Vincent Warren: Osama Bin Laden's Death Can't Erase 10 Years of War & Lawlessness

[Hissyspit]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vincent-warren/osama-bin-ladens-death-ca_b_859976.html

Vincent Warren
Executive Director, Center for Constitutional Rights

Osama Bin Laden's Death Can't Erase 10 Years of War and Lawlessness
Posted: 05/11/11 10:04 AM ET

In the wake of the killing of Osama bin Laden, it is a time to be sober, not celebratory, and to reexamine the policies of this and the previous administration. Bin Laden's death does not erase 10 years of lawlessness and war any more than it brings back to life his victims.

President Obama must not continue to let Bush administration torturers and hawks use this moment to support their own self-justifying claims, or to foster more belligerence. Now is the time to show real leadership. This is a teaching moment, a time to reflect on 10 dark years of torture, death, unlawful detention, the targeting of Muslims domestically, the subversion of laws in the name of fighting terrorism and the many casualties of wars that have only expanded. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan alone, and millions have been displaced. Over 6,000 U.S. military service members have been killed, and more than 50,000 wounded in wars that have cost the American people trillions of dollars.

In response to claims that torture aided in locating bin Laden, the president must condemn torture in all forms and make it clear that torture has no place in U.S. policy and practice. He must bring to justice those responsible for torture, and apologize and provide redress to the thousands of victims of torture in the years following 9/11.

The Center for Constitutional Rights represents many individuals who have received no justice or redress whatsoever for the violations they or their loved ones have suffered. The victims include hundreds of men and women held at Abu Ghraib; men held indefinitely and tortured and abused, and even men who have died at Guantanamo and in black sites around the world; Muslim, Arab and South Asian men living in the U.S. and rounded up and abused in the wake of 9/11; and Maher Arar, the Canadian citizen who was rendered to Syria by the U.S. for a year of torture and detention. Mr. Arar was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Canadian government, which launched an investigation and apologized for its role in his ordeal. The U.S. has never apologized or made any effort to provide redress to Mr. Arar or any of the other victims.

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[villager]

1. I've noticed that despite the great "victory," there've been no moves to give our 4th Amendment...

...back to us.

Perhaps we'll have to take it back.

[SidDithers]

2. Unrec for Huffpo...nt

Sid

[Hissyspit]

4. Uh, hunh.

Sure.

[Lorien]

8. Recced to counter unrec

that had nothing whatsoever to do with the Huffington Post.

[EFerrari]

3. Arar was the one hung up by his arms that the doctors would come and check

to make sure he wasn't being killed.

ETA: He testified from a remote location at this joint hearing.

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Tortureand

[poli_ticks]

5. 10 years?

More like 200, if you ask me.

[ProSense]

6. More equating bin Laden to the Nazi trials

From the OP:

<...>

In response to claims that torture aided in locating bin Laden, the president must condemn torture in all forms and make it clear that torture has no place in U.S. policy and practice. He must bring to justice those responsible for torture, and apologize and provide redress to the thousands of victims of torture in the years following 9/11.

<...>

After a decade of fighting for the rule of law, of challenging torture, rendition and other inhumane and illegal acts committed as part of the so-called war on terror, we at the Center for Constitutional Rights have serious questions about the circumstances of bin Laden's death, including whether his killing violated international law and could constitute a war crime. Emerging facts that bin Laden was unarmed amplify those questions. The United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Extrajudicial Killings and Counter-Terrorism are seeking more information from the U.S. government, and we second that call.

We are also deeply troubled by the jubilant celebrations of the killing and the president's statement following the killing that "justice has been done," and concerned that there has been no pause to reflect and consider whether there were other options, other means of doing justice and what it might have meant to try bin Laden in a court of law.

If bin Laden had been captured and tried in a fair and transparent process, the facts of the case could have been discussed, a historical record created, more information may have emerged and individuals who lost loved ones could have testified. Perpetrators of some of the worst modern-day atrocities -- Nazi war criminals and individuals bearing responsibility for the Rwandan genocide and the atrocities committed in the former Yugoslavia -- were all accorded a process, which had immeasurable value to the victims, the affected nations, and the world.

<...>

OSAMA BIN LADEN: STATEMENT BY THE UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEURS ON SUMMARY EXECUTIONS AND ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND COUNTER-TERRORISM

GENEVA – The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Martin Scheinin, have issued the following statement:

“Acts of Terrorism are the antithesis of human rights, in particular the right to life. In certain exceptional cases, use of deadly force may be permissible as a measure of last resort in accordance with international standards on the use of force, in order to protect life, including in operations against terrorists. However, the norm should be that terrorists be dealt with as criminals, through legal processes of arrest, trial and judicially decided punishment.

Actions taken by States in combating terrorism, especially in high profile cases, set precedents for the way in which the right to life will be treated in future instances.

In respect of the recent use of deadly force against Osama bin Laden, the United States of America should disclose the supporting facts to allow an assessment in terms of international human rights law standards. For instance it will be particularly important to know if the planning of the mission allowed an effort to capture Bin Laden.

It may well be that the questions that are being asked about the operation could be answered, but it is important to get this into the open.”

Even the United Nations Special Rapporteurs cite exceptions.

"Acts of Terrorism are the antithesis of human rights"

Yes, they are.

[Hissyspit]

7. More equating the Nuremberg principles to the Nuremberg principles.