Jury selection has begun in the Guantánamo Bay military trial of the Canadian prisoner Omar Khadr. The judge in the case has ruled that Khadr’s confessions to interrogators can be used as evidence against him, even though defense attorneys say the statements were illegally obtained through torture and cruelty. Lisa Hajjar, a sociologist covering the trial for the Middle East Research and Information Project, said the ruling will force the defense to re-air its account of Khadr’s torture.

Lisa Hajjar: “He was interrogated while he was wounded. He was subjected to protracted sleep deprivation and physician abuse. He was used as a human mop, you know, had pine cleaner thrown on him. Although the judge didn’t find that to be cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment and excluded it, the jury now will have an opportunity to hear this evidence again and make their determination.”

Khadr’s trial is the first under the Obama administration’s revised military commissions system. It’s also the first war crimes tribunal anywhere since World War II to prosecute someone for acts allegedly committed as a juvenile. Khadr was captured in Afghanistan at the age of fifteen. Jurors were told Tuesday they can consider Kadhr’s age in delivering a verdict. In a statement, the UN’s envoy for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, criticized the trial, saying it could set a precedent threatening the legal status of child soldiers worldwide.