Text Fwd:[Halifax] peace activists protest Security Forum and want Barak and Rice charged for war crimes 캐나다 평화 활동가들, 안보 포럼에 항의, 오바마등을 전쟁 범죄자로 기소 원함

* Text sent from Tamara Lorincz on Nov. 5, 2010.



For Immediate Release – November 5, 2010

Local peace activists protest Security Forum and
want Barak and Rice charged for war crimes

(Halifax) – Local peace activists will be protesting the German Marshall Fund Halifax Security Forum this weekend. Peace activists are opposed to the NATO focus of the forum, and the participation of Israel’s Minister of Defense Ehud Barak, former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and nuclear weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

“War criminals and weapons manufacturers have nothing to teach us about security and NATO has proven to be an utter failure in Afghanistan. They should not be here influencing Canada’s foreign and military policies,” states Tamara Lorincz, member of the Halifax Peace Coalition. Lorincz also questioned the legitimacy of the forum when Palestinian and Islamic organizations and representatives of the United Nations are not invited to attend. Last year, former MP of the Afghan Parliament, Malalai Joya, was barred from attending the forum.

Lorincz further stated that “Both Barak and Rice face serious allegations of complicity in war crimes in Gaza and Iraq respectively and our Canadian government should not be inviting them to speak at a conference but instead should be investigating them under our federal Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act.”

Lorincz cites the legal authority of Marjorie Cohn who is a criminal defense attorney, law professor at Thomas Jefferson Law School and the immediate past president of the National Lawyers Guild in the United States. Cohn has publicly written that Rice should be charged for war crimes for the illegal war of aggression against Iraq and for authorizing torture and waterboarding during Rice’s tenure as U.S. Secretary of State. Lorincz added that Barak was the Defense Minister during the attack on Gaza in 2008 and is responsible for Israel’s war crimes. She explained that in 2009, Judge Richard Goldstone found that Israel committed serious violations of international humanitarian law and should be held accountable in his report for the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.

Peaceful protests will take place on Friday, November 5 at 3:00 pm and Saturday, November 6 at 1:00 pm in Cornwallis Park in front of the Westin Hotel where the Security Forum is taking place.

Background Information:

German Marshall Fund Halifax Security Forum
Goldstone Report
Marjorie Cohn, Professor of Law


For additional information, please contact:

Tamara Lorincz, Member of the Halifax Peace Coalition,
Home: (902) 443-2423 / Cell (902) 478-1379 / tlorincz@dal.ca