Toward Freedom

Can former high level government officials in the U.S. and Latin America actually be prosecuted for crimes they committed while in office? Was the recent sentencing of Argentian dictator Reynaldo Bognone to 25 years in jail an aberration or a sign of things to come? These questions will be explored by lawyer Charlotte Dennett, author of the newly published "The People v Bush: One Lawyer's Campaign to Bring the President to Justice and the National Grassroots Movement She Encounters Along the Way" (Chelsea Green) and co-author of "Thy Will Be Done: The Conqeust of the Amazon" (HarperCollins) and Mario Murillo, a long-term radio journalist and author of "Colombia and the U.S.: War Unrest and Destabilization" (Seven Stories). These two panelists, to be joined by two others from North and South America (panel is in formation) will review what steps have already been taken north and south to achieve justice in the courts for war crimes (e.g., torture, genocide, wars of aggression). They will discuss the impetus of the Bolivarian Revolution, which caused people to rebel against the amnesties given to murderers when their country emerged from the era of dictatorships. They will also review other options such as Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and end by discussing the now-global accountability movement, which upholds the principle established during the Nuremburg Trials of Nazi war criminals that no one is above the law.

Can former high level government officials in the U.S. and Latin America actually be prosecuted for crimes they committed while in office? Was the recent sentencing of Argentian dictator Reynaldo Bognone to 25 years in jail an aberration or a sign of things to come? These questions will be explored by lawyer Charlotte Dennett, author of the newly published "The People v Bush: One Lawyer's Campaign to Bring the President to Justice and the National Grassroots Movement She Encounters Along the Way" (Chelsea Green) and co-author of "Thy Will Be Done: The Conqeust of the Amazon" (HarperCollins) and Mario Murillo, a long-term radio journalist and author of "Colombia and the U.S.: War Unrest and Destabilization" (Seven Stories). These two panelists, to be joined by two others from North and South America (panel is in formation) will review what steps have already been taken north and south to achieve justice in the courts for war crimes (e.g., torture, genocide, wars of aggression). They will discuss the impetus of the Bolivarian Revolution, which caused people to rebel against the amnesties given to murderers when their country emerged from the era of dictatorships. They will also review other options such as Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and end by discussing the now-global accountability movement, which upholds the principle established during the Nuremburg Trials of Nazi war criminals that no one is above the law.