Dear Friends,
Last November 2008, after sending a letter requesting a meeting, members of the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance (NCNR) went to the Department of Justice to ask the Attorney General Michael Mukasey for a meeting to discuss the prosecution of Bush and Cheney for war crimes. When we were refused a meeting, about 15 individuals were moved by conscience to participate in a die-in, risking arrest on the sidewalk in front of the Department of Justice. The police decided not to arrest any of the 15 people. We decided that we must continue our work to bring the war criminals of the Bush administration to justice and we would return.
On May 11, 2009, NCNR sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, asking him for a meeting to discuss holding members of the Bush administration accountable (see the letter below). AG Holder has not responded to our letter and so on June 25 we will return to the Department of Justice. A number of people will again be willing participate in an act of nonviolent civil resistance, again risking arrest, if we are not granted a meeting at that time.
Like many others we have contacted the Congress, President Obama, and other elected and appointed leaders demanding that the rule of law be upheld. As people of nonviolence we have few options left and must continue to follow our consciences in working for justice and peace. We must do this to restore the rule of law. Please join us for this action.
Those risking arrest are asked to attend a meeting to discuss last minute planning for the action. Please contact us for more information about this meeting.
There will be a rally with speakers at 11:00 am
John
http://tortureaccountability.webs.com/
At around noon we will process to the Department of Justice with the letter to AG Holder in hand. We will ask for a meeting and if refused, we will continue with our action of creative nonviolence.
If you plan to participate in the action of nonviolent civil resistance, please contact Joy First at jsfirst@tds.net or Malachy Kilbride at malachykilbride@yahoo.com
We look forward to seeing you on June 25.
In peace and resistance,
Joy First and Malachy Kilbride
National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
May 11, 2009
Attorney General Eric Holder
United States Department of Justice
Dear Sir:
We are writing on behalf of the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance. We are concerned citizens who tried to prevent the illegal invasion of
NCNR members would like to meet with you to discuss the indictment of George W. Bush and Richard Cheney. We are quite flexible and would arrange our schedules to meet with a DOJ representative at a selected date and time. Our group would be small, and it would include someone who was directly affected by the illegal invasion of
At the meeting we would hope to discuss several examples of what we perceive to be illegal behavior on the part of the Bush administration. For example, the administration made false claims about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein in order to build a public case for war. This manipulation of pre-war intelligence included a claim that
It is our understanding, though, that on October 1, 2002, the CIA provided Bush with its National Intelligence Estimate, a consensus opinion of all sixteen
After the invasion of
Moreover, the invasion seems to have violated numerous U.S. and international laws, including but not limited to USC 2441 (War Crimes Act of 1996), the Geneva Conventions, the Nuremberg Tribunal Charter, the U.N. Charter and Resolutions, the Laws and Customs of War on Land. We also believe
Every day we are learning more about the atrocities committed under the Bush/Cheney administration. The recently released torture memos provide further verification of illegal acts committed under the watch of the previous administration. The memos are an attempt to justify and legalize torturous, cruel, and inhuman treatment, including techniques that are illegal such as banging heads into walls 30 times in a row, prolonged nudity, repeated facial and abdominal slapping, dietary manipulation, and dousing with cold water as low as 41 degrees. They allow shackling in a standing position for 180 hours, sleep deprivation for 11 days, confinement of people in small dark boxes with insects for hours, and waterboarding to create the perception they are drowning. Moreover, the memos permit many of these techniques to be used in combination for a 30-day period, subjecting detainees to "psychic demolition"-essentially severing them from their personalities and scaring them "almost to death."
In an article published on Common Dreams on April 23, 2009, Ray McGovern notes, “Retired U.S. Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, who was Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff, told Frontline on December 13, 2005 that ‘up to 100 detainees had died while in detention. Of that 100, some 27 have been declared officially homicides.’ Those running Bush administration interrogations are no doubt aware by now that the War Crimes Act (18 U.S. Code 2441) passed by a Republican-controlled Congress in 1996 provides that the death penalty can be given to those responsible for the deaths of detainees.”
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, appointed by President Truman to be the Chief Prosecutor at the Nuremberg Tribunals following World War II, stated, "_let me make clear that while this law is first applied against German aggressors, the law includes, and if it is to serve a useful purpose it must condemn aggression by any other nations, including those which sit here now in judgment." Thus we have a
Also there is a well-established law in our jurisprudence which places an affirmative duty on all of us to expose any treasonous or criminal act which comes to our attention. Failure to do so is defined as "misprision." As good citizens, we are writing to you out of duty, knowing that if felonies have been committed we are to inform a magistrate. Silently to observe the commission of a felony, without using any endeavors to apprehend the offender, is a misprision.
We look forward to your response and the scheduling of a meeting. In this country, there is the belief no person is above the law. Therefore, we are calling on your office to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the entire torture team. We believe this will lead to the indictment and prosecution of Bush, Cheney and others who are accused of the serious violations of the law which we enumerated above.
In peace,
Joy First
Coordinating Committee, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
6014 Gateway Green
608 222-7581
Maria Allwine
Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore
PeaceAction Montgomery [County,
Joseph R. Attamante
Veterans for Peace, Alan Reilly-Gene Glazer Chapter 21
Timothy Baer
Campaign Coordinator, The Declaration of Peace
Ellen Barfield
Coordinating Committee, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
Elaine Brower
Military Families Speak Out and National Steering Committee, World Can't Wait
Michael G. Bucci
Glen Burke
President, Veterans for Peace, Chapter 129, Pueblo, Co
Kim Carlyle
President, Veterans For Peace Chapter 099,
Brad Cotton
President, Chapter 923 Veterans for Peace,
June Eisley
National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance,
Carol E. Gay
Coordinator NJ Labor Against War
Michelle Grise
Convener, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
Kathleen Hernandez
Board Member of Veterans For Peace,
Tarak Kauff
Maury Colow Chapter, Veterans For Peace,
Bob Keilbach
Veterans For Peace - NY Chapter 34
Malachy Kilbride
Coordinating Committee, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
Dawn Marcelle
Citizen for Peace
Paul O. Matherny
Don Muller
Sitkans [
Coordinating Committee, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
Walt and Nancy Nygard
Veterans For Peace, Military Families Speak Out
Max Obuszewski
Coordinating Committee, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
John Oliver
Jim Reill
War Resisters League - DE
Phillip Runkel
National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance,
William H. Steen, Jr.
Janie M. Stein and Martin A. Bates
Coordinating Committee, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
David Swanson
Cofounder of After
Eve Tetaz
National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance,
Davide Thomas
Rabbi Arthur Waskow
The Shalom Center
Jay Wenk
President Maury Colow Chapter, Veterans For Peace,
Patricia Wheeler
Island Peace & Justice, Deer Isle,
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"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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