Around 25 protesters gathered at the Occupy Vancouver site this morning (October 20) and then marched through downtown streets holding signs and chanting “arrest George Bush!”

The group planned to take transit to Surrey for a demonstration against former U.S. president George W. Bush, who is slated to attend an economic summit in the city today. Critics of Bush are outraged over his visit to Surrey.

Amnesty International spokesperson Don Wright said his group is calling on authorities to detain and investigate Bush over his alleged involvement in human-rights violations during his time as president.

“It’s pretty clear that the Canadian government has an obligation to detain him and investigate him and either send him somewhere where he will be charged or charge him ourselves,” said Wright, who organized the gathering of protesters at the Occupy Vancouver encampment.

“Our intent today is to continue to draw public attention to Canada’s obligations in that regard,” he told the Straight. “I don’t think very many of us expect the government to actually follow through with it but we need to make it clear that there are Canadians who believe that he should be arrested and that Canada should live up to its obligation even if the government of Canada fails to do so.”

Wright said the demonstration against Bush will resonate with the Occupy Vancouver protesters.

“Certainly there are a wide variety of grievances being expressed here but among those grievances, at a root of a lot of them are basic concerns about human rights,” he said.

“We’re peaceful so we won’t be charging any barricades or otherwise causing any difficulty. We believe very strongly in the rule of law and the need for peaceful assembly….”