Rejected By His Motherland

By Vusi Moloi © 2009


Punishing shackles cut like suicidal
Tracing the cruel ground like sinusoidal
A little boy soldier was arrested
To be tried on evidence untested
They vowed to avenge one of their own
For a crime they couldn't prove against the boy
He cried for help via the syntactic
His motherland was unenthusiastic
She remains disinclined at great distance
Reluctant to heed the cry of the boy
Hereafter to be painfully rejected
By his motherland despite contacted

To be detained at Guantanamo
Without trial at Guantanamo
His motherland complied with Guantanamo
Despite torturing the boy at Guantanamo
He cracked under pain for her warm breast
The motherland remained unimpressed
His countrymen label him a terrorist
To remain shackled by a militarist
The moon flickered at his pain
Unable to stomach his suffering
Hereafter to be painfully rejected
By his motherland despite contacted


Contextual Commentary

The moon that lights the sky remains like a watchful eye over the earth below. Her memory, etched in meteoritic stone, transcends time and space to serve as an institutional memory for the children of the stars. The moon goddess who lights up the moon with her fire, uses her gravitational pull to equalize the distribution of the waterways of the land hence when the tide rises all vessels must rise. The sacred heart of the moon is averse to the distinctions that deprive others of the plentiful waterways.
Vusi Moloi, The Indomitable Mongoose, Canada, 2009

Dedication:

This poem is written in tribute to Omar Khadr who was captured as a little boy on July 27 2002 in a compound near the village of Ayub Kheyl in Afghanistan. His country of birth Canada has consistently refused to intervene on behalf of Omar even though other countries have come to the rescue of their own.

Guantanamo Bay Child Soldier CSIS interrogation

Omar Khadr cracking under pain and sobbing uncontrollably while undergoing an intense interrogation by the Canadian Inteligence Security Agency. In this video (released by his defence team) Omar also shows sustained injuries - video from nomoredrugwar of Youtube.

Background

US Navy Lieutenant-Commander William Kuebler has taken a lot of heat for defending the rights of Omar. Lieutenant-Commander Kuebler has declared his special relationship with the young man saying people should disregard the hurtful comments made by some of the Khadr family members because he believes Omar can go on to lead a productive life in society given a chance. Omar Khadr is accused of throwing a hand grenade that killed US Special Forces soldier Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer. No uncontested evidence has been established to support that claim. The Pentagon under President George Bush had based their argument on the fact that Omar was the only one alive when the Christopher Speer assault team stormed the compound after US air strikes had obliterated it in a four hour fire fight. That position has since been discounted by sworn military documents from one soldier (known only as OC-1) who shot Omar twice on the back causing gaping exit wounds on Omar's chest. The soldier testified under oath that there were two people found alive at the compound namely Omar Khadr and another combatant. The second person was shot dead by OC-1.

Lieutenant Commander Kuebler has even suggested that given the nature of the battle Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer may have been killed by “friendly fire” and not by enemy combatants as originally reported by the US authorities a viewpoint now confirmed by some researchers using both medical records and the type of grenade that killed Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer. It’s now alleged that the grenade that hit Speer was American. If this is the case then does it mean that Omar Khadr is paying for someone else’s crime?

Kuebler Called the Government's Case

US Navy Lieutenant-Commander William Kuebler speaking to reporters - video from omarcanada1 of Youtube



Defence Attorner Dennis Edney

Another great Canadian Mr. Dennis Edney continues to defend Omar in spite of the frustrations that result from attempting to deal with a close-knit organization like the US military authorities where the rules are like a black box that needs special decoding. Mr. Edney has had to wait for four years before being allowed to meet his client in person something that is very torturing to the mind of someone who wants to help others.

Latest Developments

In a latest development the Federal Court of Canada Justice James O’Reilly has ordered the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to bring Omar Khadr home warning that Canada was implicit in the continued torture of Omar. The Prime Minister swiftly responded by leaving open the option of quashing the court decision via an appeal process. This position is in sharp contrast to what the Prime Minister declared before in a similar case where a Canadian citizen was accused of terrorism by China as follows:

"I think the government of Canada, when a Canadian citizen is ill-treated and when the rights of a Canadian citizen need to be defended, I think it's always the obligation of the government of Canada to vocally and publicly stand up for that Canadian citizen... That is what we will continue to do.", Prime Minister Harper speaking to reporters in Halifax about China allegedly torturing a Canadian citizen Huseyin Celil.

About the Author

A former South African Television Journalist, Vusi Moloi is a published author of a contextual poetry book, A Goodbye To My Little Troubles, and maintains a blog, Zulumathabo on the Internet.