stephanie
03-15-2007, 12:16 PM
:poke:
By Martin Snapp - MEDIANEWS
Article Last Updated: 03/14/2007 12:52:09 PM PDT
The Berkeley City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday night urging Germany to indict former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for war crimes. But the council stopped short of the original recommendation from the city's Peace & Justice Commission, which was to sign on as co-plaintiff in a lawsuit that would force German prosecutors to issue an indictment.
The lawsuit names other top U.S. officials as co-defendants, including former CIA chief George Tenet and former Assistant Attorney General John Yoo, who is now teaching law at UC Berkeley. They are accused of complicity in alleged war crimes at Abu Ghraib and Guantanimo Bay in 2003 and 2004.
The suit was filed in Germany by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of 11 Iraqis held at Abu Ghraib and one detainee at Guantanimo Bay.
It claims jurisdiction over Rumsfeld and the others under Germany's Code of Crimes Against International Law, which provides for worldwide jurisdiction in cases of war crimes, genocide or crimes against humanity.
The council balked at joining the lawsuit on the advice of City Manager Phil Kamlarz.
"The city does not have the resources to investigate and evaluate whether such a criminal complaint would be justified," he warned in a written report, "or whether the city would suffer any fiscal or other legal consequences from joining such a complaint charging United States officials with crimes in a foreign country." :laugh2:
But Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, promised in a letter that Berkeley would have "no monetary or any other liability for signing on as a co-complainant."
Among those who have signed on as co-plaintiffs are three Nobel Peace Prize winners -- Aldolfo Perez Esquivel of Argentina (1980), Martin Almada of Paraguay (2002) and the International Peace Bureau (1910) -- and human rights organizations from 24 countries.
In other international actions, the council approved resolutions condemning human rights abuses in Haiti, potential American military intervention in Iran, immigration raids by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the use of cluster bombs, white phosphorus incendiary bombs and other anti-personnel weapons by the United States and other countries.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/timesstar/ci_5434680
By Martin Snapp - MEDIANEWS
Article Last Updated: 03/14/2007 12:52:09 PM PDT
The Berkeley City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday night urging Germany to indict former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for war crimes. But the council stopped short of the original recommendation from the city's Peace & Justice Commission, which was to sign on as co-plaintiff in a lawsuit that would force German prosecutors to issue an indictment.
The lawsuit names other top U.S. officials as co-defendants, including former CIA chief George Tenet and former Assistant Attorney General John Yoo, who is now teaching law at UC Berkeley. They are accused of complicity in alleged war crimes at Abu Ghraib and Guantanimo Bay in 2003 and 2004.
The suit was filed in Germany by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of 11 Iraqis held at Abu Ghraib and one detainee at Guantanimo Bay.
It claims jurisdiction over Rumsfeld and the others under Germany's Code of Crimes Against International Law, which provides for worldwide jurisdiction in cases of war crimes, genocide or crimes against humanity.
The council balked at joining the lawsuit on the advice of City Manager Phil Kamlarz.
"The city does not have the resources to investigate and evaluate whether such a criminal complaint would be justified," he warned in a written report, "or whether the city would suffer any fiscal or other legal consequences from joining such a complaint charging United States officials with crimes in a foreign country." :laugh2:
But Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, promised in a letter that Berkeley would have "no monetary or any other liability for signing on as a co-complainant."
Among those who have signed on as co-plaintiffs are three Nobel Peace Prize winners -- Aldolfo Perez Esquivel of Argentina (1980), Martin Almada of Paraguay (2002) and the International Peace Bureau (1910) -- and human rights organizations from 24 countries.
In other international actions, the council approved resolutions condemning human rights abuses in Haiti, potential American military intervention in Iran, immigration raids by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the use of cluster bombs, white phosphorus incendiary bombs and other anti-personnel weapons by the United States and other countries.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/timesstar/ci_5434680