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War Crimes Tribunal Finds Bush and Associates Guilty of Torture
Posted by BZ Riger
OpEd News
May 11, 2012
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Bush-and-Associates-Found-by-Press-Release-120512-629.html
KUALA LUMPUR, 11 May 2012 – The five-panel tribunal
unanimously delivered a guilty verdict against former United States
President George W. Bush and his associates at the Kuala Lumpur War
Crimes Tribunal hearing that had started on Monday.
On the charge of Crime of Torture and War Crimes,
the tribunal finds the accused persons — former U.S. President George
W. Bush and his associates namely Richard Cheney, former U.S. Vice
President; Donald Rumsfeld, former Defence Secretary; Alberto Gonzales,
then Counsel to President Bush; David Addington, then General Counsel to
the Vice-President; William Haynes II, then General Counsel to
Secretary of Defence; Jay Bybee, then Assistant Attorney General; and
John Choon Yoo, former Deputy Assistant Attorney-General — guilty as
charged and convicted as war criminals for Torture and Cruel, Inhumane
and Degrading Treatment of the Complainant War Crime Victims.
Earlier in the week, the tribunal heard the testimonies of three
witnesses namely Abbas Abid, Moazzam Begg and Jameelah Hameedi. They
related the horrific tortures they had faced during their incarceration.
The tribunal also heard two other Statutory Declarations of Iraqi
citizen Ali Shalal and Rhuhel Ahmed, a British citizen.
Testimony showed that Abbas Abid, a 48-year-old chief engineer in the
Science and Technology Ministry had his fingernails removed by pliers.
Ali Shalal was attached with bare electrical wires and electrocuted and
hung from the wall. Moazzam Begg was beaten and put in solitary
confinement. Jameelah was almost nude and humiliated, used as a human
shield whilst being transported by helicopter. All these witnesses have
residual injuries till today.
These witnesses were taken prisoners and held in prisons in
Afghanistan (Bagram), in Iraq (Abu Gharib, Baghdad International
Airport) and two of them namely Moazzam Begg and Rhuhel Ahmed were
transported to Guantanamo Bay.
In a submission that lasted a day, the prosecution showed in an in
depth submission how the decision-makers at the highest level President
Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Secretary of Defence Rumsfeld, aided and
abetted by the lawyers and the other commanders and CIA officials — all
acted in concert. Torture was systematically applied and became an
accepted norm.
According to the prosecution, the testimony of all the witnesses
shows a sustained perpetration of brutal, barbaric, cruel and
dehumanizing course of conduct against them. These acts of crimes were
applied cumulatively to inflict the worst possible pain and suffering.
After hearing the defence of the Amicus Curiae and the
subsequent rebuttal the prosecution, the tribunal ruled unanimously that
there was a prima facie case made out by the prosecution.
After hours of deliberation, the tribunal, in the verdict that was
read out by the president of the tribunal Tan Sri Dato Lamin bin Haji
Mohd Yunus Lamin, found that the prosecution had established beyond a
reasonable doubt that the accused persons, former President George Bush
and his co-conspirators engaged in a web of instructions, memos,
directives, legal advice and action that established a common plan and
purpose, joint enterprise and/or conspiracy to commit the crimes of
Torture and War Crimes, including and not limited to a common plan and
purpose to commit the following crimes in relation to the “War on
Terror” and the wars launched by the U.S. and others in Afghanistan and
Iraq:
<blockquote>(a) Torture;
(b) Creating, authorizing and implementing a regime of Cruel, Inhumane, and
Degrading Treatment;
(c) Violating Customary International Law;
(d) Violating the Convention Against Torture 1984;
(e) Violating the Geneva Convention III and IV 1949;
(f) Violating the Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention of 1949.
(g) Violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Charter.
</blockquote>
The Tribunal finds that the prosecution has established beyond a
reasonable doubt that the Accused persons are individually and jointly
liable for all crimes committed in pursuit of their common plan and
purpose under principles established by Article 6 of the Charter of the
International Military Tribunal (the Nuremberg Charter), which states, inter alia,
“Leaders, organizers, instigators and accomplices participating in the
formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy to commit war
crimes are responsible for all acts performed by any person in execution
of such plan.”
The Principles of the Nuremberg Charter and the Nuremberg Decision
have been adopted as customary international law by the United Nations.
The government of the United States is subject to customary
international law and to the Principles of the Nuremburg Charter and the
Nuremburg Decision.
The Tribunal finds that the prosecution has proven beyond reasonable
doubt that the accused lawyers, gave “advice” that “the Geneva
Conventions did not apply (to suspected al Qaeda and Taliban detainees);
that there was no torture occurring within the meaning of the Torture
Convention, and that enhanced interrogations techniques, (constituting
cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment,) were permissible.”
The prosecution has also established beyond a reasonable doubt that
the accused lawyers “knew full well their advice was being sought to be
acted upon, and in fact was acted upon, and such advice paved the way
for violations of international law, the Geneva Conventions and the
Torture Convention.”
The accused lawyers’ advice was binding on the accused Bush, Rumsfeld
and Cheney, each of whom relied on the accused lawyers’ advice.
Others, such as CIA Director George Tenet and Diane Beaver, officer in
charge at Guantanamo, relied on the accused lawyers’ advice. The
prosecution had established beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused
lawyers are criminally liable for their acts, and for participating in a
joint criminal enterprise.
The president read that the Tribunal orders that reparations
commensurate with the irreparable harm and injury, pain and suffering
undergone by the Complainant War Crime Victims be paid to the
Complainant War Crime Victims. While it is constantly mindful of its
stature as merely a tribunal of conscience with no real power of
enforcement, the Tribunal finds that the witnesses in this case are
entitled ex justitia to the payment of reparations by the eight convicted persons and their government.
It is the Tribunal’s hope that armed with the findings of this
Tribunal, the witnesses will, in the near future, find a state or an
international judicial entity able and willing to exercise jurisdiction
and to enforce the verdict of this Tribunal against the 8 convicted
persons and their government. The Tribunal’s award of reparations shall
be submitted to the War Crimes Commission to facilitate the
determination and collection of reparations by the Complainant War Crime
Victims.
President Lamin read…
<blockquote>“As a tribunal of conscience, the Tribunal is fully aware
that its verdict is merely declaratory in nature. The tribunal has no
power of enforcement, no power to impose any custodial sentence on any
one or more of the eight convicted persons. What we can do, under
Article 31 of Chapter VI of Part 2 of the Charter is to recommend to the
Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission to submit this finding of conviction
by the Tribunal, together with a record of these proceedings, to the
Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as well as the
United Nations and the Security Council.
“The Tribunal also recommends to the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes
Commission that the names of all the eight convicted persons be entered
and included in the Commission’s Register of War Criminals and be
publicized accordingly.
“The Tribunal recommends to the War Crimes Commission to give the
widest international publicity to this conviction and grant of
reparations, as these are universal crimes for which there is a
responsibility upon nations to institute prosecutions if any of these
Accused persons may enter their jurisdictions.”
Article Link Here: http://the2012scenario.com/2012/05/war-crimes-tribunal-finds-bush-and-associates-guilty-of-torture/
</blockquote>
Posted by BZ Riger
OpEd News
May 11, 2012
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Bush-and-Associates-Found-by-Press-Release-120512-629.html
KUALA LUMPUR, 11 May 2012 – The five-panel tribunal
unanimously delivered a guilty verdict against former United States
President George W. Bush and his associates at the Kuala Lumpur War
Crimes Tribunal hearing that had started on Monday.
On the charge of Crime of Torture and War Crimes,
the tribunal finds the accused persons — former U.S. President George
W. Bush and his associates namely Richard Cheney, former U.S. Vice
President; Donald Rumsfeld, former Defence Secretary; Alberto Gonzales,
then Counsel to President Bush; David Addington, then General Counsel to
the Vice-President; William Haynes II, then General Counsel to
Secretary of Defence; Jay Bybee, then Assistant Attorney General; and
John Choon Yoo, former Deputy Assistant Attorney-General — guilty as
charged and convicted as war criminals for Torture and Cruel, Inhumane
and Degrading Treatment of the Complainant War Crime Victims.
Earlier in the week, the tribunal heard the testimonies of three
witnesses namely Abbas Abid, Moazzam Begg and Jameelah Hameedi. They
related the horrific tortures they had faced during their incarceration.
The tribunal also heard two other Statutory Declarations of Iraqi
citizen Ali Shalal and Rhuhel Ahmed, a British citizen.
Testimony showed that Abbas Abid, a 48-year-old chief engineer in the
Science and Technology Ministry had his fingernails removed by pliers.
Ali Shalal was attached with bare electrical wires and electrocuted and
hung from the wall. Moazzam Begg was beaten and put in solitary
confinement. Jameelah was almost nude and humiliated, used as a human
shield whilst being transported by helicopter. All these witnesses have
residual injuries till today.
These witnesses were taken prisoners and held in prisons in
Afghanistan (Bagram), in Iraq (Abu Gharib, Baghdad International
Airport) and two of them namely Moazzam Begg and Rhuhel Ahmed were
transported to Guantanamo Bay.
In a submission that lasted a day, the prosecution showed in an in
depth submission how the decision-makers at the highest level President
Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Secretary of Defence Rumsfeld, aided and
abetted by the lawyers and the other commanders and CIA officials — all
acted in concert. Torture was systematically applied and became an
accepted norm.
According to the prosecution, the testimony of all the witnesses
shows a sustained perpetration of brutal, barbaric, cruel and
dehumanizing course of conduct against them. These acts of crimes were
applied cumulatively to inflict the worst possible pain and suffering.
After hearing the defence of the Amicus Curiae and the
subsequent rebuttal the prosecution, the tribunal ruled unanimously that
there was a prima facie case made out by the prosecution.
After hours of deliberation, the tribunal, in the verdict that was
read out by the president of the tribunal Tan Sri Dato Lamin bin Haji
Mohd Yunus Lamin, found that the prosecution had established beyond a
reasonable doubt that the accused persons, former President George Bush
and his co-conspirators engaged in a web of instructions, memos,
directives, legal advice and action that established a common plan and
purpose, joint enterprise and/or conspiracy to commit the crimes of
Torture and War Crimes, including and not limited to a common plan and
purpose to commit the following crimes in relation to the “War on
Terror” and the wars launched by the U.S. and others in Afghanistan and
Iraq:
<blockquote>(a) Torture;
(b) Creating, authorizing and implementing a regime of Cruel, Inhumane, and
Degrading Treatment;
(c) Violating Customary International Law;
(d) Violating the Convention Against Torture 1984;
(e) Violating the Geneva Convention III and IV 1949;
(f) Violating the Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention of 1949.
(g) Violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Charter.
</blockquote>
The Tribunal finds that the prosecution has established beyond a
reasonable doubt that the Accused persons are individually and jointly
liable for all crimes committed in pursuit of their common plan and
purpose under principles established by Article 6 of the Charter of the
International Military Tribunal (the Nuremberg Charter), which states, inter alia,
“Leaders, organizers, instigators and accomplices participating in the
formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy to commit war
crimes are responsible for all acts performed by any person in execution
of such plan.”
The Principles of the Nuremberg Charter and the Nuremberg Decision
have been adopted as customary international law by the United Nations.
The government of the United States is subject to customary
international law and to the Principles of the Nuremburg Charter and the
Nuremburg Decision.
The Tribunal finds that the prosecution has proven beyond reasonable
doubt that the accused lawyers, gave “advice” that “the Geneva
Conventions did not apply (to suspected al Qaeda and Taliban detainees);
that there was no torture occurring within the meaning of the Torture
Convention, and that enhanced interrogations techniques, (constituting
cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment,) were permissible.”
The prosecution has also established beyond a reasonable doubt that
the accused lawyers “knew full well their advice was being sought to be
acted upon, and in fact was acted upon, and such advice paved the way
for violations of international law, the Geneva Conventions and the
Torture Convention.”
The accused lawyers’ advice was binding on the accused Bush, Rumsfeld
and Cheney, each of whom relied on the accused lawyers’ advice.
Others, such as CIA Director George Tenet and Diane Beaver, officer in
charge at Guantanamo, relied on the accused lawyers’ advice. The
prosecution had established beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused
lawyers are criminally liable for their acts, and for participating in a
joint criminal enterprise.
The president read that the Tribunal orders that reparations
commensurate with the irreparable harm and injury, pain and suffering
undergone by the Complainant War Crime Victims be paid to the
Complainant War Crime Victims. While it is constantly mindful of its
stature as merely a tribunal of conscience with no real power of
enforcement, the Tribunal finds that the witnesses in this case are
entitled ex justitia to the payment of reparations by the eight convicted persons and their government.
It is the Tribunal’s hope that armed with the findings of this
Tribunal, the witnesses will, in the near future, find a state or an
international judicial entity able and willing to exercise jurisdiction
and to enforce the verdict of this Tribunal against the 8 convicted
persons and their government. The Tribunal’s award of reparations shall
be submitted to the War Crimes Commission to facilitate the
determination and collection of reparations by the Complainant War Crime
Victims.
President Lamin read…
<blockquote>“As a tribunal of conscience, the Tribunal is fully aware
that its verdict is merely declaratory in nature. The tribunal has no
power of enforcement, no power to impose any custodial sentence on any
one or more of the eight convicted persons. What we can do, under
Article 31 of Chapter VI of Part 2 of the Charter is to recommend to the
Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission to submit this finding of conviction
by the Tribunal, together with a record of these proceedings, to the
Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as well as the
United Nations and the Security Council.
“The Tribunal also recommends to the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes
Commission that the names of all the eight convicted persons be entered
and included in the Commission’s Register of War Criminals and be
publicized accordingly.
“The Tribunal recommends to the War Crimes Commission to give the
widest international publicity to this conviction and grant of
reparations, as these are universal crimes for which there is a
responsibility upon nations to institute prosecutions if any of these
Accused persons may enter their jurisdictions.”
Article Link Here: http://the2012scenario.com/2012/05/war-crimes-tribunal-finds-bush-and-associates-guilty-of-torture/
</blockquote>
