International Tribunal Finds Bush Regime Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity
Revolution #035, February 19, 2006, posted at revcom.us
On February 2 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration delivered its preliminary findings. The findings were read out by Ajamu Sankofa, executive director of the Physicians for Social Responsibility-NY and former national secretary of Blacks for Reparation in America.
The findings were based on five days of public testimony in New York in October and January. The work of the Commission brought together former government officials, experts in international law, human rights monitors, and victims of the crimes under investigation. It was a Commission of great legal, ethical, and moral credibility based on its integrity, its rigor in the presentation of evidence, and the stature of its participants. Based on the testimony, evidence, and documents submitted, the Commission delivered its preliminary findings that the Bush administration was guilty of crimes against humanity.
On the first charge of committing wars of aggression, the Commission found: "The evidence is overwhelming that the Bush Administration authorized and is conducting a war of aggression against Iraq in violation of international law, including The Nuremberg Principles, Geneva Conventions of 1949, the United Nations Charter, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In doing so, the Bush Administration has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity."
On the indictment for illegal detention and torture, the Commission found: "There was substantial evidence submitted through testimony and documents that the Bush Administration committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in conducting its 'War Against Terror.' It did this by developing and implementing policies and practices that violated international law and international human rights to force information from detainees and to punish those whom it believes may be 'enemy combatants.'"
On the indictment for destruction of the global environment: "The testimony of scientists and the scientific reports and other documents submitted during the inquiry support a conclusion that the Bush Admministration has committed crimes against humanity by its environmental policies and practices."
On the indictment around criminal neglect after Katrina: "The evidence of the Bush Administration's conscious and deliberate faillings in preventing the foreseeable devastation, including death toll, caused by Hurricane Katrina, particularly in New Orleans, and its failure to respond efficiently and appropriately after the Hurricane was overwhelming. Its failures constitute crimes against humanity."
Text of the indictments and preliminary findings, audio and text files of testimonies, and other information can be found at www.bushcommission.org.