Cotler's Decisions...

“Of course, they’re not a nullity”, said Professor Michael Mandel, co-chair of LAW, who criticized the decision as “irregular in procedure and wrong in substance.” “These charges were properly laid and backed up by powerful evidence. The government didn’t deny that evidence because it couldn’t deny it. Diplomatic immunity is purely procedural. It doesn’t affect the validity of the charges, only whether they can be proceeded with, for the time being, in a foreign court, in this case a Canadian court. Even if Bush has immunity, it’s only temporary and it won’t shield him or anyone in his administration from Canadian law, or any other law, when they leave office. That the Canadian government would try to hush this up by hiding Bush behind diplomatic immunity was only to be expected. Paul Martin invited Bush here to ingratiate himself with the President, despite the President’s crimes against our laws and against international law, despite even his inadmissibility as a war criminal under Canada’s immigration laws – above all, despite the unending human disaster the President’s ‘war of choice’ has brought to the people of Iraq.” Vancouver lawyer Gail Davidson, who laid the charges, said “We have a lot of objections to the way these charges were handled. We can’t see the legal basis for sealing the courtroom and excluding the press and the public. We think the claim of immunity was premature and exaggerated, and the quashing of the charges not authorized by the law. We are considering our options, including an appeal of the decision. One thing we will do for sure is to pursue similar charges in Germany as part of the prosecution launched there by the American Center for Constitutional Rights. There is good reason to believe that the German authorities will show more backbone than the government of Canada in the face of the Bush administration’s trashing of international human rights law.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRESS RELEASE December 2, 2004 Court date to be set for torture charges against Bush Lawyers against the War applied today to have the torture charges against George Bush set before a judge to determine whether a summons or warrant should issue. A date will be set in BC Provincial Court, Criminal Division, at Vancouver on Monday December 6th 2004. Torture charges against Bush were laid November 30th 2004 by Gail Davidson, co-chair of Lawyers against the War--LAW, under provisions enacted pursuant to the U.N. Convention against Torture, ratified by Canada in 1987 and the United States in 1994. The charges concern the well known abuses of prisoners held by US Armed Forces in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba. Because Bush is not a Canadian citizen the consent of the Attorney General of Canada is required within 8 days in order for the prosecution to continue. LAW has requested that Attorney General of Canada, Irwin Cotler review the evidence upon which the charges are based before deciding whether to consent to the prosecution. Canada has a duty under the Convention against Torture to ‘take effective measures to prevent torture’. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRESS RELEASE November 30, 2004 Canadian lawyers charge Bush with torture Information Page 1 Page 2 Today in Vancouver, Lawyers Against the War filed torture charges against George W. Bush under the Canadian Criminal Code. The charges were laid by Gail Davidson, co-chair of Lawyers against the War--LAW, under provisions enacted pursuant to the U.N. Torture Convention, ratified by both Canada and the United States. The charges concern the well known abuses of prisoners held by US Armed Forces in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba. The charges were accepted by the Justice of the Peace and referred for a hearing to decide whether Bush should be required to appear for trial. The Attorney General of Canada's consent is required within eight days for proceedings to continue, and the question of Bush's diplomatic immunity will have to be resolved by the court. LAW is an international group of jurists and others based in Canada with members in 14 countries. Contacts Michael Mandel, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3. Tel: 416 736-5039, Fax: 416-736-5736, Email: MMandel - at - osgoode.yorku.ca Gail Davidson, Tel: 604 738 0338; Fax: 604 736 1175, Email: law -at - portal.ca -30- Mike Patriquen.