Bush Commission
http://www.bushcommission.org/index.htm
Four short testimonies on four main issues of the day:
Bob
In the spirit of Nuremberg, the Bertrand Russell Tribunal, and the World Tribunal on Iraq The Not In Our Name statement of conscience is proud to sponsor this Commission
"When the possibility of far-reaching war crimes and crimes against humanity exists, people of conscience have a solemn responsibility to inquire into the nature and scope of these acts and to determine if they do in fact rise to the level of war crimes " from the Charter The First Session of the 2005 International Commission of Inquiry On Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration Was Held Oct 21-22! On-line Video will be available later this week.
Barbara Olshansky from the Center for Constitution Rights presents evidence to the panel of jurists, Ajamu Sankofa, Dennis Brutus, and Abdeen Jabara. On the screen is George W. Bush's order to Donald Rumsfeld to use the military to seize U.S. citizen Jose Padilla and hold him outside the reach of the civilian courts.
Excerpt from Ms. Olshanky's testimony: "Immediately after [9/11], people were snatched from their homes all over the United States... On Oct. 26, the USA Patriot Act is passed... On Nov. 13, two weeks later, President Bush issues an executive order creating a military commission, or a trial system, for trying non-citizen detainees... December of 2001 is when George Bush authorizes George Tenet to create the Special Access Program... It is the first official foray into secret detention..."
Annette Addison, a survivor of Hurricane Katrina gives testimony to the Commission.
Excerpt from Ms. Addison's testimony: "I’m struggling. I have nightmares. My heart is broken. I’m aching as I’m speaking right now, because of the suffering. And during the struggle that me and my sister went through in waiting for my son [who was brutalized in Orleans Parish Prison], my sister had two nervous breakdowns when we arrived in Houston, because of the disaster and the way we were treated in New Orleans during this period. Many of my friends died in New Orleans because of this disaster. So I came here to speak freely just to let people know that what happened…So many Army trucks just was driving past us. We even waved for the Army trucks to help us because we were so desperate. We was dehydrated. They did not give us any assistance. We even asked the police for water, and where we could get gas to get out of the city. The police just looked at us like we was nobody, as though we were nothing. Many were going into the stores, and they said they were looters. But to be honest, they was going into stores to survive. It was people helping people. It was not the Army, it was not the police. It was not the ones that were in authority to help us. It was just the community helping each other to survive."
Camilo E. Mejia, GI resistor and member Iraq Veterans Against the War gives testimony to the Commission.
Excerpt from Mr. Mejia's testimony: "When we conducted missions, it became clear that there was no regard for the lives of the Iraqis. We conducted our operations in the cities. There are no trench lines in Iraq. The war is being fought in every corner of that country. Not in the deserts, not in the mountains, but next to the schools, the neighborhoods, the mosques... I could stand here for hours, go on and on about everything that I saw that was wrong. But I think that the main thing that creates violence in Iraq is that there is a sense among the Iraqi people that we are there to stay permanently to occupy and oppress them -- occupy and oppress their land -- and they are resisting that occupation. It does not matter if we have good feelings or we are acting out of fear or we are acting out of frustration. The fact is that we have no right to be there and they realize that…
Ted Glick of the Climate Crisis Coalition gives testimony to the Commission.
Excerpt from Mr. Glick's testimony: "We are in a very deep crisis....What's happening is the melting of glaciers, the melting of the arctic, the melting of the Antarctic, because of the burning of all the coal and natural gas that has gone on since the beginning of the industrial revolution, towards the end of the 19th Century, through the 20th Century.... The likelihood is that sea levels around the world will rise fifteen or maybe twenty feet... Bangladesh is in deep trouble as the sea level rises, which is what's happening as global warming takes place, as ice melts, as the water expands – which is what happens when it warms. Something like thirteen percent of Bangladesh will be inundated with water, and tens of millions of people will be forced to move... When the Environmental Protection Agency listed the potential effects of climate change on it's web site, in 2003, in a document known as the National Assessment on Climate Change, the White House ordered the EPA to remove or alter all references to the dangers of global warming. "
See and hear sections of testimony broadcast by Democracy Now!
Hear audio of other sections as it becomes available.
Join us in building for the Second Session of the Commission hearing in January! Click To DONATE Your contributions will make possible the second session of the Commission in January Please contribute generously. The lives of the people of the world are at stake. Sponsored by Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience
UNITED FOR PEACE & JUSTICE | 212-868-5545
From ufpj-news
Four short testimonies on four main issues of the day:
Bob
In the spirit of Nuremberg, the Bertrand Russell Tribunal, and the World Tribunal on Iraq The Not In Our Name statement of conscience is proud to sponsor this Commission
"When the possibility of far-reaching war crimes and crimes against humanity exists, people of conscience have a solemn responsibility to inquire into the nature and scope of these acts and to determine if they do in fact rise to the level of war crimes " from the Charter The First Session of the 2005 International Commission of Inquiry On Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration Was Held Oct 21-22! On-line Video will be available later this week.
Barbara Olshansky from the Center for Constitution Rights presents evidence to the panel of jurists, Ajamu Sankofa, Dennis Brutus, and Abdeen Jabara. On the screen is George W. Bush's order to Donald Rumsfeld to use the military to seize U.S. citizen Jose Padilla and hold him outside the reach of the civilian courts.
Excerpt from Ms. Olshanky's testimony: "Immediately after [9/11], people were snatched from their homes all over the United States... On Oct. 26, the USA Patriot Act is passed... On Nov. 13, two weeks later, President Bush issues an executive order creating a military commission, or a trial system, for trying non-citizen detainees... December of 2001 is when George Bush authorizes George Tenet to create the Special Access Program... It is the first official foray into secret detention..."
Annette Addison, a survivor of Hurricane Katrina gives testimony to the Commission.
Excerpt from Ms. Addison's testimony: "I’m struggling. I have nightmares. My heart is broken. I’m aching as I’m speaking right now, because of the suffering. And during the struggle that me and my sister went through in waiting for my son [who was brutalized in Orleans Parish Prison], my sister had two nervous breakdowns when we arrived in Houston, because of the disaster and the way we were treated in New Orleans during this period. Many of my friends died in New Orleans because of this disaster. So I came here to speak freely just to let people know that what happened…So many Army trucks just was driving past us. We even waved for the Army trucks to help us because we were so desperate. We was dehydrated. They did not give us any assistance. We even asked the police for water, and where we could get gas to get out of the city. The police just looked at us like we was nobody, as though we were nothing. Many were going into the stores, and they said they were looters. But to be honest, they was going into stores to survive. It was people helping people. It was not the Army, it was not the police. It was not the ones that were in authority to help us. It was just the community helping each other to survive."
Camilo E. Mejia, GI resistor and member Iraq Veterans Against the War gives testimony to the Commission.
Excerpt from Mr. Mejia's testimony: "When we conducted missions, it became clear that there was no regard for the lives of the Iraqis. We conducted our operations in the cities. There are no trench lines in Iraq. The war is being fought in every corner of that country. Not in the deserts, not in the mountains, but next to the schools, the neighborhoods, the mosques... I could stand here for hours, go on and on about everything that I saw that was wrong. But I think that the main thing that creates violence in Iraq is that there is a sense among the Iraqi people that we are there to stay permanently to occupy and oppress them -- occupy and oppress their land -- and they are resisting that occupation. It does not matter if we have good feelings or we are acting out of fear or we are acting out of frustration. The fact is that we have no right to be there and they realize that…
Ted Glick of the Climate Crisis Coalition gives testimony to the Commission.
Excerpt from Mr. Glick's testimony: "We are in a very deep crisis....What's happening is the melting of glaciers, the melting of the arctic, the melting of the Antarctic, because of the burning of all the coal and natural gas that has gone on since the beginning of the industrial revolution, towards the end of the 19th Century, through the 20th Century.... The likelihood is that sea levels around the world will rise fifteen or maybe twenty feet... Bangladesh is in deep trouble as the sea level rises, which is what's happening as global warming takes place, as ice melts, as the water expands – which is what happens when it warms. Something like thirteen percent of Bangladesh will be inundated with water, and tens of millions of people will be forced to move... When the Environmental Protection Agency listed the potential effects of climate change on it's web site, in 2003, in a document known as the National Assessment on Climate Change, the White House ordered the EPA to remove or alter all references to the dangers of global warming. "
See and hear sections of testimony broadcast by Democracy Now!
Hear audio of other sections as it becomes available.
Join us in building for the Second Session of the Commission hearing in January! Click To DONATE Your contributions will make possible the second session of the Commission in January Please contribute generously. The lives of the people of the world are at stake. Sponsored by Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience
UNITED FOR PEACE & JUSTICE | 212-868-5545
From ufpj-news
Starmail - 28. Okt, 16:05
