Canada Should Bar or Prosecute Bush: Lawyer

[G_j]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/03/12-9

Published on Thursday, March 12, 2009 by Fast Forward Weekly (Canada)

Canada Should Bar or Prosecute Bush: Lawyer
Foreign Affairs stays silent on upcoming Calgary visit
by Jeremy Klaszus

As George W. Bush's St. Patrick's Day visit to Calgary draws near, the federal government is facing pressure from activists and human rights lawyers to bar the former U.S. president from the country or prosecute him for war crimes and crimes against humanity once he steps on Canadian soil.

Bush is scheduled to speak at the Telus Convention Centre March 17, but Vancouver lawyer Gail Davidson says that because Bush has been "credibly accused" of supporting torture in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Canada has a legal obligation to deny him entry under Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The law says foreign nationals who have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity, including torture, are "inadmissible" to Canada.

"The test isn't whether the person's been convicted, but whether there's reasonable grounds to think that they have been involved," says Davidson, who's with Lawyers Against the War (LAW). "...It's now a matter of public record that Bush was in charge of setting up a regime of torture that spanned several parts of the globe and resulted in horrendous injuries and even death. Canada has a duty."

In February, Davidson sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other cabinet ministers asking the Canadian government to either bar Bush from Canada, prosecute him once he arrives, or have the federal attorney general consent to a private prosecution by LAW against the Texan. She hasn't received a response, and concedes she's fighting "an uphill battle" with "terrific challenges." Davidson laid torture charges against Bush during his visit to Vancouver in 2004, but a judge quashed them within days.

The federal government is keeping silent on the upcoming visit. "We have no comments to offer on the visit of Mr. George W. Bush to Calgary," said Foreign Affairs spokesperson Alain Cacchione in an e-mail to Fast Forward. When told about Davidson's letter, a spokesperson with the Canadian Border Services Agency said "we wouldn't comment on something like that."

..more..

[madrchsod]

1. like bush would go to canada

i doubt he`ll travel anywhere outside the united states

[G_j]

2. he is planning on visiting Calgary

we'll see

[madrchsod]

5. he`s going to the stampede?

but he`s afraid of horses....:rofl:

[indepat]

3. Let the games begin

:P

[HillbillyBob]

4. Well Canadians being mostly reasonable non violent(at least to my limited exp)

I think they should all throw shoes! Ya know those big heavy snow boots with the snowshoes attached..Horseshoes would be more effective though!
I just hate it that ( * ) despoils anywhere he walks or breaths.

[JohnyCanuck]

7. If you can't be there in person, Fedex 'em your shoes instead.

The older and smellier the better, I guess.

A coalition calling itself People vs. Bush has planned a week of protest activities, starting Wednesday at noon with a banner display near the downtown Telus Convention Centre, where Bush is set to speak next week "on eight momentous years in the Oval Office" and "the challenges facing the world in the 21st century."

Group spokeswoman Collette Lemieux said the activists will come from as far away as Vancouver and Toronto to participate.

"I think a lot of people are really motivated by the idea that we have to make it really clear to him that he's not off the hook," she said. "I think it's important to people who think that he has committed war crimes to not just let this go by the wayside."

The group plans to hold a mock war crimes trial for Bush this weekend and stage a peaceful rally outside his speech next Tuesday. Lemieux is asking those who can't participate to send their shoes for a symbolic protest echoing the Iraqi journalist who threw his footwear at Bush.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/03/11/cgy-bush-calgary-protesters.html

[seemslikeadream]

6. K and R