Criminal Prosecution and Accountability

International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration
305 West Broadway, #199, NY, NY 10013 212-941-8086 www.bushcommission.org

FRIDAY EVENING, January 20, 5:30 – 9 pm, Riverside Church, 91 Claremont Avenue

In Martin Luther King Day address, Gore compares wiretapping of Americans to surveillance of King

RAW STORY with updated transcript | Video Highlights | January 16, 2006

In an address delivered in Washington to multiple standing ovations, Vice President Al Gore repeatedly attacked the Bush Administration for the expansion of executive power -- the ability of the government to wiretap its own citizens without legal authority and kidnap Americans abroad.

His speech -- which compares the wiretapping of Martin Luther King to the broad surveillance now imposed on Americans by President Bush -- called on Congress to resume its oversight responsibilities, and enjoined Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to appoint a special prosecutor. Gore was to be introduced by former Rep. Bob Barr, a Georgia Republican who has advocated for the constitutional right to privacy. The full text of his speech follows. Reuters summarizes the speech in an article here.

We know Bush and Cheney must go. The polls show most people agree with us, and this with a mainstream media cover-up. We have to bull our way into the public eye. Bring these signs to political and other events near you.

www.bushcommission.org

Can you make it to New York for the Bush Crimes Commission, but need a place to stay? Call 212.941.8086.

Unprecedented and historic indictments alleging war
crimes and crimes against humanity on moral, political

Pinochet Stripped of Legal Immunity
By Eduardo Gallardo, The Associated Press

Santiago, Chile - An appeals court stripped Gen. Augusto Pinochet of his legal immunity Wednesday, a ruling that paved the way for the former dictator to stand trial on charges of responsibility for killing two bodyguards of the Marxist president he toppled in a bloody 1973 coup.

My name is Mike Hersh. I'm here representing Progressive Democrats of America, Convict Bush Cheney dot Org, and After Downing Street dot Org. I've been working to impeach Bush and Cheney since 2000, even before they took the oath of office, on the theory that if fibbing about a blow job is sufficient reason for impeachment, then cheating in the elections, losing, and having your friends on the Supreme Court throw out the votes to put you into office is grounds for impeachment and removal from office.

By Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t | www.truthout.org

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is said to have spent the past month preparing evidence he will present to a grand jury alleging that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove knowingly made false statements to FBI and Justice Department investigators and lied under oath while he was being questioned about his role in the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity more than two years ago, according to sources knowledgeable about the probe.

(Washington, DC) - ConvictBushCheney.org (CBC) is compiling clear and convincing evidence of High Crimes and War Crimes committed by George W. Bush, Richard Cheney and the Bush/Cheney Administration.

By Larry Everest

As the new year begins, January looms as a crucial month, possibly shaping events for the year and far beyond. In this critical moment, there's an urgent need - and great possibility - for delivering a powerful and compelling indictment of the Bush administration for war crimes and crimes against humanity right here in the U.S. This is the mission of the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity, whose final session will be held January 20-22 in New York City. The situation, and our responsibility to world humanity, call for nothing less.

By IAN JAMES, Associated Press Writer

The American singer and activist Harry Belafonte called President Bush "the greatest terrorist in the world" on Sunday and said millions of Americans support the socialist revolution of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.

From: International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration

TRIBUNAL INDICTS BUSH ADMINISTRATION FOR WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

INDICTMENTS TO BE DELIVERED TO THE WHITE HOUSE ON TUESDAY JAN. 10th

When: 1:30 pm, January 10, 2006
Where: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC
Website: www.bushcommission.org

Contact: Larry Everest or Janet Yip: 212-941-8086 or email: commission@nion.us

The road to Abu Ghraib began after 9/11, when Washington wrote new rules to fight a new kind of war. A NEWSWEEK investigation
By John Barry, Michael Hirsh and Michael Isikoff | Newsweek | May 24, 2004

May 24 issue - It's not easy to get a member of Congress to stop talking. Much less a room full of them. But as a small group of legislators watched the images flash by in a small, darkened hearing room in the Rayburn Building last week, a sickened silence descended. There were 1,800 slides and several videos, and the show went on for three hours. The nightmarish images showed American soldiers at Abu Ghraib Prison forcing Iraqis to masturbate. American soldiers sexually assaulting Iraqis with chemical light sticks. American soldiers laughing over dead Iraqis whose bodies had been abused and mutilated. There was simply nothing to say. "It was a very subdued walk back to the House floor," said Rep. Jane Harman, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. "People were ashen." [Complete article]

Days of adverse hardship in US detention camps [as conveyed to Amnesty International]

Below is the testimony of Jumah al-Dossari, which he wrote in July 2005 in the US detention facility at Guantánamo Bay naval base, Cuba. The hand written testimony was given to Amnesty International by Jumah al-Dossari’s civilian lawyer. At the date of publication Jumah al-Dossari remains detained in Guantánamo Bay. This testimony is Jumah al-Dossari’s personal account of his experiences in Pakistani and US custody, and the views expressed in it are his own.

By Michael Isikoff | Newsweek | May 19, 2004
Memos Reveal War Crimes Warnings

Could Bush administration officials be prosecuted for 'war crimes' as a result of new measures used in the war on terror? The White House's top lawyer thought so

May 17 - The White House's top lawyer warned more than two years ago that U.S. officials could be prosecuted for "war crimes" as a result of new and unorthodox measures used by the Bush administration in the war on terrorism, according to an internal White House memo and interviews with participants in the debate over the issue.

The concern about possible future prosecution for war crimes—and that it might even apply to Bush adminstration officials themselves—is contained in a crucial portion of an internal January 25, 2002, memo by White House counsel Alberto Gonzales obtained by NEWSWEEK. It urges President George Bush declare the war in Afghanistan, including the detention of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters, exempt from the provisions of the Geneva Convention. [complete article]
[PDF of Alberto Gonzalez Memo] [PDF of Colin Powell Response]

BBC News | 15 June, 2004
The US commander at the centre of the Iraqi prisoner scandal says she was told to treat detainees like dogs.Brig Gen Janis Karpinski told the BBC she was being made a "convenient scapegoat" for abuse ordered by others.

Top US commander for Iraq, Gen Ricardo Sanchez, should be asked what he knew about the abuse, she told BBC Radio 4's On The Ropes programme. One soldier has been sentenced and six others are awaiting courts martial for abuses committed at Abu Ghraib jail. Gen Karpinski said more damaging information was likely to emerge at those trials. [complete article]

By Charlie Savage, Boston Globe | December 26, 2004

WASHINGTON -- A trove of government disclosures forced by a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit has signaled that the abuse of detainees in Iraq and at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was much broader than the Bush administration has portrayed it since the Abu Ghraib prison scandal became public this spring.

www.bushcommission.org

The International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration has announced January 20-22 for its final session of hearings. Verdicts are expected around the time of the Bush’s State of the Union address and nationwide demonstrations occurring then. The work of the Commission is historic, with the potential to profoundly affect the gathering storm around the Bush administration.

The International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration of the United States, www.bushcommission.org

When the possibility of far-reaching war crimes and crimes against humanity exists, people of conscience have a solemn responsibility to inquire into the nature and scope of these acts and to determine if they do in fact rise to the level of war crimes and crimes against humanity. That is the mission of the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity. The final session will be held January 20-22 in New York City. This tribunal will, with care and rigor, present evidence and assess whether George W. Bush and his administration have committed crimes against humanity. Well-established international law will be referenced where applicable, but the tribunal will not be limited by the scope of existing international law.

Suppressed documents the UK Government are trying to block publishing
by caribmon, dailykos.com

It's not the al-Jazeera Memo, but these are some more documents that the
UK Government are trying to suppress with the threat of prosecution under

By David Swanson

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has admitted that he "ghosted" a detainee, meaning that he made the decision to hold a prisoner without keeping any records of the fact.

By Ewen MacAskill, The Guardian UK

Statement contradicts ambassador's interview. Correction could leave Britain open to challenge.

The US embassy in London was forced to issue a correction yesterday to an interview given by the ambassador, Robert Tuttle, in which he claimed America would not fly suspected terrorists to Syria, which has one of the worst torture records in the Middle East. A statement acknowledged media reports of a suspect taken from the US to Syria.

By David Swanson

The U.S. military used white phosphorous as a weapon in Fallujah, and the U.S. military says such use is illegal. That's one heck of a fog fact (Larry Beinhart's term for a fact that is neither secret nor known). This fact has appeared in an article in the Guardian (UK) and been circulated on the internet, but has just not interested the corporate media in the United States.

By John Kelley, http://www.opednews.com

Preface: This piece was originally written in late 2003. There was little support for it then. It seems even more relevant today now that we know even more. John Kelley

Reuters

Suspects wanted for allegedly kidnapping Egyptian cleric in Italy in 2003.

Milan - A Milan court has issued a European arrest warrant for 22 CIA agents suspected of kidnapping an Egyptian cleric from Italy’s financial capital in 2003, Prosecutor Armando Spataro said on Friday.

By Asim Qureshi, www.cageprisoners.com

Detention in the Name of the War on Terror: Violations of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law, By Asim Qureshi: PDF.

By Jason Leopold, www.RawStory.com

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is not expected to shut down his investigation into the leak of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson when he finishes his inquiry of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove's role in the leak, lawyers close to the probe said.

Code Pink's indictment campaign

Criminal Prosecution of an Incumbent President

In a brief judgment today, Madam Justice Deborah Satanove of the Supreme Court of British Columbia rejected an appeal by the Canadian-based Lawyers Against the War (LAW) against the staying of torture charges laid against President George W. Bush last year. The judgment, which came after three weeks of deliberation but was less than five pages in length, declared the appeal "an abuse of process". Relying on a contested nine-word passage in the transcript of the secret hearing held last year, Judge Satanove declared that the real intentions of LAW were "to use the criminal procedure as a forum to express political views". According to the court, the passage could be read as a disavowal by LAW of any intention to seek the issuance of a summons or warrant against the US President. The judge ignored all the other arguments on both sides of the case.