Omar Khadr allowed to expand his $20M lawsuit against the Canadian government

CFormer Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr should be allowed to claim the Canadian government conspired with the Americans to torture him and breach his rights, a Federal Court judge ruled Thursday.

The ruling by Judge Richard Mosley means Khadr can significantly expand his $20-million civil lawsuit in which he accuses Ottawa of complicity in what he claims was his arbitrary detention and cruel and inhuman treatment at the hands of the Americans.

“Whether Canada conspired with foreign officials to violate the fundamental rights of a citizen is not a trivial matter,” Mosley said in his ruling.

“If anything, adding conspiracy to the statement of claim clarifies the nature of the controversy between the parties and facilitates its comprehensive examination by a court.”

The federal government had opposed the expanded claim, arguing among other things that international law bars Khadr from dragging the U.S. into his civil action, first filed in 2004.

Canadian Press