A former U.S. Army combat medic testified Monday that he once found Canadian teen captive Omar Khadr chained by the arms to the door of a five-foot-square cage at a U.S. lock-up in Afghanistan, hooded and weeping.
The medic, identified in court only as Mr. M, said Khadr's wrists were chained just above eye-level, but were slack enough to allow Khadr's feet to touch the floor. He could not remember whether Khadr's feet were also shackled.
When he pulled the hood from Khadr's head, the teenager declared through tears that he would no longer help detention center soldiers by translating the words of other captives.
"This was the one time that I saw Mr. Khadr not very cordial,'' he said, describing the captive as "scared and frustrated,'' but "no stronger or weaker than any other detainee in that position."
Pentagon prosecutors called M, who treated Khadr's injuries twice daily in Afghanistan until Khadr was transferred to Guantanamo, to defend Khadr's treatment as humane. M's testimony, however, was the first by a government witness to corroborate a portion of an affidavit Khadr drew up describing abusive treatment.