2009.04.27 - PEGC Update ========================== 1) THE IMT CHARTER (LONDON 1945) Article 6. * * * The following acts, or any of them, are crimes coming within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal for which there shall be individual responsibility: (a) CRIMES AGAINST PEACE: namely, planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances, or participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing; (b) WAR CRIMES: namely, violations of the laws or customs of war. Such violations shall include, but not be limited to, murder, ill-treatment or deportation to slave labor or for any other purpose of civilian population of or in occupied territory, murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity; (c) CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY: namely, murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population, before or during the war; or persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of the domestic law of the country where perpetrated. Leaders, organizers, instigators and accomplices participating in the formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy to commit any of the foregoing crimes are responsible for all acts performed by any persons in execution of such plan. Article 7. The official position of defendants, whether as Heads of State or responsible officials in Government Departments, shall not be considered as freeing them from responsibility or mitigating punishment. Article 8. The fact that the Defendant acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior shall not free him from responsibility, but may be considered in mitigation of punishment if the Tribunal determines that justice so requires. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/imtconst.asp#art6 2) TORTURE Jurist -- April 20th, 2009 THE SECOND BYBEE MEMO: A SMOKING GUN by Jordan Paust http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2009/04/second-bybee-memo-smoking-gun.php Paust, Jordan J., THE ABSOLUTE PROHIBITION OF TORTURE AND NECESSARY AND APPROPRIATE SANCTIONS (April 9, 2009). Valparaiso University Law Review, Vol. 43, 2009; U of Houston Law Center No. 2009-A-7. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1331159 Opinio Juris -- April 23, 2009 WANT TO PROSECUTE THE LAWYERS? CITE MINISTRIES -- NOT THE JUSTICE CASE by Kevin Jon Heller http://opiniojuris.org/2009/04/23/want-to-prosecute-the-lawyers-cite-ministries-not-the-justice-case/ Future of Freedom Foundation -- April 20-23, 2009 TEN TERRIBLE TRUTHS ABOUT THE CIA TORTURE MEMOS by Andy Worthington http://www.fff.org/comment/com0904i.asp Harper's -- April 24, 2009 "HONEST POLICY DIFFERENCES" AND OTHER LIES by Scott Horton http://harpers.org/archive/2009/04/hbc-90004850 U. Chicago Law School -- April 20, 2009 REVISITING THE POSNER AND VERMEULE ARGUMENT FOR THE LEGALIZATION OF TORTUROUS INTERROGATION by Bernard Harcourt http://tinyurl.com/ctzo9y Opinio Juris -- April 20th, 2009 CROCKER ON WHY WE MUST PROSECUTE by Kevin Jon Heller http://opiniojuris.org/2009/04/20/crocker-on-why-we-must-prosecute/ April 19, 2009 THE EMPTY CIRCULARITY OF THE LASTEST BATCH OF OLC TORTURE MEMOS by Brian Tamanaha http://balkin.blogspot.com/2009/04/empty-circularity-of-lastest-batch-of.html Newsweek -- April 18, 2009 THE LAWYER AND THE CATERPILLAR by Michael Isikoff and Evan Thomas http://www.newsweek.com/id/194595 Consortiumnews.com -- April 17, 2009 HOW BUSH'S TORTURED LEGAL LOGIC WON by Robert Parry http://consortiumnews.com/2009/041709.html Harper's -- April 18, 2009 THE NEW TORTURE MEMOS by Scott Horton http://harpers.org/archive/2009/04/hbc-90004802 ACLU -- April 16, 2009 ABUSE OF POWER: THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S SECRET LEGAL MEMOS On April 16, 2009, the Department of Justice released four secret memos used by the Bush administration to justify torture... http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/olc_memos.html The White House -- April 16, 2009 STATEMENT OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA ON RELEASE OF OLC MEMOS http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Statement-of-President-Barack-Obama-on-Release-of-OLC-Memos/ DOJ -- April 16, 2009 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RELEASES FOUR OFFICE OF LEGAL COUNSEL OPINIONS http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/April/09-ag-356.html Washington Post -- April 17, 2009 NEW INTERROGATION DETAILS EMERGE by Carrie Johnson and Julie Tate http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/16/AR2009041602768.html?hpid=topnews April 16, 2009 ADMINISTRATION: NO CHARGES OVER CIA'S ENHANCED INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES By Carrie Johnson http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/16/AR2009041602768.html The Daily Beast -- April 15, 2009 NEW HOPE FOR THE BUSH SIX by Scott Horton http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-04-16/new-hope-for-the-bush-six/ Wall Street Journal -- APRIL 15, 2009 OBAMA TILTS TO CIA ON MEMOS Top Officials at Odds Over Whether to Withhold Some Details on Interrogation Tactics by Evan Perez and Siobhan Gorman http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123975168816518691.html Consortiumnews.com -- April 11, 2009 CIA VIDEOS PREDATED BUSH LEGAL MEMO by Jason Leopold http://consortiumnews.com/2009/041109a.html Law.com -- April 10, 2009 THE HALF-LIFE OF TORTURE Legal opinions signed by 9th Circuit Judge Jay Bybee helped pave the way for alleged torture during President Bush's war on terror by Dan Levine http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202429821962&The_HalfLife_of_Torture Harper's -- April 10, 2009 LICENSED TO KILL by Scott Horton http://harpers.org/archive/2009/04/hbc-90004755 April 8, 2009 OBAMA'S NATIONAL SECURITY STATE by Scott Horton http://harpers.org/archive/2009/04/hbc-90004714 April 8, 2009 PRESIDENTIAL ACCOUNTABILITY by Scott Horton http://harpers.org/archive/2009/04/hbc-90004715 The Daily Beast -- April 8, 2009 IS LEON PANETTA COVERING UP TORTURE? by John Sifton http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-04-08/the-cia-torture-cover-up/ 3) GUANTANAMO BAY SCOTUSblog -- April 24, 2009 DETAINEE TORTURE CASE REJECTED ANEW by Lyle Denniston http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/detainee-torture-case-rejected-anew/ April 23, 2009 US WINS -- MOSTLY -- ON DETENTION POWER by Lyle Denniston http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/us-wins-mostly-on-detention-power/ April 11, 2009 US RESISTS RIGHTS AT BAGRAM by Lyle Denniston http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/us-resists-rights-at-bagram/ April 10, 2009 ANALYSIS: DIMINISHING "GENEVA RIGHTS"? by Lyle Denniston http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/analysis-diminishing-geneva-rights/ Talking Points Memo -- April 10, 2009 NOT JUST STATE SECRETS: Obama Continuing Bush's Stonewalling On Gitmo Cases, Lawyer Claims By Zachary Roth http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/yesterday_we_told_you_about.php?ref=fp2 Associated Press -- April 8, 2009 JUDGE REINSTATES GUANTANAMO LAWYER FIRED BY US by Ben Fox http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i4h_YbwmoLr_BdsCTEkeC05r6PUgD97EESNO0 4) OP-ED New York Times -- April 25, 2009 THE BANALITY OF BUSH WHITE HOUSE EVIL by Frank Rich http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/opinion/26rich.html X-Judge -- April 22, 2009 THE NEW RULE OF LAW: SEE, IT WORKS by H. Lee Sarokin http://x-judge.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-rule-of-law-see-it-works.html Wall Street Journal -- April 17, 2009 THE PRESIDENT TIES HIS OWN HANDS ON TERROR The point of interrogation is intelligence, not confession. by Michael Hayden and Michael B. Mukasey http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123993446103128041.html * COMMENT: The dishonesty of these war criminals is just appalling, quibbling over distinctions between "confession" or "intelligence". What absolute BULLSHIT. Torture isn't about information, it's about the confusion, dishonesty, incompetence, and sadism of people like Dick Cheney, Michael Hayden, and Michael Mukasey --- cut from the same cloth as Heydrich, Eichmann, or Mengele, etc. These people are LIARS and WAR CRIMINALS, and that is ALL that they are. -- CBG The Nation -- April 15, 2009 A LEXICON OF DISAPPOINTMENT by Naomi Klein http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090504/klein Consortiumnews.com -- April 14, 2009 ANATOMY OF BUSH'S TORTURE 'PARADIGM' by Ray McGovern http://consortiumnews.com/2009/041409a.html Washington Post -- April 10, 2009 CRIMES THAT DESERVE PUNISHMENT by Eugene Robinson http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/09/AR2009040903523.html * * * PROJECT TO ENFORCE THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS (PEGC) http://www.pegc.us PEGC Blog http://pegc.blogspot.com/ Charles B. Gittings Jr. Fort Bragg, California cbgittingsyahoo.com +1-707-888-3561 (Verizon) +1-707-964-2151