How are we going to address this? A question that needs some thought.
Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema
Chris Burford wrote:
> Yesterday the International Herald Tribune carried a Reuters report that
> Alfredo Astiz, one of the most famous death squad leaders of the dirty war
> against left wing Argentinians 1976-83 turned himself into the police in
> Buenos Aires.
>
> This was in response to a request from a judge in an Italian court which
> linked him to the kidnapping of two Italian women and one man.
>
> I remember with poignancy how at the time of Pinochet's house arrest in
> London, a prominent figure in Marxism Space, and owner of his own List,
> thought it his ideological duty to mock the importance of the actions of a
> "maverick" Spanish judge. This, it turned out subsequently, was a line of
> demarcation between Kautskyism and genuine Leninism (the sort defined by
> having an FBI record).
>
> Events have now moved on and it is easier to see who more correctly
> identified the movement going on under our very eyes.
>
> The fine print about Astiz, comes at a time of a flurry of cases developing
> a new concept of international (bourgeois) law in defence of human rights.
>
> On thse lists people have rightly been restrained in crowing with any sense
> of victory about the transportation of Milosevic in view of the highly
> imperialist nature of the war and all the manoeuvrings. Nevetheless this is
> history developing under our eyes.
>
> The extradition of Milosevic to the Hague is a qualitative step in a
> process of developing international law. The possibility of international
> extradition for crimes against humanity began with Pinochet, detained in a
> gilded cage in London, three or four years ago.
>
> The extradition of Montesinos to Peru has been coordinated by the US state,
> and against the will of the Venezuelan regime but it is some proof that
> even under Bush the USA thinks it has to appear equitable in the
> development of international justice.
>
> The pressure is now on for the surrender of Serbian fascists like Mladic
> and Karadicz. But there is a sting in the tail on Milosevic. If the Hague
> cannot make all the charges stick, it may have to convict him on lesser
> charges, the sort that would make leaders of the US accountable to
> international courts.
>
> Karadicz and Kissinger also to the Hague!
>
> Chris Burford
>
> London
>
> ___________________
>
> Montesinos is accused of massive corruption while serving as President
> Alberto Fujimori's right-hand man during his 1990-2000 presidency. He faces
> 52 court cases on charges including murder, money laundering, drug
> trafficking, arms dealing and directing death squads.
>
> A videotape of Montesinos bribing an opposition lawmaker led to Fujimori's
> downfall. He lives in exile in Japan, his ancestral homeland.