UN Official Wants to Prosecute Bush, Rumsfeld for Torture

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UN Official Wants to Prosecute Bush, Rumsfeld for Torture

The UN's "Special Rapporteur on Torture," Manfred Nowak, in a message recorded on January 20 for broadcast that evening on Germany's ZDF television, urged the United States to bring charges against former President George W. Bush and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for torture and bad treatment of prisoners held at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay. "Judicially speaking, the United States has a clear obligation" to bring proceedings against Bush and Rumsfeld, said Nowak.

Nowak asserted that because the United States has ratified the UN Convention on Torture, which states that "all means, particularly penal law" are to be used to bring proceedings against anyone violating the convention, then charges against the two American are justified. "We have all these documents that are now publicly available that prove that these methods of interrogation were intentionally ordered by Rumsfeld," said Nowak. "But obviously the highest authorities in the United States were aware of this."

A report in the Telegraph (UK) observed that when he was asked about the likelihood of legal action being brought against Bush and Rumsfeld, Nowak replied: "In principle yes. I think the evidence is on the table." He added that the question of whether "American law will recognize these forms of torture" was still at issue.

A bipartisan Senate report released on December 11 found Rumsfeld and other top Bush administration officials responsible for the abuse of detainees at Guantanamo. The Los Angeles Times noted on December 12, 2008 that the report directed its most pointed criticism at Rumsfeld's decision in December 2002 to authorize the use of harsh interrogation techniques at the Guantanamo Bay facility. The report described Rumsfeld's directive as "a direct cause for detainee abuse" at Guantanamo and concluded that it "influenced and contributed to the use of abusive techniques, including military working dogs, forced nudity and stress positions, in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Torture is illegal under U.S. law. The Bush administration claimed that its harsh interrogation techniques such as waterboarding are not torture and that it therefore did not break the law. But that claim could be challenged in the U.S. judicial system under our own laws without need to apply any UN conventions or treaties.

But bringing charges against Bush and Rumsfeld on the basis of a UN convention would be a major step toward further raising the stature of and empowering the world body. And that empowerment would include defining "toture" on the basis of the UN treaty.

An "Insider Report" in The New American magazine for June 19, 2000 observed that on May 15 of that year, the United Nations Committee against Torture, in its first ever report on human rights conditions in the United States, recommended that the U.S. government modify its behavior and fulfill its treaty obligations under the Convention against Torture. The panel urged the United States to prohibit the use of electro-shock stun belts and restraint chairs, claiming that they "almost invariably" violate the terms ratified in the Convention against Torture. The panel also expressed its concerns about what it perceived as the torture and mistreatment of prisoners by police and prison guards at maximum security prisons, including prisoner chain gangs and "excessively harsh" conditions. The panel also suggested that the United States make torture, as defined in the convention, a federal crime, thereby harmonizing U.S. law with international law.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/foreign-policy/722



I saw on TV journal about US tortue, war issues, etc for weeks before and after 20th January quite a lot. It says that Bush was being warned last January 2003 that he and his bush adminstration may be prosecuted for war crimes under Geneva Convention..... Well Bush and co. choose to ignore the law to continue to do with torture, mistreatment, etc.

From saw on TV, I must say that I want to see Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney prosecuted because it's about justice for America and many countries around the world.

Discussion with agree to disagree is welcome...



 
Bush said that waterboarding isnt torture? Wow...
 
Bush said that waterboarding isnt torture? Wow...

Yes, it's not just Bush but Cheney as well. I feel sick with pain to learn that he defended waterboarding to the meida few days before 20th January that Guantanamo should stay open, waterboarding OK. Cheney admitted that he authorized torture against Guantanamo Detainees.

What a horrible...
 
I am wondering if it would do this country good if they get prosecuted. That would be embarrassing for the U.S. but if they are convicted of any crimes, then they should be punished.
 
george w. bush doesn't seem to mind losing over 4,000 soldiers in iraq, so why should we be surprised that he doesn't consider waterboarding as torture?
 
I saw on TV journal about US tortue, war issues, etc for weeks before and after 20th January quite a lot. It says that Bush was being warned last January 2003 that he and his bush adminstration may be prosecuted for war crimes under Geneva Convention...Well Bush and co. choose to ignore the law to continue to do with torture, mistreatment, etc.

From saw on TV, I must say that I want to see Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney prosecuted because it's about justice for America and many countries around the world.

Discussion with agree to disagree is welcome...
Wow! I bet that made your day!
 
Bush said that waterboarding isnt torture? Wow...
Did you know that our own SEAL and Special Forces members are waterboarded as part of their training? It's not pleasant, for sure, but it's not torture.
 
Did you know that our own SEAL and Special Forces members are waterboarded as part of their training? It's not pleasant, for sure, but it's not torture.

The feeling of about to drown? For those who dont have training nor understanding of it, it can be torture.
 
The feeling of about to drown?
I said it wasn't pleasant.

However, there is a difference between the sensation of drowning, and actually drowning. Their lives were not at risk.

For those who dont have training nor understanding of it, it can be torture.
Exactly. That's why our service members go thru the experience, so they'll know what to expect, and how to resist it. It's the same thing when they actually experience being gassed and other "unpleasantness." When you take out the element of the unknown, you can face it better.
 
Can someone explain what does waterboarding does? What's the purpose of waterboarding?

I think I have a pretty good idea what waterboarding is but I also wanted to see the bigger picture of this in order to get an understanding of this.

From what I see - It's like when someone pours the water on the victim's face to do a drowning effect? Is that correct?
 
I said it wasn't pleasant.

However, there is a difference between the sensation of drowning, and actually drowning. Their lives were not at risk.


Exactly. That's why our service members go thru the experience, so they'll know what to expect, and how to resist it. It's the same thing when they actually experience being gassed and other "unpleasantness." When you take out the element of the unknown, you can face it better.

But what's the purpose of using that technique on the prisoners? To make them suffer or to get info from them?
 
Can someone explain what does waterboarding does? What's the purpose of waterboarding?

I think I have a pretty good idea what waterboarding is but I also wanted to see the bigger picture of this in order to get an understanding of this.

From what I see - It's like when someone pours the water on the victim's face to do a drowning effect? Is that correct?

Yes, the description of link explains better...

http://hbergman.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/102706-waterboarding.jpg

 
I emailed my husband asking his opinion on waterboarding and if it was a form of torture since he is a former Marine.

This is his response..


Yes, imaging being strapped down so u can't be moved and having someone pour a bottle of water on ur face.
 
But what's the purpose of using that technique on the prisoners? To make them suffer or to get info from them?
To get information from them, especially when it's needed quickly.
 
According to the UN, this is their definition of torture:

"For the purposes of this Convention, torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions."
UN Convention Against Torture
 
Did you know that our own SEAL and Special Forces members are waterboarded as part of their training? It's not pleasant, for sure, but it's not torture.

really? how long has this been going on, reba?
 
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