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Progressive News & Views (since 1982)
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Bush clearly places himself above the Constitution and the Geneva
Conventions. It's 230 years later, and we're going to have to declare our
independence again from another King George.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Hank Roth" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 7:52 PM
Subject: [pnews-news] Above the Law
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> / o o \
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> http://pnews.org/
> Progressive News & Views (since 1982)
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>
>
>
> The US is a Party to the Geneva Conventions. Thus, the administration's
> arbitrary decision to label persons captured during the war in Afghanistan
> as
> "enemy combatants" rather than "prisoners of war" is highly controversial.
> It
> signals a brazen attempt by the US to circumvent the Geneva Conventions.
> Incredibly, Alberto R. Gonzales, the President's Counsel (and Attorney
> General), advised Bush (Memorandum of Jan. 25, 2002) that the President
> could
> decide to ignore the Geneva Conventions, arguing that the Geneva
> Convention's
> restrictions were "obsolete. " His legal reasoning has since been
> repudiated by
> US Courts, which have ruled that the Geneva conventions do apply and that
> those
> imprisoned at Guantanamo are entitled to POW status.
>
> US Attempts to be Above the Law
>
> The US has not ratified the Rome Statute, and has taken action to be
> exempt
> from the ICC's jurisdiction. Near the end of his presidency, on Dec. 31,
> 2000,
> Clinton signed the Statute. However, in May 2002, the Bush administration
> defiantly "unsigned" the ICC treaty and declared its determination not to
> be a
> Party to the ICC. Moreover, the US administration is pressuring ICC
> countries
> to exempt US citizens from the reach of the ICC, by signing Bilateral
> Immunity
> Agreements (BIA). In 2002 Congress passed the American Servicemembers'
> Protection Act, which slashed military assistance funds to ICC countries
> who
> refused to sign a BIA. Most recently, on Dec. 7, Bush signed an
> Appropriations
> Bill (HR 4818), which included an amendment by outgoing Rep. Nethercutt
> from
> Washington, eliminating Economic Support Fund (ESF) aid to ICC countries
> that
> have not signed a BIA. With a budget of $2.5 billion, the ESF promotes the
> foreign aid policies of the US. Over 50 countries could be affected by
> this
> antagonistic policy, including Venezuela, Ecuador, South Africa, Jordan,
> and
> Ireland.
>
> http://pnews.org/ArT/AiS/ABov.shtml
>
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M A I L I N G L I S T S
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