Belafonte continues his Bush onslaught; gov’t put on trial

Belafonte continues his Bush onslaught; gov’t put on trial
by CLAUDIO E. CABRERA
Special to Amsterdam News
Originally posted 1/25/2006

Hundreds of people came together in New York City this past weekend for a historic three-day tribunal indicting the Bush administration for crimes against humanity.

The event opened Friday at Riverside Church in Harlem, where Harry Belafonte had the stage once again to voice his opinions on the Bush administration. Recent comments from Belafonte include calling Bush a “terrorist” and comparing the Homeland Security Department to the “Nazi Gestapo.”

Belafonte opened the event with a riveting speech concerning the current occupation of Iraq.

“The people of this nation, I think, and I know it, are awake, and are being more awakened every day. They are hearing, and sensing, the danger that sits on the horizon, looking at the international oppressions that we are a part of, looking at how we have violated international humanity and law,” preached Belafonte to the packed auditorium.

He continued: “Each day we claim the lives of tens and thousands of innocent men, women, and children, in other places. Where for you does terrorism end and where does it begin and who are the terrorists?”

Belafonte left the stage to a standing ovation.

This past week, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both refused to support Belafonte’s comments.

“I would not use that type of language, but that is what is great about this country; everyone gets to speak their mind,” said Obama.

At a banquet last week, Hillary Clinton also made sure to keep a considerable distance between herself and Belafonte.

Among the other experts giving testimony about the president’s alleged crimes throughout the weekend were Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, former head of the Abu Ghraib prison; Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan; Scott Ritter, former UN weapons inspector; and D. McBride, who was left to drown in a New Orleans prison when Katrina struck.

A week earlier, a delegation from the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration delivered a set of indictments at the White House gates. The International Commission has brought five indictments against the Bush regime: wars of aggression, torture and indefinite detention, destruction of the global environment, attacks on global public health, and Hurricane Katrina.

The first session of the tribunal, in October 2005, heard testimony on each of these indictments, continued with the concluding session on Jan. 20-22. Presentation of the verdicts will take place in Washington, DC on February 2.

As this session of the tribunal began, Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights sharply laid out the aims of the tribunal and the urgency of the times: ’’We are putting the Bush administration on trial. We investigate in order to expose. We document in order to indict. We arouse consciousness in order to create mass resistance. We want this trial to be a step in the building of mass resistance to war, to torture, to the destruction of our earth and its people. It’s a serious moment. Our country and our world are tipping-tipping toward permanent war, the end of human rights, and the impoverishment and death of millions. We still have a chance, an opportunity to stop this slide into chaos. But it is up to us. We must not sit with our arms folded. We must be as radical as the reality we are facing.”

Other issues focused on throughout the weekend included the global AIDS epidemic, the economy, and Hurricane Katrina.

– http://www.amsterdamnews.com/News/a...