mericas - 17:16 GMT
A coalition of parties from the Chilean left filed a law suit on Tuesday against U.S. President George W. Bush and high-ranking members of his administration, accusing them of crimes against humanity.
The suit accuses President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the former U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, of torture and war crimes, and demands that Bush be interrogated during his upcoming visit to Chile for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
The accusations relate to acts of torture carried out by U.S. military personnel at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. The court will now decide whether to act on the suit when Bush and his entourage arrive for the APEC summit on Nov. 19.
The suit was filed Tuesday at noon by a group called Poder Democrático y Social (Podemos, an acronym meaning “we can”), which comprises the Communist, Humanist and Christian Left parties and the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR).
In a statement, the leftist group said “this action represents the sentiments of millions of Chileans who reject the violence and the terrorism projected by the figure of Bush.” The organization’s members demonstrated outside the court while the suit was presented.
Hugo Gutiérrez, one of the human rights lawyers who submitted the suit, said he hopes the Appeals Court will question President Bush while he is in Chile.
“Without doubt, (attaining an interrogation of Bush) is difficult, but we are doing something because our consciences are troubled by the crimes committed by North Americans in Iraq,” Gutiérrez said.
“We are part of the universal conscience that is doing this today, in this distant country, concerned that human rights are not violated anywhere in the world,” Gutiérrez added, emphasizing that “crimes against humanity” could be prosecuted from any nation.
The U.S. State Department declined to comment last night, but a response to the suit is expected shortly.
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