nadia-love

International People’s Tribunal @ Columbia Law School

DECEMBER 12TH MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT

456 Nostrand Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11216

(718) 398-1766 (tel)

(718) 230-5273 (fax)

D12M@aol.com

January 3, 2012

This is an invitation to attend the International People’s Tribunal on “War Crimes and Other Violations of International Law” to be held on January 14, 2012 at 12 pm at Columbia Law School. We think it will provide an excellent opportunity for students interested in gaining an understanding the theory and the practical application of international law in the real world.

Background:

The idea for the Tribunal arose out of a concern that international law was once again being used as a cover for Western imperial aggression. At the time, May 19, 2011, we were looking at the ongoing campaign against Libya and its implications for what was clearly a Western campaign to recolonize Africa and heighten its exploitation of the African Diaspora.

From the May 19th gathering to celebrate Malcolm X’s birthday, the December 12th Movement International Secretariat [D12, a Non-Governmental Organization in consultative status with the United Nations] organized a coalition of groups and individuals who agreed to hold a major demonstration, “Millions March in Harlem,” on August 13th to protest the Recolonization of Africa, the Bombing of Libya, the Economic Sanctions against Zimbabwe and NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s policies.

In the buildup to the August 13th demonstration, we held a press conference on June 22nd where Father Miguel d’Escoto, the former Nicaraguan foreign minister and former President of the UN General Assembly, stated his support.

On July 27th, we convened a forum on “War Crimes and Other Violations of International Law” before a packed audience at the NYS Office Building in Harlem. Presentations were made by attorneys Lennox Hinds of the IADL (International Association of Democratic Lawyers), NCBL (National Conference of Black Lawyers), NLG (National Lawyers Guild), Jeanne Mirer, President of the IADL, King Downing of the AFSC (American Friends Service Committee) and Roger Wareham of the International Association Against Torture and D12. The objective was to hold an International Peoples Tribunal in the coming months.

The August 13th rally was extremely successful and was followed by several mass activities which have continued to raise the necessity for the Tribunal.

The Tribunal

The objective of the Tribunal is to put the US, France, UK, Italy, Canada, NATO, et al, on trial. The results of the Tribunal will be worked into a complaint/petition to be taken by a 400 person strong delegation to the ICC at the Hague in June of 2012.

The criminal acts which the Tribunal will address include: the bombing of Libya, the regime change in Libya, the assassination of Col. Muammar Qaddafi; the French intervention in Cote d’Ivoire to arrest President Laurent Gbagbo; the sanctions campaign against Zimbabwe; the 2004 US coup against Haiti’s President Aristide.

The laws/doctrines violated include: War Crimes, Crime of Aggression; Crimes Against Humanity; Right to sovereignty; Right to self-determination; Restrictions on use of force; Humanitarian Intervention; Responsibility to Protect Doctrine; United Nations charter.

The format will involve formal presentation of charges and evidence by the Prosecutors supported by documentation/testimony by the presenters, to the judges, who will have an opportunity to question the witnesses.

The List of Participants include:

Lennox Hinds, Esq, international legal expert, former counsel for ANC during struggle against Apartheid, currently working at Rwanda Tribunal; Dr. Molefi Keti Asante; Professor at Temple University; founder of Afrocentricity International; King Downing, Esq. former coordinator of ACLU Racial Profiling Project; David Commissiong, Esq. Clement Payne Movement, key participant in international reparations movement, Barbados, WI; Sylvestre Kouadio, Esq.. African Diaspora for Democracy and Development, Cote d’Ivoire; Robert Bobby Clarke, Esq., Barbados, international human rights activist and attorney, Barbados, WI; Fr. Robert Castle, former pastor at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Harlem; Antonia Codling, Esq. Freedom Party; Troy Griffith, Esq.; Kafahni Nkrumah, Esq.;Alfred Toussaint, Esq.;Roger Wareham, Esq. International Secretary General of the International Association Against Torture (NGO in consultative status with the United Nations); one of lead attorneys in federal lawsuits seeking reparations from corporations which profited from the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade and Slavery.