The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Gail Davidson, Lawyers Against the War (LAW), 1-(604) 738-0338, law@portal.ca

Professor Francis Boyle, LAW, Tel: + 1 217-333-7954; email: fboyle@illinois.edu

Elizabeth Ramos, War Criminals Watch/World Can't Wait, (866) 973-4463, warcriminalswatch@worldcantwait.net*

Nancy Mancias, CODEPINK, (415) 342-6409

Tasha Moro, National Lawyers Guild, (212) 679-5100 ext. 15, communications@nlg.org

Harper Government Ignores Torture Opponents' Call to Ban Dick Cheney from Canada or Prosecute Him

Lawyers from the National Lawyers Guild (U.S.), International Association of Democratic Lawyers, European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (Germany), Brussells Tribunal (Belgium), International Initiative to Prosecute US Genocide in Iraq (Iraq, Egypt, Spain), Lawyers Against the War (Canada) and Rights International Spain (Spain) are urging Canada to either bar Dick Cheney from Canada - as a person credibly accused of torture - or to arrest and prosecute him on arrival, as required by the Convention against Torture.

TORONTO

Lawyers from the National Lawyers Guild (U.S.), International Association of Democratic Lawyers, European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (Germany), Brussells Tribunal (Belgium), International Initiative to Prosecute US Genocide in Iraq (Iraq, Egypt, Spain), Lawyers Against the War (Canada) and Rights International Spain (Spain) are urging Canada to either bar Dick Cheney from Canada - as a person credibly accused of torture - or to arrest and prosecute him on arrival, as required by the Convention against Torture. A letter from Lawyers Against the War (LAW) sent to Canada's Prime Minister, Attorney General and Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Immigration has been gravely ignored.

"It is long overdue for Cheney and other Bush administration officials to be held to account for the high crimes of instituting and implementing the systematic practice of torture. This record of impunity must not be allowed to stand," stated Azadeh Shahshahani, President, National Lawyers Guild.

Torture and war crimes suspect Dick Cheney is scheduled as a keynote speaker at the October 31st luncheon of the Toronto Global Forum, hosted by the International Forum of the Americas.Should Cheney be allowed to freely enter Canada despite the illegalities involved, civil society groups are planning a rally beginning at 11:00 am on Halloween, Oct. 31st, outside the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

"We are calling on the government of Canada, which has no qualms about enying entry to anti-war activists and is still trying to deport war resisters that refused to follow Cheney's illegal and immoral orders, to arrest this war criminal when he enters Canada," said Sid Lacombe, coordinator of the Canadian Peace Alliance.

The Facebook page for the protest can be viewed here.

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) works to promote human rights and the rights of ecosystems over property interests. It was founded in 1937 as the first national, racially-integrated bar association in the U.S.

(212) 679-5100