The Harper government has ignored a request to prohibit former U.S. president George W. Bush from visiting Canada tomorrow (March 17).

The group that issued the request—Lawyers  Against the War—and Stopwar.ca will hold a news conference  tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. near the entrance to B.C. Supreme Court  at 800 Smithe Street in Vancouver. There will also be a demonstration at that time against Bush's visit to Canada.

Lawyers Against the War issued a news release late yesterday (March 15) mentioning that it had formally notified Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Attorney General (and Justice Minister) Rob Nicholson that there was "overwhelming evidence" that Bush had committed torture and other offences outside of Canada.

Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, this would be grounds for barring the U.S. president from visiting Canada.

"We can only conclude that the Harper government has made a political decision to ignore the law and allow Bush to freely enter and leave Canada," LAW cofounder Gail Davidson said in the news release.

Below is  a "Ban Bush for War Crimes" background paper, which was released by Lawyers Against the War along with  its news release:

Legal Basis:   --George W. Bush, former President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, is inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), section 35(1)(a) because of overwhelming evidence that he has “committed, outside Canada, torture and other offences referred to in sections 4 to 7 of the Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act (CAHWC)”; and,

-- The George W. Bush Administration has engaged in “systematic or gross human rights violations, or a war crime or a crime against humanity” within the meaning of subsections 6(3) to (5) of the CAHWC.

Under the IRPA, if there are reasonable grounds to believe a person has been complicit in any of these crimes, entry to Canada must be denied.

Reasonable grounds, according to the Supreme Court of Canada are “something more than suspicion but less than”¦proof on the balance of probabilities.”  

The test is not whether a person has been convicted,   but whether there are reasonable grounds to think they have been involved.  

Many competent authorities have concluded that the available evidence establishes conclusively that Bush and the Bush Administration committed torture and other war crimes and crimes against humanity and that Canada and other states now have a duty to condemn, investigate, prosecute and punish those crimes.  

For example, UN General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, on March 4, 2009, concluded:   "The [Bush Administration] aggressions against Iraq and Afghanistan and their occupations constitute atrocities that must be condemned and repudiated by all who believe in the rule of law in international relations."      

Earlier this year, Manfred Nowak, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Torture, said the U.S. has a “clear obligation” to prosecute Bush and his former Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld for authorizing torture — a violation of the Convention on Torture.    

UN Special Rapporteur Martin Scheinin in February 2009 said “”¦the United States has created a comprehensive system of extraordinary renditions, prolonged and secret detention, and practices that violate the prohibition against torture and other forms of ill treatment”¦.States must not aid or assist in the commission of acts of torture, or recognize such practices as lawful, ”¦Under international human rights law, States are under a positive obligation to conduct independent investigations into alleged violations of the right to life, freedom from torture or other inhuman treatment, enforced disappearances or arbitrary detention, to bring to justice to those responsible for such acts...”

The RCMP has a duty to investigate and prevent such crimes under common law and also under the War Crimes Program.    

Lawyers Against the War is ready, on request, to provide references to evidence of torture, as well as references to complete statements and statutes as quoted above.

History:  
1. Letter to PM Harper and top officials dated Feb. 23, 2009  
 http://bushprosecution.org/uploads/403b9058-998a-8ed9.pdf

2. Letter to RCMP War Crimes Section dated March 11, 2009  
http://www.nightslantern.ca/law/LAW.War.Crimes.Program.11.03.09.F.pdf
                                                                                                     

MORE

Bush Speaking Tour:  

1.Bush to speak in Canada: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Bush+start+speaking+tour+Canada/1283282/story.html  

2. Angry Crowds Hunt Bush in Latin America:   http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/mar/10/usa.brazil  

3.  Friends and foes brace for Bush in Calgary: http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/city/story.html?id=21f98d59-dca7-4697-b5e8-de1cca7a00f6  

4.  Bush on international speaking tour:   http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5798635.ece

About Lawyers Against the War:
    LAW is an international organization of lawyers and others who oppose war, advocate adherence to international humanitarian law and oppose impunity for violators. In November 2004 when Bush entered Canada, LAW filed a 7-count information alleging that, as President of the U.S. and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Bush had aided, abetted and counseled torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay. A judge of the Provincial (Criminal Division) Court of BC dismissed the proceedings on the basis that as a sitting head of state, Bush had “immunity from prosecution under the criminal laws of Canada.”   The Attorney General of Canada then blocked appeals on the merits by refusing to consent to the proceedings, presumably on the same basis. No such immunity from prosecution for torture now applies, and G.W. Bush is now liable to prosecution for torture and other crimes in many countries.