(In a break from our usual satirical content, we present the following real news item – exclusive to The Desperate Blogger.)
On Monday February 15 in Madrid, Judge Baltasar Garzon will convene an investigation of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity allegedly committed by U.S. government officials and others during the Bush administration.
The first witness called to testify will reportedly be American international human rights lawyer Dr. William F. Pepper. Dr. Pepper, who convened the International Human Rights Seminar at Oxford University, stated that he was, “asked by the Court to file an Opinion and testify as an expert on the issue of jurisdiction of the Spanish Court with respect to the various crimes being alleged.” He may also testify as to his opinion on the validity, or invalidity, of the most likely defenses to be offered by defendants should criminal charges result, namely ‘Sovereign Immunity’ and ‘Superior Orders’ (more commonly known as ‘The Nuremberg Defense’).
In his Opinion submitted to the Court last spring, Pepper concluded:
“… from the U.S. government’s own documents and the public statements of its leaders, that there is prima facie evidence of the following crimes:
-
- Torture and the Conspiracy to Commit Torture
- War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity
- Waging Aggressive War
- Illegal (Arbitrary) Detention
[He] places varying degrees of responsibility on particular government officials including George W. Bush and Richard Cheney and dismisses as inapplicable to serious international crimes the relevant defenses available to them and their subordinates including the government lawyers who [he argues] have a special professional responsibility.”
He further concluded that the Spanish Court, “is fully able and obligated …under international law and Universal Jurisdiction” to prosecute if the evidence indicates that prosecutions are legally justified.
Pepper, who in 2007 won the landmark case Nikbin v. the Islamic Republic of Iran in which — for the first time in U.S. history — a sovereign state, as opposed to individuals or government agencies, was held accountable for torture, is no stranger to controversial cases. A friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the last year of his life, Dr. Pepper went on to represent James Earl Ray in his quest for a new trial. After Ray’s death in 1997, he later represented the King family in the 1999 wrongful death civil suit King v. Jowers and Other Unknown Co-Conspirators. In that case, after a month-long trial in which over 70 witnesses testified, the jury found, after only 59 minutes of deliberation, that defendant Loyd Jowers and “others, including government agencies” participated in a conspiracy to assassinate Dr. King.
Dr. Pepper is expected to be followed to the witness-stand on Monday by two former Guantanamo detainees.
The investigation by the Spanish Magistrate is expected to last several months and include testimony from a number of victims, five of whom are Spanish citizens or residents who were allegedly detained and tortured. Judge Garzon’s inquiry will be the first, and perhaps only, formal examination of alleged criminal activity that could lead to a number of officials being charged with violations of the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture, both of which were signed by the United States and ratified by the U.S. Senate.
[...] Against Torture, both of which were signed by the United States and ratified by the U.S. Senate. http://thedesperateblogger.com/2010/02/spanish-inquiry-... [...]
Wow, I am so pleased to hear that the horrors committed are being addressed in a legal setting.
I wonder if the whole story of 9-11-01 will be covered. Anyone know?
The Spanish judge was clear: if US do not start an inquiry and prosecute those responsible, then he would do it himself. In additional to this, Amnesty International has a huge file on torture, rendition etc. by the US and asked Obama to start investigating. Of course, Obama did not. So Garzon is doing the job and I prefer that because it will not be biased.
Also, not to forget that an American lawyer and professor, specializing in international laws has made a formal request to the Internal Tribunal to charge Bush, Cheney etc. for torture. His name is Francis A. Doyle.
[...] Spanish Inquiry of Alleged Bush-Era War Crimes Begins Monday « The Desperate Blogger. February 15th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment | [...]
[...] He further concluded that the Spanish Court, “is fully able and obligated …under international law and Universal Jurisdiction” to prosecute if the evidence indicates that prosecutions are legally justified.” http://thedesperateblogger.com/2010/02/spanish-inquiry-of-alleged-bush-era-war-crimes-begins-monday/ [...]
Do we still hold public hangings in the US?
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December 9, 1999 – National Public Radio
King Assassination Was a Conspiracy
NPR’s Debbie Elliott reports that yesterday a Tennessee jury found that the 1968 assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the result of a murder conspiracy, and not the act of a lone gunman. The king family sued Loyd Jowers, a retired Memphis businessman who claimed six years ago that he paid someone other than confessed killer James Earl Ray to kill civil rights leader.
Ed’s Links
Does anyone know if they will be bringing up the war crimes and international crimes against humanity via the use of weaponized radioactive Uranium aerosols killing indiscriminately and contaminating the environment for 90 Billion years? These radioactive so-called “conventional weapons” are illegal under many international laws, treaties, and protocols, according to UN humanitarian lawyers and other experts.
The FBI Agent in charge of counter-terrorism was asked by reporters why Osama bin Laden’s Most Wanted Poster did not contains the crimes of 911. the FBI response: “The FBI does not have solid evidence that OBL had anything to do with the events of 911″. This quote was rendered in 2008.
This begs the question “What are we doing in Afghanistan?” Did the FBI brief the President? If not, why not?
The Spanish Judge should be interested in the answers to these and other questions in http://johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com/id472.html Related articles are located in the left column of every page.
Google “tritium and deuterium in the WTC” without the quotes and then ask yourself if OBL sitting in a cave in Afghanistan had the ability to in place such a devise as explained in the series of articles that this search provides. Please note that tritium and deuterium, elements of hydrogen are ONLY FOUND TOGETHER as a result of a pure hydrogen detonation.
[...] Spanish Inquiry of Alleged Bush-Era War Crimes Begins Monday « The Desperate Blogger. February 17th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment | [...]
John McCarthy,
Deuterium and tritium are gases at room temperature, if some sort of fusion bomb was used, these gases would dissipate rapidly. Of course, if some sort of fusion bomb was used (equivalent to megatons of TNT), little of New York City would be left.
Cathy Garger,
You can hold the DU weapons in your hands without side effects, because the U-238 uranium gives off alpha particles that are stopped by the skin. When the DU shell hits a target, it likely generates some dust and aerosols, which are quite toxic if inhaled or eaten (tissues affected are not as tough as skin). Evidently tons of DU litter Iraq.
I hate the idea that I support such actions through taxes without knowing or comment. I’m glad to see the Spanish trial is proceeding.
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Howdy
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