CHILEAN LEFT ACCUSES BUSH OF WAR CRIMES
Interpol Draws Up APEC Blacklist
(Oct. 27, 2004) A coalition of parties from the Chilean left filed suit Tuesday against U.S. President George W. Bush and high-ranking members of his administration, accusing them of crimes against humanity.
The suit accuses President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the former U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, of torture and war crimes, and demands that Bush be interrogated during his upcoming visit to Chile for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
The accusations relate to acts of torture carried out by U.S. military personnel at Abu Gharib prison in Baghdad. The court will now decide whether to act on the suit when Bush and his entourage arrive for the APEC summit on Nov. 19.
The suit was filed Tuesday at noon by a group called Poder Democrático y Social (Podemos, an acronym meaning “we can”), which comprises the Communist, Humanist and Christian Left parties and the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR).
In a statement, the leftist group said “this action represents the sentiments of millions of Chileans who reject the violence and the terrorism projected by the figure of Bush.” The organization’s members demonstrated outside the court while the suit was presented.
Hugo Gutiérrez, one of the human rights lawyers who submitted the suit, said he hopes the Appeals Court will question President Bush while he is in Chile.
“Without doubt, (attaining an interrogation) is difficult, but we are doing something because our consciences are troubled by the crimes committed by North Americans in Iraq,” Gutiérrez said.
“We are part of the universal conscience that is doing this today, in this distant country, concerned that human rights are not violated anywhere in the world,” Gutiérrez added, emphasizing that “crimes against humanity” could be prosecuted from any nation.
The U.S. State Department declined to comment last night, but a response to the suit is expected shortly.
Earlier on Tuesday, it emerged that Interpol’s office in Santiago has drawn up a “blacklist” of activists whom it suspects will attempt to sabotage the APEC summit. The Chilean government has stated that people whose name appears on the list will not be admitted entrance to Chile around the time of the summit.
The majority of the names on the list are of members of anti-globalization and ultra-left groups. The Chilean authorities are hoping to avoid a repeat of the disruption during the March 2001 meeting of the Assembly of the Inter-American Development Bank in Santiago, and have purchased new information systems to monitor migration and track suspected troublemakers.
According to the Carabineros police, only demonstrations authorized by the Chilean Ministry of the Interior will be permitted. Any unauthorized protests, especially those in the vicinity of Casa Piedra, Espacio Riesco and Estación Mapocho (where APEC meetings will be held), will be subject to police intervention.
The arrival of the leaders of the APEC economies, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, will prompt the biggest security operation in the Chilean capital since the papal visit in 1987.
Bush can expect to face staunch opposition from anti-APEC groups such as the Chilean Social Forum, which argue that APEC is the organ of neoliberal economic imperialism. By the time of his arrival in Chile, Bush will also know whether or not the U.S. electorate has renewed his mandate at the presidential elections, to be held next Tuesday (Nov. 2).
SOURCE: EL MERCURIO, RADIO COOPERATIVA, PODEMOS
By Tom Burgis ([email protected])
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Interpol Draws Up APEC Blacklist
(Oct. 27, 2004) A coalition of parties from the Chilean left filed suit Tuesday against U.S. President George W. Bush and high-ranking members of his administration, accusing them of crimes against humanity.
The suit accuses President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the former U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, of torture and war crimes, and demands that Bush be interrogated during his upcoming visit to Chile for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
The accusations relate to acts of torture carried out by U.S. military personnel at Abu Gharib prison in Baghdad. The court will now decide whether to act on the suit when Bush and his entourage arrive for the APEC summit on Nov. 19.
The suit was filed Tuesday at noon by a group called Poder Democrático y Social (Podemos, an acronym meaning “we can”), which comprises the Communist, Humanist and Christian Left parties and the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR).
In a statement, the leftist group said “this action represents the sentiments of millions of Chileans who reject the violence and the terrorism projected by the figure of Bush.” The organization’s members demonstrated outside the court while the suit was presented.
Hugo Gutiérrez, one of the human rights lawyers who submitted the suit, said he hopes the Appeals Court will question President Bush while he is in Chile.
“Without doubt, (attaining an interrogation) is difficult, but we are doing something because our consciences are troubled by the crimes committed by North Americans in Iraq,” Gutiérrez said.
“We are part of the universal conscience that is doing this today, in this distant country, concerned that human rights are not violated anywhere in the world,” Gutiérrez added, emphasizing that “crimes against humanity” could be prosecuted from any nation.
The U.S. State Department declined to comment last night, but a response to the suit is expected shortly.
Earlier on Tuesday, it emerged that Interpol’s office in Santiago has drawn up a “blacklist” of activists whom it suspects will attempt to sabotage the APEC summit. The Chilean government has stated that people whose name appears on the list will not be admitted entrance to Chile around the time of the summit.
The majority of the names on the list are of members of anti-globalization and ultra-left groups. The Chilean authorities are hoping to avoid a repeat of the disruption during the March 2001 meeting of the Assembly of the Inter-American Development Bank in Santiago, and have purchased new information systems to monitor migration and track suspected troublemakers.
According to the Carabineros police, only demonstrations authorized by the Chilean Ministry of the Interior will be permitted. Any unauthorized protests, especially those in the vicinity of Casa Piedra, Espacio Riesco and Estación Mapocho (where APEC meetings will be held), will be subject to police intervention.
The arrival of the leaders of the APEC economies, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, will prompt the biggest security operation in the Chilean capital since the papal visit in 1987.
Bush can expect to face staunch opposition from anti-APEC groups such as the Chilean Social Forum, which argue that APEC is the organ of neoliberal economic imperialism. By the time of his arrival in Chile, Bush will also know whether or not the U.S. electorate has renewed his mandate at the presidential elections, to be held next Tuesday (Nov. 2).
SOURCE: EL MERCURIO, RADIO COOPERATIVA, PODEMOS
By Tom Burgis ([email protected])
