On September 13 and 14, 2008, the Dean of the Massachusettes School of Law held a conference titled:
A two-day conference on obtaining prosecutions of high level American war criminals will open September 13th, in Andover, Mass. The conference will explore the legal grounds for, and plan for, obtaining prosecutions of President Bush and top officials of his Administration for war crimes.
In the tradition of America’s Chief Prosecutor at the Nuremburg War Crimes Trials after World War II, Justice Robert Jackson, the Conference’s purpose is “to hold high U.S. officials accountable in courts of law and, if guilt is found, to obtain appropriate punishments. Otherwise,” said the Conference’s convener, Lawrence Velvel, “the future will be threatened by additional examples of Executive lawlessness by leaders who need fear no personal consequences” for their actions, leading to “the possibility of more Viet Nams, more Iraqs, and more repression.”
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Saturday - - 9:00 a.m. Opening Remarks
Brief introductory remarks stressing that crimes and misconduct have now occurred twice in forty years - - in Viet Nam and then again in Iraq - - and the high level perpetrators need to be punished (as occurred at Nuremberg and Tokyo in 1945 and 1946) in order to insure that people will not do these things again (as the Germans and Japanese have not committed their crimes again).
Speaker:
Lawrence R. Velvel, Dean of the Massachusetts School of Law
9:30 a.m. Panel Discussion And Subsequent Audience Participation On: The Crimes Of Torture And Degrading And Abusive Conduct, And Perpetrators and Punishments.”
Speakers:
Joshua Dratel, Esq.
Christopher Pyle, Mount Holyoke College
Philippe Sands, University College London
10:45 a.m. Break
11:00 a.m. Panel Discussion And Subsequent Audience Participation On: “Crimes Against the Peace - - Preemptive War And Aggressive War.”
Speakers:
Amy Bartholomew, Carleton College
Jordan Paust, University of Houston
Ann Wright, retired U.S. Army and author of “Dissent”
12:15 noon Luncheon
1:00 p.m. Panel Discussion And Subsequent Audience Participation On: “Murder, Conspiracy To Defraud the United States, and Various Other Domestic Crimes Under State and Federal Laws.”
Speaker:
Vincent Bugliosi, former prosecutor and author of “Prosecuting George W. Bush For Murder”
2:15 p.m. Break
2:30 p.m. Panel Discussion And Subsequent Audience Participation On: “The Torture Team: The Actions of Bush Administration Lawyers, Their Criminal Liabilities, And Potential Disbarment.”
Speakers:
Ben Davis, University of Toledo
Joshua Dratel, Esq.
Barbara Olshansky, Stanford Law School
Philippe Sands, University College London
3:45 p.m. Break
4:00 p.m. Panel Discussion And Subsequent Audience Participation On: “Existing And Potential Domestic, Foreign and International Court Cases On Torture, Rendition, and War.”
Speakers:
Barbara Olshansky, Stanford University
Laura Rotolo, ACLU
Jordan Paust, University of Houston
Peter Weiss, Center for Constitutional Rights
Sunday -- 9:00 a.m. Sunday Forum I
Topic for Panel and Audience:
What must be done to make the question of prosecutions an issue in the fall political campaign and to have the question become a significant subject in the media and on the internet.
Speakers:
Vincent Bugliosi, author of “Prosecuting George W. Bush For Murder”
Colleen Costello, Human Rights USA
David Lindorff, Journalist
David Swanson, Activist
10:15 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. Roundtable Discussion
Open microphone for group representatives present to discuss their organizations, plans and potential activities.
11:30 a.m. Lunch
12:15 p.m. Sunday Forum II
Topics for Panel and Audience:
A. Creating an umbrella coordinating committee with representatives from various organizations, including those that are already involved in cases.
B. Creating a Center to keep track of and organize relevant briefs, articles, books, opinions, facts, etc.
C. The possibility of having a Chief Prosecutor’s office a la Nuremberg.
Vincent Bugliosi, author of “Prosecuting George W. Bush For Murder”
Harold Burbank, Esq.
Colleen Costello, Human Rights USA
Laura Rotolo, ACLU
David Swanson, Activist
Peter Weiss, Center for Constitutional Rights
1:30 p.m. Final Review and Event Summary
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