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Thermate911
Angel - now passed away
Joined: 16 Jul 2007
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Location: UEMS
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 Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:25 pm Post subject: Spain investigates what America should |
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Spain investigates what America should
Marjorie Cohn
San Francisco Chronicle
Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:38 UTC
A Spanish court has initiated criminal proceedings against six former officials of the Bush administration. John Yoo, Jay Bybee, David Addington, Alberto Gonzales, William Haynes and Douglas Feith may face charges in Spain for authorizing torture at Guantánamo Bay.
If arrest warrants are issued, Spain and any of the other 24 countries that are parties to European extradition conventions could arrest these six men when they travel abroad.
Does Spain have the authority to prosecute Americans for crimes that didn't take place on Spanish soil?
The answer is yes. It's called "universal jurisdiction." Universal jurisdiction is a well-established theory that countries, including the United States, have used for many years to investigate and prosecute foreign nationals for crimes that shock the conscience of the global community. It provides a critical legal tool to hold accountable those who commit crimes against the law of nations, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. Without universal jurisdiction, many of the most notorious criminals would go free. Countries that have used this as a basis to prosecute the most serious of crimes should be commended for their courage. They help to create a just world in which we all seek to live.
Israel used universal jurisdiction to prosecute, convict and execute Adolph Eichmann for his crimes during the Holocaust, even they had no direct relationship with Israel.
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more at:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/06/EDSG16SH3N .DTL
_________________
"We will lead every revolution against us!" - attrib: Theodor Herzl
"Timely Demise to All Oppressors - at their Convenience!" - 'Interesting Times', Terry Pratchett |
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Thermate911
Angel - now passed away
Joined: 16 Jul 2007
Posts: 1451
Location: UEMS
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| Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 3:14 pm Post subject: |
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http://www.pubrecord.org/torture/895-senators-urge-obama-to-block-rele ase-of-new-detainee-abuse-photos.html
| Quote: | Senators Urge Obama to Block Release of New Detainee Abuse Photos
Written by William Fisher
Sunday, 10 May 2009 00:00
By William Fisher
Civil libertarians are condemning a call by two influential U.S. senators for the White House to block the impending release of photographs showing detainees being abused by U.S. military personnel at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and at other American detention facilities in the Middle East and elsewhere.
The plea to intervene to stop the expected May 28 release of the photos came in a letter Thursday to President Barack Obama from Senators Joseph Lieberman and Lindsey Graham.
"The release of these old photographs of past behavior that has now been clearly prohibited will serve no public good, but will empower al-Qaeda propaganda operations, hurt our country's image, and endanger our men and women in uniform," the Senators wrote.
Release of the photos is expected in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.
"We urge you in the strongest possible terms to fight the release of these old pictures of detainees in the war on terror, including appealing the decision of the Second Circuit in the ACLU lawsuit to the Supreme Court and pursuing all legal options to prevent the public disclosure of these pictures," the senators wrote.
Senator Graham is a conservative Republican from South Carolina, a member of the Armed Services Committee, and a military lawyer in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. Lieberman was a lifelong Democrat until he lost his party’s primary contest in 2006, after which he ran and won as an Independent from Connecticut. He is chairman of the powerful Senate Homeland Security Committee. The two senators were among the most ardent supporters of the recent unsuccessful presidential campaign of Senator John McCain.
Civil libertarians were virtually unanimous in their opposition to withholding the photographs.
Gabor Rona, International Legal Director of Human Rights First, told us, ”Sen. Lieberman and Graham's claims might carry more weight had the US government been consistently honest about the mistreatment it authorized. But as long as the American people are kept in the dark about what crimes were committed in their name, they cannot intelligently exercise their democratic right and obligation to call for corrective measures.”
He added, “To elevate fear of al-Qaeda's reactions over faith in our democratic ideals and structures is unfortunate and counterproductive.”
Marjorie Cohn, President of the National Lawyers Guild, told us, “The more evidence that emerges to document the Bush policy of torture and abuse, the more likely that investigations and prosecutions will take place."
Professor Francis A. Boyle of the University of Illinois Law School told us, “The release of these photos will further document torture, abuse and other war crimes inflicted by U.S. military personnel in Iraq, the orders for which go all the way up the military chain of command to the Commander in Chief President Bush, the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, none of whom has yet been held accountable.”
He said, “Senators Lieberman and Graham are simply running interference for all three of them. Yet under the terms of the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Convention against Torture, the Obama administration has an obligation to open an investigation and to prosecute them. Failure to do so is a war crime in its own right.”... ... ... |
the 1st reader comment is also pertinent, imo:-
| Quote: | Joe Lieberman is the Biggest Hypocrite in History.
written by David Yaseen, May 10, 2009
Joe Lieberman doesn't have any problem with Holocaust museums and displaying in grim detail the crimes of the Nazis. His position on this issue puts him in a state of moral equivalence with the Nazis who desperately worked to destroy evidence as the Allies approached Berlin. |
_________________
"We will lead every revolution against us!" - attrib: Theodor Herzl
"Timely Demise to All Oppressors - at their Convenience!" - 'Interesting Times', Terry Pratchett |
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Thermate911
Angel - now passed away
Joined: 16 Jul 2007
Posts: 1451
Location: UEMS
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| Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 6:46 pm Post subject: Coalition Files Disciplinary Complaints Against Twelve Bush |
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It hasn't taken the US too-ish long to get their act together on this outrage:-
Coalition Files Disciplinary Complaints Against Twelve Bush Administration Lawyers Who Advocated Torture
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13650
| Quote: | Broad Coalition Of Groups Files Disciplinary Complaints Against Twelve Bush Administration Lawyers Who Advocated Torture Of Detainees
Washington, D.C.
Ilene Proctor PR (310) 858-6643
On Monday, May 18, 2009, a broad coalition of organizations dedicated to accountable government, and representing over one million members, filed disciplinary complaints with state bar licensing boards against twelve attorneys who advocated the torture of detainees during the Bush Administration. These detailed complaints with over 500 pages of supporting exhibits have been filed against John Yoo, Jay Bybee, Stephen Bradbury, Alberto Gonzales, John Ashcroft, Michael Chertoff, Alice Fisher, William Haynes II, Douglas Feith, Michael Mukasey, Timothy Flanigan, and David Addington. The complaints, filed with the state bars in the District of Columbia, New York, California, Texas and Pennsylvania, seek disciplinary action and disbarment. Copies of the complaints and exhibits are available at www.disbartorturelawyers.com.
The individually tailored complaints allege that the named attorneys violated the rules of professional responsibility by advocating torture, which is illegal under both United States and international law. Specifically, the Geneva Convention, UN Convention Against Torture, the Eighth Amendment, the Army Field Manual and the United States Criminal Code against torture and war crimes all prohibit torture of detainees. The memos written and supported by these attorneys advocating torture have now been repudiated by the Department of Justice, the White House, the Department of Defense and other experts in the field. The recently released Senate and Red Cross reports on detainee treatment provide uncontroverted evidence that the torture techniques advocated by the attorneys were used on human beings over an extended period of time.
In testimony at a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Former State Department counselor Philip Zelikow told a committee panel that Bush administration officials engaged in a ‘collective failure’ on detention and interrogation of suspected terrorists. He called the torture memos “unsound” because “the lawyers involved ... did not welcome peer review and indeed would shut down challenges even inside the government.” Another witness testified that the legal policy constituted “an ethical train wreck” because it violated constitutional, statutory and international law. ... ... ... |
Ya think Zelikow (hawk, spit) is a survivor, first and foremost?
_________________
"We will lead every revolution against us!" - attrib: Theodor Herzl
"Timely Demise to All Oppressors - at their Convenience!" - 'Interesting Times', Terry Pratchett |
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