Military Lawyers: Release Gitmo Youths

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Source: CBS News/AP

Attorneys Say Obama Administration Obligated Under Child-Soldier Pact To Free Teen Terror Detainees

(CBS/AP) Military lawyers for two young Guantanamo detainees urged the United States on Wednesday to follow the legally binding protocols it signed in 2002 on child soldiers and release the juveniles now being held at the U.S. military prison in Cuba.

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Walter Ruiz and Marine Maj. Eric Montalvo timed their press conference to a day-long open meeting of the U.N. Security Council on children and armed conflict. They singled out U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice's statement reiterating American opposition to child soldiers and support for council action against those governments and militias that persist in recruiting and using them.

Ruiz said it was important that the United States first acknowledge that "we have issues in our own backyard that we very much need to address ... before we presume to lead the world."

Ruiz represents Omar Khadr, a Canadian who was 14 or 15 when he was accused of killing an American soldier with a grenade during a 2002 battle in Afghanistan. Khadr was the subject of a 60 Minutes story in 2007, in which Bob Simon examined the teenager's unique status as the only minor in modern history to face war crimes charges.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/30/terror/main4979688.shtml?tag=topHome;topStories

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1. Omar Khadr

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/15/khadr-tapes.html