Some 200 protesters demonstrated Thursday against an appearance by former US president George W. Bush at an economic forum in western Canada.
Bush arrived quietly in a motorcade at the rear of the Sheraton hotel in the city of Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver, as the protesters were held back by ranks of police officers blocking the hotel.
"Torture criminals out of Canada" read one banner carried by a man in an orange prison jump suit similar to those worn by prisoners at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There were no outbursts of violence.
Other speakers at the one-day economic summit included former US president Bill Clinton and journalists from the Economist and the Wall Street Journal.
"I find it atrocious that our mayor would bring a war criminal into our city," said student Karsten Cattrell. Surrey mayor Dianne Watts organized the conference.
Covered in fake blood, he told AFP he skipped classes at university where he is studying to be a teacher. He carried a sign calling Bush a "war criminal."
Last week, Amnesty International urged Canadian authorities to arrest and prosecute Bush if he visited the country, saying the former US president authorized "torture" when he directed the US-led war on terror.
In a memorandum submitted last month to Canada's attorney general but only more recently released to the media, the London-based group charged Bush has legal responsibility for a series of human rights violations.
"Canada is required by its international obligations to arrest and prosecute former president Bush given his responsibility for crimes under international law including torture," Amnesty's Susan Lee said in a statement.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney responded by blasting Amnesty for "cherry picking cases to publicize, based on ideology."
Copyright 2011 AFP American Edition
