George W. Bush Should Be Prosecuted Over Torture, Says Human Rights Watch

[Hissyspit]

Source: Guardian UK

George W Bush should be prosecuted over torture, says human rights group

Human Rights Watch claims Obama administration 'failing to act on evidence', and also names Cheney and Rumsfeld in report

Chris McGreal in Washington
The Guardian
Tuesday 12 July 2011

George W Bush, whose administration is accused by Human Rights Watch of authorizing use of torture. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
A US human rights group has called on foreign governments to prosecute George W Bush and some of his senior officials for war crimes if the Obama administration fails to investigate a growing body of evidence against the former president over the use of torture.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Tuesday that the US authorities are legally obliged to investigate the top echelons of the Bush administration over crimes such as torture, abduction and other mistreatment of prisoners. It says that the former administration's legal team was part of the conspiracy in preparing opinions authorising abuses that they knew to have no standing in US or international law.

- snip -

The group says that the investigation and prosecutions are required "if the US hopes to wipe away the stain of Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo and reaffirm the primacy of the rule of law".

- snip -

The report described Cheney as "the driving force behind the establishment of illegal detention policies and the formulation of legal justifications for those policies" including torture. Rumsfeld is said to have "approved illegal interrogation methods that facilitated the use of torture by US military personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq", and Tenet "oversaw the CIA's use of waterboarding", and that the agency also "disappeared" detainees by holding them in incommunicado detention in secret locations.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/12/george-w-bush-torture

[Solly Mack]

1. Yes, he should.

Alas...Between those who would protect war criminals and those who are complicit and those just too craven...sigh.

[xiamiam]

3. those who protect war criminals are criminals as well..nt

[Solly Mack]

21. I agree. No different than hiding a murderer...which is a crime.

Or trying to cover up a crime by lying about it...on the assumption that protecting war criminals involves lying about the crimes committed. (which I think it does)

[bvar22]

22. You are correct.

The US is bound by several international treaties to investigate and prosecute possible War Crimes.
"Looking Forward" is NOT an option.




Who will STAND and FIGHT for THIS American Majority?
You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.

[indepat]

25. Alas, being a forward looking nation, this task must be left to other nations who will

possibly face the full wrath of a superpower not reluctant to exert its global hegemony with impunity whenever ired. :patriot:

[DeSwiss]

10. Truth be told.

- Amen.

K&R

[Solly Mack]

20. May I steal that picture?

[DeSwiss]

23. Yes you may!

- And I throw this one in as a freebie!

[Solly Mack]

31. lol!

Thanks!!

[No Elephants]

12. Failure to prosecute violates a treaty to which the U.S. is a party.

And treaties are part of the Supreme law of the land, per the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.

[Solly Mack]

19. Oh, I don't much think the US cares about that.

If treaties and laws mattered - there would have been no systemic torture. (and prosecutions would have already been in motion..and Bush/Cheney would have been impeached)


You well know I support prosecutions...regardless of who falls. I just know my government - and that would be the whole government - doesn't care

[GReedDiamond]

2. Yes...nt

[slipslidingaway]

4. Yes! n/t

[Hubert Flottz]

5. We need to bust a pot head and forgive murdering war criminals.

There are no patriots left in Washington. Only enablers.

[Cereal Kyller]

6. I see "Greatest Threads" in this post's future

;-)

[classysassy]

7. Rich vs Poor

if G.W.Bush was the son of a poor or middle class father and mother he would have been indicted two years ago.Wealthy criminals never go to jail,they go into retirement with all that stolen loot and their blood stained hands.Justice in America a cruel joke.

[marasinghe]

8. HRW: don't relegate the dead - Iraqis & US troops - to the background, ever.

these filthy bush-league swine, and their groupies, should never be allowed to forget their greatest crimes - even if they never get called on their sins, thanks to the current, forward-looking administration.

[azul]

9. These are the really bad apples.

If they are not made an example of, others will follow in their footsteps.

WTH is wrong with the US justice system? Too many complicit, and prosecuting them would bring down the whole system? Like the Iran-Contra thang? Who is making these calls for the Justice Dept selective actions?

[Islandlife]

11. Which Human Rights Group and in which court?

I can imagine the list of foreign governments willing to join in this prosecution.

[Cereal Kyller]

13. K

R'd already.

[90-percent]

14. Our Government

Just like the Mafia, only more prolific.

All our institutions have been overcome with greedy sociopaths.

Corrupt to the very core with no checks or balances left in working order.

-90% Jimmy

[provis99]

15. yeah, whatever.

:eyes:

[lunatica]

16. Smirk. Strut. Yeww cain't touch me, neener, neener!

[_ed_]

17. Sorry, Obama's too busy locking up whistleblowers

and med. marijuana distributors. No time for torturers -- must look forward, not back (unless your name is Manning).

[Uncle Joe]

18. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Hissyspit.

[defendandprotect]

24. kr

[rhett o rick]

26. Pres Obama isnt making the call. There is a higher power.

the revolution is waiting.

[hack89]

27. Obama will not set a precedent that puts him in the adjacent cell. nt

[BiggJawn]

28. Yeah, well, can't spend all our time looking back, gotta Look Forward(tm)... N/T

[StarburstClock]

29. Thanks for posting it

Although I have no faith in the U.S. shell govt anymore to hold anyone accountable for anything.

[Synicus Maximus]

30. Nice thought but ain't going to happen

[Hissyspit]

32. kick nt

[RainDog]

33. kick n/t