In 2002, a 15-year-old boy was caught by American forces in Afghanistan after a firefight, and imprisoned in Guantanamo for the next 13 years. The boy was Omar Khadr, and his then little-known lawyer was Dennis Edney from Edmonton. From the Stratford Festival, Dennis Edney talks with Paul Kennedy about a life-changing experience that contains a challenge for us all.
"In all the years I went to Guantanamo, he was always chained to the floor. And so I saw my job as trying to keep him alive, and I talked to him about hope. And I used to keep pointing to the steel door and I said 'behind that door is light.'"
Few people had ever heard of Dennis Edney in 2002. He had no expertise in international law or human rights, but when he heard about Omar Khadr, started reading up on his story, and researching the law, Dennis Edney's life was changed. He committed himself to the case of Omar Khadr, working for no fee, standing in front of the courts, and the microphones and cameras, searching for that elusive thing -- justice.
These days, Dennis Edney has his life more-or-less back together, but the case of Omar Khadr, and everything it represents -- the rule of law, human rights, tolerance and compassion -- all these things, the bedrock of justice, are still very much on his mind. At the Stratford Festival in the summer of 2016, Dennis Edney spoke about all the things he has learned since 2002.
Few people had ever heard of Dennis Edney in 2002. He had no expertise in international law or human rights, but when he heard about Omar Khadr, started reading up on his story, and researching the law, Dennis Edney's life was changed. He committed himself to the case of Omar Khadr, working for no fee, standing in front of the courts, and the microphones and cameras, searching for that elusive thing -- justice.
These days, Dennis Edney has his life more-or-less back together, but the case of Omar Khadr, and everything it represents -- the rule of law, human rights, tolerance and compassion -- all these things, the bedrock of justice, are still very much on his mind. At the Stratford Festival in the summer of 2016, Dennis Edney spoke about all the things he has learned since 2002.
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