A statement from AI Canada's Secretary General Alex Neve concerning the sentence handed down to Omar Khadr:

Everything about Omar Khadr's ordeal at Guantanamo Bay over the past eight years has been a fiasco. It comes as no surprise that the sentencing phase and this stunningly punitive jury decision has so starkly highlighted the injustices of this process.

That a jury would think that a 15 year old child soldier - who threw a grenade that killed a soldier during a war, and who has credibly alleged being tortured, threatened and coerced in US custody - is deserving of a 40 year prison sentence is staggering. Everything about his case has pointed to a young child propelled into the midst of extremism and violence by a fanatical father - hardly a battle hardened terrorist who deserves the harshest of punishments.

So many people - from all walks of life - have seen hope and potential for Omar Khadr's future. The jury here, sadly, was of the opinion that he should not have one. At a time when there was still, perhaps, an outside chance that the process here might become a more just one, this only widens the yawning gap between Guantanamo and key international human rights standards. This place must be closed down. It is simply incapable of delivering justice.

It is only the plea deal, now, that salvages anything close to fairness and human rights protection from this discredited process. The Canadian government must now live up to its side of the agreement and do everything possible to extricate Omar Khadr from this Guantanamo nightmare at the earliest possible date. Abandonment is no longer an option.