[JURIST] The US Department of Defense [official website] said Thursday that it plans to move forward in the trial against a 19-year old Canadian citizen who was charged [charge sheet, PDF; JURIST report] last month with murdering a US Army medic, despite the judicial stays issued in other cases against terror suspects. Omar Ahmed Khadr was captured at the age of 15 and sent to the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba [JURIST news archive] where his lawyers claim he has been abused and also contend that his detention at age 15 violates American responsibilities under rules governing the treatment of young people during times of war. Judicial stays have halted proceedings for David Hicks [JURIST news archive], Salim Ahmed Hamdan [JURIST news archive], and a third detainee, while the US Supreme Court [official website] considers the constitutionality of military commissions [JURIST report] for terror detainees. Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Maj. Jane Boomer said however that judicial stays have not been handed down for any of the other nine charged prisoners, so the Office of Military Commissions [DOD materials] feels free to proceed with those other trials. The Pentagon has formed a military tribunal [JURIST news archive] comprised of six US officers and two alternates [appointing order, PDF] to hear Khadr's case. No trial date has yet been set. Reuters has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Pentagon says no death penalty for Canadian Guantanamo detainee
• US charges five more Guantanamo detainees with war crimes
• Judge orders Canada to stop questioning Gitmo teen
• Canadian Gitmo detainee claims torture by US interrogators
• Judge denies request for medical records, exam of teenage Gitmo detainee
• Canadian Gitmo detainee admits to al-Qaida ties, killing of US soldier