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Montag, 7. September 2015

Second Appeal to the Greek population for testimonies

Dieser Aufruf an die griechische Öffentlichkeit erscheint in deutscher, englischer und griechischer Sprache. Wir bitten um weite Verbreitung.


This appeal to the Greek public is puplished in German, English, and Greek language. We request for large distribution.

07.09.2015 | Unser Politikblog


Sarah Luzia Hassel-Reusing
Thorner Str. 7
42283 Wuppertal (Germany)
+49/202/2502621
human rights activist


Dear ladies and gentlemen,


Sarah Luzia Hassel-Reusing The Hague 21.11.2012
at the 05.07.2015, the Greek people has, with a significant majority, voted „OXI“ against a new memorandum to be imposed via the EFSF. At the 08.07.2015, the Greek government has applied for an ESM loan, which will bring even worse conditions. It seems in this situation, that the Greek population will get out of the humanitarian crisis only with the support of the universal criminal law.
The current development with the ESM has been foreseeable. Thus I have filed in 2010 and 2012 eight constitutional
complaints in Germany with together more than 1,000.- pages. And I have filed, at the 21.11.2012, to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague a charge (file number OTPCR345/12) against unknown for the suspicion of a crime against humanity because of intentious and, at the same time,

systematic and large-scale damage to the health of the Greek population (art.7 par. 1 lit. h+k Roman Statute). Everyone has the human right to the, for the respective person, highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (art. 12 UN Social Pact). In addition to that, the human right to health is protected for women by art. 12 of the UN women's rights convention (CEDAW) and for children by art. 24 UN childrens rights convention (CRC). Furthermore, children have to be protected, according to art. 19 CRC, against damages. As a result from that and from the social
progression clause (art. 2 UN Social Pact), the human right to health needs to be less affected by austerity measures than any other social human right (general comment no. 14 to the UN Social Pact). That must have been known to those responsible for the conditions imposed on Greece.
Even if the situation in the state budget and in the social insurance might be so serious, that it can only be solved by significant interventions into the property of the creditors, tax hikes, and social cuts, there would nevertheless have to be saved, for all inhabitants of Greece, enough for their medical supply, for healthy food, and for housing.
According to an estimation by the former Greek Health Minister, Mr. Adonis Georgiadis, 700.- million € per year would suffice for an amount, estimated by him, of 1.9 to 2.4 million people in Greece without health insurance. Instead, up to 50.- billion € are spent alone for the financial stability of the Greek financial sector.Let me give you an impression, what is coming up to you (and sooner or later to the inhabitants of all EU member states), and why it is being done.
As meanwhile also the Preliminary Report of the 17./18.06.2015 by the Truth Commission on the Greek Public Debt, which has been installed by the Greek Parliament, shows, the loans to Greece via the „Greece Support“ and via the EFSF mainly aim at the safeguarding of creditor banks, at the recapitalization of Greek banks, and at privatization. They have never aimed at the benefit of the Greek population. As pointed out in the press declaration „UN human rights experts welcome Greek referendum and call for international solidarity“ of the 30.06.2015 by Victoria Dandan and Alfred de Zayas, the UN human rights experts on international
solidarity, and on democratic and equitable order, any treaty or loan agreement, that force a country to violate the universal human rights, is „null and void“ according to art. 53 Vienna Treaty Law Convention. That voidness applies certainly even more on conditions, which are part of a crime against humanity.
The Greek government could have averted the subjugation under the ESM by applying to the UN General Assembly for an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the question of the voidness (art. 53 Vienna Treaty Law Convention) of the memoranda of understanding and / or of the treaties (ESM Treaty, EFSF Framework Treaty, TFEU), which demand such a strictness. The former Prime Minister, His Excellency, Mr. Alexis Tsipras, has, regarding the
voidness of credit conditions, provenly been informed about that possibility already in January 2014.
With Greece now under the ESM, the imposed conditions are going to become even harder, since the European Council has explicitely demanded at its Summit at the 24./25.03.2011 that „measures reducing the net present value of the debt will be considered only when other options are unlikely to deliver the expected results“. That means, according to the historical method of legal interpretation, that the ESM law allows any reduction of the nominal value of the state debts
only, after all other measures (including the marginalization of the social system and the privatization of the public utilities (art. 14 TFEU) and of the sovereign institutions(art. 2 of prot. 26 to the treaties of the EU), but also smaller debt  relief measures like lowering of interest rates) have not restored the debt repayment capacity. The „free trade“ treaties TTIP, CETA, and TISA are the next step to enforce that privatization also on the non-insolvent member states, and to make that privatization without precedent irreversible.Why many conditions imposed by the IMF are so inhuman, has been exposed by Prof. Dr. Joseph Stiglitz, a former chief economist of the World Bank in the Guardian already at the 29.04.2001. He has explained referring to the examples of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Indonesia, that some social cuts have been deliberately made so hard, that they have
led to riots, which in turn has reduced the demand and the prices for the assets to be privatized. According to Prof. Stiglitz, free trade is the next step after the privatization.
Davison Budhoo, an economist and former IMF employee, has already exposed in September 1991, that, according to UNICEF, conditions imposed by IMF and World Bank have killed up to seven million children under the age of five years alone in the time from 1982 to 1991.
For the shift of money, resources, public utilities, and today even sovereign institutions, into private hands, in an organized and criminal way, the health and even the lives of people are being intentiously destroyed.
The study „Can banks individually create money out of nothing? - The theories and the empirical evidence“ (published at the 18.09.2014 in the International Review on Financial Analysis (Elsevier publishing house) has empirically proven
the „credit creation theory“, that giral money (the money on the banking accounts) is created out of nothing, when a bank grants a loan; its creation comes provenly neither from the savers bringing cash to the bank nor from the central
bank. They book „demand“ (to get the loan back) | „liability“ (to pay the loan out) for the creation of the loan and so of the giral money, and do the reverse booking entry, when the loan is paid back, and so the giral money is deleted. They get interests for per saldo nothing. Since every bank can create much more loans (and so giral money) out of nothing,
than the equity of the respective bank is, every bank is replacable, there are no systemic „too big to fail“ banks at all.
The birth and the death of real human beings are different from those of giral money. Their health and their lives are absolutely real, are irreplacable, are endlessly more valuable.
I have consciously directed the charge against unknown, because so many persons from many countries are involved in the drafts and in the decisions on the conditions in connection with the loans of „Greece Support“ and EFSF, in the creation of the mechanisms for the imposition of those conditions, and in the obligation of those mechanisms to an
inhuman strictness like that towards Greece (Preamble EFSF Framework Treaty) and like that of the „practice“ respectively „modalities“ of the IMF (conclusions of the Ecofin Council of the 09.05.2010, file number SN 2564/1/10).
Presumably only he files of the coming into existence of the conditions and testimonies will bring clearness, which concrete persons are responsible for those actions, which have led to the damage of so many inhabitants and citizens of
Greece. Only the International Criminal Court can cope with a case of such international dimension. The guilty persons must be detected and be held accountable, and the damaging of the health of the Greeks by the austerity measures must be stopped.
It is no fate and no natural disaster, if the health of people is damaged, because one deprives them of medically needed means. It is a crime against humanity according to art. 7 par. 1 lit. h+k Roman Statute, if one intentionously, knowing
that one does it, systematically or large-scale damages the health of a civil population. It is already a sufficient degree of intention for this crime, if one imposes conditions, which damage the health, or goes on imposing them, even though one knows, that they cause or will cause such a damage, even if one has not the aim to damage the health, but accepts that to reach other aims.
I have, in my charge, shown connections between the conditions and their results to the hunger and to the damaging of the health system at Greece. In order to achieve, that the ICC can start a procedure and find out the guilty persons, it is not only necessary, to prove the system and the large-scale at an abstract level, and to prove the mental element of the crime (knowledge and intention), but it also needs enough testimonies by people, who have been damaged, or as far as they already have died, by their relatives.
As already explained in my first appeal for testimonies, regarding the death of unarmed demonstrators at the 28.09.2009 at Guinea, 150 victims, and regarding presumed war crimes in the years 2003 to 2008 at Iraq, 85 of sampled 400 cases,
have been enough for the ICC to presume a large scale. At Greece, for many more than 150 people, necessary medicaments and medical treatments, or food and housing are not affordable any more, because of the austerity measures. Since, at an abstract level, the system and the large-scale are much more evident than in many other cases, we believe, that already some more than 85 testimonies of concrete inhabitants of Greece, whose health has been damaged by the
austerity measures, will be enough to move the ICC to start a procedure and to find out the guilty persons. The point at issue is, that as many victims as possible themselves testify and so actively engage for justice and for the punishing of the perpetrators. This is something you can do for justice and to stop the atrocities without waiting for a government.
Already many people have made testimonies after our first appeal. We want to express our respect and our thankfulness to them. And we are thankful to the former Greek ambassador, Mr. Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos, and particularly to the voluntary clinic at Elliniko for their support. We estimate, that we still need between 40 and 50 more testimonies. It is certainly positive for the case, if even manymore testimonies are made, like in the Iraq case. The point at issue is to prove the damaging of the health by concrete austerity measures. If you have suffered serious
health damage, because you as a patient with diabetes, heart problems, cancer, multiple sclerosis, stroke, kidney failure, or any other serious bodily disease, have been denied necessary medicaments or medical treatments, I request you to
support the charge. Please explain, since which time your health has been damaged by which measure. This can refer to medicaments or to health services of physicians, which are not available any more or only with unaffordable copayments
or self-payments, or not any more close enough to the place where you live.If you or your children are undernourished or malnourished, the point for your testimony is, since when and because of
which cuts (e. g. of your pension, of your unemployment benefit, or of your wage) you have not had any more enough means for your sufficient nutrition. Also if the loosening of the protection against unjustified dismissal or the rise of specific costs of living (e. g. because of the VAT increase on food) are the cause, your testimony is important.
Please also testify, if you still have your medical supply or are not undernourished only because you are supported by a charitable organization. If you have become homeless, or if you have to live in an unheated appartment because of a lack of financial means, please also explain, since when because of which cuts you have not been able any more to afford the housing respectively heating.
If possible, please attach to your testimony also fotocopies of pieces of evidence, which show, that with the financial means available to you, the necessary costs for food, appartment, or health could not be paid any more. We explicitely also request the relatives of people, who have died because of the austerity measures, to testify.
The voluntary clinic of Elliniko has developed a questionnaire (see at the end of this video), which helps you to structure your testimony, and which includes the consent to the use of the testimony for the charge with file number OTP-CR 345/12. Please send it to the address of Elliniko:

Metroplitan Community Clinic at Helliniko
Iatrio Ellinikou
(inside the old American military base at Elliniko)
Post Code 16777
Elliniko, Attiki,
Greece

Every testimony with evidential pieces of information regarding the damaging of the health of concrete persons by the conditions is an important contribution to the solution of the crime against humanity in Greece. With friendly greetings,

Sarah Luzia Hassel-Reusing


Link to the questionnaire for the testimonies

Contacts in Germany

Sarah Luzia Hassel-Reusing
Thorner Str. 7
42283 Wuppertal (Germany)
+49/202/2502621
human rights activist

Contacts in Greece:
(our contact at Greece for coordination and translation of testimonies)

Metroplitan Community Clinic at Helliniko
Iatrio Ellinikou
(inside the old American military base at Elliniko)
Post Code 16777
Elliniko, Attiki,
Greece

Contacts in Greece:
Mr. Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos

Sources:
-on the estimated 700,- million € see the article „Health Insurance a Victim of Austerity in Greece“ by Greek Reporterof the 24.04.2014
-on the example Guinea see the article „Spart sich die Welt ihr Weltgericht?“ by the taz newspaper of the 15.11.2012
-on the example Iraq see the article „Systematische Folterung von Inhaftierten“ by the taz newspaper of the 13.01.2014
-Preliminary Report of the 17./18.06.2015 by the Truth Commission on the Greek Public Debt
-study „Can banks individually create money out of nothing? - The theories and the empirical evidence“, published at the 18.09.2014 in the International Review on Financial Analysis (Elsevier publishing house).
-Guardian article „IMF's four steps to damnation“ of the 29.04.2001, by Prof. Dr. Joseph Stiglitz
-foreword by Davison Budhoo on p. 12 of „Genug ist Genug“ (1991, published via Heinrich-Böll Foundation)
-press declaration „UN human rights experts welcome Greek referendum and call for international solidarity“ of the
30.06.2015 by Victoria Dandan and Alfred de Zayas, the UN human rights experts on international solidarity, and on
democratic and equitable order
-Conclusions of the Summit of the European Council of the 24./25.03.2011




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