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Aristide Lawyers Demand U.S. Prosecute "Kidnappers"
Of Aristide and His Haitian-American Wife
Bushwomen Pt II: Tales of a Cynical Species
Oscar-Winning Actress, Activist Vanessa Redgrave Calls For
Justice, Legal and Human Rights For Guantanamo Prisoners
Aristide Lawyers Demand U.S. Prosecute "Kidnappers"
Of Aristide and His Haitian-American Wife
We speak with Ira Kurzban, lawyer for the Haitian government,
about invoking the Multilateral Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of Crimes Against Internationally Protected
Persons to serve Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell with
papers asking that the U.S. prosecute the people involved
in what they call the kidnapping of President Aristide and
his wife Mildred, who is a U.S. citizen.
Lawyers representing Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
today are serving Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell with
papers asking that the US prosecute the people involved in
what they call the kidnapping of Aristide and his wife Mildred,
who is a US citizen. The lawyers are invoking the Multilateral
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against
Internationally Protected Persons.
The request that the United States fulfill its obligations
under the Convention stems from what Aristide's lawyers call
the intentional commission of internationally recognized crimes
that were "part of a coup d'etat organized and implemented
by officials of the Government of the United States of America
to remove and replace the democratically-elected President
of Haiti..." The demand specifically references the kidnapping
of the Aristide while on board an aircraft belonging in whole
or in part to the United States.
In a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft, Aristide's
lawyers said, "These criminal acts appear to have been
carried out by U.S. government personnel acting under the
orders of high-ranking United States government officials,
including the United States Depute Charge de Mission in Haiti,
Luis Moreno, and possibly Assistant Secretary of State Roger
Noriega (Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs), Secretary
of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld."
Aristide's lawyers are also calling on the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights to initiate a fact finding mission
to Haiti to investigate what they say are summary executions
and continued violence against Lavalas supporters.
- Ira Kurzban, a Miami-based lawyer. Since 1991, he has
served as General Counsel for the government of Haiti.
Bushwomen Pt II: Tales of a Cynical Species
Part II of our discussion with radio host Laura Flanders
about her new book "Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species"
which tells the story of the women of President Bush's inner
circle: Condoleezza Rice, Elaine Chao, Christine Todd Whitman,
Ann Veneman, Gale Ann Norton and Karen Hughes as well as Lynne
Cheney and her lesbian romance novel.
Radio Host Laura Flanders' new book "Bushwomen: Tales
of a Cynical Species" tells the story of National Security
Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, former
EPA head Christine Todd Whitman, Secretary of Agriculture
Ann Veneman, Secretary of the Interior Gale Ann Norton and
former White House counsel Karen Hughes.
Some interesting facts Laura Flanders reveals in "Bushwomen":
National security advisor Condoleezza Rice is a board member
of Chevron, which props up a corrupt Nigerian military government
that suppresses Ogoni activists and killed the writer Ken
Saro-Wiwa.
Click
here for Democracy Now!'s award-winning documentary
"Drilling
and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship"
Secretary of the Interior, Gale Ann Norton, once fought
to legalize marijuana and for equal rights of homosexuals.
Karen Hughes, still one of the President's closest advisors,
says she would have loved to do public relations for the Exxon
after the Exxon-Valdez oil spill. Her father was the last
U.S. Governor of the Panama Canal Zone.
The government's top workplace safety regulator Elaine Chao
is married to a top mining-company campaign finance receiver
- Kentucky Senator Mictch McConnell. Any conflict of interest?
Administration "moderate" Christine Todd Whitman
(former director of the EPA), has been close to the Bush family
for years. She first worked with Donald Rumsfeld and Dick
Cheney in Richard Nixon's government.
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced the first permit
for a genetically modified food, and then joined the board
of the company that received the permit.
In 1981, Lynne Cheney, the Vice-President's wife, published
a steamy novel celebrating free love and lesbian romance.
It's called "Sisters."
- Laura
Flanders, host of "Your Call" heard on KALW-FM
in San Francisco, and on the Internet, and author of the
new book "Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species"
(Verso). She is also the author of "Real Majority,
Media Minority; the Cost of Sidelining Women in Reporting."
Oscar-Winning Actress, Activist Vanessa Redgrave
Calls For Justice, Legal and Human Rights For Guantanamo Prisoners
Oscar winning actress and activist Vanessa Redgrave joins
us in our studio to talk about the Guantanamo Human Rights
Commission which marched on the White House this week to denounce
the treatment of Guantanamo prisoners and to urge President
Bush to respect their legal rights.
Five British detainees held for two years at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba as terrorism suspects are due to return home today. The
men - whose release was announced last month - are likely
to be set free after being questioned by anti-terror police
in the UK.
The return of the remaining four British prisoners in Guantanamo
is much less likely. British Home Secretary David Blunkett
indicated for the first time this week that the four would
probably face trial in the U.S.
Blunkett, who is on a trip to the U.S. said the remaining
four were different because they had been arrested "in
the combat zone" in Afghanistan and that evidence against
them would be "best used in the U.S. not in Britain."
Two of them are among a small group designated for trial before
military tribunal.
For over two years more than 650 people have been detained
in a legal black hole at Guantánamo Bay. They have
been denied contact with their families, access to a lawyer,
and the right to a hearing to determine their legal status.
Yesterday European families of the detainees traveled to
Washington to denounce the treatment of their relatives and
to urge President Bush to respect their legal rights.
The Guantanamo Human Rights Commission, made up of family
members and supporters of the detainees, had hoped to meet
with President Bush, but instead had to settle for a march
to the White House.
Among the family members was British citizen Terry Waite,
who was held captive for almost five years by Islamic militants
in Lebanon and has likened his experience to those of the
Guanatanmo prisoners as well as actors Corin and Vanessa Redgrave.
- Vanessa Redgrave, joins us in our studio days before
traveling to Washington with the Guantanamo
Human Rights Commission. Vanessa Redgrave is an Oscar-winning
actress and longtime activist. During her acting career
that spanned some 47 years she has served as UN goodwill
ambassador and was a founding member of International Artists
Against Racism.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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