Canadian detainees at Guantanamo Bay

Omar Khadr
Known for	Canadian national detained at Guantanamo Bay, accused of killing US soldier

The United States Department of Defense confirms the detention of two Canadian nationals at Guantanamo, who are teenage siblings Abdurahman Khadr and Omar Khadr. Since the facility's inception on January 11, 2002, a total of 778 individuals have been held in extrajudicial detention at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. The detainee count reached its highest point, roughly 660, in 2004. Following the United States Supreme Court decision in Rasul v. Bush, only nineteen additional prisoners, all classified as "high value detainees," were brought to the camp. By January 2008, the number of detainees had decreased to about 285.

Abdurahman Khadr

Abdurahman characterized himself as the family "black sheep," expressing disapproval of any glorification of the September 11 attacks. He collaborated with U.S. officials and ultimately acted as a spy for the CIA, initially operating within Guantanamo and later deployed to Bosnia to establish rapport with Arab veterans from the Bosnian conflict.

Omar Khadr

Omar was apprehended during combat in Afghanistan on July 27, 2002. He faced allegations of having thrown a grenade that resulted in the death of American Special Forces Sergeant Christopher Speer.

Canadian residents and former residents in Afghanistan

Approximately six individuals who had resided in Canada—as refugees, applicants for citizenship, or unauthorized immigrants—were also detained at Guantanamo.

Guantanamo Bay files leak

On April 25, 2011, the Guantanamo Bay files leak disclosed previously unseen documents created by Joint Task Force Guantanamo. Prior document releases had originated from the Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants. Importantly, confidential records for sixteen detainees were excluded from the leak, including those pertaining to Abdurahman Khadr.