The U.S. military has laid formal charges -- including one of murder -- against Omar Ahmed Khadr, a Canadian citizen imprisoned at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay, Cuba facility for suspected terrorists.

Some of those charges could possibly leave him facing the death penalty, one of Khadr's Canadian lawyers told CTV.ca on Monday.

"Potentially he is," said Nathan Whitling of Edmonton. "The U.S. has not taken the death penalty off the table. The Canadian government has formally requested that they do so many times, and they still haven't done so."

In some cases, the U.S. has done so, "so it's of concern they haven't done so yet," he said.

Khadr, 19, is "charged with conspiracy to commit offenses triable by military commission; murder by an unprivileged belligerent; attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent; and aiding the enemy," said a U.S. Defense Dept. news release on Monday.

An "unprivileged belligerent" is someone who isn't a member of a regular army, Whitling said.

The department said Khadr has the presumption of innocence, has the right not to testify without inference of guilty and must be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

While the U.S. government will provide counsel, Khadr has the right to civilian counsel, but at his expense.

However, Whitling said there are major procedural issues with these military commissions.

Some of those issues will be decided in a U.S. Supreme Court case involving Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Hamdan is being held in Guantanamo Bay. The U.S.'s highest court agreed Monday to hear the case.

Here are some of Whitling's concerns:

• The use of secret evidence and the ability of the commission to hear such evidence in the absence of both the defendant and his counsel
• The fact Omar Khadr committed his alleged crimes when he was only 15
• The application of torture at Guantanamo Bay and the fact that any such evidence gathered would be admissible.
• Khadr was denied counsel while being interrogated
• His capacity to respond because his physical and mental health have deteriorated
• The lengthy delay between the alleged offence and the date charges were laid.
• Limited ability to marshall evidence and call witnesses

On CTV's Newsnet, Amnesty International's Jumana Musa said her organization would like to see the commissions scrapped.

Arrested in Afghanistan

Khadr, 19, was born in Toronto. His family moved to Peshawar, Pakistan when he was four.

He was arrested in Afghanistan in 2002 by the U.S. military. They declared him an enemy combatant and shipped him to Guantanamo Bay.

At the time of his arrest, Khadr was 15. He is accused of throwing a hand grenade at U.S. soldiers.

One soldier died in the alleged attack and three others were wounded, with one soldier losing an eye.

Late last month, a Utah judge issued a default judgment against the estate of Ahmad Sa'id Khadr, Omar's father.

The lawsuit alleged the elder Khadr, a Canadian citizen, was an al Qaeda financier who failed to control his son.

Ahmad Khadr died in a 2003 gun battle with authorities in Pakistan province of Waziristan, which is next to the border with Afghanistan. His youngest son Karim was left paralyzed after being struck with a bullet.

Karim's mother brought her son back to Canada for treatment in the fall of 2004.

Ahmad's eldest son Abdullah is on the run, while Abdurahman Khadr is on the outs with his family after admitting to being a mole at Guantanamo Bay.