-Caveat Lector-

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/cair1.html

Group Files Complaint to Disbar Dershowitz
Council on American-Islamic Relations
November 23, 2002



WASHINGTON D.C., � An American Muslim legal group today announced the filing of a
complaint with the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers demanding disciplinary action
against Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz. The Muslim Legal Defense and Education
Fund (MLDEF) says Dershowitz violated rules of professional conduct when he advocated
the commission of war crimes and the use of torture.

MLDEF will hold a conference call today at 11 a.m. (EST) to discuss its complaint. 
Media
professionals may call 510-220-1414 to receive the phone number and password.

In an article published in the Jerusalem Post and the New York Daily News on March 11,
2002, Dershowitz advised the Israeli government to establish a "waiting list" of 
Palestinian
villages scheduled for destruction as a means of deterring future suicide bombers. In 
so
doing, he has violated Rule 8.4 (d) of the "Rules of Professional Conduct" which 
states: "It
is professional misconduct for a lawyer [in Mass.] to engage in conduct that is 
prejudicial to
the administration of justice."

As an officer of the legal system Prof. Dershowitz has sworn an oath to uphold the 
laws of
the State of Massachusetts and of the United States. The latter includes international
treaties and conventions to which the United States is a signatory.

The destruction of villages is a Nuremberg War Crime and is contrary to Article 33 of 
the
Fourth Geneva Convention which states: "No protected person may be punished for an
offense he or she has not personally committed," and "collective penalties and 
likewise all
measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited."

The Geneva Convention is a ratified treaty and is therefore a valid Federal law of the 
United
States.

"Traditionally the international community has only had the capacity to deal with 
ethnic
cleansing and genocide, through humanitarian assistance for the victims or through war
crimes tribunals, after it has occurred," said MLDEF Chair Al- Hajj Talib Karim Esq. 
"A much
more effective approach would be to censure those who are in the midst of laying the
pseudo-legal foundation for war crimes in the hope that the momentum towards such acts
is slowed or stopped," said Karim.

He added, "Surely the Board of Bar Overseers would have reprimanded a Massachusetts
lawyer who advocated in a Nazi-era newspaper for the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto.
Such behavior is unbecoming of a lawyer, and those who advocate such things ought to be
disciplined."

Dershowitz recently advocated formulating a legal mechanism that would allow police to
obtain warrants permitting the use of torture.

PRESS CONTACT: Farhan Memon, 510-220-1414, www.mldef.org

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