Khadr apology and settlement about violation of Charter rights, Trudeau says

HAMBURG — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says an apology and reported $10.5 million compensation payment to former Guantanamo Bay inmate Omar Khadr was a basic matter of following Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Trudeau answered a question about the Khadr settlement on Saturday at the closing press conference following the G20 leaders’ summit in Hamburg, Germany.

On Friday, the government confirmed a payment had been made to Khadr to settle a longstanding lawsuit. Khadr’s suit claimed Canada had violated his rights and was complicit with the United States when he was detained at the U.S. base in Cuba, denied access to a lawyer and tortured.

The Supreme Court of Canada in 2010 ruled Khadr’s rights had been violated.