war crimes
INTRODUCTION
The Petitioner: The Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques (Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques) (hereinafter Committee) is a non-partisan grass-roots organization of residents of Vieques. This organization was incorporated pursuant to the laws of the Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico in 1993 for the purpose of obtaining a permanent end to the bombing and other destruction of their municipality by the United States military. The Committee seeks the withdrawal of all United States military forces from Vieques as a precondition of allowing the residents to live normal lives in a climate of peace, and of planning and promoting the sustainable development of the island for their use and enjoyment. The Committee has appeared on numerous occasions in governmental and other fora in Puerto Rico, the United States, at the United Nations, and elsewhere, on behalf of the people of Vieques. The Committee resides at Box 1424, Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765 (Telephone and Fax: 787-741-8651/2304; Email: bieke@coqui.net).
The Committee is represented in this action by Vieques resident Ismael Guadalupe, the member of its Board of Directors designated for this purpose. The Respondent The Respondent in this action is the United States Navy. They currently possess for its exclusive use and benefit approximately three quarters of the land of Vieques--approximately 25,360 acres--occupied by the Navy between 1942-1950. The Navy uses this land for munitions storage (the western 8,000 acres) and practice with live weapons (the eastern 15,000 acres). In addition, it uses the contiguous seas for naval training, amphibious landings, and similar activities.
"THE RIGHTS VIOLATED"
The Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques files this Petition to protect the lives, safety and health of the more than 9,000 men, women and children who live on Vieques, an island municipality of the Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico placed in danger by the use of their municipality as a military training ground by the United States Navy.
The Committee specifically alleges that the storage, disposal and firing of live and inert weapons of all classes, including napalm, bullets reinforced with depleted uranium, and the launching of bombs weighing 500 pounds or more from jets travelling at high altitudes and speeds frequently places them in imminent peril of death and/or serious bodily injury, and exposes them to long-term risks to their health, including, but not limited to, various forms of cancer.
Petitioners insist that the following rights of the people of Vieques have been and are being violated by the actions of the United States Navy in Vieques:
(i.) The right to life, liberty and security of person, as guaranteed by the Charter of the Organization of American States, the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Individuals; Articles 4, paras. 1 and 7, 16, 21, 22 of the American Convention on Human Rights; Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as Articles 2, 13 (para. 1), and 25 (para. 1) of the Universal Declaration;
(ii.) Article 11 of the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights;
(iii.) Articles 1 (paras. 1-3); Article 6 (para. 1); Article 9 (para. 1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
(iv.) General Assembly Resolutions 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 (Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples); Resolutions 2105 (XX), para. 12, and 2023 (XX) (urging the removal of military bases installed in colonial territories); 1803 (XVII) of 14 December 1962 ("Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources"); Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace (Approved by General Assembly Resolution 39/11 of 12 November 1984); Declaration on the Right of Development (Adopted by General Assembly Resolution 41/128 of 4 December 1986);
(v.) The Basil Convention on the Control and Transnational Movement of Dangerous Wastes, and others pertaining to the use, movement and storage of toxic materials.
The Remedies Requested
With respect to the immediate threats, Petitioners allege that the number and nature of incidents which have already occurred, including the death of one civilian and the injury of four more last April, require immediate action to protect the people of Vieques from unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily injury.
Petitioners seek to vindicate their fundamental human rights to life, liberty, safety, health and the pursuit of happiness, among others, by means of a declaration that the use of their municipality by the military forces of the United States violates the fundamental human rights of the residents of Vieques, as described above. To this end, Petitioners request:
(i.) A Special Mission pursuant to Art. 28 of the Regulations of the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter Regulations);
(ii.) Precautionary Measures, pursuant to Art. 29 of the Regulations;
(iii.) An On-Site Investigation, pursuant to Art. 44 of the Regulations;
(iv.) A Special Commission, pursuant to Art. 55 of the Regulations;
(v.) A Hearing of a General Nature, pursuant to Art. 68 of the Regulations; and
(vi.) Any other measure deemed appropriate and necessary by the Commission.
"FACTUAL BASIS OF THE PETITION FOR PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES THE DEATH OF DAVID SANES RODRÍGUEZ ILLUSTRATES THE URGENT NEED FOR A POLICY CHANGES "
A history of sixty years of occupation, bombings and other abuses by the United States Navy in Vieques culminated on April 19, 1999, in tragedy for five Puerto Rican families. On that date, at approximately 7:00 PM (during daylight hours in Puerto Rico), a Navy pilot launched two 500 pound bombs from an FA-18 Hornet jet, missing the bombing range and hitting instead its Observation Post located on Cerro Matías. David Sanes Rodríguez was killed, and four other civilians injured. Immediately following this incident, the Navy suspended its use of live weapons for military exercises on the island of Vieques. However, days later it announced its intention to continue use of live weapons but with no explanation.
B. THE FINDINGS OF THE SPECIAL COMMISSION APPOINTED TO INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF THE NAVY ON LIFE IN VIEQUES SHOW AN URGENT DEMAND FOR POLICY CHANGE
On May 11, 1999, by means of Executive Order 1999-21, the Governor of Puerto Rico appointed a Special Commission on Vieques to Study the Existing Situation on the Island Municipality with Regard to the Activities of the United States Navy (hereinafter "Special Commission"), chaired by the Hon. Norma Burgos, Secretary of State, with the participation of leading figures and elected officials from the three major political parties, the Mayors of Vieques and San Juan, the Archbishop of San Juan, and a representative of the Fisherman's Association of the South of Vieques.
On June 25, 1999, the Special Commission issued its "Special Commission Report"1. "See" "infra" , "Exhibit A".
Much of the information contained in this Petition is documented in that Report. This report was immediately adopted as the official policy of Puerto Rico by Governor Rosselló, who so notified United States President Clinton.
Upon the basis of the evidence received from all parties, from on-site inspections, and from live testimony and documentary evidence, the Report recommended, among other measures: (1) To demand the permanent and immediate cease and desist of all military activities of the Navy in Vieques. We likewise recommend the orderly and rapid transfer of the lands in the possession of the Navy for the use and enjoyment of the People of Vieques, given the gravity of the findings analyzed in the Special Committee.
(7) To realize an epidemiological study on the alarming incidence of cancer among the population of Vieques, designed to establish the agents and causes associated with it, and to take the urgent measures necessary to treat those affected. "See" "infra" , Exhibit A, p.
"Special Commission Report," XIII, Conclusions, Recommendations and Strategies, APP145.
Shortly after the Special Commission issued its Report, United States President William J. Clinton named a Special Panel on Military Operations on Vieques, chaired by Undersecretary of Defense, Frank Rush. Three of its four members are current or former military officials. The only Puerto Rican on this Commission is a retired Navy Vice-Admiral.
On June 21, the Navy resumed maneuvers in the high seas off the coast of Vieques.
On July 15, Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig made public the results of a Navy study for the Special Panel. In it, the Navy maintains that "realistic live ordnance weapons training" at Vieques is essential to the success of its missions.
Staff of the Secretary of the Navy, The National Security Need for Vieques (P.R. 1999), "See" "infra", Exibit C pp. APP153-57
The study cites, among other things, the importance of laser and precision-guided bombs dropped from high altitudes. It concludes that the use of live ordnance "wins wars" and boasts that there "has not been a single incident of live fire at the Vieques range harming the civilian population outside of the range area." The National Security Need for Vieques: A Study prepared for the Secretary of the Navy," 15 July 1999, attached as "Exhibit B", APP157 -153.
That artfully crafted statement carefully disguises the fact that four civilians were injured by two 500-pound bombs which were launched against the Navy's own Observation Post atop Cerro Matías. It would have us forget that accidents happen--in war, as in the Spring 1999 NATO bombing of civilian targets in Kosovo--and in training exercises, as with David Sanes in Vieques. It ignores the likelihood that stray torpedos, unexploded mines and mortars and other lethal weapons of war may take the lives of curious school children, explode near or under a fishing boat, or fall on a church. It ignores the danger from as-of-yet-uncollected bullets reinforced with depleted uranium, and other forms of military detritus on the island of Vieques.
The Navy refuses to refrain from using live ordnance, refrain from dropping live and inert bombs over Vieques from high altitude at high rates of speed, and removing unexploded ordnance, and refrain from using napalm, depleted uranium and other toxic or highly dangerous weapons. It does not commit itself to remove, clean up or remediate environmental damage, or return any or all land to the people of Vieques.
Protesters are camping in areas designated for target practice in the hope of preventing further bombing and live ordnance practice, and thereby forcing the Navy to comply with the commitments it made in "Romero Barcel et al v. Brown," et al., 748 F. Supp. 646 (D.P.R. 1979), in part, vacated in part, and remanded, in part, 643 F.2d 835 (1st Cir. 1981), and remanded, 456 U.S. 305 (1981), and culminating in the October 11, 1983 Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") between the government of Puerto Rico and the United States Navy. The Navy has threatened to remove those protesters.
The Navy's report describes the MOU as "extremely useful in underscoring those areas in which U.S. Naval forces can meet their special responsibilitites to the people of Puerto Rico and to Vieques in particular." "infra", p. APP 169, "Exhibit C".
The Special Commission found the Memorandum of Understanding (a) had not been honored and
(b) was woefully inadequate to protect the lives of civilians in Vieques
Special Commission Report, "Exhibit A", "infra", p. APP145 (Emphasis Added).
"THE NAVY'S ACTIONS ON VIEQUES CONSTITUTE A THREAT OF IMMINENT, IRREPARABLE DAMAGE TO PERSONS"
The lives and safety of the people of Vieques are threatened by:
(1) the storage of ordnance in the western sector of the island, and the quantity of exploded and unexploded ordnance, lying upon and under the earth in the eastern "training ranges", as well as in and under the seas;
(2) the announced intention of the United States Navy to continue the firing of live weapons (possibly including those using depleted uranium, napalm and other toxic agents) and
(3) the presence of radar installations, part of the Electronic Warfare Range, creating abnormal electromagnetic fields. As the threat of the first two items is obvious and imminent and less data is available about the latter, this Petition is directed primarily against the first two of these threats.
"THE DEATH OF DAVID SANES WAS THE CULMINATION OF A PREDICTABLE CHAIN OF EVENTS WHICH IS LIKELY TO PRODUCE MORE DEATHS AND INJURIES IF THE CHALLENGED PRACTICES ARE NOT STOPPED AND THE ORDNANCE IS NOT REMOVED FROM VIEQUES."
Notwithstanding the consternation caused by the death of David Sanes among the people of Puerto Rico, the Navy remains silent as to how or why its pilots missed their target. At the time of his death, Sanes was working as a civilian security guard for the Navy, inside the Observation Post-1 located atop Cerro Matías, in the eastern sector of Vieques. The Navy employs a total of approximately 100 civilians in various positions and at various posts.
As Petitioners noted in their submission before the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on May 6, 1999, Sanes' fate was "the chronicle of a death foretold."
The Washington Post editorialized, Sanes death is "more than an isolated accident. It is the latest instance of predictable harm to the people of Vieques that goes back through decades of military neglect of island interests," and that it was simply and purely inappropriate for the Navy to be bombing a small, inhabited island. Editorial, Island Casualty, Washington Post, May 3, 1999.
VIEQUES: A TOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLEFIELD
Vieques is approximately 3.5 miles wide by 18 miles long, for a total area of 51 square miles. APP79. About 8,000 acres of Navy property is located on the western coast, encompassing all the land from north to south; another approximately 15,000 acres of Navy property is located on the eastern coast, encompassing all the land from north to south. Special Commission Report, "infra", p. APP81.
The western 8,000 acres comprise the Naval Ammunition Facility, used to store munitions. Residents of the economically depressed island are often hired to unload ships laden with weapons of all sorts which are stored in bunkers located throughout this area. The weapons are sometimes transported by truck across the civilian sector to the Navy's training area, comprising most of the eastern third of the island. ("See" "Romero Barcelo v. Brown," 643 F.2d 835, 838).
The 15,000 acres on the eastern coast are part of the Navy's Atlantic Fleet Weapons
Training Facility, with headquarters in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. That Facility includes four
separate firing ranges: an "Outer Range" lying entirely in the ocean to the
north and south of Vieques, used to practice ship-to-ship weapons fire, ship to air
missile fire, and air to air weapons fire. The "Underwater Range" is located off
the western shore of St. Croix; the "Electronic Warfare Range" includes an
installation on the western end of Vieques at Monte Pirata.
"See" id. at 839. It is used to simulate real-life military engagements. An
advertisement published on the Navy's Web page indicted that this Range was available to
other military forces, and contemplated the use of this training area for real-life
practice with "non-conventional weapons." "Exhibit A",
"infra", p. APP27.
Finally, there is an "Inner Range," comprised of 10,800 acres, including air and water. It is used for amphibian landings, light artillery practice, aerial and sea bombings with both live and inert munitions, and an area for combat training in minefields. It is divided into four separate areas. The Inner Range includes a Ground Maneuver Area adjacent to the civilian sector, used to practice amphibious landings with artillery fire. It may involve as many as 20,000 troops. Romero Barcelo, 643 F.2d at 839. Training here is conducted with live weapons.
Next to the Ground Maneuver Area is a "Surface Impact Area" where artillery training is also conducted. The training in this area includes strafing and air-to-ground bombing with "inert" weapons (including 500 pound bombs). "See" "Exhibit A", "infra", p. APP 27.
Finally, there is also an Air Impact Area in which live ammunition is used on targets resembling surface to air missile sites, an ammunition dump and remote-controlled moving targets. "See" 643 F.2d at 840
In addition to Special Committee Report and other documents in Appendix, "See", "Romero Barcelo v. Brown," 643 F.2d 840. "See also", U.S.Congress House Committee on Armed Services, Naval Training Activities on the Island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. "Report of the Panel to Review the Status of Navy Training activities on the Island of Vieques", Feb. 3, 1981, U.S. Gov't. Printing Off., 1981.»
On a recent visit to the Air Impact Area, numerous targets, ranging from bulls-eyes to mock airstrips, motor pools, rocket sites, tanks, airplanes and others were visible. "See infra" photographs taken inside this area on June 19, 1999, "Exhibit B", pp. APP.154-156. The targets are hit with ordnance delivered by aircraft either from carriers lying off the coast of Vieques, or from the Navy's near-by military base ("Roosevelt Roads") at Ceiba, Puerto Rico. Bombing and strafing are regularly conducted on targets in the "Inner Range." Bombing practice is carried out almost half of all the days of the year between the hours of 7:00 AM and 10:00 PM.
In the remaining quarter, between the bunkers and the "Ground Maneuver Area," Air Impact Area" and "Surface Impact Area" live Vieques' approximately 9,311 inhabitants. "Infra", p. APP79. The Municipality of Vieques has a mayor, 12 schools with 2,122 students, and a community treatment center, but no hospital. It forms part of the Catholic Diocese of Caguas, which supports the demand that the Navy cease using live weapons and leave Vieques at the earliest possible moment. "See" "Exhibit D", "infra", pp. APP 179-183.
The Navy is by far Vieques' largest landowner. It pays no taxes to the Municipality of Vieques. According to the 1990 census, 73% of the residents live in poverty. Lack of access to the sea and land of Vieques was cited as a reason for high levels of poverty and unemployment. The frequent bombardments (as well as the capricious and limited ferry routes created by Navy claims to the sea) retard the development of tourism, an otherwise viable industry for Vieques. According to the Special Committee Report, the Navy alleged to have provided 1,000 jobs, but fewer than 120 could be verified.
Puerto Rico's Department of the Family declared before the Special Commission that it was hard to teach peace and non-violence to children lulled to sleep in their cribs by the sounds of bombing, and that its efforts to teach alternatives to domestic violence and child abuse were contradicted by the scenes of war in which the "Viequenses" are forced to live. Growing up and living in constant practice for war, amid sounds of destruction, takes a psychological and social toll as well as posing threat of imminent bodily harm. Given the nature of the relief requested, Petitioner focuses primarily on that threat of imminent physical and psychological harm but note also severe and permanent ecological and archeological devastation documented in the Special Commission report.
Following the 1979 litigation, the Navy agreed to limit the use of live projectiles to an absolute minimum, and would submit to rigorous enforcement of all safety procedures to avoid undue risk to human health and safety. It agreed to keep a register of the projectiles used in the Inner Range, and a separate register of the locations of all unexploded ordnance, and periodically and systematically remove these objects. Finally, the Navy agreed to notify the governor of Puerto Rico fifteen days prior to all major military exercises in Vieques. Special Commission Report, "infra", p. APP17. These commitments--mostly honored in the breach, according to the Special Committee Report--were insufficient to prevent the death of David Sanes and clearly powerless to prevent future civilian deaths.
As the Comite) testified before the Senate Committee, This was not the first time the Navy missed its target. Fishermen generally complain about the great number of unexploded bombs in the coastal waters of Vieques and the destruction caused to coral reefs and other elements of the marine environment done by stray bombs from jets and ships.
"ESTABLISHED PRECEDENTS"
Other specific incidents include the following:
1. On October 24, 1993, a FA-18 Hornet missed its target by about ten miles, dropping five live 500-pound bombs about one mile from Isabel II, the main town of Vieques. Four detonated and a fifth has never been found.
2. In 1995, two combat planes launched two bombs at a civilian boat, the Coki Ayala. The crewperson was not injured.
3. In 1995, a 25-pound bomb was dropped on the same Operations Post-1 erroneously bombed on April 19, 1999.
4. In 1998, during maneuvers involving the Navy and the National Guard, school bus windows were broken by bullets. The buses were parked at the Public Works area of the Municipal Government in the civilian area of Santa María. Several government employees had to take cover until the shooting stopped. The Navy has yet to offer an explanation to the Mayor of Vieques.
5. On May 13, 1999, a torpedo was found in the ocean a mile and a half from the civilian port of Vieques.
6. Numerous fishing boats have been damaged by naval gunfire and fishermen have been severely hurt by bombs exploding close to them while fishing.
In addition, fishermen often report that they are ordered out of the water on days not previously designated for bombing, often with barely enough time to avoid being bombed.
The Navy's Infantry Training area borders the town of Santa María, where civilians live. The Navy informed the Special Commission that the weapons used in that area included M-16s, pistols and short weapons. Upon seeing the size of the impact areas on a tank used for target practice in this area, the Navy admitted that light anti-tank missiles were also used there, but insisted none had landed in the ocean. The Commission later observed hundreds of missiles in the sea-bed on a subsequent inspection by boat. Special Commission Report, "infra ", p. APP37.
"G. UNANSWERED QUESTIONS"
The Navy has failed and/or refused to answer the following questions put to it by the Special Commission. Unanswered questions include the following:
what kinds of ammunition are stored at the Navy Facilities on Vieques and at Roosevelt Roads; are munitions with depleted uranium being stored there; what measures are taken to remove bombs, live or inert, that fall into the ocean; and what is the number of accidents occurring during military exercises within the Live Impact Area, outside it, and elsewhere in the Ceiba-Vieques complex?
The Navy has refused to provide documentation on accidents reported within the area it controls on Vieques, decibel records, studies related to the high rate of cancer experienced on Vieques (27% higher than for the rest of Puerto Rico), reports on the use of bullets with depleted uranium, reports of munitions delivered outside the High Impact range; reports on the deaths of twelve (military) persons injured and six wounded during exercises in and around Vieques; studies related to the impact of inert weapons on human health, and others. "See", "infra", pp. APP29-35.
Petitioners submit that the facts related above illustrate what should be obvious to all: their small, densely populated island is not an appropriate place in which to train soldiers in the use of lethal weapons dropped from the air, or fired from the sea, nor to store or dispose of them. To do so presents an imminent threat to the lives, safety, health and welfare of every man, woman and child.
"III. THE NEED FOR THE MEASURES REQUESTED"
The Conclusions and Recommendations of the Special Commission include the following:
1. The more than 9,000 citizens residing in Vieques have, as do all citizens, the inalienable right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness. The activities of the United States Navy on the Island of Vieques constitute a violation of those fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America and the Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, and recognized by the international community;
2. The activities of the Navy in Vieques associated with military practices have a prejudicial and detrimental effect on the quality of life of the population of Vieques;
3. The activities of the Navy in Vieques have had the result that the economic and social conditions of the population of Vieques, and especially, the lack of employment and physical and emotional health are far below that of the rest of the population of Puerto Rico;
4. The activities of the Navy in Vieques have remorselessly damaging effect on its environment, ecology, incomparable archaeological deposits, natural resources and adjacent waters;
5. The tragedy of David Sanes' death and the related injuries constitutes:
"the last in a chain of errors which constitute evidence that it is possible that explosive or dangerous artifacts may be discharged near or in the area of civilian population, placing in danger the lives and security of citizens,"
Executive Summary, "Exhibit G", XIII A "Conclusions" paras. 1-4,8.{As noted above, the United States Navy, at the request of President William Clinton, conducted its own study. It considered its mission "to assess the U.S. national security requirement for force training at the AFWTF Range in Vieques." Letter to Frank Rush from Secretary of the Navy, "infra" at p. APP174. It concluded that Vieques is essential to its "force training," and thus, the Navy should continue bombing with live weapons.
Petitioners submit that notwithstanding characteristics that make Vieques a "uniquely valuable training site," "see infra" p. APP176, and the fact that the Navy has invested over three billion dollars in these facilities does not outweigh the importance of protecting human life and the rights of the people of Vieques to safety and the pursuit of happiness.
The Navy appears impervious to the obvious and inherent danger of using a small populated island to practice dropping bombs and firing live weapons. Its report does not mention the use of depleted uranium bullets.
The Navy admitted on May 10, 1999, that it had used over 200 such bullets in Vieques on a certain date in 1999, and that not all the bullets had been recovered. The full extent of the use of such bullets is unknown.
It appears indifferent to the reasonable fear of the people of Vieques that the military use of their island home makes them a prominent and important military target for any party or nation that considers itself a military adversary of the United States.
Given the expressed intention of the United States Navy to resume bombardment and use of live weapons in Vieques, the Puerto Ricans residing in Vieques have no adequate means of obtaining emergency relief from the threat of imminent resumption of the firing of lethal weapons.
The threatened resumption of military activities on Vieques is contrary to the expressed will of the Governor of Puerto Rico, transmitting the unanimous position of an official commission named by him to investigate the circumstances and implications of the presence of the Navy on Vieques. Resuming military activities is contrary to the overwhelming consensus of the people of Puerto Rico and contrary to the expressed desire of the three Puerto Ricans elected to the United States Congress from the United States.
Nonetheless, because of Puerto Rico's colonial condition, the will of the people of Puerto Rico and the residents of Vieques is entirely subordinated to that of the United States. "See", "e.g., "Draft Resolution approved August 7, 1999 by the Special Committee on the Application of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, attached at p. APP189.
The people of Puerto Rico have experienced many commissions appointed to study the possibility of returning land to the people of Vieques, to study Puerto Rico's political status, and others. None of these "commissions" or "committees" has made any definitive decision. Thus, there exists a real and substantial risk that the Presidential Commission will either accept and adopt the Navy's Report in part or in whole, and permit it to resume use of Vieques, once again placing the lives of its inhabitants in danger.
In addition, there are presently camped within areas claimed by the Navy a number of protesters who have vowed they will remain to prevent future firing. The decision to resume firing implies the use of force to remove them. Given the wide-spread opposition to the military presence on Vieques today, such a scenario also presents a distinct risk of danger. "IV."
"THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION MUST ACT"
Given the foregoing, the people of Vieques need emergency protection from the threat of immediate, irreparable danger to human life, safety and health posed by the announcement of the United States Navy that contrary to the unanimous conclusion of the Special Commission and the urgent request of the Governor of Puerto Rico, the Navy intends to resume use of live weapons in Vieques.
Urgent precautionary measures are required to avoid the resumption of the bombardment of Viequez with live weapons, including napalm, bombs of 500 pounds or more, bullets coated with depleted uranium, and others.
Litigation in domestic courts is futile, as demonstrated both by the holding of "Romero Barcel;", cited above (deferring to the Executive Branch in matters military as constituting non-justiciable "political questions"), and the failure of the Navy to abide by the Memorandum of Understanding. The Navy's belated offer to do so now, sixteen years after the Memorandum was entered into, is an inadequate guarantee of safety and respect for human rights due to the vague terms of the Morandum.
Because of the imminent threat to the life, physical security, and health of the people of Vieques described above, Petitioner respectfully request that this Commission immediately exercise the powers provided by the American Convention on Human Rights and all other relevant sources of law to:
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED BY:
PETITIONER, (PRO RESCATE Y DESARROLLO DE VIEQUES)
BY: ISMAEL GUADALUPE
Representing its Board of Directors
Linda Backiel Av. E. Pol #497
Aptdo. #597
La Cumbre, San Juan, Puerto Rico
(Fax and Voice: 787-760-4240)
William Harrell
National Lawyers Guild
666 Broadway 7th Floor
New York, New York 10012
Fax: 212.614.6499
Phone: 212.614.6432
Nancy Chang
Jennifer M. Green
William Goodman
Center for Constitutional Rights
666 Broadway 7th Floor
New York, New York 10012
COUNSEL FOR EL COMITE (PRO RESCATE Y DESARROLLO DE VIEQUES DATED: July 25, 1999 In
Washington, D.C. United States of North America 1 Staff of Special Commission on Vieques
to Study the Existing Situation on the Island Municipality with Regard to the Activities
of the United States Navy, Special Commission Report, XIII (P.R. 1999)
Commission of Inquiry
c/o International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: iacenter@iacenter.org
http://www.iacenter.org/
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
