With Barack Obama refusing to allow the investigation, let alone the prosecution, of CIA employees or Bush Administration officials for our torture program, human rights and civil liberties groups are calling on Canada to fulfill international obligations and arrest George Bush on his planned visit to that country.
Groups like Human Rights Watch are citing “overwhelming evidence” that both Bush and other senior officials in his administration carried out a torture program and thus committed alleged war crimes. They note that Canada is legally bound under the Convention against Torture to prosecute individuals who have been implicated in carrying out such acts. Of course, that responsibility rests first and foremost with Obama and his administration, but the President has made it clear that this is not a convenient or optimal time for such action. Soon after taking office, Obama made clear that he would not allow any prosecution of a CIA employee for torture — a position he later expressed in a speech at the CIA. Later, his Administration refused to appoint a special or independent counsel to look at other possible targets and then issued a much ridiculed rationale for not prosecuting anyone for the torture program. As noted in recent columns, many Democrats have rationalized this clear violation of international law by noting that it would only serve to divide the country — the very argument used by countries like Syria to refuse to investigate war criminals. Such investigations are never convenient or popular. This is why countries had to come together and agree that, regardless of the time or popularity, they would fulfill their responsibilities under these treaties.
Previously, the public was informed by Wikileaks that the Obama Administration put great pressure on Spain to scuttle the work of its previously independent judiciary to investigate Bush officials. No doubt it is putting the same pressure on the Canadians. Some Canadians however may be reluctant to adopt the position of the U.S. that these laws should apply to other countries. We have already seen groups like the Taliban and countries like China cite our own inaction (here) on torture to dismiss any statement from the United States on human rights.
Source: RT
Fastidious answers in return of this difficulty with solid arguments and
telling all on the topic of that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TGC1w-Xh9tE
“Eve Ensler reads “President Bush Denounces Torture,” a statement from George W. Bush commemorating the U.N.’s International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, June 26, 2004.
This reading is produced by Reckoning With Torture, a collaborative film project between Doug Liman, the ACLU and PEN American Center that examines the human cost of America’s post-9/11 torture program. To submit your own reading or to learn more about the project, visit http://www.ReckoningWithTorture.org.”
The Bush crime family is notoriously ruthless…he should be brought to trial..for war crimes and Treason…the billions that found it’s way into Syria on trucks . From his grave robbing grandpa to G.W. himself they are criminals…the entire lot should simply move to the middle east…where their friends and allies are…who knows maybe the Saudi’s would bring the enditement against them….NOT.His presidency is will be known as the darkest part of our nations history…glad to be rid of him and his band of criminals.
You idiots obviously have no clue about the Canadian “justice” system. Their antiquated British Colonial-based system routinely ignores its own written principles, denies basic freedom of speech and expression, and locks people away for days with attorney access, in violation of supposed guaranteed “rights”. Bureaucracy supersedes individual rights, and they will be all too happy to lock you away without real hearing for as long as it takes for them to get around to you.
You ought to quit pissing and moaning and be damn glad you live in the USA. Harper is Dubya II, only with a constitution that is as impotent as its monarchy.
Canada: 1990’s Afghanistan but with indoor plumbing.
Hope this works! “October 19, 2011, Surrey, BC—Tomorrow, four individuals who allege they were tortured during George W. Bush’s tenure as president of the United States will lodge a private prosecution in Provincial Court in Surrey, British Columbia against the former president, who is due to visit Canada for a paid speaking engagement at the Surrey Regional Economic Summit on October 20. The four men will take this step after repeated calls to the Canadian Attorney General to open a torture investigation of George Bush went unanswered. Human rights groups and prominent individuals will sign on in support of the effort.
The four men, Hassan bin Attash, Sami el-Hajj, Muhammed Khan Tumani and Murat Kurnaz, each endured years of inhumane treatment including beatings, chaining to cell walls, being hung from walls or ceilings while handcuffed, lack of access to toilets, sleep, food and water-deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures, sensory overload and deprivation, and other horrific and illegal treatment while in U.S. custody at military bases in Afghanistan and/or at the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. While three of the plaintiffs have since been released without ever facing charges, Hassan Bin Attash still remains in detention at Guantánamo Bay, though he too has not been formally charged with any wrongdoing.
“I lost my family, my father, my health, my education because of George Bush. Although I was completely innocent, I lost nearly 10 years of my life,” said former Guantánamo detainee and torture survivor Muhammed Khan Tumani. “I suffered greatly while detained at Guantánamo, and continue to suffer. I have restrictions on my travel and cannot travel to see my father who is ill. George Bush must face justice and be held accountable for his actions, which continue to cause me and so many harm.”
On September 29, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ) submitted a 69-page page draft indictment to Attorney General Robert Nicholson, along with more than 4,000 pages of supporting material, setting forth the case against Bush for torture. The indictment, incorporated into the criminal information lodged today, contends that by Bush’s own admission he sanctioned and authorized acts that constitute torture under the Canadian criminal code and the Convention Against Torture (CAT).
Katherine Gallagher, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) who is assisting the plaintiffs, said, “George Bush’s brazen admission to authorizing torture techniques and unlawful detentions, including enforced disappearances, must not be met with indifference. His years of impunity must come to an end. Even if the United States has failed to meet its obligations to hold torturers accountable, Canada has an opportunity and a legal obligation to position itself on the right side of history and the law.”
Matt Eisenbrandt, legal director of the Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ), who will submit the filing on men’s behalf, added, “Canadian law could not be clearer. If an alleged torturer is present in Canada, the government has the power to prosecute. As a signatory of the Convention Against Torture, Canada has an obligation to initiate an investigation when Mr. Bush sets foot in this country.”
More than 50 human rights organizations from around the world and prominent individuals signed on to support the call for George W. Bush’s prosecution, including former UN Special Rapporteurs on Torture, Theo van Boven and Manfred Nowak, the International Federation for Human Rights, and the Canadian-based International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group. A number of the human rights organizations which signed on are facing the on-going harms of the “counterterrorism” policies advanced under the Bush administration and then adopted or employed in their own countries.
Former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak, said: “The main aim of the UN Convention Against Torture was to eradicate safe havens for persons who commit, order, or participate in acts of torture worldwide. States parties to the Convention, including Canada, have a legal obligation to arrest all persons suspected of torture with the aim of bringing them to justice. There is plenty of evidence that President Bush authorized enhanced interrogation methods against suspected terrorists, some of which clearly amount to torture, such as waterboarding.”
Last February, the Center for Constitutional Rights, along with other human rights organizations, attempted to initiate criminal proceedings against Bush during a private speaking engagement in Geneva, but he canceled after news of the planned prosecution came to light. Following the cancellation, CCR and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights released the “Bush Torture Indictment,” which can serve as the basis for country-specific indictments against Bush in any of the 147 countries that have ratified the UN Convention Against Torture or have universal jurisdiction laws for torture.
Prior to the filing of this case, CCR and the CCIJ twice (on Sept. 29, 2011 and Oct. 14, 2011) petitioned Canadian Minister of Justice and Attorney General Robert Nicholson by letter to launch a criminal investigation against Bush during his October 20 visit to Canada, but received no response. George Bush and former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney both recently made trips to Canada, without any legal consequence.
A copy of the filing can be viewed in full here. The Letter of Support is available in English and French.
The Canadian Centre for International Justice works with survivors of genocide, torture and other atrocities to seek redress and bring perpetrators to justice. The CCIJ seeks to ensure that individuals present in Canada who are accused of responsibility for serious human rights violations are held accountable and their victims recognized, supported and compensated. For more information visit http://www.ccij.ca”
find entire article at Warisacrime.org
OUTSTANDING! I hope that they will win and at least cause Bush to cancel.
Obama = Hitler
U.S. Government, Corporate Fascists and Media are War Criminals, Mass Murderers / Maimers, Torturers
The U.S. Government is a Murderous Criminal Organization
Washington, DC = Nazi Berlin
Iraq, Afganistan, Pakistan, Libya, Yemen are U.S. led illegal wars. They are Wars of Aggression which constitute War Crimes just as Hitler and the Nazis committed. The U.S. Government has violated the same law used to prosecute and convict the Nazis at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-1949. Most of those Nazis were hanged.
George W. Bush, Obama, Cheney, Biden, H. Clinton, et al are Supreme War Criminals, Mass Murderers / Maimers, Torturers. They are some of the biggest criminals in world history, in the same category as Hitler, Goring, Mengele, Mao, Stalin and all the murderers / maimers, torturers of massive numbers of men, women and children.
Buena Vista Mall stands against the death penalty but peacefully, humanely the U.S. War Criminals must be arrested and incarcerated till it is deemed that they represent no further threat to humanity. God is their Judge.
Time to get back on your meds.
i cant wait till america collapses and their little heyday is over with taking over other countires and breaking the law, o and shitting on the constitution while taking rights away from its citizens. Nazi AmeRika at its finiest right now.
I was referring to the Bush people, not Daniel.
OS,
Help me here….”Daniel, I understand your sentiments, but frankly, I don’t think they were that smart. Just incompetent.”
Are you talking about the Bush Admn or Daniel…I can read it a couple of ways….I do think that there is some validity to what Daniel is saying….
Daniel, I understand your sentiments, but frankly, I don’t think they were that smart. Just incompetent.
No, George W. Bush did not protect the USA from Terriorists to the fact that they were allowed to enter the country by his admin.. Second after the so called attacks on World Trade Center, the Presdient at the time George W Bush was made aware of the attack while he was in Florida (my home State), He did not act just paused there like a dummy then continued to read. After he was done he left. Was not after hours until he made a statement that we were just attacked, He had to been kidding. It was reported on the News way before his statement.
Third the airforce were in persuit of the remaining air craft, they were called off by Presidential Order, who was Presdient at that time. Thats right, G W Bush. Forth the FBI main phone number for reporting was closed, no longer in service (what I understand is that that number was for reporting such activities as teriiorist plots) Dont tell me the FBI did not pay their phone bill. No, they were ordered to shut down that phone line so that law enforcment could not react. The only person that has the power to close a Federal Goverment phone number is the President. And again at that time was G W Bush.
The whole terror plot was planed and made by the mastermind, AKA G W Bush. So no he did not protect us matter of fact he sold us out. He should be arrested here to for Treason and high Crimes against the American people as well as all the deaths he has commited in sending our troops to fight a war that was started by him. Bush should be striped of his American Citizenship and branded as a killer, Murder, and be jailed at Guatnamo bay for these crimes against human life and rights..
Most likely Canada will not act due to Fear of the USA. So that means the USA is above international Law and that they are Running the World. Bush has broken many laws not just international law but laws here in the US too. For one he override power from all goverment branches to one division of Government the excutive branch, that is the President now has 100% power. Its the US High Law that that power is divided between the 3 branches we have. Its called check and Balance system to insure either one part of government does not have more power than another which George W Bush made it obselete. this under the Patroit Act and Department of Homeland Security. And to get a Job in USA the Dept of Homeland has to grant that permission for you to work. George W Bush is worse than Hitler, heck he is Satan in the Flesh.
“Barry Eysman – here’s an idea… We can’t send you to Hussein because he’s dead. So let’s find another suitble terrorist and you can go live in his country. President Bush kept us safe and went after the terrorists but now we have certifiable nutjobs that want to arrest President Bush. So, if these nutjobs love terrorists that much, they need to live in the same country with them.”
Comments like this are pure diversion. Tell him why your vision of America is better, or please go away.
“George Bush will not be arrested anywhere. Neither will any of his men or women who did these horrible things. The racism in this country will increase. Stupidity will rule. Our country is going down the toilet. The greenhouse effect will continue, the ozone layer eaten through, the rain forest destroyed. We’ll keep killing each other. Evangelical Christian will become totally insane. History will record that George Bush was a hero. Homosexuals will kill homosexuals who are not their kind of homosexuals. Christians will kill each other because they are not of the right denomination. People will kill people because they don’t come from the right country or speak the right language with the right accent. What do we do? It’s what Michael Moore asked Kurt Vonnegut “Is it worth it?” Vonnegut replied, “no it’s not, but you got to keep doing it.” He’s right, you gotta keep doing it.”
Let’s hope pessimist get pleasant surprises!