Join Us in DC, NY, SF, LA, CHI, BOSTON, MIAMI, DALLAS on Monday to Thank and Encourage Spain to Prosecute Bush Officials

WHAT: Delivery of petition and Valentine's Day flowers to Spanish Embassy
WHEN: 11:30 a.m.
WHERE: 2375 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC
CONTACT: Gael Murphy, gael at codepinkalert.org

OR

11:00 am, 150 East 58th Street, New York, Bernadette Evangelist, sleet15 at nyc.rr.com
11:30 am, 1405 Sutter St, San Francisco, Susan Harman, susanharman1 at gmail.com
11:00 am, 5055 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 860, Los Angeles, Sharon Tipton, sharonktipton at gmail.com
11:45 am, 180 N Michigan Avenue, Suite 1500, Chicago, Jay Becker, futurenotwritten at yahoo.com
1:00 pm, 31 St. James Avenue, Suite 905, Boston, Sue Serpa, neimpeach at gmail.com 
11:30 am, 2655 Le Jeune R, Suite 203, Miami, Sandy Davies,  peacetopower at aol.com
11:00 am, 5499 Glen Lakes Dr., Suite 209, Dallas, Leslie Harris, JHarris866 at aol.com

If you've wanted to be part of a powerful effort to bring Bush-era officials to justice for their crimes, now is your chance. We've joined a national effort to reach out to the people of Spain, whose courts are considering prosecuting six of Bush's lawyers under international law. Our campaign includes an open letter and ads in prominent Spanish newspapers and billboards.

Even though the Obama administration has been working hard behind the scenes to stop this, our friends at the Center for Constitutional Rights have already submitted proof to the Spanish courts that our government is not taking action under international law and treaties. Now is our chance - we can keep the wheels of justice turning by doing people-to-people diplomacy now.

Here's what else you do: Read and sign the letter to the Spanish people at http://rootsaction.org

WarIsACrime.org's name is behind it.  The letter will go to the Spanish embassy and consulates across the country on Monday - Valentine's Day.  We'll also bring Spanish officials flowers and invite the media.  You can join us in these events.  Get details at http://rootsaction.org

But we can't stop there. We've designed a billboard and newspaper advertisement that says in Spanish, "Please do what the U.S. won't. Prosecute torturers." We are raising money to place ads and billboards around Madrid where the country's leaders will see that there are Americans who want the case to continue.

We need to raise $30k to make this happen, so please consider a generous donation toward bringing the message directly to the Spanish people.  Read and sign the letter at http://rootsaction.org

To the people of Spain
From the people of the United States of America

We are writing to thank you and to ask for your support as your courts consider cases to bring American officials to justice for the crime of torture.  A Spanish judge, acting under international law, will soon decide whether to investigate US officials' roles in authorizing torture. We hope you agree that such cases must go forward, despite pressure from the Obama administration to drop them.

The organizations signing this letter represent hundreds of thousands in the American public who believe the US government must be held to the same rule of law as other countries. We are profoundly disappointed that our own government refuses to prosecute former officials, despite open admissions and government documents showing that they approved torture.

It will take a public show of support for the case to withstand pressures from Washington.  WikiLeaks cables show the extremes to which U.S. officials have gone to thwart any attempt by Spain or other countries to uphold justice.  We applaud the courage shown by Spanish officials who insist on giving priority to the rule of law.

Despite earlier assertions by President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder that waterboarding is torture, former President George W. Bush publicly stated three times last year that he authorized waterboarding and added proudly that he would do it again.  In a TV interview aired on November 8, Bush said he considered waterboarding legal "because the lawyer said it was legal."  Waterboarding and other forms of torture were banned by the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, ratified by the United States in 1994.

If international law is to serve any useful purpose, other countries must condemn violations "by any other nations, including those which sit here now in judgment," in the words of the chief prosecutor at Nuremberg.

We sincerely hope that the citizens of Spain and its judiciary will dispel the notion that any country is above the law.

Signed,
High Road for Human Rights, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, National Accountability Action Network, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, Pax Christi USA, Progressive Democrats of America, Psychologists for Social Responsibility, Robert Jackson Steering Committee, RootsAction.org, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Tackling Torture at the Top Committee of Women Against Military Madness, Veterans for Peace, War Criminals Watch, WarIsACrime.org, WeThePeopleNow.org, World Can't Wait.

Along with:
Amnesty International USA, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Council for the National Interest, Democrats.com, Fellowship on Reconciliation, United for Peace and Justice, Velvet Revolution, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, War Resisters League, Witness Against Torture, Code Pink Women for Peace, Voters for Peace.

http://rootsaction.org

*****

A la gente de España, de la gente de los EEUU

 Escribimos para agradecerles y para solicitar su apoyo mientras sus cortes consideran procesos contra oficiales norteamericanos por el crimen de haber autorizado la tortura. Conforme con la ley internacional, un juez español pronto decidirá si va a investigar la complicidad de oficiales estadounidenses en tal autorización. Esperamos que Uds. estén de acuerdo que estos casos deben seguir, pese a  las presiones por la administración de Obama para abandonarlos.

Las organizaciones que firman abajo representan a cientos de miles de personas en los EEUU que creen que el gobierno estadounidense debe obedecer las mismas leyes como otro paises. Sentimos profundamente desanimados que nuestro gobierno rehusa procesar a los ex-oficiales aunque sus plenas declaraciones y los documentos gubernamentales manifiestan que autorizaron la tortura.

Se requiere una amplia y pública manifestación en favor del caso para resistir las presiones desde Washington.  Los cables de WikiLeaks demuestran el afán vehemente de los oficiales estadounidenses para prevenir cualquier intento por España y otros países para sostener la justicia. Aplaudimos el coraje de los oficiales españoles que insisten en defender el estado de derecho.

Pese a las anteriores afirmaciones del Presidente Barack Obama y del Procurador General Eric Holder que el “waterboarding” (ahogo simulado) es tortura, el ex-presidente George W. Bush dijo públicamente  tres veces el año pasado que autorizó el waterboarding y añadió orgullosamente que lo haría de nuevo. En una entrevista transmitida en televisión el 8 de nov., dijo Bush que consideró el waterboarding legal “porque asi dijo el abogado.” El waterboarding y otros métodos de tortura se abolieron por  la Convención de las Naciones Unidas Contra Tortura y Otros Tratamientos y  Castigos Crueles, Inhumanos, y Degradantes, ratificada por los EEUU en 1994.

Para que la ley internacional tenga alguna eficacia, los otros países deben condenar las violaciones “por otras naciones, incluyendo aquellos que ahora juzgan,” según las palabras del acusador estadounidense en Nuremberg.

Esperamos sinceramente que los ciudadanos y la magistratura de España  refuten la idea que cualquier país puede violar la ley.

En solidaridad,

High Road for Human Rights, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, National Accountability Action Network, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, Pax Christi USA, Progressive Democrats of America, Psychologists for Social Responsibility, Robert Jackson Steering Committee, RootsAction.org, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Tackling Torture at the Top Committee of Women Against Military Madness, Veterans for Peace, War Criminals Watch, WarIsACrime.org, WeThePeopleNow.org, and World Can't Wait.

Along with:
Amnesty International USA, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Council for the National Interest, Democrats.com, Fellowship on Reconciliation, United for Peace and Justice, Velvet Revolution, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, War Resisters League, Witness Against Torture, Code Pink Women for Peace, Voters for Peace.