letters

What kind of law do you have in Panama, where agents of Fidel Castro can lure Cuban patriots into the country, hide explosives in their rented automobile, complain to the authorities and have them thrown in jail for all these years without a trial? Free our Cuban patriots NOW, President Moscoso!

name withheld
Miami, Florida

The Republic of Panama will celebrate its first Centennial on November 3rd, 2003, in a fashion similar to that of the United States on July 4th, 1876.

Like in Panama, here In Washington DC, and around the USA, Panamanian associations are busy organizing programs to celebrate this historic event.

The Panama Centennial Committee: Washington, DC Metropolitan Area members are: Dorotea Bryce (chair), collaborators: Mahalia Joseph, Lilia Knight, Norma Small-Warren, Aida Ramos-Alvarez, Raymond Grant, Jorge Valles, Camila Bryce-Laporte, Rene Bryce-Laporte, all residing in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area.

Our Centennial programs are designed to provide the members of the Panamanian community in the Washington, DC metropolitan area with an opportunity to participate in activities similar to those taking place in Panama and to share the Panamanian culture with other members of the Washington, DC community.

Our next activity is scheduled for Monday, October 6, 2003, at Howard University in Washington, DC. It will consist of a Symposium, a cultural display, a Recognition segment to honor successful Panamanians residing the Washington, DC area and abroad; a folkloric group presentation; and dinner.

Our committee hopes to establish permanent links with those attending and to continue sharing the Panamanian culture beyond the Panamanian Centennial celebration.

For more information, please contact Dorotea Bryce at (301) 439-1161

Raymond A. Grant

I hope your country isn't as foolish as mine (USA) in trying to prevent the future from happening.

Presently, the entertainment industry is being transformed by a new distribution system: peer-to-peer (p2p) networking. Currently demonized by American entertainment companies, p2p is entertainment's future. For example, it will eventually enable us to watch television programs when WE want to watch them and not when a middleman (i.e., TV network) says we can.

Foolishly, America's entertainment industry is fighting p2p. The Recording Industry Association of America has tried to get the courts to shut down companies that make p2p programs. It succeeded with Napster but later couldn't with all the rest. Now it is suing everyone who freely shares music over the Internet. From 71-year-old grandfathers to working single mothers of 12-year-old girls. And the Motion Picture Association of America and National Association of Broadcasters (of America) are also discussing how to fight p2p.

Instead, entertainment companies need to find a business model that will profit from p2p. I have proposed one in a recent white paper (http://www.nonesuch.org/p2prevolution.pdf). The first country to act on a workable business model could end up dominating the global entertainment industry. Could that country be yours?

Scott Jensen
Marketing consultant/futurist
Madison, Wisconsin

If a Chinese company's control of the ports at both ends of the Panama Canal is a threat to American interests, imagine how much more there will be to complain about if Red China finances the construction of a third set of locks and gets a security interest in the canal to collect a debt that Panama won't be able to repay.

name withheld

With an arrogance that rivals the Borgia princes and the Manchu emperors, the Bush Administration has pursued a pattern of lawlessness, disregarding for civil liberties, human rights, and international law.

Ever since the build-up to the Invasion of Iraq began, the Bush administration has placed itself and its cronies above all law, establishing preemptive exemptions for future criminality.

Through dicta, treaties, civil suits and legislation, the Bush administration has reduced the civil liberties and human rights of not only its own citizens, but citizens of all nations around the world, while simultaneously establishing new rights and privileges for its inner circle. The Bush administration is rewriting or overturning every legal protection, national and international, that interferes with their absolute authority. The nations of the world must act together to offset the chaos of this illegitimacy.

Here are just a few examples of their tyrannical actions:

1. UNDERMINING THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC).

The Bush administration has launched a comprehensive campaign against the ICC, declaring that "the United States has no legal obligations arising from its signature" of the Rome Statute, in essence "unsigning" the treaty. Amidst bribes and threats by US officials, the UN Security Council approved a resolution shielding UN peacekeepers from prosecution by the International Criminal Court for an additional year. Undoubtedly, the US plans to use this resolution as a shield for the Iraqi occupation, since the only US peacekeepers in UN-sanctioned activities are the limited forces in Kosovo. And now, as the death toll from starvation and violence rises in Liberia, the US has been forgoing participation in the rescue mission, while it demands an exemption from ICC prosecution.

See: http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/icc/usproposal.htm
and: http://www.wfa.org/issues/wicc/wicc.html
and: http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/64771/1/

2. RADICAL REINTERPRETATION OF CIVIL LAW.

The US has come to the aid of that stalwart of democracy, the Burmese military dictatorship and its oil partner, Unocal. US Attorney General John Ashcroft is undermining the 1789 Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), with a brief in defense of the oil company Unocal and the Burmese military for forced labor and other abuses committed during the construction of the Yadana pipeline. If upheld by the Court, victims around the world would be refused the right to sue for abuses committed by US corporations. The complaint filed with the Los Angeles superior court states that the army "engaged in a pattern of systematic human rights abuses and environmental degradation ... to fulfill its contractual responsibilities to Unocal and Total. ... Abuses such as extrajudicial killings, torture, rape and extortion by pipeline security forces have dramatically increased since the Yadana project was initiated."

See: http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/05/us051503.htm
and: http://www.globalpolicy.org/intljustice/atca/atcaindx.htm
and: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0728-02.htm

3. SUSPENSION OF CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE USA .

By the Patriot Acts I & II: allowing random arrests and detention without hearings or trials; the concealment of presidential records, superseding the Freedom of Information Act; detentions for indeterminate lengths of time without sentencing, trials or even charges; establishing secret military tribunals; legalizing searches and seizures without warrants or notifications; allowing the infiltration and surveillance of religious, labor and political organizations; allowing the surveillance of private business records without proof of probable cause; and eliminating all e-mail and Internet privacy.

See: http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=11904&c=206
and: http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=Hx5NfV4BOI&Content=264
and: http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/03-06/full.pdf

4. US DEMANDING INDULGENCES FOR WAR CRIMES NOT YET COMMITTED.

Article 98 of the Rome Agreement for the International Criminal Court (ICC) states that extradition from a third country may require waiver of immunity and consent to surrender the accused. Although the Bush Administration has withdrawn the US from the International Criminal Court, it continues to demand so-called "Article 98" agreements that grant immunity to US citizens. Although an exemption for individual foot soldiers might be acceptable, there is no justification for granting blanket immunity to the war criminals that give them their orders. US Military is free to rape, pillage, slaughter civilians, impose ethnic cleansing, torture prisoners, commit genocide, or anything else without any repercussions in the World Criminal Court. The US is buying indulgences for its crimes with bilateral "Article 98" agreements, so that they won't be held accountable. They have threatened and bribed 38 nations into giving them an exemption for war crimes they have not yet committed. This special dispensation is for future war crimes. They are buying indulgences for future sins. Where is Martin Luther when you need him?

See: http://www.un.org/law/icc/statute/romefra.htm
and: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=72131314&p=7zy3zxzx
and: http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/usandun/03061205.htm
and: http://www.praguepost.com/P03/2003/Art/0612/news4.php
and: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2774571,00.html
and: http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters07-02-101919.asp?reg=EUROPE

5. OIL COMPANY IMMUNITY FROM US PROSECUTION.

Rivaling the tyrannical rule of Henry VIII, George W. Bush has decreed (Executive Order 13303) that "any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process is prohibited, and shall be deemed null and void with respect Development Fund for Iraq and all Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, and interests therein." In other words, Exxon, Mobil, Chevron, Texaco, Halliburton, Bechtel, everyone else in multinational petrochemical industry, is immune from prosecution and civil litigation in the US for anything they might do with Iraqi oil. They are free from all liabilities for pollution, slave labor, oil spills, criminal thefts, murders of labor organizers, lawsuits for bad debts, or any other illegal activity that they might engage in.

See: http://www.counterpunch.org/kretzmann07222003.html
and: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/ edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-13412.htm

6. IMPOSING DICTATORIAL RULE IN IRAQ.

The dictatorial rule of Viceroy Bremer is constructed through dictums called "Orders of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA)". Since the Iraqi legislature was dismantled along with the rest of Saddam's Regime, there is no law other than the Geneva Conventions that could possibly govern the occupation of Iraq. But, the Bremer Regime is appointing courts and judges. These courts have as much to do with justice as the invasion did. As the occupation becomes entrenched in guerrilla warfare, the US-run Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) has dropped the propaganda facade of "Iraqi Democracy" and unveiled its authoritarian rule. These orders of the CPA are not law derived from the Iraqi Parliament, Saddam regime, UN Charter, the Geneva Conventions, the existing Iraqi Constitution or even the US Constitution. These laws are dictated by Paul Bremer as he, and he alone, sees fit. He has more imperial power than Napoleon. At least that tyrant had a code of laws which he was promoting.

See: http://www.cpa-iraq.org/
and: http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=2943840
and: http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/ FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1054966234741

7. US DICTATES CENSORSHIP FOR IRAQ.

There are no "Rights of Man," "Bill of Rights" or "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" that temper Governor-General Bremer's dictatorial power. Its pure tyranny --- rule by force, not by law. For example, Bremer recently introduced CPA Order 14, prohibiting media from broadcasting or publishing material that incites violence against any individual or group "including racial, ethnic, religious groups, and women"; encourages civil disorder; or "incites violence against coalition forces." Violators, if convicted, will be fined up to $1,000 or sentenced to up to one year in prison. Most recently, the US-appointed mayor of Al-Najaf, Abu Haydar, was arrested. The people of Al-Najaf weren't happy with his appointment two months ago. But they are infuriated by the capricious rule of the CPA. This kind of censorship can never be considered justice.

See: http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0619/p01s01-woiq.html
and: http://www.indexonline.org/news/20030611_iraq.shtml
and: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=1652&Language=EN

8. INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISTS PLACED IN CUSTODY.

As part of their implementation of CPA Order 14, reporters from around the world have been "detained" by the Coalition Authority. Two Iranian television journalists from IRIB have been held in a high-security prison since June 29, 2003. They were arrested for unspecified security violations. No charges have ever been stated. Japan Press reporter Kazutaka Sato, 47, was put in a hold, thrown to the ground and kicked, before being "detained" by US soldiers for filming without their permission. Paul Wolfowitz, White House Spokesperson and Guantanamo Inquisitor, has accused Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and Dubai Television of false reporting and inciting violence.

See: http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters07-29-063017.asp?reg=MIDEAST
and: http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=267735
and: http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1394033,00.html
and: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,93019,00.html
and: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=7583

9. MARCHES AND DEMONSTRATIONS MADE ILLEGAL.

According to CPA Order 19 "It is unlawful for any person, group or organization to conduct or participate in any march, assembly, meeting or gathering on roadways, public thoroughfares or public places in more than one specific area of or location in, any municipality on any given day, unless acting under authority of the Coalition Force Commander or a Divisional or Brigade Commander. Any individual violating this Order may be detained, arrested, prosecuted and, if convicted, sentenced to up to one year in prison." So much for freedom of Assembly in Iraq. The rest of the Coalition Orders are just as tyrannical.

See: http://www.cpa-iraq.org/regulations/index.html

10. GRAND INQUISITOR WOLFOWITZ.

The appointment of Paul Wolfowitz as Inquisitor General to pass judgment on the "detainees" in Guantanamo, is a process that has no precedent in US or International Law since the Spanish Inquisition. The detainees have been held without "Habeas Corpus" and are to by judged without any "due process" of law. They are not being held either as criminals or prisoners of war. They are being "detained" without charges as "enemy combatants," a completely undefined category in any body of law. As such, they are subject to capital punishment without legal counsel or representation, and without formal indictments. Their guilt or innocence of the vague crime of "terrorism" will be determined by the Grand Inquisitor Paul Wolfowitz. The only appeal for review will be to President George W. Bush himself. This is complete lawlessness. It is truly absurd to judge the innocent or guilt of a person before you have defined the crime that they are accused of. The US is not only denying the detainees fundamental rights, but it is jeopardizing any claim in any country ruled by law.

See: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,90544,00.html
and: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-2837568,00.html
and:http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/newsroom/releases/ pReleases.asp?ObjID=xLfLY18ovk&Content=205
and: http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=BfJsiG5JUN&Content=220
and: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3043332.stm

11. REVENGE IS NOT HUMANITARIAN.

Instead of doing the hard work of establishing humane living conditions in Iraq, the US continues its blood lust and revenge by imposing a judiciary system of its own creation to enforce laws dictated by the Governor-General Bremer, the head of the CPA. The US denial of clean water, electricity and sanitation to the people of Iraq is approaching a catastrophe. As the army of occupation, they are responsible for maintain basic humanitarian services for the citizenry. To deny these services is a war crime as defined in the Geneva Conventions. Of course, these crimes will not be covered by the CPA's lawless judiciary.

See: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/10554979255.htm

12. APPOINTED POLITICAL COUNCIL DOES NOT REPRESENT THE IRAQIS.

Governor-General Bremer has appointed 25 Iraqi politicians, a "Political Council," to act as an intermediary between the Iraqi population and the CPA. Bremer wants fudge the question of who will actually has authority. The council may appoint interim ministers, oversee policy areas such as security, education, health, budget and finance; all subject to approval and possible VETO by Bremer. The Council is simply a front organization to implement the will of the US occupation.

See: http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/6296455.htm
and: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3063307.stm

This lawlessness is not simply arrogance and bullishness --- it is outright tyranny and greed.

The Bush administration's war on civil liberties and human rights must be stopped!

PLEASE -
OPPOSE ALL BILATERAL "ARTICLE 98" AGREEMENTS WITH THE USA.
RESTORE THE INTERNATIONAL RULE OF LAW.

PLEASE -
INSIST ON UN PEACEKEEPERS, NOT US OCCUPIERS;
OPPOSE THE USE OF INTERNATIONAL TROOPS TO ENFORCE US OCCUPATION OF IRAQ.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=7781

PLEASE -
RETURN THE UN WEAPONS INSPECTORS TO IRAQ;
RESUME THE UNMOVIC AND IAEA MANDATES.

PLEASE -
DISBAND THE COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY;
ESTABLISH A UNITED NATIONS PROTECTORSHIP FOR IRAQ.

PLEASE -
CALL FOR UN-MONITORED IRAQI ELECTIONS IMMEDIATELY, AND NOT ONE DAY LONGER!
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=7744
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1009821,00.html

PLEASE -
PROMOTE DEMOCRACY, STABILITY AND PROGRESS FOR IRAQ;
RESTORE THE CENTRAL ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS;
DEMAND AN END TO THE US OCCUPATION OF IRAQ.

Join the International Day of Protest against the Lawless US Empire, September 28, 2003.
http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/s28/index.html

Ray Lauzzana
San Francisco, California

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