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ttp://www.truthout.org/docs_05/011905A.shtml
The Gonzales Indictment
By Marjorie Cohn
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Wednesday 19 January 2005
Alberto Gonzales should not be the Attorney General of the United
States. He should be considered a war criminal and indicted by the
Attorney General. This is a suggested indictment of Alberto Gonzales
for war crimes under Title 18 U.S.C. section 1441, the War Crimes Act.
COUNT I: Application of Geneva Conventions; Definition of Torture
On or about January 25, 2002 through January 16, 2005, Defendant
ALBERTO GONZALES, Counsel to George W. Bush, the President of the
United States of America, did write, commission and concur in memoranda
that advocated conduct by United States military forces, amounting to
war crimes under Title 18 U.S.C. section 1441 (The War Crimes Act ).
The War Crimes Act defines as war crimes: grave breaches of the
Geneva Conventions, and violations of Article 3 common to the Geneva
Conventions.
Section 130 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of
Prisoners of War (Third Geneva Convention) defines as grave breaches of
that Convention: "willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment," and
"willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or
health."
It is well-established that Article 3 common applies to
international as well as internal armed conflicts. Article 3 common
provides that "persons taking no active part in the hostilities,
including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms...shall
in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse
distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or
wealth, or any other similar criteria."
The following acts constitute violations of Article 3 common:
"Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds,
mutilation, cruel treatment and torture"; "outrages upon personal
dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment"; and "the
passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without
previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording
all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by
civilized peoples."
Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention provides: "Should any
doubt arise as to whether persons, having committed a belligerent act
and having fallen into the hands of the enemy [are prisoners of war
under this Convention], such persons shall enjoy the protection of the
present Convention until such time as their status has been determined
by a competent tribunal."
Defendant ALBERTO GONZALES wrote, in a memorandum to President
George W. Bush dated January 25, 2002, that the war against terrorism
is a "new paradigm" that "renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations
on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its
provisions."
Defendant GONZALES wrote that the Third Geneva Convention should
not apply to members of the Taliban and Al Qaeda who were captured
after the United States invaded Afghanistan in October 2001. Defendant
GONZALES also advised President Bush in that memorandum that he could
avoid allegations of war crimes under The War Crimes Act by simply
declaring that the Geneva Convention does not apply to members of the
Taliban and Al Qaeda. Defendant GONZALES wrote that a determination of
the inapplicability of the Third Geneva Convention would insulate
against prosecution by future "prosecutors and independent counsels."
In apparent reliance on the advice in Defendant GONZALES'
memorandum, and notwithstanding the requirement of Article 5 of the
Third Geneva Convention that a "competent tribunal" determine the
status of prisoners, President George W. Bush issued an order on
February 7, 2002, specifying that the United States would not apply the
Third Geneva Convention to members of Al Qaeda, and that as
commander-in-chief of the United States, he had the power to suspend
the Geneva Conventions regarding the conflict in Afghanistan, although
he declined to suspend them at that time.
Defendant ALBERTO GONZALES commissioned the Office of Legal Counsel
of the Department of Justice's memorandum dated August 1, 2002, which
required that, in order to constitute "torture," the pain caused by an
interrogation must include "injury such as death, organ failure, or
serious impairment of body functions." This definition is contrary to
The War Crimes Act and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel,
Unusual or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, a treaty ratified by the
United States.
Before the August 1, 2002 memorandum was issued, Colin Powell,
Secretary of State, had counseled against its conclusions that the
Geneva Conventions did not apply; he wrote that this "will reverse over
a century of U.S. policy and practice in supporting the Geneva
conventions, and undermine the protection of the law of war for our
troops, both in this specific conflict and in general."
Although the August 1, 2002 memorandum was retracted on December
30, 2004, the provisions of the August 1, 2002 memorandum remained in
effect for 2 =BD years, notwithstanding the warnings of Secretary
Powell.
The January 25, 2002 and August 1, 2002 memoranda, and the February
7, 2002 order set forth policies that led to the willful killing,
torture or inhuman treatment; and great suffering or serious injury to
body or health, of DOES 1 through 1,000, prisoners in United States
custody in Afghanistan, Iraq, Guant=E1namo Bay, Cuba, as listed in
EXHIBIT A (Dear Mr. Gonzales).
Defendant ALBERTO GONZALES knew or should have known that, pursuant
to memoranda written by, commissioned or concurred in by him, prisoners
in United States custody would be subjected to willful killing, torture
or inhuman treatment; and great suffering or serious injury to body or
health, in violation of The War Crimes Act.
COUNT II: Military Commissions
Between September 11, 2001 and November 13, 2001, Defendant ALBERTO
GONZALES did participate in the drafting of the Military Order
establishing the Military Commissions, which order was signed by
President George W. Bush on November 13, 2001. Said order mandated
conduct by members of United States military forces which constitute
war crimes under The War Crimes Act.
The War Crimes Act defines war crimes as grave breaches of the
Geneva Conventions. Section 130 of the Third Geneva Convention defines
as a grave breach of that Convention: "willfully depriving a prisoner
of war of the rights of fair and regular trial prescribed in this
Convention."
Article 84 of the Third Geneva Convention provides that prisoners
of war shall be tried in the same types of courts (military or
civilian) as members of the armed forces of the Detaining Power. It
also provides: "In no circumstances whatever shall a prisoner of war be
tried by a court of any kind which does not offer the essential
guarantees of independence and impartiality as generally recognized."
Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions prohibits "the passing
of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous
judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the
judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized
peoples."
Unlike courts convened pursuant to the Uniform Code of Military
Justice, and civilian courts of the United States, the Military Order
provides for no j
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Hey moron, did you ever figure out the difference between 6 & 60?
--
Laura Bush Murdered Her Boyfriend (Xeton2001@yahoo.com)'s words of
wisdom (spelling and grammatical errors left intact)
Bush is dictator and that means he has to take the blame for
everything.
:http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.politics.democrats.d/msg/a2d35f67fd7b6003
Has he killed as many people as Laura Bush?
:http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.flame.niggers/msg/c2ff1fca08982a38
You don't know what you're talking about, dood. AIDS is an american
bioweapon developed by americans so that blacks would be esp
susceptible to it.
:http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.sport.baseball/msg/cd9d112311697712
She knows it won't matter. Blake is white so the media will insist on a
not guilty verdict.
:http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.true-crime/msg/59c74805c56a5747
YOu stupid lying #@($head. All bush has accomplished in AFG is to make
it the world's leading heroin supplier.
And BTW it wasn't a war. It was a massacre against a defenseless nation
that never did anything to us.
:http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.politics.bush/msg/29a86842abe0d9d6
She's just damn lucky the press is owned by the GOP and doesn't crucify
her for vehicular manslaughter like they've done to ted kennedy for 35
years.
:http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.politics.republicans/msg/cac630fd8aec9a63
You're crazy. There will be a draft. Bush is gonna stage another 9-11
type event and then say we have no choice but to go to war against
every muslim nation. And democrats will say nothing.
:http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.fan.rush-limbaugh/msg/b4a8ea8427fdf968
I'm saying that bush obviously doesn't want to catch OBL. Not now that
the election is over, anyway.
:http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.politics.usa.republican/msg/46a00a246987524f
There's not a shred of evidence that the jerries murdered anything
close to 7 million jooz. Another monstrous lie just like the 9-11
official story.
:http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.politics.usa.republican/msg/3650866dc7ecbadc
You're crazy, dood. Google is a super rw org and they censor liberals.
RW posters here get away with everything while libs have to be choir
boys.
:http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.prophecies.nostradamus/msg/ca35950242741f13
That's why so many legal scholars think republicans should be banned
from juries. Anyone who'd vote for a man who lied us into war is too
dumb to sit on a jury.
:http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.true-crime/msg/4dc8560247663014
Wouldn't have mattered if hitty had one. He took his orders from the
same organization that roosevelt did and bush does today.
:http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.politics.usa.republican/msg/cd58ee450b438b19
You can't even lie any good. No where in the country are cops issued
crown victorias.
:http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&safe=off&edition=us&selm=780ea958.0410112125.4b572994%40posting.google.com
i'm sure jeffrey dahmer also objects to big daddy govt telling him he
can't kill people anymore.
:http://groups.google.com/groups?q=g:thl1665104637d&dq=&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&safe=off&edition=us&selm=780ea958.0410311919.5f4893f4%40posting.google.com
At first i thought the tars had been slashed but no, the tars were fine
:http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&safe=off&edition=us&selm=780ea958.0410311926.d89b941%40posting.google.com
I hate cell phone drivers but at least this gal had the sense to drive
slowly while yakking.
:http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&safe=off&edition=us&selm=780ea958.0411231910.47c6ceb7%40posting.google.com
I know what you mean, dood. I did 5 years in the can myself for beating
the crap out of a half-dozen faggot gun loonies i caught raping a
collie and I couldn't handle the food either. Goddam beets with every
meal. Ended up eating nothing but cans of tuna i bought at the commy.
:http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&safe=off&edition=us&selm=780ea958.0411242021.7b529c17%40posting.google.com
The issue is the psychopath doing 60 mph OVER THE LIMIT!!!!!!!!. This
guy is a murderer and i want him locked up anyway they can do it. Three
cheers for the cops.
:http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=780ea958.0411162236.1a4d23a5%40posting.google.com
And let's see if the SPAMbots take the bait:
-> roedy@shaw.ca <-
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