Court Date To Be Set For Torture Charges Against Bush
Because Bush is not a Canadian citizen the consent of the Attorney General of Canada is required within 8 days in order for the prosecution to continue.
LAW has requested that Attorney General of Canada, Irwin Cotler review the evidence upon which the charges are based before deciding whether to consent to the prosecution.
Canada has a duty under the Convention against Torture to ‘take effective measures to prevent torture’.
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PRESS RELEASE (pour la version française cliquetez ici)
November 30, 2004
Canadian lawyers charge Bush with torture
Today in Vancouver, Lawyers Against the War filed torture charges against George W. Bush under the Canadian Criminal Code. The charges were laid by Gail Davidson, co-chair of Lawyers against the War--LAW, under provisions enacted pursuant to the U.N. Torture Convention, ratified by both Canada and the United States.
The charges concern the well known abuses of prisoners held by US Armed Forces in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba. The charges were accepted by the Justice of the Peace and referred for a hearing to decide whether Bush should be required to appear for trial.
The Attorney General of Canada's consent is required within eight days for proceedings to continue, and the question of Bush's diplomatic immunity will have to be resolved by the court.
Information: Page 1 Page 2
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LAW is an international group of jurists and others based in Canada with members in 14 countries.
Contacts
Michael Mandel, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3. Tel: 416 736-5039, Fax: 416-736-5736, Email: MMandel@osgoode.yorku.ca
Gail Davidson, Tel: 604 738 0338; Fax: 604 736 1175, Email: law@portal.ca
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