Christopher Black
Encyclopedia
Christopher Black is an international criminal lawyer and political activist based in Toronto
, Ontario
, Canada
. He has been involved in high-profile cases involving human rights
and war crime
s and has defended those accused of these crimes in Rwanda
(see Rwandan Genocide
) and the former Yugoslavia
and is on the list of counsel at the International Criminal Court.
, with an honours B.A. summa cum laude and from Osgoode Hall Law School
at York University
with an LL.B. He is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada
and speaks English, French and Swahili.
of the country's Tutsi
population is fraudulent condidering it to be a "myth". He notes that the Tutsi-led Rwandese Patriotic Front had been conducting a war of aggression from Uganda against Rwanda with U.S. and British support since 1990, and alleges that the RPF was responsible for the 1994 plane crash which killed the Hutu
presidents of Burundi
and Rwanda. Black also argues that many of the deaths which occurred in the resulting upheaval were perpetrated by RPF members, rather than by the extremist Hutu groups which have generally been held responsible for the country's descent into chaos.
Black defended General Augustin Ndindiliyimana
, the former chief of staff of Rwanda's Gendarmerie or National Police Force, and highest ranking Rwandan military officer, before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
in Arusha
, Tanzania
who was convicted May 17, 2011 of genocide based on simple failure to punish some subordinates for alleged crimes which conviction is under appeal. He was acquitted of dozens of charges that he ordered massacres, failed to protect civilians, conspiracy to commit genocide, or personally was involved in killing Tutsis. The ICTR ordered his released after having already spent 11 years in prison as the judges found he had risked his life to save Tutsis, including hiding 37 Tutsi orphans at his home in Kigali along with several Tutsi priests, supported the Arusha Accords, opposed massacres, did all he could to achieve peace and was himself targeted as a possible RPF agent and was forced to flee Rwanda in June, 1994. Readers can refer to the judgement at the ICTR website. Black, and other defence lawyers, went on strike in early 2004, claiming that the tribunal was being used by the U.S. for political ends and that a fair hearing was impossible. He has been the subject of several death threats as a result of his work at the Rwanda tribunal and the subject of threats and intimidation from the current RPF Rwandan regime.
at the International War Crimes Tribunal
in The Hague
. He met with Milošević on many occasions, and said the former Serbian leader was completely innocent of the charges brought against him. On one occasion, Black argued that Milošević was consistently committed to a multi-ethnic Yugoslavia during his time in government. He is presently engaged by the widow of President Milosevic, Mira Markovic, to investigate the death of President Milosevic and the responsibility of the ICTY, UN and Nato for his death.
Black has argued that the leaders of NATO should themselves be brought before the tribunal for war crimes, and was one of a group of Canadian lawyers who laid war crimes charges against all Nato leaders and officers in 1999 for the bombing of Yugoslavia. He has described former tribunal chief prosecutor, and current head of the UN Human Rights Commission, Louise Arbour
, as an unindicted war criminal, because of her cooperation with NATO leaders during the 1999 bombing of Serbia and because, as Chief Prosecutor at the Rwanda War Crimes Tribunal she stopped the investigation into the murder of the Hutu Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi on April 6, 1994 when their plane was shot down by anti-aircraft missiles after she learned that the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) were responsible, a fact confirmed by both her lead investigator, Australian lawyer Michael Hourigan and as contained in the Hourigan Report, a UN document, now an exhibit in the Miitary II trial, ICTR. He states she stopped the investigation on the orders of the USA. Black also helped to create the International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milošević (ICDSM), is a vice-chair of that committee and is chair of its legal committee, although he did not have a formal role at Milošević's trial.
He has also assisted the legal team of Dr. Seselj, the head of the Serbian Radical Party, also held in detention by the ICTY.
and its provincial affiliate, the Communist Party of Canada - Ontario.
In 2003 he travelled to Beijing
, China
and The Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea with a team of American lawyers to meet with Korean lawyers in Pyongyang
and subsequently co-authored a report on conditions in the DPRK. He states that the DPRK is a progressive, socialist country deserving the support of all progressive peoples around the world. He is also a member of the Committee To Defend the Cuba Five. He contributed a chapter on Central Africa and a chapter on North Korea in the Atlas Alternatif published by Les Temps des Cerises in Paris, 2006, a broad survey of the struggle against global imperialism since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
He has been invited to speak on the ad hoc war crimes tribunals and international criminal law in Britain, Canada, the United States, Russia, Cuba, Yugoslavia, Germany, The Netherlands, and France and has been interviewed on the BBC, CBC, CNN, ABC, Radio Havana and various other media regarding international law and justice. He is a member of the American Association of Jurists, the National Lawyers Guild of America, and Lawyers Against War.
He also writes poetry ranging from whimsical fantasy to cold realism and has a had a number of poems published in the People's Voice dealing with the harsh reality of modern capitalism such as Smiling Carnviore and, Unemployed On A Rainy Day and Spare Change.
He attributes his charged style of advocacy to his theatrical training at the New School of Drama in Toronto where he studied under Tony Pearse.
to retract a number of scientific papers from the early 1980s in which a link between HIV and AIDS was first alleged by Dr. Gallo. He supports the Perth Group of scientists and physicians, who posit that AIDS is not caused by a viral agent but by malnutrition, poverty and chemical poisoning.
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He has been involved in high-profile cases involving human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
s and has defended those accused of these crimes in Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
(see Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
) and the former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and is on the list of counsel at the International Criminal Court.
Education
He graduated from McMaster UniversityMcMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
, with an honours B.A. summa cum laude and from Osgoode Hall Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School is a Canadian law school, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and affiliated with York University. Named after the first Chief Justice of Ontario, William Osgoode, the law school was established by The Law Society of Upper Canada in 1889 and was the only accredited law...
at York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
with an LL.B. He is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada
Law Society of Upper Canada
The Law Society of Upper Canada is responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1797, it is known in French as "Le Barreau du Haut-Canada"...
and speaks English, French and Swahili.
Relating to the Rwandan Genocide
Black has written several articles about the role of the ad hoc war crimes tribunals as instruments of US war policy and regarding the 1994 conflict in Rwanda, arguing that its standard interpretation as a genocideGenocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
of the country's Tutsi
Tutsi
The Tutsi , or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group in Central Africa. Historically they were often referred to as the Watussi or Watusi. They are the second largest caste in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa ....
population is fraudulent condidering it to be a "myth". He notes that the Tutsi-led Rwandese Patriotic Front had been conducting a war of aggression from Uganda against Rwanda with U.S. and British support since 1990, and alleges that the RPF was responsible for the 1994 plane crash which killed the Hutu
Hutu
The Hutu , or Abahutu, are a Central African people, living mainly in Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern DR Congo.-Population statistics:The Hutu are the largest of the three peoples in Burundi and Rwanda; according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians...
presidents of Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
and Rwanda. Black also argues that many of the deaths which occurred in the resulting upheaval were perpetrated by RPF members, rather than by the extremist Hutu groups which have generally been held responsible for the country's descent into chaos.
Black defended General Augustin Ndindiliyimana
Augustin Ndindiliyimana
- Background :Ndindiliyimana was born in Nyaruhengeri commune, Butare prefecture, Rwanda. He joined the Rwandan Armed Forces and, as of 1994, held the rank of Major General. On 2 September 1992 he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Gendarmerie nationale...
, the former chief of staff of Rwanda's Gendarmerie or National Police Force, and highest ranking Rwandan military officer, before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 955 in order to judge people responsible for the Rwandan Genocide and other serious violations of international law in Rwanda, or by Rwandan...
in Arusha
Arusha
Arusha is a city in northern Tanzania. It is the capital of the Arusha Region, which claims a population of 1,288,088, including 281,608 for the Arusha District . Arusha is surrounded by some of Africa's most famous landscapes and national parks...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
who was convicted May 17, 2011 of genocide based on simple failure to punish some subordinates for alleged crimes which conviction is under appeal. He was acquitted of dozens of charges that he ordered massacres, failed to protect civilians, conspiracy to commit genocide, or personally was involved in killing Tutsis. The ICTR ordered his released after having already spent 11 years in prison as the judges found he had risked his life to save Tutsis, including hiding 37 Tutsi orphans at his home in Kigali along with several Tutsi priests, supported the Arusha Accords, opposed massacres, did all he could to achieve peace and was himself targeted as a possible RPF agent and was forced to flee Rwanda in June, 1994. Readers can refer to the judgement at the ICTR website. Black, and other defence lawyers, went on strike in early 2004, claiming that the tribunal was being used by the U.S. for political ends and that a fair hearing was impossible. He has been the subject of several death threats as a result of his work at the Rwanda tribunal and the subject of threats and intimidation from the current RPF Rwandan regime.
Relating to the former Yugoslavia
Black criticized the detainment of Slobodan MiloševićSlobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
at the International War Crimes Tribunal
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. He met with Milošević on many occasions, and said the former Serbian leader was completely innocent of the charges brought against him. On one occasion, Black argued that Milošević was consistently committed to a multi-ethnic Yugoslavia during his time in government. He is presently engaged by the widow of President Milosevic, Mira Markovic, to investigate the death of President Milosevic and the responsibility of the ICTY, UN and Nato for his death.
Black has argued that the leaders of NATO should themselves be brought before the tribunal for war crimes, and was one of a group of Canadian lawyers who laid war crimes charges against all Nato leaders and officers in 1999 for the bombing of Yugoslavia. He has described former tribunal chief prosecutor, and current head of the UN Human Rights Commission, Louise Arbour
Louise Arbour
Louise Arbour, is the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court of Appeal for Ontario and a former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda...
, as an unindicted war criminal, because of her cooperation with NATO leaders during the 1999 bombing of Serbia and because, as Chief Prosecutor at the Rwanda War Crimes Tribunal she stopped the investigation into the murder of the Hutu Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi on April 6, 1994 when their plane was shot down by anti-aircraft missiles after she learned that the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) were responsible, a fact confirmed by both her lead investigator, Australian lawyer Michael Hourigan and as contained in the Hourigan Report, a UN document, now an exhibit in the Miitary II trial, ICTR. He states she stopped the investigation on the orders of the USA. Black also helped to create the International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milošević (ICDSM), is a vice-chair of that committee and is chair of its legal committee, although he did not have a formal role at Milošević's trial.
He has also assisted the legal team of Dr. Seselj, the head of the Serbian Radical Party, also held in detention by the ICTY.
Politics and other work
In addition to his legal career, Black helped establish the Unemployed Workers' Council in Toronto in 1996. He has run for political office as a candidate of the Communist Party of CanadaCommunist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...
and its provincial affiliate, the Communist Party of Canada - Ontario.
In 2003 he travelled to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and The Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea with a team of American lawyers to meet with Korean lawyers in Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...
and subsequently co-authored a report on conditions in the DPRK. He states that the DPRK is a progressive, socialist country deserving the support of all progressive peoples around the world. He is also a member of the Committee To Defend the Cuba Five. He contributed a chapter on Central Africa and a chapter on North Korea in the Atlas Alternatif published by Les Temps des Cerises in Paris, 2006, a broad survey of the struggle against global imperialism since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
He has been invited to speak on the ad hoc war crimes tribunals and international criminal law in Britain, Canada, the United States, Russia, Cuba, Yugoslavia, Germany, The Netherlands, and France and has been interviewed on the BBC, CBC, CNN, ABC, Radio Havana and various other media regarding international law and justice. He is a member of the American Association of Jurists, the National Lawyers Guild of America, and Lawyers Against War.
He also writes poetry ranging from whimsical fantasy to cold realism and has a had a number of poems published in the People's Voice dealing with the harsh reality of modern capitalism such as Smiling Carnviore and, Unemployed On A Rainy Day and Spare Change.
He attributes his charged style of advocacy to his theatrical training at the New School of Drama in Toronto where he studied under Tony Pearse.
Views on AIDS
Christopher Black is listed as a member by the Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV-AIDS Hypothesis. He was also a signatory to a December 2008 letter which urged the journal ScienceScience (journal)
Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
to retract a number of scientific papers from the early 1980s in which a link between HIV and AIDS was first alleged by Dr. Gallo. He supports the Perth Group of scientists and physicians, who posit that AIDS is not caused by a viral agent but by malnutrition, poverty and chemical poisoning.