Judgment on Atlantic Council

CASE 46-2018: Atlantic Council

ETHICAL JUDGMENT

Dear Prosecutor, Public Defender, Ambassador, Secretary and Jury Members of the International Buddhist Ethics Committee (IBEC) and Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights (BTHR), regarding Case 46-2018 against "Atlantic Council", On October 10, 2018, it is hereby recorded that the trial has been concluded to analyze the violation of Human Rights and of Buddhist Ethics carried out by the accused. This Case has been carried out as a consequence of the previous Myanmar Case; Argentina Case; the UN case & Japan Case.

After analyzing the presentation of the Case and the validation of evidence, the Tribunal has proceeded with the vote of 6 members of the Jury, confirming that there were 6 votes declaring the "Atlantic Council" as Responsible for the serious crimes of Unethical Leadership, Complicity with Violations of Human Rights and Complicity with Crimes against Peace and Freedom.

The Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights has been able to verify that the "Atlantic Council" has provided direct support to international criminals, even though they have been clearly involved in international crimes such as genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, war crimes, violations of tribal peoples, violations against childhood and women, corruption, ecocides and supreme offenses against international morality and the sanctity of life. First, the "Atlantic Council" has delivered the Global Citizen Award to Aung San Suu Kyi (Myanmar), Mauricio Macri (Argentina) and Shinzo Abe (Japan), showing then a direct endorsement of the genocide against the Rohingya People, a direct endorsement of crimes against humanity against the Argentine prison population, and a direct endorsement of the ecocide against the whale communities. Secondly, the "Atlantic Council" has delivered the Distinguished Leadership Award to George W. Bush Junior (USA), Tony Blair (UK) and Ban Ki-moon (United Nations), showing then a direct endorsement of the genocides, war crimes and crimes against humanity against the peoples of Afghanistan and Iraq. Third, the "Atlantic Council" has delivered the Freedom Award to Madeleine Albright (USA), showing a direct endorsement of the genocidal economic sanctions that this official implemented and which caused the death of more than 500 thousand Iraqi children.

Because the "Atlantic Council" is an international non-governmental organization, this institution should be regulated by the principles of human rights, and should cancel any type of award given to those who violate International Law. In fact, just as in September 2018 the Congress of Ecuador respected a ruling of the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights of 2015 and decided to cancel a decoration to former President Cristina Kirchner for her multiple acts of corruption, it is concluded that the "Atlantic Council " - like the Norwegian Nobel Committee - does not have any valid excuse to deliver and maintain awards to international criminals, because as the Ecuadorian Assemblywoman Ana Galarza has expressed, there is always the possibility of annulling important decorations given to those personalities who betrayed the public faith.

The Maitriyana teaches that not only the States must fulfill and protect human rights, but non-governmental organizations and citizens should also do so, thus expanding the requirements of International Law in pursuit of the coexistence of the civilized human community, respecting the rights to life, integrity, dignity and freedom of all sentient beings. Thus, the responsibility of States, organizations and citizens is strengthened so that the fulfillment of human rights is not banalized and unprotected, preventing a transgression of the fundamental ethical norms of humanity. Therefore, the Buddhist Law constitutes a binding force referred to a customary and protective juridical structure, possessing a political, philosophical and ethical content that transcends the conventional dimension of ordinary legal codifications. The Maitriyana vindicates the obligation of the States, organizations and citizens to respect human rights, which is tantamount to consecrating a radical equality throughout the international community, not only in the philosophical and ethical field, but also in the social operational field, respecting and protecting the essential values of humanity in order not to depend on the weak and inadequate structures of the States. For this reason, it is evident that the States are not the only ones that violate human rights, but the latter are also violated by those organizations that reward criminal leaders, and are also violated by citizens who approve or keep silent about such crimes. The State is not the legitimating principle of the rights of the people, but it is the other way around, the State is actually a structure of power that is legitimized by the fundamental rights of people or organizations. The Buddhist Law affirms then that not only the States have the duty to protect the victims of human rights violations, but also the non-governmental organizations and the citizens must do it, allowing the States not to banalize human rights and by making the latter to have full operational value. The Maitriyana explains that justice implies something more than the state operative exigibility and includes the ethical enforceability, which is vindicable before people or private organizations, because it would legitimize the fact that the State does not concentrate all the responsibility of protection of the fundamental rights, but also that organizations and citizens do so. In this sense, there is not only state justice but also private justice, the latter being a very important practice in the context of mediation, conciliation and arbitration. The legal tradition of Buddhist Law affirms that human rights are superior than State, so this supra-State legality must be vindicated by all organizations and persons, since they are rights of members of the entire human species and not the rights of members of a certain country.

In conclusion, the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights has the Purpose (Dharma) to protect the spiritual legacy of the Great Master Gautama Samyaksambuddha, developing ethics that evolves to the International Human Rights Law. The Purpose (Dharma) of the Maitriyana's spiritual movement is to protect the fundamental values of peace and freedom by ethically judging and sentencing those who commit international crimes in the name of sacred values. Following Master Gautama, who developed the most important International Spiritual Community in the history of the world, the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights supervises that non-governmental organizations do not attempt against ethics and human rights, never providing impunity to international criminals, so that the "Atlantic Council" has been sentenced as Responsible for Unethical Leadership, Complicity with Human Rights Violations and Complicity with Crimes against Peace and Freedom.

With spirit of reconciliation (maitri),

Master Maitreya Samyaksambuddha

President and Spiritual Judge of the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights