Committee of Inquiry into Crimes Against Humanity Committed by Bush Adm.

[Time for change]

On January 20-22, the International Commission of Inquiry On Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration will be conducting the second and final session of its hearings into the above noted subject, in New York. Here is the website, which provides the hearing schedule, the text of indictments, hearing participants and highlights from the first session. There are five indictments listed:


Indictment on war of aggression

Count # 1 describes the illegality of the war itself:

As part of an illegal doctrine of “preemptive war,” based on deliberate and conscious lies, and with no legitimate claim of self defense, the Bush administration planned, prepared and waged the supreme crime of a war of aggression in contravention of the United Nations Charter, the 1949 Geneva Convention and the Nuremberg Principles.

Count #s 2 and 3 describe the illegal manner in which the war was conducted.


Indictment on torture and detention

Here are a couple of excerpts from this indictment, the basis for which are described in great detail in the text:

Count 1: The Bush administration authorized the use of torture and abuse in violation of international humanitarian and human rights law and domestic constitutional and statutory law.

Count 4: The Bush administration authorized the round-up and detention in the United States of tens of thousands of immigrants on pretextual grounds and held them without charge or trial in violation of international human rights law and domestic constitutional and civil rights law.

Indictment on global climate

Here are the two counts which make up this indictment, the basis for which are supported in great detail in the text:

Count 1: Denial and Distortion of Scientific Consensus and Findings--
The Bush administration has consistently denied the scientific consensus around global warming and its causes. Administration officials have misrepresented, distorted, and suppressed scientific information on the subject, especially as it would impact public opinion.

Count 2: Obstructionism on International Efforts--
The Bush administration has refused to take any measures to curb the emissions of greenhouse gases, guided by narrow corporate interests. It has withdrawn from any international efforts that would impose binding restrictions, however minimal. It has done this with full knowledge of the catastrophic effects of global warming and the disproportionate U.S. share of world greenhouse gas emissions, the leading cause of global warming.

Indictment on global health

This indictment deals mostly with the Bush administration’s role in facilitating the spread of AIDS by its promotion of “abstinence only” prevention programs, its suppression of medical research which conflicts with the ideology of the Christian Right, and using its influence to restrict the manufacture of generic drugs for the treatment of AIDS.


Indictment on Hurricane Katrina

This indictment involves the failure of the Bush administration to prevent the catastrophe by refusing to provide maintain the levee system, even when it knew or should have known the consequences of that failure; its failure to initiate an evacuation plan prior to the landing of the hurricane; its failure to initiate a rescue operation after the hurricane hit land; and even its obstruction of relief efforts by private organizations. Here are the general allegations, which are supported in great detail in the text:

The Bush administration committed criminal acts in connection with Hurricane Katrina by failing to adequately build and maintain the levee system in a manner that would protect Louisiana residents from harm. The Bush administration failed to evacuate people from the path of the Hurricane once it was clear that Katrina would strike land with a magnitude that would overwhelm the levee system.

Once Katrina struck land, the Bush administration was responsible for organizing immediate rescue operations, setting up emergency shelter and providing food and water to people trapped by the flood waters. The Bush administration failed to immediately dispatch staff and equipment to carry out this responsibility, constituting further criminal activity on its part. Additionally, when FEMA and the military did get on the scene they oversaw sheltering people in unsafe, unsanitary and repressive conditions and even blocked aid from private parties when FEMA knew or should have known that this aid could have saved lives and averted needless suffering. Finally, FEMA’s belated evacuation was carried out in such a way that it separated families, including separating very young children from their parents and leaving people not knowing what part of the country their loved ones were sent to, or even if they had survived Katrina. All of this constitutes further criminal activity on the part of the Bush administration.

[PhilipShore]

1. Indictment #1

I am not a lawyer.

Indictment #1

Investigation-- to determine the extent of the conspiracy-- to overrule the rule of law of the people in the United States by means of lobbyist ABRAMOFF and others by means of constructive fraud, to rewrite laws.

[Time for change]

2. That's a good one too

I'm not sure why they decided on the ones that they did, but they all seem valid to me, though I'm not very familiar with the AIDS related counts.

[Time for change]

3. More information on session 1, including audios

http://www.bushcommission.org/more_on_session_one.htm

[Time for change]

4. Their charter

http://www.bushcommission.org/call-charter.htm

And here's the first paragraph of the charter of The International Commission of Inquiry
on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration of the United States:

"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."

[understandinglife]

5. Thank you for posting this. I recommended it earlier but did not ...

... have time to submit a comment.


Peace.

[Time for change]

6. Thank you ul -- It's very curious to me that

so few people are responding to this even though it's getting a fair number of recommendations. Perhaps that's because people feel that this hearing will be marginalized here, getting no coverage. Of course the Commission is hoping that if enough people hear about this, it will get some national or international attention.

[Time for change]

7. The reason that the Commission sent me and many others the notice of the

hearings -- is that they want as many people as possible to know about these hearings.

Something has to be done to counteract the poisonous effects of our corporate media.

They asked us to post and circulate to as many people as possible.

[Time for change]

8. Just got this e-mail from the Commission this morning

It says:

By making a serious investigation of whether the Bush administration is guilty of crimes against humanity, the Commission of Inquiry is breaking an unwritten rule in this country in "speaking the unspeakable" and going "beyond the pale. "

But beyond the pale is exactly where the people of the world need us to go. The Commission's work is going to break new ground and impact the whole political terrain, with a rigorous presentation of the damning evidence. It will deliver a verdict that will enlighten, empower, and embolden millions to stop these crimes. In doing this, the Commission becomes an instrumentality of all of humanity.

The key phrase here IMO is "breaking an unwritten rule in this country in "speaking the unspeakable" and going beyond the pale."

That's what this country has come down to. If we speak the truth about those things that are most important we are "going beyond the pale".

[Time for change]

9. Some of those testifying before the commission include:

Scott Ritter - Former U.N. Weapons inspector, and co-authotr with William Pitt of "War on Iraq -- what team Bush doesn't want you to know".

Janis Karpinski - Former Brigadier General and Commander of the Abu Ghraib prison when the publicized torture incidents occurred.

Harry Belefonte - Entertainer and humanitarian, central figure in the USA for Africa effort, and former UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador

Ted Glick - of the Climate Crisis Coalition - will be leading the prosecution of the Bush Administration's destruction of the global environment.

[DemReadingDU]

10. K&R

Thanks for posting

[Time for change]

11. Thank you - It sure would be nice if

this got some national attention.

[Time for change]

12. These hearings will be video-recorded -- so if you believe that

it is important that they be televised, you can write to C-Span to tell them so: [e-mail]

Of course, this is a taboo topic, so what are the chances that C-Span will agree to cover this? But if they don't hear from people about how we feel about this, there isn't much chance that they will adopt a different view towards this sort of thing.