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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (24794)	7/18/2000 4:06:02 PM
From: TigerPaw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

You would be an expert in that realm. You flatter me, but I do usually recognize the tactic when I see it. TP

To: jlallen who wrote (24794)	7/18/2000 6:03:56 PM
From: DMaA	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Lady Thatcher next victim of International "Justice"? The Pinochet travesty was just the tip of the iceberg. Any room on the docket for an Aspirin Factory terrorist? If the families of Navy Sailors killed in battle have a course of action in the New World Order, how much more do the families of innocent drug factory workers? Thatcher said to lose round to Argentines in 'war crimes' fight 'The court has resolved that the demand is valid and that the victims of the cruiser Belgrano and their relatives have an argument for compensation and for the extradition of Margaret Thatcher' - lawyer: Sailors' relatives spurred by success of anti-Pinochet case Paul Waldie National Post The European Court of Human Rights has agreed to consider whether Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister, committed war crimes during the Falkland Islands war in 1982, an Argentine lawyer says. Javier Olivera said the court made the ruling at the request of his clients, the families of the 323 Argentine sailors who died when their warship was sunk on May 2, 1982. "The families of those victims have been waiting years to bring Margaret Thatcher to justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity," Mr. Olivera said in a telephone interview from Buenos Aires. "The families want compensation, and a condemnation of Margaret Thatcher as well as the extradition of Mrs. Thatcher to Argentine courts so she can be judged, penalized and jailed in Argentina." Argentina has long argued that the General Belgrano, a cruiser carrying a crew of about 1,000, was sunk outside a 200-mile (320-kilometre) military exclusion zone that Britain established around the islands. Baroness Thatcher, as she now is, has not commented on the case but she and British military leaders have always insisted that the ship was sunk because it posed a threat to British soldiers. The ship was the second largest vessel in the Argentine navy. It could be several months before the case is heard by the human rights court, which is in Strasbourg, France. The Falklands war began in the spring of 1982 after Argentine forces invaded the islands to back claims Argentina had inherited the territory from Spain before Britain occupied the islands in 1833. Nearly 1,000 soldiers, including more than 250 British troops, died in the 10-week battle, which ended when Britain won back the islands. The General Belgrano was sunk by a British nuclear submarine on May 2, 1982, about 58 kilometres outside the exclusion zone. Argentina has alleged that Baroness Thatcher ordered the attack in part to undermine peace negotiations underway at the time. The families' claim in the European court was prompted largely by the recent legal wrangling over General Augusto Pinochet, the former dictator of Chile. General Pinochet was arrested in London in 1998 during a visit for medical treatment at the request of Spain, which sought to try him for human-rights violations comitted under his regime. General Pinochet argued he was immune to prosecution as a former head of state. He was returned to Chile earlier this year on medical grounds but Britain's House of Lords, the country's highest court, ruled that human-rights law can override sovereign immunity. The Pinochet case "has had a tremendous impact in the sense of showing state leaders that there is what one could call this new culture of accountability," said Sharron Williams, a professor of international law at York University in Toronto. Countries "are replacing the culture of impunity with the culture of accountability." Mr. Olivera has acknowledged that the Pinochet decision was a crucial factor in pressing ahead with the families' claims. "It is now the right moment in history for this. Ten years ago it would have been impossible," he has said. Other groups have also seized on the Pinochet decision. For example, this summer, the families of five people killed when NATO bombs blew up a television station in Belgrade filed a similar suit in the same court against Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, accusing him of violating international law. The European Court of Human Rights dates back to 1950, when the Council of Europe established a convention on human rights. The court was reconfigured in 1998 and it has the power to censure countries and order damages. "Generally speaking its track record in terms of success in its judgments being carried out is pretty good," Ms. Williams said. Mr. Olivera said he was surprised at the speed of the court's decision to hear the case. The application was filed earlier this month. "The court has resolved that the demand is valid and that the victims of the cruiser Belgrano and their relatives have an argument for compensation and for the extradition of Margaret Thatcher," he said. A spokesman for Baroness Thatcher said last week that she has no fear she will be arrested and face the same fate as General Pinochet. "We will not be stopped," said the spokesman. "Lady Thatcher will continue to travel around the world as she has always done." nationalpost.com