************************************************************************
Will Zuzak; DESCROCK.015 = War crime prosecutions; 1996-09-19
************************************************************************
Dear Andrew Sorokowski:

	It has been confirmed that one of the topics of discussion
between Justice Ministers Serhij Holowaty and Allan Rock in Ottawa on
Sept. 23-24 will be nazi war criminals. Also, on Sept. 25, 1996, 3:30
p.m., Mr. Holowaty will be speaking before the McGill Law Faculty at

McGill University Moot Court
Chancellery Hall
3644 Peel St.
Montreal, Quebec

	This is the exact location where several years ago, my wife
organized a seminar by Yoram Sheftel to Irwin Cotler and the McGill Law
Faculty and students on the John Demjanjuk case. Sadly, it did little
good since, when the Supreme Court of Israel freed John Demjanjuk, Irwin
Cotler and Kenneth Narvey were at the forefront in Jerusalem demanding
that Mr. Demjanjuk be further persecuted for other war crimes.

[According to A. Chyczij, the war crimes issue was NOT discussed during
the Holowaty-Rock meetings on Sept. 23, 1996. Neither was the subject
brought up at the McGill seminar.]

	In light of the above information and your 7 questions of
13-SEP-1996, I have prepared the following response:

(1)	DENATURALIZATION - I am categorically opposed to
denaturalization under any and all circumstances. It is a repugnant
concept, whether it is applied to natural-born Canadians or those who
gained citizenship via the immigration process. The concept should be
eradicated from the face of the planet.

(2)	DEPORTATION - (a civil proceeding) of alleged war criminals has
nothing to do with justice at all. It is an abrogation of justice.
Justice can only be meted out in a criminal court of law, under rigorous
rules of evidence in front of a jury of the accused's peers.
	To deport a person, the prosecution does not have to prove that
its victim commited some criminal act, one simply has to prove that the
person violated some regulation in the immigration procedures. In
essence, the person is deported on a technicality and justice is
circumvented.

(3)	PROSECUTIONS IN CANADA

	Canadian citizens who have been accused of war crimes should, of
course, be given the opportunity to defend themselves in Canadian
criminal courts under rigorous rules of evidence and in front of a jury
of peers.

	As a result of the 1985-87 Deschenes Commission debacle, during
which thousands of innocent Canadians were libelled and slandered as war
criminals, the Canadian government passed its war crimes legislation,
Bill C-71. (See my long CRITIQUE at
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/pakistan/83/demjanjuk/deschene.005 ).
Several Canadians were charged under this legislation and were able to
establish their innocence.

	Having failed to convict their victims in Canadian criminal
courts, the Justice Department decided to circumvent the law and attempt
to "denaturalize and deport" them as was done in the United States by
the Office of Special Investigations in the John Demjanjuk case.

	I have no objection to accused war criminals being tried in
Canadian criminal courts, but it must be all war criminals, not just
those accused of causing the death of Jews during World War II. However,
I would object to the use of documentary evidence from the former Soviet
Union unless such evidence had been very closely scrutinized for
veracity and authenticity, and a complete "chain of custody"
established. The archives of the FSU are replete with falsified
documents and "confessions" tortured out of the victims by the KGB
(NKVD, OGPU, etc.). Skeptics should read the "confessions" of Zinoviev,
Kamenev, Radek, Bukharin, etc. during the Stalinist Show Trials of the
1930s.

(4)	PROSECUTIONS IN UKRAINE

	Although certain special interest groups have been clamoring for
prosecutions in Ukraine of people they perceive to be criminals, in my
opinion, it would be dangerous to do so at this time.

	First of all, Ukrainian democracy may be too fragile to
withstand the strain which is certain to erupt as a result of such
prosecutions. The old Soviet nomenklatura has usurped many positions of
power in the new Ukraine. It has been reported that former apparatchiks
and old KGB personnel are associated with many of the new free market
enterprises being established in Ukraine. Crime and criminal activity
in the economic sphere are rampant in Ukraine and must be the first
priority of the present Ukrainian government. To resurrect old 
antagonisms between Communists and Nationalists dating back to World War
II would be counter-productive at this time.

	Secondly, a very thorough inventory and examination of the state
(KGB?) archives on the territory of Ukraine must be done to establish
the veracity of the documents therein, how they were obtained, their
"chain of custody", etc. Only after this has been accomplished and a
concensus as to how to proceed established, should such prosecutions be
attempted. Indeed, the goal of such prosecutions should be more to
ascertain the truth, rather than to punish the guilty.

Regards
************************************************************************
Will Zuzak; DESCROCK.015 = War crime prosecutions; 1996-09-19
************************************************************************