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Organizations Call for Firing Berkeley Law Professor John Yoo, Author of DOJ torture memo

From Cynthia Papermast

Thursday December 11, 2014 - 06:31:00 PM

What: Call for DOJ Prosecution of Professor John Yoo for Torture; Press Conference and Actions

Where: UC Law School, Bancroft @ College Ave., Berkeley. Event will be in front of Law School; in case of rain it will be inside the school

When: 12 Noon, Friday, December 12, 2014

Press conference to call for the prosecution of John Yoo for torture and other violations of U.S. and international law and for UC Berkeley to rescind the endowed chair recently given to Yoo.

12 Noon Alumni of UC and groups opposed to Yoo will speak.
(Note: a partial list of endorsing groups follows; other invited groups will speak and endorse.)

12:30 pm Actions at UC Law School immediately following press conference, including:

Mock waterboarding and forced feeding of volunteers in orange jumpsuits.
Codepink will attempt to pink slip (fire) and citizen's arrest Professor Yoo for complicity in torture.
Delivery of over 100 signatures of UC alumni and current students and members of the Berkeley community to Law School Dean Choudry and to Chancellor Dirks calling for Yoo to be investigated by UC and prosecuted by Eric Holder and the Department of Justice.
Alumni of UC who no longer donate to UC because of Yoo will speak at the press conference
"Broadside Balladeer" Vic Sadot leading sing-along of "Tell John Yoo That Torture is a Crime"

"Yoo broke the law and must now be prosecuted. Article 2 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) states: 'No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.'

The CAT requires prosecution of anyone complicit in torture; Eric Holder has no discretion in this, he must prosecute Yoo. At Dick Cheney's request, Yoo gave legal advice 'greenlighting' waterboarding and inhuman treatment of prisoners.

The CIA and U.S. military tortured people in our name with Yoo's enabling legal opinions, resulting in at least 100 deaths, according to the International Red Cross. John Yoo is the worst kind of lawyer-- unethical and incompetent-- according to his former employer, the DOJ, who said he committed 'intentional professional misconduct'.

"They rescinded his legal opinions attempting to redefine torture to make it legal," says Cynthia Papermaster, law librarian and Director of Berkeley No More Guantanamos, which is organizing the press conference. "Yoo failed miserably as a lawyer, yet he's given an endowed chair at my alma mater, UC Berkeley! Someone who gave the legal green light to torture is teaching our kids? We want the DOJ to follow their mandate: prosecute John Yoo as the law requires. We want UC to sever its relationship with Yoo, and to at least rescind his endowed chair. We are outraged!"

The National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Chapter petition to UC Law School Dean Sujit Choudry says :

"The ample evidence that John Yoo and others in the Bush Administration committed war crimes has been documented in the criminal actions pursued against Yoo in several countries, including France, Spain, and Malaysia... the Malaysian War Crimes Commission ultimately ruled that the defendants were indeed guilty of such crimes. We feel that the UC Berkeley School of Law, as one of the leading law schools in the country, has an obligation to uphold ethical legal standards. Yet by maintaining and honoring John Yoo, the law school is undermining its own ethical, political, and legal reputation. Bestowing this honor sends the message that the UC Berkeley School of Law is condoning and promoting policies violating the most fundamental constitutional and human rights.... It is shameful, not to mention incredibly disrespectful to the victims of torture, for the UC Berkeley School of Law to honor him. (We) demand that this honor be rescinded. We refuse to support the law school or UC Berkeley, financially or otherwise, until this is done. We further demand that the University conduct a transparent, independent investigation of Yoo’s conduct to determine if other actions are necessary."

Endorsing organizations and individuals (partial list):

Codepink Women for Peace

Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC)

Berkeley No More Guantanamos

La Peña Cultural Center

Media Alliance

Therapists for Peace and Justice

San Francisco School of the Americas Watch

San Francisco 99% Coalition

Oakland School of the Americas Watch

Nonviolence International Task Force on the Americas

Holly Harwood, Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, Social Justice Committee Chair