriation of Omar Khadar because doing so would open the door to exposing their involvement in a sordid mess. If Mr. Khadar is allowed back into Canada, the case will end up in a Canadian Court and be exposed for everyone to see.
Politics in Canada is nolonger about representation of the people, it is soley about the sanctity of Government power and authority. If Canadians knew how venal and petty out leaders are, we would demand changes and accountability. That would never do! Our “Leaders” are naturally superior and should not be judged…
Amira Elghawaby
July 25, 2012 at 8:41 pm
Julie – you are right. He was indeed a soldier as well and this should have been made clear. And certainly the entire process in Guantanamo has been criticized by prominent jurists for being a sham and outside the realm of international rules of war. stay tuned for more on this story.
Julie
July 25, 2012 at 6:01 pm
Your reporting on this case is always puzzlingly bad. I do not understand. Speer was a special forces fighter, not an “American Army medic”. The “murder” was a US invented crime that they created four years after Omar’s capture which no one outside the US recognizes. This is consistent with your reporting in the past where you refer to the ludicrous Guantanamo tribunal as “US military court” and so much more. (The US has a legitimate military court, which refused to touch this case. Which is why the special tribunals needed to be created.) What gives?