by Francis A. Boyle
Champaign, U.S.A./The Hague, Netherlands — Professor Francis A. Boyle of the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign, U.S.A. has filed a complaint with the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (I.C.C.) in The Hague against U.S. citizens George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Condoleezza Rice, and Alberto Gonzales (the “accused”) for their criminal policy and practice of “extraordinary rendition” perpetrated upon about 100 human beings.
This term is really their euphemism for the enforced disappearance of persons and their consequent torture. This criminal policy and practice by the accused constitute Crimes against Humanity in violation of the Rome Statute establishing the I.C.C.
The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute. Nevertheless the accused have ordered and been responsible for the commission of I.C.C. statutory crimes within the respective territories of many I.C.C. member states, including several in Europe. Consequently, the I.C.C. has jurisdiction to prosecute the accused for their I.C.C. statutory crimes under Rome Statute article 12(2)(a) that affords the I.C.C. jurisdiction to prosecute for I.C.C. statutory crimes committed in I.C.C. member states.
The complaint requests (1) that the I.C.C. prosecutor open an investigation of the accused on his own accord under Rome Statute article 15(1); and (2) that the I.C.C. prosecutor also formally “submit to the [I.C.C.] pre-trial chamber a request for authorization of an investigation” of the accused under Rome Statute article 15(3).
For similar reasons, the highest level officials of the Obama administration risk the filing of a follow-up complaint with the I.C.C. if they do not immediately terminate the accused’s criminal policy and practice of “extraordinary rendition,” which the Obama administration has continued to implement.
The complaint concludes with a request that the I.C.C. prosecutor obtain international arrest warrants for the accused from the I.C.C. in accordance with Rome Statute articles 58(1)(a), 58(1)(b)(i), 58(1)(b)(ii), and 58(1)(b)(iii).
In order to demonstrate your support for this complaint you can contact the I.C.C. prosecutor by letter, fax, or email: The Honorable Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Office of the Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, Post Office Box 19519, 2500 CM, The Hague, The Netherlands; Fax No.: 31.70.515.8555; Email: OTP.InformationDesk@icc-cpi.int.Φ
Francis A. Boyle is Professor of International Law at the University of Illinois. He is an internationally-known expert on international law. You can contact him at: Law Building, 504 East Pennsylvania Avenue, Champaign, Illinois 61820; Phone: 217.333.7954; Fax: 217.244.1478.
Photo: http://www.radiodujour.com/people/boyle_francis/img/191206Boyle.jpg
