National Jurist - October 2008 - (Page 19) ‘We’re going to give it our best shot’ Lawrence Velvel, dean and founder of the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover, lays out plans to prosecute President Bush and other officials for war crimes awrence Velvel has a serious agenda. The dean and founder of the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover held a two-day conference in September to discuss a serious attempt at formulating a plan to pursue the guilty members of the Bush administration for war crimes. The conference, “Planning for the Prosecution of High Level American War Criminals,” was intended to be “a by Michelle Weyenberg planning conferand Robert Gluck ence at which plans were laid and necessary organizational structures set up, to pursue the guilty as long as necessary and, if need be, to the ends of the Earth.” “And we must insist on appropriate punishments, including, if guilt is found, the hangings visited upon top German and Japanese war criminals in the 1940s,” Velvel said. “For Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and John Yoo to spend years in jail or go to the gallows for their crimes would be a powerful lesson to future American leaders.” And for the original skeptics, the conference was no publicity stunt, Velvel added. “I like a lot of people who feel pretty much disfranchised in this world believe that there is much that is fundamentally wrong with the mainstream media,” he said. “That is why there wasn’t much advanced coverage of it.” There wasn’t an empty chair in the room reserved for the conference with approximately 120 attendees. Velvel said he was quite pleased with the turnout. The conference took up such issues as the nature of domestic and international crimes committed; which high level Bush officials, including federal judges and members of Congress are chargeable with war crimes; which foreign and domestic tribunals can be used to prosecute them and the setting up of an umbrella coordinating committee with representatives of legal groups concerned about the war crimes such as the Center for Constitutional Rights and the National Lawyers Guild, among others. Velvel said they are currently setting up the formation of a central committee with 10 members that will meet to discuss possible actions to take. The actions range from asking the attorney general to take action, impeachment or a possible march by lawyers in PHOTO BY KATHY CHAPMAN Washington, DC. Velvel said the long-term problem is that the country seems well disposed to warfare and military action. It is not a subject people talk about very often, but something he has written about. “People ask me whether we’ll be successful,” Velvel said. “We don’t know how we’re going to do. We’re going to do the best we can, and we’re going to give it our best shot.” “For Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and John Yoo to spend years in jail or go to the gallows for their crimes would be a powerful lesson to future American leaders.” — Lawrence Velvel, dean of Massachusetts School of Law October 2008 THE NATIONAL JURIST 19
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