The Subject title was posted at The Nation on November 2nd by Jeremy Brecher & Brendan Smith, and crossposted at Common Dreams.
It starts out with this:
On November 14 a group of lawyers and other experts will come before the German federal prosecutor and ask him to open a criminal investigation targeting Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales and other key Bush Administration figures for war crimes. The recent passage of the Military Commissions Act provides a central argument for the legal action, under the doctrine of universal jurisdiction: It demonstrates the intent of the Bush Administration to immunize itself legally from prosecution in the United States, even for the most serious crimes.
The Rumsfeld action was announced at a conference in New York City in late October titled “Is Universal Jurisdiction an Effective Tool?” {pdf file-4 page description of conferance} The doctrine allows domestic courts to prosecute international crimes regardless of where the crime was committed, the nationality of the perpetrator or the nationality of the victim. It is reserved for only the most heinous offenses: genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including torture. A number of countries around the world have enacted universal jurisdiction statutes; even the United States allows it for certain terrorist offenses and torture.
{An article on the “Is Universal Jurisdiction an Effective Tool?”:
FIDH supports war crimes lawsuit against US officers in Germany}
An earlier case against Rumsfeld was brought two years ago in Germany by CCR on behalf of four Iraqi victims of Abu Ghraib, drawing largely on documents and photos that revealed abuse at the prison. As the case was being considered, a security conference loomed in Munich. Rumsfeld, who could have been served papers or even arrested, refused to attend unless the case was dismissed. It was dismissed February 10; Rumsfeld flew to Germany the next day.
No matter what happens on Tuesday, the First Order of business, for the incoming new congress, starting even before sworn in with already public evidence collected and any not public, is to open Congressional Investigations and Public Hearings on Any Related actions, from the lead up to the Iraq invasion to the theft of the peoples treasury by War Profitteers through the No Bid Contract process and related thefts!
We already know that those ‘Hired’ by the people, calling themselves ‘Republican’, Refuse to Investigate and especially do their job of Oversight, while prrof also shows some were profitting themselves, on these matters and other corrupt practises while supposedly doing The People’s work and defending the Constitution!
The case will draw on a powerful new argument. The Military Commissions Act of 2006, which the President promoted and recently signed into law, provides retroactive immunity for civilians who violated the War Crimes Act, including officials of the Bush Administration. Such an attempt to provide immunity for their crimes, it will be argued, is in itself evidence of an effort to block prosecution of those crimes. Indeed, according to Scott Horton, chair of the International Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association, when Yugoslavia sought to immunize senior government officials, the United States declared the act itself to be evidence of such a conspiracy.
The Administration, Executive Branch, should not be the only ones investigated. At the same time Congress finally opens up their Investigative and Oversight responsibilities an Independant Investigative Committee, of Outsiders drawn from the best to be found, should open up an Investigation of Congressional Office Holders, both houses, into who know what and when and were enablers of the Executive Branch’s actions, across the board, and why no Oversight and Investigations were allowed!
Wolfgang Kaleck, a German human rights lawyer who is bringing the case in cooperation with CCR, FIDH and other groups, told the conference in New York that he is often asked, Do you really expect Rumsfeld to be arrested for war crimes? His answer is that he doesn’t expect it immediately. “But we make it possible that someday Rumsfeld will be arrested,” he says. According to Kaleck, the German government regularly receives calls from potential high-level visitors asking, “Are there any complaints against me?”
Things did change on 9/11, everyones right on that observation, but not as to the World as a whole but to this Country and Society! Taking a direction wanted by only a few but dragging us All into their twisted wants of a World Continuely at War with the Extreme Criminal elements that share the same wants, only in the latter theirs rose from the Failed Policies that have been practised by this Nation and other so called Western Nation collaboraters!
If we are to be, Ever, as we like to think we are, We must rid ourselves of the Apathy and Arrogance and Actually put Real Actions to our Over Used Descriptions of what America stands for, not just in words but Total Committed Actions! We ‘Must’ become the ‘Real Democracy’ example we think we are, Others will follow on their own, with no need to Blow Them Up into submission!
REAL JUSTICE must prevail!!
