Canadians try to arrest George W Bush

By David P. Ball, rabble.ca:

Legal Challenge Seeking George W. Bush’s Arrest During BC Visit Fails

Monday 24 October 2011

George W. Bush‘s visit to Surrey, B.C., on Thursday was met with a protest and an unsuccessful courtroom bid to have him detained for torture during his presidency.

Roughly 200 demonstrators chanted for his detainment, many waving their shoes in the air, in reference to a 2008 incident at Baghdad press conference, when Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi hurled a sneaker at the former president.

“We have many orphans in my country because of his war,” said an Iraqi woman who would not give her name out of fear for her family in Iraq. “So many innocent women and children have been killed — what did they do to deserve this? I want him to face prison.”

Inside the Sheraton Guildford Hotel, where the event took place, 500 businesspeople paid $599 to attend.

As Bush arrived yesterday morning, the Canadian Centre for International Justice filed a private prosecution in a Surrey provincial court to have him arrested. Made on behalf of four plaintiffs the unsuccessful attempt joined calls by Amnesty International, as well as a 4,000-page legal submission to Canada’s Attorney General.

The four men — Hassan bin Attash, Sami el-Hajj, Muhammed Khan Tumani and Murat Kurnaz — endured years of inhumane treatment including beatings, chaining to cell walls, being hung from walls or ceilings while handcuffed, lack of access to toilets, sleep, food and water-deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures, sensory overload and deprivation at U.S. military bases in Afghanistan and/or at the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. While three of the plaintiffs were released without ever facing charges, Bin Attash still remains in detention at Guantánamo Bay, never having been formally charged with any wrongdoing.

Earlier this year, Bush was forced to cancel a trip to Switzerland after Amnesty International and other rights organizations threatened him with a similar court action.

Glenn Greenwald: WikiLeaks Cables and the Iraq War: here.

The Obama administration continues to suppress the most simplest of Guantanamo-related documents, such as this one here.

Former Guantanamo inmates tell of confessions under ‘torture’: here.

Department of Justice Balks at Turning Over Guantanamo Detainee’s “Power-of-Attorney” Document to His Lawyers: here.