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January 23, 2005

01/23/05 - IAUC Action Item on Mark Thatcher

IAUC

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Table of Contents - Jan 2005

IAUC ACTION ITEM:

Members & activists should copy the letter sent to the Dept of State http://www.iauc.org/rel1-21-05.htm (or see below) to local and national media, or draft their own.

Most importantly we need letters going to the Dept. of State in DC, and copied to the consulates in London, Frankfurt and Equatorial Guinea.

We are not clear which consulate will process his petition, but looks like Mark Thatcher is in London:
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=603065

CONTACT the following,

United States Embassy, London
24 Grosvenor Square
London, W1A 1AE
United Kingdom
Switchboard: [44] (0)20 7499-9000

United States Embassy, Frankfurt
Siesmayerstraße 21
60323 Frankfurt
Federal Republic of Germany
Telephone: (069) 7535-0
Fax: (069) 7535-2277

United States Embassy, Equatorial Guinea
Yaounde, Cameroun
Rue Nachtigal
P.O. Box 817, Yaounde
Phone: (237) 223-05-12

U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Main Switchboard: 202-647-4000
U.K. desk - 202-647-8027

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528
Operator Number: 202-282-8000
Comment Line: 202-282-8495

U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Department of Justice Main Switchboard - 202-514-2000
Office of the Attorney General - 202-353-1555
E-mails to the Department of Justice, including the Attorney General, may be
sent to: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

+++++++++

LETTER TO DEPARTMENT OF STATE REGARDING ENTRY OF SIR MARK THATCHER TO THE UNITED STATES

Friday, January 21, 2005
For Immediate Release -

U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Re: Entry of Sir Mark Thatcher to the U.S.

Dear Sirs/Madams:

The Irish American Unity Conference is concerned at reports that Sir Mark Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, has pleaded guilty to his involvement in an attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea, and now seeks entry to the United States.

As you may be aware, Sir Mark has formally pleaded guilty to contravening Sections 2 and 3 of South Africa's Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act which prohibits the "recruitment, use or training of persons ... or financing or engaging in mercenary activity." He was fined the equivalent of $500,000 and given a four-year suspended jail term. Questions had also been asked in the U.K. Parliament several years ago over claims he had received millions of pounds in commission from a 1985 arms sale to Saudi Arabia.

The Washington Times reports the criminal objects of his planned coup as follows:

"The coup would have installed an opposition leader, Severo Moto, in exile in Portugal, as Equatorial Guinea's leader after the mercenaries killed the president in a 'Trojan Horse' operation - they were to lure him and his bodyguards to the airport with claims they had gifts aboard their plane."

(Washington Times; Jan. 20, 2005; "Thatcher faces hurdle to U.S.")

Irish Americans are most anxious that the full rigors of our nation's immigration laws be employed to exclude this international criminal, coup plotter, and gunrunner.

In particular, it would appear that Sir Mark's guilty plea would render him inadmissible for having committed "a crime involving moral turpitude (other than a purely political offense) or an attempt or conspiracy to commit such a crime," contrary to Section 212 (a)(2)(A)(i)(I) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA").

A waiver for this ground of inadmissibility is only available if it is established, to the satisfaction of the Attorney General, that the admission to the United States of such an alien "would not be contrary to the national welfare, safety, or security of the United States." INA § 212(h)(1)(A)(ii).

More disturbingly, it also appears that Sir Mark may be inadmissible under the provisions prohibiting terrorists from entering the United States found at INA § 212(a)(3)(B), for which no such waiver is available. Whereas we could not even attempt to define who is, and who is not, a terrorist according to the vague and amorphous definition contained in the Immigration and Nationality Act, it must be noted that this label has been employed extremely liberally in relation to Irish nationals, whose offenses are diminutive in comparison to Sir Mark's, and to the long-term detriment of their U.S. citizen families.

Given the current proficiency with which the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security exclude those aliens who have been convicted abroad, especially those who have provided "material support" to terrorists, we would expect Sir Mark will be given the third degree in his request for a visa at the U.S. Embassy in either London or Frankfurt.

However, even if he successfully manages to lawfully enter the United States pursuant to a waiver of inadmissibility, we would expect that your offices will alert the Department of Justice and that he will be greeted on arrival by a Joint Terrorism Task Force, interrogated and charged with one of several Federal offenses that come to mind. We also expect, after a pattern, that he would be detained for the entire period of his trial with no right to bond, and separated from his U.S. family, as has been the case with Ciaran Ferry.

Such treatment would be consistent with recent events, unless, of course, there is one law for the rich and powerful, and one for the poor.

In any event, the IAUC will monitor this situation very carefully, and hope that those responsible for protecting this nation from the likes of Sir Mark Thatcher do not fail in their appointed responsibilities.

Yours truly,

Judge Andrew Somers (retired)
President
IRISH AMERICAN UNITY CONFERENCE
National Office
611 Pennsylvania Ave, SE #4150
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 1-800-947-4282
Web: http://www.iauc.org
cc. United States Embassy, London
United States Embassy, Frankfurt
United States Embassy, Equatorial Guinea
John Ashcroft, Attorney General of the United States

###
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IAUC Press & Publicity Officer, Jay Dooling
can be reached by email at: rdooling@swbell.net

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Table of Contents - Jan 2005
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