Canada’s Charter applies to Afghan detainees?

That’s what Amnesty International Canada and the BC Civil Liberties Union are contending in federal court. As David Frum puts it to his American audience:

One reason to follow Canadian politics is that Canada's hyper-activist courts often function as a kind of test kitchen, in which the legal left can experiment with concepts before advancing them in the US.

As one of the lawyers for Amnesty and the BCCLU puts it:

"If detainees are just protected by international law, only the general decides; if the Charter applies, the courts can overrule the generals. The real difference is who can supervise the generals."

That would be one more hand tied behind our military’s back. With friends like Amnesty and the BCCLU who needs the Taliban?

I wish these clowns would take as much interest in seeing that Canada’s Charter actually applies to Canadians - as in "freedom of expression."

[via]

Update (Feb 4/08): A response to Amnesty and BCCLU. [via]