Bianca Jagger at Los Angeles Rally 
I have come a long way to see
you and I am happy that we are all together, calling for Bush to go home. When
George Bush misappropriated the November 2000 elections he abdicated the
leadership role America once enjoyed. From the moment his administration came
to power, it became evident that he was intent on challenging global rule.
George W. Bush and his administration embarked on a full-scale assault on civil
liberties, human rights and the rule of law, walking away from his international
obligations, tearing up international treaties, protocols and UN conventions.
George W. Bush made America a rogue state. Do you want George Bush to remain as the
president of this country?
I was in New York on the 11 of September, during the terrorist
attack when nearly 3000 innocent people lost their lives. I, like millions of
people throughout the world, was shocked and outraged by this act of heinous
barbarity. It was a crime against humanity and I
shared the grief of the families and friends of the victims and the sense of
loss and the cries for justice. Amid the shocking carnage of September 11, amid
the nearly 3000 innocent civilians who lost their lives in horrific
circumstances, trapped in the Twin Towers, amid the desperation of those who
plunged to their death from the heights of the World Trade Center, amid the
heroic firefighters who lost their lives trying to rescue the victims of this
unspeakable crime, amid the pile of wreckage of steel, concrete and glass, all
that was left from 220-story towers – amid all of this are the cornerstones of
our free society: civil liberties, human rights and the rule of law.
Regrettably, constitutional rights and freedoms became a casualty of George W. Bush’s War on Terror.
Do we want to continue the War on Terror that George W. Bush wants to impose on the world?
I had hoped that the rule of international law will prevail above revenge. I had hoped that President Bush
would distinguish between seeking justice and inflicting revenge. Unfortunately,
Mr. Bush’s answer to the request for justice was rather governed by Wild West
culture, and his solution has more to do with cowboy mentality and lynch mob
retribution than with the international rule of law. We all remember his
reference to a saloon bar poster, ‘Wanted Dear or Alive’ when referring to Osama
bin Laden, this same Osama bin Laden that until today he has not been able to
capture.
It was unfortunate that Mr.
Bush responded as the sheriff of a one-horse town in the Wild West would have
done, and that he had forgotten that in the legal frame in which we live, we are
not supposed to go out and kill all those we suspect to have committed a crime.
Since September 11, his government continues to undermine the rule of law with
overt and covert legislation. His War on Terror violates the 1903 Geneva
Conventions, international human rights laws and the Constitution of the
United States.
We know that in 2001 the United States imprisoned more than 600 men from at least 43 countries, in
Guantanamo Bay. The aim, President Bush claims, was to interrogate
them about their suspected involvement in the Al Quaeda terrorist network.
You all have seen the
embarrassing photographs, the unspeakable photographs from Abu Ghraib: From the
prisons of Abu Ghraib, from the prisons in Iraq, from the prisons in
Afghanistan, and now we know that he has used the same methods as
well in Guantanamo
US government considers Guantanamo Bay a lawless zone, a place where the
US can be free of all international obligations. On the
BBC website, you will see Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights – the right to a public, fair hearing by an independent tribunal. This
very article, the US government is denying to prisoners they are holding in
Guantanamo Bay and in other locations. The United States government has labeled these
men ‘unlawful enemy combatants.’ When they were
first apprehended, some were released. I don’t know if the media in this country
has let you see really what these people have been saying about what happened in
Guantanamo Bay.
Yes, we question all media, as
you say. If you go and see what is being said in media in other parts of the
world, you’ll see that it’s very different from what we’ve been told in this
country throughout these years between September 11 and today. Today the media
feels that the overwhelming majority of the people do not approve of President
Bush, so we can now see some of what is true about what happened in
Guantanamo Bay, in the War in Iraq, in Afghanistan and in Iraq itself.
But before we were not allowed to see it.
Numerous governments and organizations have condemned the US
actions in regard to the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and in other places.
They have criticized the physical conditions of the camps, the stark treatment
of the prisoners. In 2003, British Law Lord Stein (????) Said the prisoners
were being held in utter lawlessness. And what we can see today is that George
Bush has brought this country to be in utter lawlessness. And that’s why President
Bush should be indicted and should be driven out of office. He should be sent back home in
Texas.
I want to just ask you a few
questions before I leave you. Do you know how many UN treaties, how many
conventions, how many protocols George Bush has walked away from and has
violated?
*The anti-ballistic missile
treaty – he walked away in 2001.
*The 1972 biological and toxic weapons convention, ratified by 144 nations.
*The UN agreement on curbing
the international flow of illicit small arms – he walked away in 2001.
*In April of 2001 the US was not reelected to the UN Human Rights Commission
after years of withholding dues to the UN, including dues at the time of $244
millions.
*The US refused to ratify in International Criminal Court, and
we all know why. The reason is if they had ratified the International Criminal
Court, today those soldiers who are committing or who have performed torture
against prisoners of war will be held accountable. And that’s why he has not
ratified International Criminal Court.
*The land mine treaty was
signed in 1997 by 122 nations. But the United States has refused, under George W. Bush.
*And the Kyoto Protocols for controlling global warming was declared dead by President Bush. But not only did
her declare it dead, but he a has done everything to undermine the
Kyoto protocols and with the help of his big friend. Prime Minister Blair,
he has managed to finally defeat and destroy and kill the Kyoto
Protocol.
*In November 2001 the
US wanted in the UN Committee on Disarmament and Security
to demonstrate its opposition to the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. This
treaty has been signed by 164 nations, and ratified by 89, including
France, Great Britain and Russia. It was signed by President Bush, by President Clinton.
However, it was rejected by the Senate in 1999, and the US is now one of
thirteen non-ratifiers among countries that have nuclear weapons and nuclear power.
*The US has signed but not ratified the 1999 UN convention on
the Right of the Child. Would you believe that the
US is one of only two countries in the world who have not
ratified the UN convention on the Right of the Child, and the other is
Somalia. And do you know why this is? Because the
US used to execute juveniles, under the age of 18. And who
was one of the people who used to be most supportive of that? It was President
Bush who executed 152 people in Texas, including innocent people.
I myself was a witness to the
execution of an innocent man named Gary Graham when he was the governor.
And why it is now time for
George Bush to go back to Texas. That is his place and that is where he belongs. We do
not want him any more as president of the United States.
President Bush has given
precedence to all the energy companies and he continues to do so. We have seen
what happens in New Orleans, in Miami. We have seen the result of global warming. Despite
that, President Bush continues to deny that there is evidence that humans cause
global warming. I would like you to all think – we don’t have much time. We
don’t have much time to survive, to survive and do what is necessary to fight
global warming. If President Bush remains in power we will all be lost.
Therefore we need President Bush to go before he can cause us more harm.
President Bush – we want to
drive him out.
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