Criminal Prosecution and Accountability

STATEMENT ON THE CLOSURE OF THE LEGAL CASE FOR IRAQ IN SPAIN | Press Release
FILED AGAINST FOUR US PRESIDENTS AND FOUR UK PRIME MINISTERS FOR WAR CRIMES, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY AND GENOCIDE IN IRAQ
CALL FOR COORDINATED ACTION

MADRID/CAIRO: Public inquiries on the decision to wage war on Iraq that are silent about the crimes committed, the victims involved, and provide for no sanction, whatever their outcome, are not enough. Illegal acts should entail consequences: the dead and the harmed deserve justice.

On 6 October 2009, working with and on behalf of Iraqi plaintiffs, we filed a case before Spanish law against four US presidents and four UK prime ministers for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Iraq. The case presented spanned 19 years, including not only the wholesale destruction of Iraq witnessed from 2003, but also the sanctions period during which 1.5 million excess Iraqi deaths were recorded.

We brought the case to Spain because its laws of universal jurisdiction are based on principles enshrined in its constitution. All humanity knows the crimes committed in Iraq by those we accused, but no jurisdiction is bringing them to justice. We presented with Iraqi victims a solid case drawing on evidence contained in over 900 documents and that refer to thousands of individual incidents from which a pattern of accumulated harm and intent can be discerned.

When we brought our case, we knew that the Spanish Senate would soon vote on an amendment earlier passed by the lower house of parliament to curtail the application of universal jurisdiction in Spain. We were conscious that this restriction could be retroactive, and we took account of the content of the proposed amendment in our case filing. As we imagined, 2009 turned out to be a sad year for upholding universal human rights and international law in Spain. One day after we filed, the law was curtailed, and soon thereafter our case closed. Serious cases of the kind universal jurisdiction exists to address became more difficult to investigate.

One more jurisdiction to fall...

Call for wider collective effort to prosecute

We regret that the Spanish courts refused to investigate our case, but this will not discourage us. We have a just cause. The crimes are evident. The responsible are well known, even if the international juridical system continues to ignore Iraqi victims. Justice for victims and the wish of all humanity that war criminals should be punished oblige us to search for alternative legal possibilities, so that the crimes committed in Iraq can be investigated and accountability established. Read more.

Nurse Whistle-Blower Charged for Reporting Doctor
Texas Nurse Fired After Sheriff Seizes Computer and Finds Letter of Complaint
By Susan Donaldson James | ABC News

When veteran nurse Anne Mitchell wrote a confidential letter last year to the Texas Medical Board, complaining about a doctor she thought practiced shoddy medicine, she assumed it would be anonymous.

Instead, Dr. Rolando Arafiles Jr. fired her after reporting her to the local sheriff -- a former patient and admirer of the doctor -- for maliciously ruining his reputation.

Police in Kermit, Texas, searched Mitchell's computer and found the letter, then charged her with "misuse of official information" in her role at Winkler Memorial Hospital, a third-degree felony in Texas under an abuse-of-power statute.

Today, 52 and out of work, Mitchell could face 10 years in prison for doing what she believed was her obligation under the law -- to report unsafe medical practices.

"She's devastated," Mitchell's lawyer Brian Carney told "Good Morning America." "It has hurt her financially. Personally, it's hard on her family to say that she has done something wrong when, in fact, she has done nothing but do her duty." Read more.

Aafia Siddiqui: Victimized by American Injustice
By Stephen Lendman

On February 3, a Department of Justice press release headlined "Aafia Siddiqui Found Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court of Attempting to Murder US Nationals in Afghanistan and Six Additional Charges."

At her scheduled May 6 sentencing, she "faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each of the attempted murder and armed assault charges; life in prison on the firearms charge; and eight years in prison on each of the remaining assault charges. SIDDIQUI faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison on the firearms charge."

On February 3, New York Times writer CJ Hughes headlined: "Pakistani Scientist Found Guilty of Shootings," convicting her on all seven counts, including attempted murder - "capping a trial that drew notice for its terrorist implications as well as its theatrics," but omitting convincing evidence of Siddiqui's innocence. Instead, Hughes said she was arrested with "instructions (in her purse) on making explosives and a list of New York landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building." Her defense team acknowledged their existence, but Siddiqui denied packing them or knowing of their origin. She later suggested she copied them from a magazine, planned no terrorist acts, nor did her indictment claim them.

Hughes also said she "raised suspicions when she and her three children vanished in Pakistan in 2003." She didn't vanish. Her mother said she "left the family home in Gulshan-e-lqbal in a taxi on March 30, 2003 to catch a flight for Rawalpindi, but never reached the airport." Pakistani intelligence agents abducted her, turned her over to US authorities, after which her long ordeal of secret imprisonment, interrogations, and years of brutalizing torture began, even though she wasn't charged.

Her son Mohammed was later released on condition he say nothing. Her other two children, Maryam and Suleman, disappeared and may have been killed.

Joshua Tabor, Who Served in Iraq, Accused of Waterboarding Daughter
Authorities Say the 4-Year-Old Was Punished Because She Wouldn't Say Her ABCs
By Emily Friedman | ABC News

An Army sergeant who served in Iraq for 15 months has been restricted to his Washington military base after being accused of waterboarding his 4-year-old daughter because she refused to recite her ABCs.

Joshua Ryan Tabor, 27, was arrested on Jan. 31 and charged with assaulting a child after police in Yelm, Wash., responded to a call of a disturbance at Tabor's home and then later found the little girl hiding in a locked bathroom, according to Police Chief Todd Stancil.

"We had a report of [Tabor] walking around his neighborhood holding a Kevlar helmet and threatening to bust out windows," Stancil told ABCNews.com today. "In the process of talking to Tabor's girlfriend about what was going on, we learned that he had also been abusing his daughter."

Stancil said that when the cops coaxed the little girl out of the bathroom they saw that she was covered in "multiple bruises pretty much all over her body."

"She was very open with us," Stancil said of the young girl, whose name is not being released because she is a minor. "She basically came right out and said, 'Daddy does this to me. He uses his hands.'" Read more.

International coverage:
U.S. soldier 'waterboarded his own daughter, 4, because she couldn't recite alphabet' | Mail Online

Why We Can't Afford to Let Obama Give Bush's War Criminals a Free Pass
Punishing the guilty for deeds they committed in the past is the only way to show the world that we are truly on a new path.
By Charlotte Dennett | Alternet

In a week when one-year report cards on the Obama administration were piling up and not all the grades were good, Americans searching for the real change we heard so much about on Obama's campaign trail were hit with some news that would send his grades plummeting. Late last Friday, we learned that Obama's Department of Justice plans to go easy on John Yoo and Jay Bybee -- the two assistant attorney generals under Bush who penned the infamous torture memos. For those who have been working long and hard in the accountability movement to make sure no one -- not even presidents or their top advisors -- is above the law, this was a serious setback.

As part of that movement, I was appalled. Not just because I want to see those who committed crimes in office punished rather than excused. Not just because I want to see the Obama White House restore accountability to government rather than cover up crimes committed by the former administration. And not just because Yoo and Bybee memo'd-up legal opinions stating that torture techniques as egregious and illegal as waterboarding were acceptable. No, there is a deeper question in play here: Why were they really asked to render these opinions in the first place?

That's a question I had to grapple with while writing The People v. Bush, a book that shows how U.S. citizens might prosecute George W. Bush and his advisors for crimes committed in office. When President Obama ordered the release of more "torture memos" by Yoo and Bybee to the public in April 2009, I watched--with a mixture of horror and fascination--the repercussions unfold. First, came words of outrage from the CIA and leaders of the Republican Party about Obama "endangering America's national security." This was followed by indecision and capitulation to the right on the part of the Democratic Party leadership. And through it all, in what I call "the week from holy hell,' came brave calls for the lawyers' prosecution by bloggers, journalists, and even, tentatively, the New York Times. But no one was putting Yoo and Bybee's memos in their proper context, a context that would explain their actions and leave no doubt as to their culpability. Read more.

Video: Arnold Weiner: “Mayor Dixon Got a Fair Deal!”
By William Hughes

On Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010, Mayor Sheila Dixon’s controversial plea deal, in the two criminal cases pending against her with the State Prosecutor’s Office, was accepted by the Trial Judge. As a result, she is no longer the Mayor of Baltimore City. At a curbside press conference, outside of the Court House East, Dixon’s attorney, Arnold Weiner, spoke to the media. He insisted: “Mayor Dixon got a fair deal under all the circumstances.” Mr. Weiner is one of Baltimore City’s top criminal defense lawyers. For details on the plea deal and the Mayor’s “probation before judgment” sentence, go here. For my slant on the case, see links here and here.

Kucinich on new NY AG fraud charges against Bank of America and SEC settling charges against BofA for misleading shareholders
Kucinich Subcommittee Investigation Found Possible Securities Law Violations by Bank of America in December 2009 | Press Release

Washington D.C. (February 4, 2010) – Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today made the following statement after New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced civil fraud charges against former Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis and CFO Joseph Price for misleading shareholders, and the SEC announced it would settle similar charges. Kucinich’s investigative subcommittee conducted a 9 month investigation into the matter and concluded in December 2009 that Bank of America had possibly violated securities law for failing to disclose to shareholders mounting losses at Merrill Lynch. Kucinich chairs the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

“Attorney General Cuomo today stood up for shareholders, taxpayers and the rule of law in bringing charges against the individuals at Bank of America whose actions concealed from shareholders the mounting losses at Merrill Lynch, known before the shareholder vote on the merger. Attorney General Cuomo’s enforcement action is a critical step towards ending the culture of corruption on Wall Street. Mr. Cuomo did the country a service today,” said Kucinich.

Additionally, The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today announced they are seeking court approval for a $150 million settlement with Bank of America for failing to inform shareholders of accelerating losses, and for concealing $3.57 billion in bonuses, at Merrill Lynch before a vote to approve the merger.

British Authorities Probing New Claims Soldiers Tortured, Raped Iraqi Prisoners
By Jason Leopold | Truthout | 14 November 2009

Britain's Ministry of Defense has launched an investigation into new claims that soldiers sexually abused Iraqi detainees and subjected them to mock executions, hooding, and used dogs to incite fear--interrogation methods that were also used by US soldiers and personally approved by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

The charges come on the heels of Britian's complete withdrawal from Iraq last summer.

The allegations by former Iraqi detainees include one in which a 16-year-old Iraqi boy claims he was raped by two British soldiers on an army base. One of the victims has likened the alleged abuse to the torture and sexual humiliation that took place in Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison, which was run by US forces.

The Ministry of Defense confirmed it is probing 33 cases of sexual abuse and torture.

But in a letter sent to Britain's Ministry of Defense, Phil Shiner, the attorney representing the Iraqis who leveled the charges, said he has it "on good authority that there are hundreds of cases that are going uninvestigated. Read more.

Jeff Sessions Warns That Following The Rule Of Law Will Result In 'Dire Consequences'
By Jason Linkins | Huffington Post

Therein, we get the following quote from Angry Leprechaun Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.):

"Instead of trying to excuse the inexcusable, the administration should take responsibility for the dire consequences of its decision to swiftly grant civilian rights to this foreign terrorist."

...A dire consequence of the right's insistence on politicizing the Christmas Crotchfire attack is that they've transformed an al Qaeda failure into an al Qaeda victory. A dire consequence of insisting that Abdulmutallab isn't entitled to Constitutional rights is that more people might start believing that this is true, when it isn't. And finally, a dire consequence of treating Jeff Sessions opinions on the matter as credible is that there may be yet more newspaper articles titled "Criticism of Obama on national security likely to remain big issue," when the facts in evidence very clearly state that it should not be an issue at all. Read more.

Pentagon appears to impede independent autopsy of Gitmo ’suicide’
By Diana Sweet | Raw Story

The family of a former Gitmo detainee are still waiting years later for answers regarding the events leading up to their son's death. Hope that a second autopsy would provide those answers has been at a standstill as the doctor who performed the autopsy waits for U.S. officials to respond to a request for the return of the deceased's missing throat, a request the Pentagon now appears to be denying was ever made.

Ahmed Ali Al-Salami was one of three inmates at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba's Naval base whose death in 2006 was ruled a suicide by the U.S. military. The suicides, referred to at the time as "an act of asymmetrical warfare" by Rear Adm. Harry Harris, commander of Joint Task Force-Guantanamo have been called into new focus in January of this year.

A report published in Harper's Magazine, and written by constitutional scholar and Contributing Editor of Harper's Scott Horton, includes details provided to Harper's by four members of a U.S. military intelligence unit assigned to Guantanamo Bay. "All four soldiers say they were ordered by their commanding officer not to speak out, and all four soldiers provide evidence that authorities initiated a cover-up within hours of the prisoners’ deaths," reported Horton. It also seems that rather than supplying the deceased's missing throat and other necessary items, the Pentagon is attempting to cast aspersions on Horton's report, 'The Guantanamo "Suicides": A Camp Delta sergeant blows the whistle.' Read more.

Blair War Crimes Foundation Announcement | UN Observer & International Report

The Blair War Crimes Foundation (which aims to bring Tony Blair to trial) is pleased to announce that we are now utilising our resources for Bill Bowring, Professor of International Law at Birkbeck College, University of London, and his colleagues, in their submission to the International Criminal Court at The Hague asking for a preliminary investigation of Blair and his colleagues for war crimes committed in 2003-4.

The Foundation's Declaration has been signed by Derek Jacobi, Naji Haraj, John Pilger, Noam Chomski, Ben Griffin, Bruce Kent, Ken Loach, Haifa Zangana, Tahrir Swift, and 6,113 other signatories.

It is hoped that the unexpected revelations emerging from the Chilcot Inquiry, added to the Report prepared by Prof Bowring and his colleagues in 2004, will help to persuade the Prosecutor at the ICC to commence an investigation. The Report not only found substantial evidence of commission of war crimes, but also asserted that under the international legal principle of "joint enterprise", Blair and others could be held liable for crimes committed by US forces, since both the USA and UK had embarked on an illegal course of action.

Signed by Joint Secretaries the Blair War Crimes Foundation, Dr. David Halpin and Nicholas Wood on behalf of 6,113 other signatories (as of 2 Feb 2010).

Please also see:

• Iraq inquiry - day by day timeline of evidence given

• Chilcot War Inquiry: Professor to launch 'Nuremberg' war crimes prosecution against Blair

Bush and Blair did strike Iraq deal, says Welsh MP
By Tomos Livingstone, Western Mail | Wales Online

A SENIOR Welsh MP said last night he knew “for certain” Tony Blair and George Bush struck a deal to invade Iraq at their notorious Crawford Ranch meeting in 2002 – a year before war was declared.

Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Cymru’s parliamentary leader, said he had seen a confidential memo to that effect, although he would not divulge its exact contents.

Critics of the military action in Iraq have long suspected Mr Blair and President Bush came to an agreement at the president’s ranch in Crawford, Texas in April 2002, a claim Mr Blair denied in evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry last week.

Mr Llwyd said he had offered to give evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry himself, in private if necessary.

The Meirionnydd Nant Conwy MP said: “I think other things should have been pursued [at the inquiry], in particular the detailed conversation at the ranch in Crawford in April 2002.

“I do know that the deal was struck, I know for certain it was struck at that stage so just to pretend months down the road that no deal had been struck I think is unforgivable.

“I have offered to give evidence and Chilcot has said ‘I’ll come back to you’. At that stage I will have private discussions with him.”

When the document was leaked five years ago Mr Llwyd said the security services paid him a visit. He declined to comment when asked if he still had the document.

“What I do know for sure is that the deal was struck, incontrovertibly,” said Mr Llwyd. Read more.

Activists plan to protest Bush's Dana Point visit
By Vik Jolly | Orange County Register

"The prestigious Cardinal John J. O'Connor Pro-Life Award is being given in response to the former president's eight years of pro-life legislation. Legatus cites his administration's opposition to embryonic stem cell research, an executive order barring federal funds from being used for abortion related projects abroad, the appointment of two pro-life Supreme Court Justices and a rule protecting federally funded health employees from taking part in abortion or practices that conflict with their faith as policies that Bush helped enact during his presidency," the Catholic News Agency reported.

According to the Legatus magazine website, "In one of his of his last acts as president, Bush declared Jan. 18, 2009, as "National Sanctity of Human Life Day," stating that the "the most basic duty of government is to protect the life of the innocent."

Peace activists are planning on Thursday to protest George W. Bush's visit here to speak and accept an award for his pro-life efforts at a Catholic summit, even though it is not entirely clear when specifically the former president will attend.

It is "outrageous that he's receiving a pro-life award," said Sharon Tipton, an organizer of the protest with a group called the Orange County Peace Coalition, which she described as an umbrella group for other local peace organizations.

"It's an Orwellian irony because Bush has caused so many deaths with an illegal war," she said.

Legatus, a Catholic organization for business and civic leaders, is holding its annual summit Thursday through Saturday at the St. Regis resort, where Bush is expected to be honored.

Registration is $1,475 per person for the event, open only to members and guests.

John Hunt, executive director of the Ave Maria, Fla.-based organization, has confirmed that the former president will attend. No other details have been made public.

Hunt, who could not be reached for comment by e-mail or telephone about the planned protest, has previously declined to specify when during the three-day event Bush will be present.

"His appearance is going to be a private appearance on behalf of our organization," said Hunt in a telephone interview last month. "He will be delivering remarks for us and all of that will be a private presentation." Read more.

Margolis Moves to Exonerate Yoo and Bybee, as Criminal Investigation Opens in Spain
By Scott Horton | Harper's Magazine

Three developments last week show the growing gap between the Obama Administration and its NATO allies with respect to the legacy of torture from the Bush era. They also demonstrate that, contrary to Obama’s promises faithfully to uphold the Convention Against Torture and Geneva Conventions, his Justice Department has no intention of doing so when crimes from the Bush era are in question. This attitude is not going over well with key allies.

In Ottawa, the Supreme Court issued a decision concerning the treatment of child-warrior Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen held and facing charges in Guantánamo. The Court found that his treatment “offends the most basic Canadian standards about the treatment of detained youth suspects” and concluded that the Canadian Government had violated his rights by colluding with U.S. authorities at Guantánamo. However, the Court overturned the ruling of lower courts that had ordered the Canadian Government to seek Khadr’s immediate release and return to Canada. The Court was unsparing in its criticism of what had transpired in Guantánamo, and its ruling put a solid barrier in the way of Canadian cooperation with the United States in similar detention arrangements.

In Madrid, the Spanish Audiencia Nacional, dealing with allegations concerning the torture of Ahmed Abderraman Hamed, a Spanish subject held at Guantánamo, issued a decision opening formal criminal investigations. Six Bush Administration lawyers—John Yoo, Jay Bybee, Alberto Gonzales, Jim Haynes, Doug Feith, and David Addington—were described as the “intellectual authors” of a program of torture to which the Spaniard and four of his fellow prisoners were subjected. In its decision, the Spanish court concluded that the American Justice Department was not involved in any credible effort to investigate or prosecute torture cases connected with Guantánamo. It also announced that the Justice Department had defaulted in response to letters rogatory seeking clarification of issues surrounding the incidents of torture in which the Justice Department itself was directly involved. (So much for Eric Holder’s pledge of cooperation with European counterterrorism investigators.) The taking of testimony in these proceedings is set to begin next week. Read more.

The open and shut case against Tony Blair
If Blair cannot give satisfactory answers to the questions below, there is only one conclusion: he should stand trial for war crimes.
By By Philippe Sands QC, Professor of law, University College, London | Stop the War

Here are the key questions to think about in assessing Mr Blair's performance, and that of the inquiry:

The case for war – "regime change"

Early on Mr Blair was told that military action for regime change would be illegal under international law. The inquiry has heard that he therefore justified action as disarmament and the elimination of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). However, Alastair Campbell's diary entry for 2 April 2002 confirms that participants at one meeting "discussed whether the central aim was WMD or regime change" and that "TB felt it was regime change". So was regime change one of your aims?

"Solidly with the president"

Mr Blair claims no decision on war was taken until after parliament had voted on 18 March 2003. Yet evidence shows he communicated his unconditional support for regime change much earlier, in spring 2002. In January 2003 Mr Blair met President Bush at the White House. Sir David Manning, his foreign policy adviser, records the president telling Mr Blair that military action would be taken with or without a second Security Council resolution and the bombing would begin in mid-March 2003. The note records the reaction: "The prime minister said he was solidly with the president." Why didn't you tell the Cabinet or parliament that you were "solidly with the president" about military action with or without a second UN Resolution, when you reported on your meeting with President Bush on 3 February 2002?

WMD

In September 2002 the government published a dossier. Mr Blair's foreword said the intelligence established "beyond doubt" that Saddam was producing WMD and continuing efforts to develop nuclear weapons; we now know doubts were expressed. On 24 September 2002 Mr Blair told parliament that the intelligence was "extensive, detailed and authoritative"; we now know the intelligence was patchy and old. He also told parliament that Saddam night acquire a usable nuclear weapon in "a year or two"; no substantive intelligence supported that claim. How do you account for these misleading statements?

Legality Read more

Mainstream Media Embraces Stop The War on Bliar Inquiry Day | Stop The War

Many thanks to every one who braved the appalling weather to join the "Bliar" protest last Friday, when the arch war criminal Tony Blair gave evidence to the Chilcot inquiry. We estimate -- calculating over a whole day of protest that began at 8am and ended ten hours later - that around 1000 people attended.

For once the anti-war movement could have no complaints about the media coverage. It was extensive across print and broadcast media and most of it was sympathetic. Dozens of interviews were given to national, international and local news sources, and virtually all the national newspapers had online picture galleries of our activities on the day.

One explanation for this unusual media response was given by the Mail on Sunday, which published an astonishing poll showing that after Blair's Chilcot appearance, 8 in 10 people in Britain still think he lied in taking the country to war and 30 percent think he should be prosecuted for war crimes. The Mail's conclusion was that our demonstration reflected the views of the vast majority in Britain:

Autopsy: FBI Agents Shot Detroit Imam 21 Times | Democracy NOW!

In Michigan, explosive details have emerged from the long-awaited release of the autopsy report for a Detroit-area Muslim imam slain by the FBI in October. The imam, Luqman Ameen Abdullah, headed a Sunni Muslim group called the Ummah. He was shot dead during an FBI raid shortly after being indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit federal crimes. Local Muslim leaders have questioned if authorities are trying to cover up facts surrounding his death. The autopsy report was finally released Monday after a lengthy delay. It shows Abdullah died from twenty-one gunshot wounds and was found with his wrists handcuffed behind his back. House Judiciary Chair John Conyers is expected to join a coalition of civil rights and Muslim groups today to call for a Justice Department probe.

Imam's autopsy report stuns widow
By Ben Schmitt | Freep.com

The widow of a Detroit imam shot to death by FBI agents said today that she was appalled to learn her husband died from 21 gunshot wounds.

“It’s really hard and it’s really painful for me,” Amina Abdullah, 36, said of the autopsy report detailing the death of Luqman Ameen Abdullah. “I was shocked. I was almost going to faint. I couldn’t eat, and I couldn’t sleep.”

Amina Abdullah was married 10 years to the imam, said her attorney Nabih Ayad. Ayad also said the government is trying to deport her to Tanzania.

“She’s concerned about going back home,” Ayad said.

Amina Abdullah appeared at a news conference this morning in Detroit with U.S. Rep John Conyers, who is calling for an independent investigation into the imam’s Oct. 28 death in a Dearborn warehouse.

Ayad told reporters he would also like a second autopsy done because he is concerned about reports of lacerations to Abdullah’s hands and wonders if an FBI dog bit him before he fired back. Read more.