In order for the people in less fortunate countries to have faith in the ICC, they must see that rogue heads-of-state are prosecuted, regardless of the country they represent.
The crimes of George Bush against the people of Iraq are as great as those of the President of Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir in Darfur. The ICC has issued a warrant for Al Bashir.
George Bush is scheduled to be in Calgary on March 17th. Many thanks to Gail Davidson (Lawyers Against the War) for her work in making the legal argument (attached): the laws under which George Bush should be denied access to Canada, and a call on the Government to use the law. Canadian law should be applied equally, just as the ICC should apply international law equally. Gail’s work also makes the case for Bush to be prosecuted by the ICC.
I have written the ICC, using information circulated earlier in our network, and this initiative of Lawyers Against the War. The ICC needs to prosecute Al Bashir, yes, but also George Bush.
I urge you to think of ways in which you can multiply the effects of Gail’s work. You may want to write the ICC or the Govt of Canada. And never underestimate the value of just passing this information along to more folks.
Cheers!
Sandra
CONTENTS
(1) LETTER TO THE ICC CALLING FOR PROSECUTION OF GEORGE BUSH
(2) GAIL DAVIDSON’S (LAWYERS AGAINST THE WAR) LEGAL CHALLENGE TO GEORGE BUSH IN CALGARY, MARCH 17th
(3) U.S. PROSECUTOR VINCE BUGLIOSI’S CALL FOR U.S. PROSECUTION OF GEORGE BUSH
(4) ICC PROSECUTION OF SUDANESE PRESIDENT AL-BASHIR
=========================
(1) LETTER TO THE ICC CALLING FOR PROSECUTION OF GEORGE BUSH
TO: International Criminal Court
FROM:
Sandra Finley
Saskatoon SK S7N 0L1
Canada
(citizen)
TO:
International Criminal Court:
The Hague
(1) Ms Laurence Blairon, Spokesperson
laurence.blairon AT icc-cpi.int
(2) Communications and claims under art.15 of the Rome Statute may be addressed to:
Information and Evidence Unit
Office of the Prosecutor
otp.informationdesk AT icc-cpi.int
Dear Ms Laurence Blairon,
You are a spokesperson for the warrant issued for Omar Al Bashir, President of Sudan, for his crimes against humanity.
Would you please forward this email to the appropriate persons at the International Criminal Court?
In order for the people in less fortunate countries to have faith in the ICC, they must see that rogue heads-of-state are prosecuted, regardless of the country they represent.
Former president George Bush of the USA launched an illegal war on the people of Iraq. In fairness, George Bush must be prosecuted for his crimes.
A highly-respected former American prosecutor, Vince Bugliosi, made a presentation to the (American) House Judiciary Committee in the U.S. in July 2008. (See YouTube video: http://watsupjb75.blogspot.com/2008/07/bugliosi.html ) Mr. Bugliosi called for the prosecution of George Bush in domestic courts. Mr. Bugliosi’s call has merit, but the crimes of George Bush are an international issue, equally and maybe more so than those of Omar Al Bashir.
George Bush is scheduled to visit Calgary, Alberta, Canada on March 17th. Please see the attached request to the Government of Canada to deny him access to Canada. The documentation may serve the ICC well in its pursuit of charges against George Bush.
Bugliosi’s testimony before the Judiciary Committee is based on his most recent book, “The Prosecution of George W Bush for Murder”. It may also be helpful to you.
Thank-you for your consideration of the need to pursue legal action against George Bush.
Best wishes,
Sandra Finley
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
==============
EXCERPT from Vince Bugliosi’s book “Prosecution of George W Bush for Murder”:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vincent-bugliosi/the-prosecution-of-george_b_102427.html
“Perhaps the most amazing thing to me about the belief of many that George Bush lied to the American public in starting his war with Iraq is that the liberal columnists who have accused him of doing this merely make this point, and then go on to the next paragraph in their columns. Only very infrequently does a columnist add that because of it Bush should be impeached. If the charges are true, of course Bush should have been impeached, convicted, and removed from office. That’s almost too self-evident to state. But he deserves much more than impeachment. I mean, in America, we apparently impeach presidents for having consensual sex outside of marriage and trying to cover it up. If we impeach presidents for that, then if the president takes the country to war on a lie where thousands of American soldiers die horrible, violent deaths and over 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians, including women and children, even babies are killed, the punishment obviously has to be much, much more severe. That’s just common sense. If Bush were impeached, convicted in the Senate, and removed from office, he’d still be a free man, still be able to wake up in the morning with his cup of coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice and read the morning paper, still travel widely and lead a life of privilege, still belong to his country club and get standing ovations whenever he chose to speak to the Republican faithful. This, for being responsible for over 100,000 horrible deaths?* For anyone interested in true justice, impeachment alone would be a joke for what Bush did.”
===============
(2) GAIL DAVIDSON’S (LAWYERS AGAINST THE WAR) LEGAL CHALLENGE TO GEORGE BUSH IN CALGARY, MARCH 17th
See attachment.
Also: The letter below is from Bev Collins (former federal NDP candidate) to Jack Layton (NDP Leader) in regard to the call by Lawyers Against The War to bar G.W. Bush from entering Canada, and to have him charged with War Crimes. (Bush will be speaking in Calgary on March 17th).
—– Original Message —–
From: bev collins
Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 8:54 PM
Subject: I stood for the NDP
Dear Mr. Jack Layton:
I represented the NDP party in the last federal election in the Cariboo Prince George riding and as you stated in your thank you letter to me afterwards, I left this riding in a stronger position for the NDP next time.
I must admit, I am shocked though, that the very bills that you assisted in putting into legislation in Parliament, you have decided now to ignore them at your peril.
The fact that Canada has laws against war crimes, Our Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes act, our Criminal Code of Canada, Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, and Convention against torture, should make you want to stand up for these laws, so I am surprised that you will be allowing a war criminal into Canada this month.
There is ample legal evidence of war crimes that have been conducted by former President George Bush. There are now 58 Congressmen who are demanding an inquiry into laying charges against Bush. There are international tribunals that have ruled on substantial legal evidence of these crimes, as well as the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak who has concluded there is proof of torture by Bush and others.
It is Canada’s obligation, our duty to prevent this criminal from entering Canada, or arresting him if he lands on Canadian soil.
The fact that your office has responded by stating that you have no intention of following up on this matter is shameful to say the least, as it makes one question, just who are you standing for, if not the laws of our land.
Your response to Lawyers against the war, will be submitted to all members and fellow organizations throughout Canada, the US and around the world. How unfortunate!
Sincerely,
Bev Collins
Former Federal Candidate
===============
(3) U.S. PROSECUTOR VINCE BUGLIOSI’S CALL FOR U.S. PROSECUTION OF GEORGE BUSH
Email sent
DATE: 28/07/2008
SUBJECT: (6 of X) House Judiciary Committee hearings on Bush impeachment, Vince Bugliosi. A wowser.
Vince Bugliosi’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, on YouTube video.
Stunning.
http://watsupjb75.blogspot.com/2008/07/bugliosi.html
Other testimony is available by clicking on the caption under the video:
“For a cross section of the testimonies at the Judiciary Committee Hearings”
Baby boomers will remember Bugliosi’s prosecution of Charles Manson. I read his book “Helter Skelter” way back then, about the Manson “family” and the murders.
… etc.
===============
(4) ICC PROSECUTION OF SUDANESE PRESIDENT AL-BASHIR
From the ICC website at (Link no longer valid)
Press Release: 04.03.2009
ICC issues a warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir, President of Sudan
ICC-CPI-20090304-PR394 ????
Situation: Darfur, Sudan
Today, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for the arrest of Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, President of Sudan, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He is suspected of being criminally responsible, as an indirect (co-)perpetrator, for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property. This is the first warrant of arrest ever issued for a sitting Head of State by the ICC.
Omar Al Bashir�s official capacity as a sitting Head of State does not exclude his criminal responsibility, nor does it grant him immunity against prosecution before the ICC, according to Pre-Trial Chamber I.
According to the Judges, the above-mentioned crimes were allegedly committed during a five year counter-insurgency campaign by the Government of Sudan against the Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and other armed groups opposing the Government of Sudan in Darfur. It is alleged that this campaign started soon after the April 2003 attack on El Fasher airport as a result of a common plan agreed upon at the highest level of the Government of Sudan by Omar Al Bashir and other high-ranking Sudanese political and military leaders. It lasted at least until 14 July 2008, the date of the filing of the Prosecution�s Application for the warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir.
A core component of that campaign was the unlawful attack on that part of the civilian population of Darfur � belonging largely to the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups � perceived to be close to the organised armed groups opposing the Government of Sudan in Darfur. The said civilian population was to be unlawfully attacked by Government of Sudan forces, including the Sudanese Armed Forces and their allied Janjaweed Militia, the Sudanese Police Force, the National Intelligence and Security Service and the Humanitarian Aid Commission.
The Chamber found that Omar al Bashir, as the de jure and de facto President of Sudan and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, is suspected of having coordinated the design and implementation of the counter-insurgency campaign. In the alternative, it also found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that he was in control of all branches of the �apparatus� of the State of Sudan and used such control to secure the implementation of the counter-insurgency campaign.
The counts
The warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir lists 7 counts on the basis of his individual criminal responsibility (article 25(3)(a)) including:
five counts of crimes against humanity: murder � article 7(1)(a); extermination � article 7(1)(b); forcible transfer � article 7(1)(d);
torture � article 7(1)(f); and rape � article 7(1)(g);
two counts of war crimes: intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities � article 8(2)(e)(i); and pillaging � article 8(2)(e)(v).
Findings concerning genocide
The majority of the Chamber, Judge Anita U�acka dissenting, found that the material provided by the Prosecution in support of its application for a warrant of arrest failed to provide reasonable grounds to believe that the Government of Sudan acted with specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups. Consequently, the crime of genocide is not included in the warrant issued for the arrest of Omar Al Bashir. Nevertheless, the Judges stressed that if additional evidence is gathered by the Prosecution, the decision would not prevent the Prosecution from requesting an amendment to the warrant of arrest in order to include the crime of genocide.
Cooperation of States
The Judges directed the Registrar to prepare and transmit, as soon as practicable, a request for cooperation for the arrest and surrender of Omar Al Bashir to Sudan, and to all States Parties to the Rome Statute and all United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members that are not party to the Statute, as well as to any other State as may be necessary.
The Judges found that, according to UNSC resolution 1593 and articles 25 and 103 of the UN Charter, the obligation of the Government of Sudan to fully cooperate with the Court prevails over any other international obligation that the Government of Sudan may have undertaken pursuant to any other international agreement.
Pre-Trial Chamber I also found that the Government of Sudan has systematically refused to cooperate with the Court since the issuance of warrants for the arrest of the Sudanese Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Ahmad Harun, and a regional Janjaweed militia leader, Ali Kushayb, on 2 May 2007. As a result, the Judges emphasised that, according to article 87(7) of the Statute, if the Government of Sudan continues to fail to comply with its cooperation obligations to the Court, the competent Chamber �may make a finding to that effect� and decide to �refer the matter [�] to the Security Council.�
Furthermore, the Judges noted that the dispositive part of UNSC resolution 1593 expressly urges all States, whether party or not to the Rome Statute, as well as international and regional organisations to �cooperate fully� with the Court.
Information concerning “ICC issues a warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir, President of Sudan”
——————————————————————————–
For further information please contact Ms Laurence Blairon, Spokesperson, at
+31 (0)70 515 87 14 or +31 (0) 6 46 44 88 89 or at laurence.blairon AT icc-cpi.int.
Interviews can be arranged in English or French. In order to request such interviews, please call Mr Fadi El-Abdallah (French and Arabic media) at +31 (0)70 515 91 52 or Ms Kerry Picket (English media) at +31 (0)70 515 91 30.