MaxedOutMama
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Danger, Danger Will Robinson!!!
You could be imprisoned for life if you travel into Canada and there is any documentation that you have expressed any support for Bush. I have it on the best of authority, complete with legal citations and all.
I got this story from Instapundit, who had it listed as "more crushing of dissent in Canada". What happened is that the Canada Free Press received a threatening letter from some language-challenged anti-Bushy named Gloria Bergen. This is pretty wild stuff:
"By your tone, and obvious despisal of the anti-Bush protestors, you and your free press is no more independent and fair than the corporate owned media. If you and your editors want to affiliate yourself with them, and should you have any say in Bush's visit here, as such you and your colleagues could be personally liable to prosecution under the Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act by virtue of section 21 of the Canadian Criminal Code, for crimes so serious that they are punishable in Canada by up to life imprisonment."
Frankly, the idea that the Canada Free Press is running the government seems a little off-base. Canada Free Press was supposed to be an independent oppositional type venture, and I can't believe they have any effect at all on who gets invited to Canada. For backup, this Gloria Bergen attaches some letters regarding Bush's war crimes, written by Michael Mandel and Gail Davidson. The first letter was to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration:
We wrote to Prime Minister Martin on November 19 2004 (see following letter) protesting the invitation of President Bush to Canada on the grounds of the President's flagrant commission of the most serious crimes against international law. Our letter is enclosed.
and
We are writing to you now to remind you that these crimes render President Bush inadmissible to Canada under our immigration laws. Because responsibility for the operation and enforcement of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act lies with you and your Ministry, we are calling on you to advise the Prime Minister of this fact and to insist that he rescind this invitation out of respect for our laws.
and in the letter to the Prime Minister, Michael and Gail say, in part:
Surely you are aware of the many grave crimes against humanity and war crimes for which President Bush stands properly accused by the world, starting with the Nuremberg Tribunal's 'supreme international crime' of waging an aggressive war against Iraq in defiance of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and including systematic and massive violations of the Geneva Conventions Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War and Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, as well as the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. As recently as November 16, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and former war crimes prosecutor Louise Arbour called for an investigation into crimes against the Geneva Conventions in the assault by US forces on the densely populated city of Fallujah.
and
By these laws, Canadians and non-Canadians alike are liable to prosecution in Canada, no matter where in the world they have committed their crimes.
and
And if President Bush were to visit Canada after leaving office, we would be seeking the Attorney General's permission under section 9 of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act and section 7 of the Criminal Code to commence proceedings against him.
However, as you also know, should President Bush come to Canada now, while still President, he would be clothed with both diplomatic and head of state immunity from our laws and we would be powerless to bring him to justice.
and
Indeed, we feel bound to point out that your invitation to President Bush may thus constitute an abetting of the crimes he and his administration and military continue to commit. As such you and your colleagues could be personally liable to prosecution under the Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act by virtue of section 21 of the Canadian Criminal Code, for crimes so serious that they are punishable in Canada by up to life imprisonment. Abetting a crime, as the Attorney General will advise, is regarded as equally criminal to actually committing it and is complete when one intentionally, knowingly, or with willful blindness encourages the commission of a crime by another.
Nor would President Bush's immunity be capable of shielding you and your colleagues from prosecution, because, as the Attorney General will advise, the immunity applies only to foreign officials visiting Canada and not to members of the Canadian government itself. Nor does the inability to prosecute a criminal affect the criminal liability of an abettor.
So, Michael and Gail are threatening their own Prime Minister for prosecution for abetting Bush's war crimes if he does not rescind his invitation. They say they are doing so on behalf of Lawyers against the War, which can be reached at law@portal.ca. Contact information for Michael Mandel can be found at the link above.
The article which aroused their wrath against the Canada Free Press poked fun at the scheduled protest of Bush's visit, in part suggesting the protesters get a map and look up Chile and Columbia:
"Because this will be Bush’s first trip outside the U.S. since his re-election, it will be important for us to build the biggest possible mobilisation (sic) to show our opposition in Canada," Rebick says in a rabble.ca email.
All of this should explain why the Canada Free Press will now appear on my links. I also should warn you all that the legal logic used to threaten Canada's Prime Minister and the Canada Free Press with life imprisonment could also be used against anyone around the world who has expressed support for Bush - probably even voted for Bush. Get the word out, folks. You may be imprisoned if you travel to Canada. I think we should all mount an immediate campaign to get the word out by writing letters to our local newspapers. Certainly we should all contact local travel agents. Perhaps we should also write the major Canadian newspapers expressing our sorrow for being forced to stay on our side of the border. We could ask for an amnesty law - what do you think?
Please pass this message along - it's a public service message: Save yourself from one of those Canadian life imprisonment terms! Do NOT cross that border! Friends don't let Bush-supporting friends wander into such danger!
Update: Len Kutchma has an interesting post on the planned anti-Bush demonstrations. His rhetoric is a little hot.
I got this story from Instapundit, who had it listed as "more crushing of dissent in Canada". What happened is that the Canada Free Press received a threatening letter from some language-challenged anti-Bushy named Gloria Bergen. This is pretty wild stuff:
"By your tone, and obvious despisal of the anti-Bush protestors, you and your free press is no more independent and fair than the corporate owned media. If you and your editors want to affiliate yourself with them, and should you have any say in Bush's visit here, as such you and your colleagues could be personally liable to prosecution under the Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act by virtue of section 21 of the Canadian Criminal Code, for crimes so serious that they are punishable in Canada by up to life imprisonment."
Frankly, the idea that the Canada Free Press is running the government seems a little off-base. Canada Free Press was supposed to be an independent oppositional type venture, and I can't believe they have any effect at all on who gets invited to Canada. For backup, this Gloria Bergen attaches some letters regarding Bush's war crimes, written by Michael Mandel and Gail Davidson. The first letter was to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration:
We wrote to Prime Minister Martin on November 19 2004 (see following letter) protesting the invitation of President Bush to Canada on the grounds of the President's flagrant commission of the most serious crimes against international law. Our letter is enclosed.
and
We are writing to you now to remind you that these crimes render President Bush inadmissible to Canada under our immigration laws. Because responsibility for the operation and enforcement of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act lies with you and your Ministry, we are calling on you to advise the Prime Minister of this fact and to insist that he rescind this invitation out of respect for our laws.
and in the letter to the Prime Minister, Michael and Gail say, in part:
Surely you are aware of the many grave crimes against humanity and war crimes for which President Bush stands properly accused by the world, starting with the Nuremberg Tribunal's 'supreme international crime' of waging an aggressive war against Iraq in defiance of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and including systematic and massive violations of the Geneva Conventions Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War and Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, as well as the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. As recently as November 16, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and former war crimes prosecutor Louise Arbour called for an investigation into crimes against the Geneva Conventions in the assault by US forces on the densely populated city of Fallujah.
and
By these laws, Canadians and non-Canadians alike are liable to prosecution in Canada, no matter where in the world they have committed their crimes.
and
And if President Bush were to visit Canada after leaving office, we would be seeking the Attorney General's permission under section 9 of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act and section 7 of the Criminal Code to commence proceedings against him.
However, as you also know, should President Bush come to Canada now, while still President, he would be clothed with both diplomatic and head of state immunity from our laws and we would be powerless to bring him to justice.
and
Indeed, we feel bound to point out that your invitation to President Bush may thus constitute an abetting of the crimes he and his administration and military continue to commit. As such you and your colleagues could be personally liable to prosecution under the Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act by virtue of section 21 of the Canadian Criminal Code, for crimes so serious that they are punishable in Canada by up to life imprisonment. Abetting a crime, as the Attorney General will advise, is regarded as equally criminal to actually committing it and is complete when one intentionally, knowingly, or with willful blindness encourages the commission of a crime by another.
Nor would President Bush's immunity be capable of shielding you and your colleagues from prosecution, because, as the Attorney General will advise, the immunity applies only to foreign officials visiting Canada and not to members of the Canadian government itself. Nor does the inability to prosecute a criminal affect the criminal liability of an abettor.
So, Michael and Gail are threatening their own Prime Minister for prosecution for abetting Bush's war crimes if he does not rescind his invitation. They say they are doing so on behalf of Lawyers against the War, which can be reached at law@portal.ca. Contact information for Michael Mandel can be found at the link above.
The article which aroused their wrath against the Canada Free Press poked fun at the scheduled protest of Bush's visit, in part suggesting the protesters get a map and look up Chile and Columbia:
"Because this will be Bush’s first trip outside the U.S. since his re-election, it will be important for us to build the biggest possible mobilisation (sic) to show our opposition in Canada," Rebick says in a rabble.ca email.
All of this should explain why the Canada Free Press will now appear on my links. I also should warn you all that the legal logic used to threaten Canada's Prime Minister and the Canada Free Press with life imprisonment could also be used against anyone around the world who has expressed support for Bush - probably even voted for Bush. Get the word out, folks. You may be imprisoned if you travel to Canada. I think we should all mount an immediate campaign to get the word out by writing letters to our local newspapers. Certainly we should all contact local travel agents. Perhaps we should also write the major Canadian newspapers expressing our sorrow for being forced to stay on our side of the border. We could ask for an amnesty law - what do you think?
Please pass this message along - it's a public service message: Save yourself from one of those Canadian life imprisonment terms! Do NOT cross that border! Friends don't let Bush-supporting friends wander into such danger!
Update: Len Kutchma has an interesting post on the planned anti-Bush demonstrations. His rhetoric is a little hot.
Comments:
<< Home
Damn! I was planning to go to Canada for Christmas, I guess I'll have to stay in Florida and pack to go to Hawaii.
Kev
Kev
Len,
I know there have to be a lot of really solid people in Canada. On the other hand, much was made of a survey showing a majority of young people in Canada thought the US was flat EVIL.
But the interesting thing about this, to me, was the legal threat. It seems as if both in the US and Canada people who hold extreme viewpoints either to the right or to the left have increasingly resorted to legal harassment to achieve their goals. I don't like the tactic when used by either side.
Btw, a great post of yours on your blog. I will update this post to link to it.
Post a Comment
I know there have to be a lot of really solid people in Canada. On the other hand, much was made of a survey showing a majority of young people in Canada thought the US was flat EVIL.
But the interesting thing about this, to me, was the legal threat. It seems as if both in the US and Canada people who hold extreme viewpoints either to the right or to the left have increasingly resorted to legal harassment to achieve their goals. I don't like the tactic when used by either side.
Btw, a great post of yours on your blog. I will update this post to link to it.
<< Home
