OTTAWA -- (AP) -- The former U.N. commander in Rwanda on Tuesday equated the United States and Canada with al Qaeda for their handling of a young Canadian detained at Guantánamo Bay.

Romeo Dallaire, the retired Canadian general who criticized world leaders for their failure to stop the 1994 Rwanda genocide, said Tuesday at a Canadian government hearing on Omar Khadr that the U.S. and Canada have flouted international conventions on human rights.

''The minute you start playing with human rights, with conventions, with civil liberties, in order to say that you're doing it to protect yourself and you are going against those rights and conventions, you are no better than the guy who doesn't believe in them at all,'' he said.

Khadr, 21, is accused of lobbing a hand grenade that killed a soldier in Afghanistan 2002. He was 15 at the time, but under the U.S. military tribunal system he will be tried under the same rules as an adult. Critics say the decision violates international law on the treatment of so-called child soldiers.

Dallaire, now a Liberal senator in Canada, told a Parliament committee that Khadr is a victim who should be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society, and not tried before what he called an illegal court.

He said he believes the Khadr case makes clear the moral equivalence of Canada, the United States and al Qaeda.

Conservative Member of Parliament Jason Kenney asked if Dallaire really believed that, pointing to a case in which the terror group outfitted mentally challenged girls with explosive belts as suicide attackers in a Baghdad animal market.

''Is it your testimony that al Qaeda strapping up a 14-year-old girl with Down syndrome and sending her into a pet market to be remotely detonated is the moral equivalent to Canada's not making extraordinary political efforts for a transfer of Omar Khadr to this country?'' he asked. ``Is that your position?''

Dallaire was adamant.

''If you want a black and white, and I'm only too prepared to give it to you, Ab-so-lutely,'' he said. ``You're either with the law or not with the law.''

Dallaire was the U.N. force commander in Rwanda during the genocide in which Hutu extremists kill more than 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Dallaire had repeatedly warned of the looming slaughter from the capital Kigali and sought more troops and authority to stop it, but was refused.

Canada's Conservative government, which has repeatedly refused to intervene in the Khadr case, has shown no sign of changing its mind in response to pleas from human rights groups and opposition parties.

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@