Nuremberg prosecutor says Guantanamo trials unfair

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Nuremberg prosecutor says Guantanamo trials unfair

By Jane Sutton
Reuters
Monday, June 11, 2007; 5:39 PM

MIAMI (Reuters) - The U.S. war crimes tribunals at
Guantanamo have betrayed the principles of fairness that
made the Nazi war crimes trials at Nuremberg a judicial
landmark, one of the U.S. Nuremberg prosecutors said on
Monday.

"I think Robert Jackson, who's the architect of Nuremberg,
would turn over in his grave if he knew what was going on
at Guantanamo," Nuremberg prosecutor Henry King Jr. told
Reuters in a telephone interview.

"It violates the Nuremberg principles, what they're doing,
as well as the spirit of the Geneva Conventions of 1949."

King, 88, served under Jackson, the U.S. Supreme Court
justice who was the chief prosecutor at the trials created
by the Allied powers to try Nazi military and political
leaders after World War Two in Nuremberg, Germany.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/11/AR2007061101768.html

[htuttle]

1. If Robert Jackson were alive today, he'd work to convict Bush of war crimes

"To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole."

"Launching a war of aggression is a crime that no political or economic situation can justify. If certain acts in violation of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the United States does them or Germany does them….. we are not prepared to lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us."



"One of the most authoritative sources of international law on this subject is the Convention for the Definition of Aggression Signed at London on 7/3/1933 by Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Turkey, the Soviet Union, Persia, and Afghanistan. The subject has also been considered by international committees and by commentators whose views are entitled to the greatest respect. It had been little discussed prior to the first World War but has received much attention as international law has evolved its outlawry of aggressive war. In the light of these materials of international law and so far as relevant to the evidence in this case, I suggest that an "aggressor" is generally held to be that state which is the first to commit any of the following actions:

(1) Declaration of war upon another state;

(2) Invasion by its armed forces, with or without a declaration of war, of the territory of another state;

(3) Attack by its land, naval, or air forces, with or without a declaration of war, on the territory, vessels or aircraft of another state; and

(4) Provision of support to armed bands formed in the territory of another state, or refusal, notwithstanding the request of the invaded state, to take in its own territory, all the measures in its power to deprive those bands of all assistance or protection.

And I further suggest that it is the general view that no political military, economic, or other considerations shall serve as an excuse or justification for such actions; but exercise of the right of legitimate self-defense, that is to say, resistance to an act of aggression, or action to assist a state which has been subjected to aggression, shall not constitute a war of aggression."

-- Robert Jackson, Chief Judge, Nuremberg Trials

[Toots]

11. (4) Provision of support to armed bands formed in the territory of another state,

Contras anyone, or how about Al Qaeda in Afghanistan during Russian occupation. I believe the US has been guilty of that clause numerous times throughout our history.

[provis99]

2. other Presidential aggressive war criminals since Truman

Eisenhower, for starting the war in Vietnam; Kennedy, for using a Cuban exile mercenary army to attack Cuba; Johnson, for bombing North Vietnam, and Laos; Nixon, for attacking Cambodia in a secret war (for which he was nearly impeached) and funding a coup in Chile; Reagan, for his proxy wars in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Columbia, and shelling Hezbollah in Lebanon; Clinton, for attacking Serbia. A pretty sorry ass record. I guess Carter got the Peace Prize for being the only president in 60+ years not liable for judgement as a war criminal.

[madamesilverspurs]

3. Don't forget Daddy Bush

who, as very involved factotum to Reagan, admitted in 1992 that "...if the American people knew what we'd really done in Iran-Contra, they'd chase us down the streets and lynch us."

[Xipe Totec]

4. ...

[Captain Hilts]

5. My mother worked for Kenneth C. Royale and she agrees they're unfair.

Royale was the US Army lawyer who, unsuccessfully, defended the Nazi saboteurs. But he made a good attempt and they appreciated it. As a result, he was later named Sec. of War

[Supersedeas]

6. Even Paris Hilton knows that this is not news...don't you worry your pretty lil head Katie

[RamboLiberal]

7. Nuremberg prosecutor says Guantanamo trials unfair

Source: Reuters Alertnet

The U.S. war crimes tribunals at Guantanamo have betrayed the principles of fairness that made the Nazi war crimes trials at Nuremberg a judicial landmark, one of the U.S. Nuremberg prosecutors said on Monday.

"I think Robert Jackson, who's the architect of Nuremberg, would turn over in his grave if he knew what was going on at Guantanamo," Nuremberg prosecutor Henry King Jr. told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"It violates the Nuremberg principles, what they're doing, as well as the spirit of the Geneva Conventions of 1949."

King, 88, served under Jackson, the U.S. Supreme Court justice who was the chief prosecutor at the trials created by the Allied powers to try Nazi military and political leaders after World War Two in Nuremberg, Germany.

"The concept of a fair trial is part of our tradition, our heritage," King said from Ohio, where he lives. "That's what made Nuremberg so immortal -- fairness, a presumption of innocence, adequate defense counsel, opportunities to see the documents that they're being tried with."

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N6B384799.htm

[ninkasi]

8. Every single thing that America could claim to be proud of

Has been trashed by Bush and the neocons. We are now loathed and feared by every other country on earth, except Albania. I can't think of anything more important than restoring the Constitution, and undoing the egregious violations of the Constitution, and human decency, committed by the Bush administration. He will be remembered as the worst president ever.

Apparently, our Democratic leaders misunderstood the message we sent when we voted them into office. They have done a poor job of standing up to a man whose approval is so low. It's as if just being in office is enough for them, actually DOING something about restoring the Constitution is asking too much.

We need to elect people who will make good their promises once they are in office, instead of using their terms raising money for their next race, and being far too cowardly for fear of losing a few votes. The pity is that we would reward them, not turn away from them, as they have turned away from us.

[slowry]

9. k&r n/t

[FloridaJudy]

10. K&R n/t