MONTREAL - The Canadian Bar Association and more than a half-dozen legal organizations are joining forces to demand Omar Khadr's return to Canada.

The bar and other groups, including Lawyers Without Borders, also want all the federal parties to take a position in favour of the repatriation of Khadr, who was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan at the age of 15.

Spokesman Pascal Paradis says the legal groups want Khadr's case dealt with in Canada by competent and indepedent authorities.

Lawyers Without Borders is also launching a public information campaign which they say will be used to explain why Khadr's case is important to all Canadians.

The campaign kicked off with a colourful start today with the help of a group of young volunteers who were dressed in orange jumpsuits similar to those worn by prisoners of the Guantanamo Bay navy base.

The lawyers say the detention of Khadr, a Canadian citizen, is a violation of numerous rights protected under international law.

Khadr is the only western citizen still imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay.