I have come a long way to see
you and I am happy that we are all together, calling for Bush to go home. When
George Bush misappropriated the November 2000 elections he abdicated the leadership
role America once enjoyed. From the moment his administration came
to power, it became evident that he was intent on challenging global rule.
George W. Bush and his administration embarked on a full-scale assault on civil
liberties, human rights and the rule of law, walking away from his
international obligations, tearing up international treaties, protocols and UN
conventions. George W. Bush made America a rogue state. Do you want George Bush to remain as
the president of this country?
I was in New York on the 11 of September, during the terrorist attack
when nearly 3000 innocent people lost their lives. I, like millions of people
throughout the world, was shocked and outraged by this act of heinous
barbarity. It was a crime against humanity and I shared the grief of the
families and friends of the victims and the sense of loss and the cries for
justice. Amid the shocking carnage of September 11, amid the nearly 3000
innocent civilians who lost their lives in horrific circumstances, trapped in the
Twin Towers, amid the desperation of those who plunged to their death from the
heights of the World Trade Center, amid the heroic firefighters who lost their
lives trying to rescue the victims of this unspeakable crime, amid the pile of
wreckage of steel, concrete and glass, all that was left from 220-story towers (
amid all of this are the cornerstones of our free society: civil liberties,
human rights and the rule of law.
Regrettably, constitutional
rights and freedoms became a casualty of George W. Bush’s War on Terror.
Do we want to continue the
War on Terror that George W. Bush wants to impose on the world?
I had hoped that the rule of
international law will prevail above revenge. I had hoped that President Bush
would distinguish between seeking justice and inflicting revenge.
Unfortunately, Mr. Bush’s answer to the request for justice was rather governed
by Wild West culture, and his solution has more to do with cowboy mentality and
lynch mob retribution than with the international rule of law. We all remember
his reference to a saloon bar poster, âWanted Dear or Alive’ when referring to
Osama bin Laden, this same Osama bin Laden that until today he has not been
able to capture.
It was unfortunate that Mr.
Bush responded as the sheriff of a one-horse town in the Wild West would have
done, and that he had forgotten that in the legal frame in which we live, we
are not supposed to go out and kill all those we suspect to have committed a
crime. Since September 11, his government continues to undermine the rule of
law with overt and covert legislation. His War on Terror violates the 1903
Geneva Conventions, international human rights laws and the Constitution of the
United
States.
We know that in 2001 the United States imprisoned more than 600 men from at least 43
countries, in Guantanamo Bay. The aim, President Bush claims, was to interrogate
them about their suspected involvement in the Al Quaeda terrorist network.
You all have seen the
embarrassing photographs, the unspeakable photographs from Abu Ghraib: From the
prisons of Abu Ghraib, from the prisons in Iraq, from the prisons in Afghanistan, and now we know that he has used the same methods as
well in Guantanamo Bay.
The US government considers Guantanamo Bay a lawless zone, a place where the US can be free of all international obligations. On the
BBC website, you will see Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights ( the right to a public, fair hearing by an independent tribunal. This
very article, the US government is denying to prisoners they are holding in Guantanamo Bay and in other locations. The United States government has labeled these men âunlawful enemy
combatants.’ When they were first apprehended, some were released. I don’t know
if the media in this country has let you see really what these people have been
saying about what happened in Guantanamo Bay.
Yes, we question all media,
as you say. If you go and see what is being said in media in other parts of the
world, you’ll see that it’s very different from what we’ve been told in this
country throughout these years between September 11 and today. Today the media
feels that the overwhelming majority of the people do not approve of President
Bush, so we can now see some of what is true about what happened in Guantanamo Bay, in the War in Iraq, in Afghanistan and in Iraq itself. But before we were not allowed to see it.
Numerous governments and
organizations have condemned the US actions in regard to the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and in other places. They have criticized the
physical conditions of the camps, the stark treatment of the prisoners. In
2003, British Law Lord Stein (????) Said the prisoners were being held in utter
lawlessness. And what we can see today is that George Bush has brought this
country to be in utter lawlessness. And that’s why President Bush should be
indicted and should be driven out of office. He should be sent back home in Texas.
I want to just ask you a few
questions before I leave you. Do you know how many UN treaties, how many
conventions, how many protocols George Bush has walked away from and has
violated?
*The anti-ballistic missile
treaty ( he walked away in 2001.
*The 1972 biological and
toxic weapons convention, ratified by 144 nations.
*The UN agreement on curbing
the international flow of illicit small arms ( he walked away in 2001.
*In April of 2001 the US was not reelected to the UN Human Rights Commission
after years of withholding dues to the UN, including dues at the time of $244
millions.
*The US refused to ratify in International Criminal Court,
and we all know why. The reason is if they had ratified the International
Criminal Court, today those soldiers who are committing or who have performed
torture against prisoners of war will be held accountable. And that’s why he
has not ratified International Criminal Court.
*The land mine treaty was
signed in 1997 by 122 nations. But the United States has refused, under George W. Bush.
*And the Kyoto Protocols for
controlling global warming was declared dead by President Bush. But not only
did her declare it dead, but he a has done everything to undermine the Kyoto protocols and with the help of his big friend. Prime
Minister Blair, he has managed to finally defeat and destroy and kill the Kyoto
Protocol.
*In November 2001 the US wanted in the UN Committee on Disarmament and
Security to demonstrate its opposition to the comprehensive nuclear test ban
treaty. This treaty has been signed by 164 nations, and ratified by 89,
including France, Great Britain and Russia. It was signed by President Bush, by President
Clinton. However, it was rejected by the Senate in 1999, and the US is now one of thirteen non-ratifiers among countries
that have nuclear weapons and nuclear power.
*The US has signed but not ratified the 1999 UN convention on
the Right of the Child. Would you believe that the US is one of only two countries in the world who have
not ratified the UN convention on the Right of the Child, and the other is Somalia. And do you know why this is? Because the US used to execute juveniles, under the age of 18. And
who was one of the people who used to be most supportive of that? It was
President Bush who executed 152 people in Texas, including innocent people.
I myself was a witness to the
execution of an innocent man named Gary Graham when he was the governor.
And why it is now time for
George Bush to go back to Texas.
That is his place and that is where he belongs. We do not want him any more as
president of the United States.
President Bush has given
precedence to all the energy companies and he continues to do so. We have seen
what happens in New
Orleans, in Miami. We have seen the result of global warming. Despite
that, President Bush continues to deny that there is evidence that humans cause
global warming. I would like you to all think ( we don’t have much time. We don’t
have much time to survive, to survive and do what is necessary to fight global
warming. If President Bush remains in power we will all be lost. Therefore we
need President Bush to go before he can cause us more harm.
President Bush ( we want to
drive him out.