Translated text of a recent interview with Thiago Barrozo.
Click here for the original.
Click here for the original.
The decision of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants against Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi, his son Saif al-Islam and the country’s intelligence chief, Abdullah Al Sanussi, raised the spirits of the White House and received immediate support from the U.S. government. Stretching the strong rejection of the public to the damage and costs of a new battlefront, the United States have wagered on international bodies to fight the war that, according to President Barack Obama, does not exist.
The strategy, however, can turn into a bomerangue. The statement is the Professor of International Law at the University of Illinois, Francis Boyle. In January 2010, Boyle filed a request to the ICC investigation against former President George W. Bush, former President Dick Cheney, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former CIA director George Tenet, the former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, charged with defending a policy crimes against humanity. “The strengthening of the authority of the ICC could become a ghost to haunt the White House, as the Obama administration has the same policy of forced disappearance and torture of the Bush administration,” Boyle said in an interview with the Ladies Friends. Check.
Dear Friends – How do you evaluate the U.S. position regarding the arrest warrants against the International Criminal Court Moammar Gadhafi, Saif al-Islam and Abdullah Al Sanussi?
Francis Boyle – This is a dangerous precedent for the United States. Support the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction, when the counter-terrorism strategy advocated by President Barack Obama is synonymous with crime against humanity, can function as a bomerangue.
Dear Friends – What’s wrong with the counter-terrorism strategy of the current government?
FB – When I signed documents calling for investigation of crimes committed by President George W. Bush, I told the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court that the Obama administration continued the same policy of promoting crimes against humanity. I told him that the current management practice follows the forced disappearance of persons and torture. In addition, there are the air strikes of drones that victimize innocent civilians in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Dear Friends – Why do you not also asked to investigate Barack Obama?
FB – Unfortunately, there is little evidence on these cases so far. As a lawyer, I have an ethical obligation to investigate and collect evidence and facts before filing any legal action against Obama. The document that Mr. Bush had signed about 90 pages of pure evidence. Either way, it is obvious that there are crimes against humanity. For example, David Petraeus (now General of the U.S. Army and future CIA chief) publicly declared to be in favor of torture. This is a job that requires time and also a very difficult task when the American media does not fulfill its role.
Dear Friends – Where did the U.S. media fail?
FB – In general, the American media is very pro-Obama, which makes the leakage of information against the government. This lack of investigative journalism makes it more complicated evidence collection. Still, the Washington Times recently published an editorial highlighting the policy of crimes against humanity adotadapela White House. The text states that the practice of enforced disappearance and torture have also increased during the Obama administration, according to sources consulted by the journal.
Dear Friends – Even if you can gather this material and bring a lawsuit against President Obama, what is the practical effect of this? The United States has not signed the Rome Statute governing the ICC …
FB – This is the point. The United States has not signed the Rome Statute, nor did Libya. But the point is that the United States, the practice of the forced disappearance of people, led many of these victims to be questioned and subjected to torture in countries that are part of the Rome Statute. Many of them are even in Europe. The Rome Statute in its article number 13, paragraphs A and C, makes it clear that the ICC can exercise jurisdiction and investigate cases where crimes against humanity committed by non-signatory nations have happened in the soil of nations that have ratified the Statute.
Dear Friends – You filed the lawsuit against former president George W. Bush in January last year and the same goes in pending analysis. In about six months after the trigger demonstrations in Libya to take the body, the ICC has issued warrants for the arrest of Moammar Gadhafi. I would like you to comment this time difference with the conduct of cases.
FB – When I joined the lawsuit against Bush I told the prosecutor about the importance of a quick scan of the document, once President Obama has the same policy of crimes against humanity, and not a long position of the ICC could save lives and maybe change the mentality of the current administration. But despite the effort, I’m just a lawyer. The arrest warrants against Gadhafi, his son and the Libyan intelligence chief was moved by the Security Council of the United Nations, obviously and understandably, have a much greater political power than me.
Dear Friends – Do you really believe that charges against George W. Bush will be carried forward by the Court?
FB – I have real hopes. However, I do believe that the strengthening of the ICC can come back as a yes bomerangue into the White House. The legal provision is the same and there is no reason why Bush will not be judged by the Court. The progress of the case will show.
