Tag: war crimes

Statement from Chelsea Manning’s Welsh-Irish Family

January 18, 2017 Afri

The Welsh-Irish family of imprisoned whistleblower Chelsea Manning has issued the following statement in response to the announcement that President Obama has commuted Manning’s sentence.

We are all overjoyed that Chelsea will soon be free.

Chelsea exposed wrongdoing and was punished for being a whistleblower. We regret that it has taken so long for President Obama to commute the sentence and are outraged that Chelsea has been forced to endure such abusive treatment in prison. We agree with the UN Special Rapporteur Juan Mendez that some of this abuse amounted to torture.

We sincerely hope that Chelsea will now be able to get on with the rest of her life and that she finds happiness and fulfilment in whatever she chooses to do. There will always be a welcome for her here in Wales.

Afri Supports Chelsea Manning

December 16, 2014 Afri

Happy birthday Chelsea from Afri. Photo: Derek Speirs

Afri is proud to support imprisoned whistleblower Chelsea (Bradley) Manning who was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 for leaking files and footage of what supporters say is proof of U.S war crimes in Iraq. This has led to calls by groups such as Amnesty International for her release. A so called ‘collateral murder’ video leaked to Wikileaks by Manning shows U.S helicopters killing a group of civilians that included two Reuters employees.

In a recent interview on Amnesty.org Manning said “Every now and then you do come across a significant choice. Do you really want to find yourself asking whether you could have done more, 10-20 years later? These are the kinds of questions I didn’t want to haunt me.”

The International Peace Bureau (of which Afri is a member) awarded the 2013 Sean MacBride Peace Prize to Manning for her courageous actions in informing the public about US war crimes. The IPB’s Co-President Tomas Magnusson commented: “When Manning revealed to the world the crimes being committed by the US military she did so as an act of obedience to this high moral duty [to make known war crimes and crimes against humanity]”.

Since 2013 Afri has hosted and organized a series of events and meetings in solidarity with Chelsea Manning, including hosting the Manning family in a visit to Dublin, a public meeting addressed by Gerry Conlon (from the Guilford Four), the Manning ‘Truthfest’ in Wales, ‘Resisting Injustice‘, and the second Manning ‘Truthfest’ in Wales!

Film by Dave Donnellan of Chelsea Manning birthday celebration in Dublin:-

For Chelsea Manning, on her 27th Birthday

You and whose army?

By Sarah Clancy in Galway, Ireland ( @sarahmaintains)

At 22 I wasn’t much more than a playground for ideas
other people fed me.
I was three years away from even being brave enough
to explore my own identity.
It was years more before I stopped that navel gazing
and took a quick look outwards
and I’m still failing to come to terms with that at forty,
but you, at that age could gather the courage
and the words to say that as a solitary soldier
washed up in an army of macho war porn and murder
you wouldn’t stand for it,
as a loner in a theatre of torn up conventions,
of water-boarding, of torture,
you wouldn’t stay silent.
At twenty two, a kid, and right in the thick of things
you made it clear you hadn’t been fooled
by the all pervasive culture that says
there are times when it’s AOK to re-name humans
as nuts and bolt collateral.
Chelsea when they charged you in the military court
you made no Nuremberg excuses
of how someone made you do it,
and you didn’t spout on about flags or orders or duty
at twenty five you could condemn
an army for its war crimes for
its murders of civilians and children
and you could act on it despite the consequences
you could reclaim the meanings for us
of words like courage and justice,
now that’s what I call service;
someday I hope your country (and ours!) will grow up and deserve it
happy 27th birthday Chelsea
lets hope that for your next one you’ll be free.
And P.S Edward Snowden, keep on running!

Info on donating to the Manning family fund at http://manningfamilyfund.org/donate-to-the-family-fund/

Info on sending post and gifts to Chelsea Manning: http://www.chelseamanning.org/learn-more/write-to-chelsea-manning

More info on Chelsea Manning at www.chelseamanning.org

Interview with Amnesty International: ‘Why speaking out is worth the risk’

Chelsea Manning’s relatives claim she was ‘tortured’ by US military: British relatives of US whistleblower Chelsea Manning have made claims that she was “tortured” by US authorities

Shannonwatch Welcomes Attempts by TDs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace to Inspect US Military Aircraft at Shannon Airport

July 23, 2014 Afri

Shannonwatch, 22 July 2014

Shannonwatch welcomes attempts by TDs Mick Wallace and Clare Daly to inspect US military aircraft at Shannon earlier today. At a time when the airport may be helping to supply the weapons used by Israel to kill and main civilians in Gaza, it is vitally important that we have proper oversight of what is on the military planes at the airport. Despite repeated requests, the authorities refuse to search the planes to ensure they are not in breach of international law.

“We are being told repeatedly that there is no proof there are illegal weapons on the planes” said Mick Wallace. “It is nonsense to suggest that none of them are involved in military operations or that there are no weapons on board these planes, which is what the government says. But because the authorities won’t search the planes to find out if that is the case, people like us have to do it.” Continue reading “Shannonwatch Welcomes Attempts by TDs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace to Inspect US Military Aircraft at Shannon Airport” →

Tribunal Hearing Against Israel and Yaron Begins

November 21, 2013 Afri

Press Release from the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalise War

KUALA LUMPUR, 20 November 2013 – The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal (KLWCT) commenced hearing of genocide and war crimes charges against the State of Israel and Amos Yaron, a retired Israeli army general today.

In the prosecution’s opening statement by Prof Gurdial S. Nijar, he stated that this trial is significant as it charges a nation that thumbs its nose at UN resolutions; decisions of the ICJ and shakes our confidence in the meaning of civilisation.

Prof Gurdial stated, that the prosecution intends to give incontrovertible proof of the incredible crimes conceived since 1945 and which still continues until today. He stressed in his statement that for the Palestinians, it is a continuing tragic saga of huge proportions. What they term as Nakba or ‘catastrophe’ which started in 1948 with their forced dispossession and eviction from their homeland is a history of the present: an on-going dispossession, dislocation, massacres, ethnic cleansing and all else. In short, the continuity of the trauma is not just the result of 1948 but an on-going process, and continuing into the present and linked to current Israeli policies and practices. Continue reading “Tribunal Hearing Against Israel and Yaron Begins” →

Bradley Manning Found Not Guilty of Aiding the Enemy

August 12, 2013 Afri

Whistle-blower Bradley Manning was found not guilty of the charge of “Aiding the Enemy” by military judge Colonel Denise Lind. However, he has been sentenced to 90 years after the court found him guilty of a number of other charges including passing on classified information to Wikileaks.

Manning has been held in custody since 2010 after it was alleged he leaked hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the Wikileaks website, revealing information about US war crimes.

The International Peace Bureau have awarded the 2013 Sean MacBride Peace Prize to Manning for his courageous actions in informing the public about US war crimes. The IPB’s Co-President Tomas Magnusson commented: “When Manning revealed to the world the crimes being committed by the US military he did so as an act of obedience to this high moral duty [to make known war crimes and crimes against humanity]”. Continue reading “Bradley Manning Found Not Guilty of Aiding the Enemy” →

Prosecution’s Comment on the Decision in the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal

May 14, 2012 AfriLeave a comment

PROSECUTION’S COMMENT ON THE DECISION IN KUALA LUMPUR WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL CASE NO 2: CHIEF PROSECUTOR V BUSH, CHENEY, RUMSFELD & 5 OTHERS

President of the Tribunal delivering the judgement to a packed court room

The decision today by the KL War Crimes Tribunal has vindicated the integrity of international law. Its unanimous 5-Judges panel decision has resoundingly – like the 4 decisions of the US Supreme Court – declared that it is not for the President of the US to refashion international humanitarian law to suit the country’s own illegal ends. In particular the decision makes clear that the President of the US and his cohorts cannot authorise the infliction of torturous acts – in violation of international law, including the Convention on Torture and the Geneva Conventions. As the trial showed, Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, with the support and connivance of their legal advisors, threw their captives into a legal black hole, locking them for years in a constitutional limbo. They asserted – but refused to prove – that their captives were guilty of crimes.And tortured them in ways that defies belief.

What is the effect of this decision? As the highest UK Court decided when it refused immunity to Pinochet, the former Chilean President: torture is a universal crime. It is an international war crime against all of mankind. The judges there said that international law makes clear that there is no safe haven for those who carry out or order torture. And that there is an obligation by States to capture and try war criminals if they enter their countries. Indeed the courts in some countries – like Spain and Germany – have already initiated such action.

Now countries will have this conviction – which also so declared – to support any such action they may wish to take. We must emphasise that this trial was carried out with scrupulous regard to fairness and justice on the basis of rules established by the Nuremberg Charter and the International Criminal Court. Although duly served, the accused chose not to be represented, and in accordance with rules for international tribunals, a defence team was appointed on their behalf as amici curiae. In addition the memoirs of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, were supplied and cited to the court – which presented their versions and justifications of events. In a sense they “spoke” to the Tribunal through their writings. Continue reading “Prosecution’s Comment on the Decision in the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal” →