[act-ma] Join Us in BOSTON on Monday to Thank and Encourage Spain to Prosecute Bush Officials

Sat Feb 12 07:51:11 PST 2011

 *Join Us in BOSTON on Monday to Thank and Encourage Spain to Prosecute Bush
Officials**
(Also Monday** in DC, NY, SF, LA, CHI, BOSTON, MIAMI)*

WHAT: Delivery of petition and Valentine's Day flowers to Spanish Embassy
WHEN: 1:00 .m.
WHERE: 31 St. James Avenue, Suite 905, *Boston*
CONTACT: Sue Serpa, neimpeach at gmail.com

If you've wanted to be part of a powerful effort to bring Bush-era officials
to justice for their crimes, now is your chance. We've joined a national
effort to reach out to the people of Spain, whose courts are considering
prosecuting six of Bush's lawyers under international law. Our campaign
includes an open letter and ads in prominent Spanish newspapers and
billboards.

[image: ad] <http://rootsaction.org/>Even though the Obama administration
has been working hard behind the scenes to stop this, our friends at the
Center for Constitutional Rights have already submitted proof to the Spanish
courts that our government is not taking action under international law and
treaties. Now is our chance - we can keep the wheels of justice turning by
doing people-to-people diplomacy now.

*Here's what else you do:* Read and sign the letter to the Spanish people at
http://rootsaction.org

WarIsACrime.org's name is behind it.  The letter will go to the Spanish
embassy and consulates across the country on Monday - Valentine's Day.
We'll also bring Spanish officials flowers and invite the media.  You can
join us in these events.  Get details at http://rootsaction.org
*
But we can't stop there. *We've designed a billboard and newspaper
advertisement that says in Spanish, "Please do what the U.S. won't.
Prosecute torturers." We are raising money to place ads and billboards
around Madrid where the country's leaders will see that there are Americans
who want the case to continue.

We need to raise $30k to make this happen, so please consider a generous
donation toward bringing the message directly to the Spanish people.  Read
and sign the letter at http://rootsaction.org

*To the people of Spain
>From the people of the United States of America*

We are writing to thank you and to ask for your support as your courts
consider cases to bring American officials to justice for the crime of
torture.  A Spanish judge, acting under international law, will soon decide
whether to investigate US officials' roles in authorizing torture. We hope
you agree that such cases must go forward, despite pressure from the Obama
administration to drop them.

The organizations signing this letter represent hundreds of thousands in the
American public who believe the US government must be held to the same rule
of law as other countries. We are profoundly disappointed that our own
government refuses to prosecute former officials, despite open admissions
and government documents showing that they approved torture.

It will take a public show of support for the case to withstand pressures
from Washington.  WikiLeaks cables show the extremes to which U.S. officials
have gone to thwart any attempt by Spain or other countries to uphold
justice.  We applaud the courage shown by Spanish officials who insist on
giving priority to the rule of law.

Despite earlier assertions by President Barack Obama and Attorney General
Eric Holder that waterboarding is torture, former President George W. Bush
publicly stated three times last year that he authorized waterboarding and
added proudly that he would do it again.  In a TV interview aired on
November 8, Bush said he considered waterboarding legal "because the lawyer
said it was legal."  Waterboarding and other forms of torture were banned by
the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment, ratified by the United States in 1994.

If international law is to serve any useful purpose, other countries must
condemn violations "by any other nations, including those which sit here now
in judgment," in the words of the chief prosecutor at Nuremberg.

We sincerely hope that the citizens of Spain and its judiciary will dispel
the notion that any country is above the law.

Signed,
High Road for Human Rights, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, National
Accountability Action Network, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance,
Pax Christi USA, Progressive Democrats of America, Psychologists for Social
Responsibility, Robert Jackson Steering Committee, RootsAction.org,
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Tackling Torture at the Top
Committee of Women Against Military Madness, Veterans for Peace, War
Criminals Watch, WarIsACrime.org, WeThePeopleNow.org, World Can't Wait.

Along with:
Amnesty International USA, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Council for the
National Interest, Democrats.com, Fellowship on Reconciliation, United for
Peace and Justice, Velvet Revolution, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for
Sanity, War Resisters League, Witness Against Torture, Code Pink Women for
Peace, Voters for Peace.

http://rootsaction.org

*****

*A la gente de España, de la gente de los EEUU*

 Escribimos para agradecerles y para solicitar su apoyo mientras sus cortes
consideran procesos contra oficiales norteamericanos por el crimen de haber
autorizado la tortura. Conforme con la ley internacional, un juez español
pronto decidirá si va a investigar la complicidad de oficiales
estadounidenses en tal autorización. Esperamos que Uds. estén de acuerdo que
estos casos deben seguir, pese a  las presiones por la administración de
Obama para abandonarlos.

Las organizaciones que firman abajo representan a cientos de miles de
personas en los EEUU que creen que el gobierno estadounidense debe obedecer
las mismas leyes como otro paises. Sentimos profundamente desanimados que
nuestro gobierno rehusa procesar a los ex-oficiales aunque sus plenas
declaraciones y los documentos gubernamentales manifiestan que autorizaron
la tortura.

Se requiere una amplia y pública manifestación en favor del caso para
resistir las presiones desde Washington.  Los cables de WikiLeaks demuestran
el afán vehemente de los oficiales estadounidenses para prevenir cualquier
intento por España y otros países para sostener la justicia. Aplaudimos el
coraje de los oficiales españoles que insisten en defender el estado de
derecho.

Pese a las anteriores afirmaciones del Presidente Barack Obama y del
Procurador General Eric Holder que el “waterboarding” (ahogo simulado) es
tortura, el ex-presidente George W. Bush dijo públicamente  tres veces el
año pasado que autorizó el waterboarding y añadió orgullosamente que lo
haría de nuevo. En una entrevista transmitida en televisión el 8 de nov.,
dijo Bush que consideró el waterboarding legal “porque asi dijo el abogado.”
El waterboarding y otros métodos de tortura se abolieron por  la Convención
de las Naciones Unidas Contra Tortura y Otros Tratamientos y  Castigos
Crueles, Inhumanos, y Degradantes, ratificada por los EEUU en 1994.

Para que la ley internacional tenga alguna eficacia, los otros países deben
condenar las violaciones “por otras naciones, incluyendo aquellos que ahora
juzgan,” según las palabras del acusador estadounidense en Nuremberg.

Esperamos sinceramente que los ciudadanos y la magistratura de España
refuten la idea que cualquier país puede violar la ley.

En solidaridad,

High Road for Human Rights, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, National
Accountability Action Network, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance,
Pax Christi USA, Progressive Democrats of America, Psychologists for Social
Responsibility, Robert Jackson Steering Committee, RootsAction.org,
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Tackling Torture at the Top
Committee of Women Against Military Madness, Veterans for Peace, War
Criminals Watch, WarIsACrime.org, WeThePeopleNow.org, and World Can't Wait.

Along with:
Amnesty International USA, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Council for the
National Interest, Democrats.com, Fellowship on Reconciliation, United for
Peace and Justice, Velvet Revolution, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for
Sanity, War Resisters League, Witness Against Torture, Code Pink Women for
Peace, Voters for Peace.

-- 

David Swanson is the author of "War Is A Lie"

http://warisalie.org

http://davidswanson.org

http://warisacrime.org

http://facebook.com/pages/David-Swanson/297768373319

http://twitter.com/davidcnswanson

http://youtube.com/afterdowningstreet
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Media Contact:

Ralph Lopez
617-412-9338

Facilitator:

Susan Serpa
617-599-5195
neimpeach at gmail.com
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