Oppose Gonzales as Attorney General

["UFPJ Action Alerts" <listmaster at unitedforpeace.org>]

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ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
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OPPOSE GONZALES AS ATTORNEY GENERAL
Contact your senators and urge them to vote no on confirmation
Call the Congressional Switchboard at 202-224-3121 (9-5 EST)
or send a letter via http://www.peace-action.org/home/11.29.04torture.html
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The nomination of White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General
of the United States raises the likelihood that the chief legal officer in
the second Bush Administration will undermine, not uphold, the Constitution
of the United States he is sworn to support.

An August 2002 Justice Department memo approved by Gonzales radically
narrowed the definition of torture to permit anything short of organ
failure, death, or permanent psychological damage. It also asserted that
laws prohibiting torture did not apply to "the President's detention of
enemy combatants." This high-level sanction paved the way for the brutal
and appalling torture committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, at
Guantanamo, and at Abu Ghraib.

Gonzales, moreover, does not respect international law as part of the
Constitutional framework of the United States. In January 2002, as White
House Counsel, he wrote that Al Qaeda and Taliban detainees were exempt
from the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment and rights of
prisoners. His memo brushed aside the Conventions as “quaint” and
“obsolete” in "a new kind of war." The Supreme Court has since ruled that
the "war on terror" does not justify blocking access to basic judicial
protections. Veterans and other military representatives have spoken out
that the safeguards of the Geneva Conventions are important to protect our
troops in time of war. (See below for links to much more background
information on Gonzales, and to a new pamphlet on the U.S. government's
long complicity in human rights abuses from UFPJ member group Historians
Against the War.)

Background on U.S. Senate process: The Senate Judiciary Committee held only
one day of hearings, January 6, on the nomination of Alberto Gonzales for
Attorney General of the United States. The committee is expected to vote on
the Gonzales nomination before the end of January, possibly right after the
presidential Inauguration on January 20, with the full Senate voting soon
thereafter. (The House of Representatives does not vote on Cabinet officer
nominations.)

TAKE ACTION

* Call the Congressional Switchboard, 202-224-3121 (9-5 EST) and urge your
senators to vote against Gonzales’ confirmation

* Visit the website of UFPJ member group Peace Action to send a letter to
your senators and/or to the editor of your local newspaper opposing the
Gonzales nomination
http://www.peace-action.org/home/11.29.04torture.html


BACKGROUND INFORMATION

1. Statement on Gonzales nomination from the Leadership Conference on Civil
Rights
https://secure2.convio.net/lccr/site/Advocacy?JServSessionIdr010=aey4jbzuo2.app6a&id=231

2. Statement on Gonzales nomination from Alliance for Justice
http://www.allianceforjustice.org/hot_topic/collection/gonzalesnom1104.html

3. Essay by Maria Blanco, executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for
Civil Rights, from the San Francisco Chronicle:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/01/02/INGORAIISP1.DTL

4. "Torture, American Style": 22-page collection of short historical essays
on the U.S. government's long complicity in human rights abuses, from
Nicaragua to Vietnam to Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib -- and here at home in our
ever-growing prison complex. You can read or download it at
http://www.historiansagainstwar.org/resources/torture/, where you will also
find instructions for bulk-ordering.

5. Mexican American Political Association press release opposing Gonzales:

MAPA MEDIA ADVISORY

January 6, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nativo V. Lopez (323) 236-7990
MAPA OPPOSES CONFIRMATION OF ALBERTO GONZALES FOR THE POSITION OF U.S.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
MAPA CALLS FOR THE RESPECT OF THE RULE OF LAW
Los Angeles - The Mexican American Political Association (MAPA)
categorically opposes the confirmation of current White House Legal
Counsel, Alberto Gonzales, as the U.S. Attorney General of the Department
of Justice.

"While this is an extremely important appointment by President George Bush
to his cabinet, and laudable and unprecedented that a Mexican American
would be so appointed, the Mexican American Political Association has
expressed grave reservations about this candidate. Ethnicity, race, and
gender are all important considerations when such appointments are made by
the top executive officer of the U.S., but both merit and substantive
policy positions by such candidates must be of paramount consideration,"
stated Nativo Vigil Lopez, National President of MAPA.

"Based on the information made available to the public, actually leaked to
the media, regarding the role played by White House Counsel, Alberto
Gonzales, in formulating the legal interpretations of the Geneva Convention
and U.S. law, as these relate to the use of torture, MAPA cannot support
the confirmation of his candidacy for the position of U.S. Attorney General
of the Department of Justice," added Lopez..

It is now unequivocally clear that the Gonzales interpretation of both the
Geneva Convention and U.S. law, related to the use of tactics of torture on
enemy detainees, became the basis for the operational use of torture and
human rights abuses at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Iraq by U.S. military and
contractor personnel. This was in contravention to the rule of law -
international and domestic.

The position of U.S. Attorney General is the highest legal position of the
government charged with protecting the citizenry, most particularly the
civil rights of the historically disenfranchised sectors of the population
- minorities, females, disabled, seniors, and minors. The Justice
Department is a bastion of recourse by these sectors whose rights have been
violated in the areas of voting, employment, immigration, and education.
The highest respect and observance of the rule of law are of utmost concern
to MAPA, which has a half century history of fighting to protect the civil
rights of its constituency.

"We can only support a candidate who has a demonstrated commitment to the
rule of law, most especially during trying times and circumstances of
social unrest, war, civil disturbances, protest, and real or supposed
threats to our security. The treatment of arrestees and detainees under
such circumstances, and the observance of constitutional protections, are
real life indicators of the respect for the rule of law. Alberto Gonzales
does not merit favorable consideration for this charge," concluded Lopez.

MAPA, a multi-partisan advocacy organization, was founded in Fresno,
California in 1963 and has chapters throughout California. It is dedicated
to the constitutiona l and democratic principles of political freedom and
representation for the Mexican, Mexican American and Latino people in the
U.S. For more information, call (323) 269-1575 or visit the MAPA website
at: www.mapa.org .
===========================================
UFPJ 2nd NATIONAL ASSEMBLY * Feb 19-21, St. Louis
Anti-war strategy & planning meeting
Register now: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/assembly
===========================================
SATURDAY, MARCH 19: GLOBAL DAY OF PROTEST
ON THE TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE IRAQ WAR
* End the War * Bring the Troops Home Now * Rebuild Our Communities *
Visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org for more information and to endorse
===========================================
ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
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