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Bush Can't Travel Abroad Without Risking Arrest
George W. Bush better stay at home.
The confessed waterboarder is a marked man. If he travels abroad,
other countries can--and should--nab him and try him for the crime of
torture.
In his memoir and in last week's NBC interview, Bush acknowledged ordering waterboarding.
Nov 16, 2010
George W. Bush better stay at home.
The confessed waterboarder is a marked man. If he travels abroad,
other countries can--and should--nab him and try him for the crime of
torture.
In his memoir and in last week's NBC interview, Bush acknowledged ordering waterboarding.
He says the lawyers told him it wasn't torture. But he got bad legal advice.
Attorney General Eric Holder has recognized waterboarding as torture. So has the State Department, as the great civil liberties Bill Quigley points out at the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Given that, Holder has an obligation to press charges against the
former president. But neither Holder nor his boss has the guts to do
that. And what a shame that is!
Prosecutors in other countries, however, may not be so spineless.
"Under international law, anyone involved in torture must be brought to
justice, and that does not exclude former President George W. Bush," said Claudio Cordone, senior director of Amnesty International.
"If his admission is substantiated, the USA has the obligation to
prosecute him," Cordone said, adding ominously: "In the absence of a
U.S. investigation, other states must step in and carry out such an
investigation themselves."
Under the Geneva Conventions and the Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, countries
that have ratified the accords have a binding obligation to exercise
jurisdiction over those accused of grave breaches. (See "Stripping Rumsfeld and Bush of Impunity,")
So if I were Bush (and what a horrifying thought that is!), I'd
cancel those plans to visit Spain or Germany or any other country where
some prosecutor, somewhere, respects international law.
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Matt Rothschild
Matt Rothschild is the executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Prior to joining the Democracy Campaign at the start of 2015, Matt worked at The Progressive Magazine for 32 years. For most of those, he was the editor and publisher of The Progressive.
George W. Bush better stay at home.
The confessed waterboarder is a marked man. If he travels abroad,
other countries can--and should--nab him and try him for the crime of
torture.
In his memoir and in last week's NBC interview, Bush acknowledged ordering waterboarding.
He says the lawyers told him it wasn't torture. But he got bad legal advice.
Attorney General Eric Holder has recognized waterboarding as torture. So has the State Department, as the great civil liberties Bill Quigley points out at the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Given that, Holder has an obligation to press charges against the
former president. But neither Holder nor his boss has the guts to do
that. And what a shame that is!
Prosecutors in other countries, however, may not be so spineless.
"Under international law, anyone involved in torture must be brought to
justice, and that does not exclude former President George W. Bush," said Claudio Cordone, senior director of Amnesty International.
"If his admission is substantiated, the USA has the obligation to
prosecute him," Cordone said, adding ominously: "In the absence of a
U.S. investigation, other states must step in and carry out such an
investigation themselves."
Under the Geneva Conventions and the Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, countries
that have ratified the accords have a binding obligation to exercise
jurisdiction over those accused of grave breaches. (See "Stripping Rumsfeld and Bush of Impunity,")
So if I were Bush (and what a horrifying thought that is!), I'd
cancel those plans to visit Spain or Germany or any other country where
some prosecutor, somewhere, respects international law.
Matt Rothschild
Matt Rothschild is the executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Prior to joining the Democracy Campaign at the start of 2015, Matt worked at The Progressive Magazine for 32 years. For most of those, he was the editor and publisher of The Progressive.
George W. Bush better stay at home.
The confessed waterboarder is a marked man. If he travels abroad,
other countries can--and should--nab him and try him for the crime of
torture.
In his memoir and in last week's NBC interview, Bush acknowledged ordering waterboarding.
He says the lawyers told him it wasn't torture. But he got bad legal advice.
Attorney General Eric Holder has recognized waterboarding as torture. So has the State Department, as the great civil liberties Bill Quigley points out at the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Given that, Holder has an obligation to press charges against the
former president. But neither Holder nor his boss has the guts to do
that. And what a shame that is!
Prosecutors in other countries, however, may not be so spineless.
"Under international law, anyone involved in torture must be brought to
justice, and that does not exclude former President George W. Bush," said Claudio Cordone, senior director of Amnesty International.
"If his admission is substantiated, the USA has the obligation to
prosecute him," Cordone said, adding ominously: "In the absence of a
U.S. investigation, other states must step in and carry out such an
investigation themselves."
Under the Geneva Conventions and the Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, countries
that have ratified the accords have a binding obligation to exercise
jurisdiction over those accused of grave breaches. (See "Stripping Rumsfeld and Bush of Impunity,")
So if I were Bush (and what a horrifying thought that is!), I'd
cancel those plans to visit Spain or Germany or any other country where
some prosecutor, somewhere, respects international law.
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