(Philippe Sands) Bush administration 'could face charges over Guantanamo torture'

[sabra]

Source: ABC AU

An international lawyer says the former Bush administration in the United States could be the subject of foreign investigations into interrogation of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

...

Lawyer and author Philippe Sands has told ABC TV's Lateline that any criminal investigation into the Bush administration is more likely to come from outside the US.

"The evidence seems to be pretty strong now that certainly Rumsfeld, certainly now it seems Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were involved," he said.

"And the issue I think is much more one of political will. Can we really imagine an independent prosecutor opening a criminal investigation of the most recent administration?

"That doesn't mean that foreign criminal investigations might not do precisely that."

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/06/2561844.htm?section=justin

[Soylent Brice]

1. everything is building up, and brewing.

eventually this will all boil over. i don't think the repubs can stop prosecutions even if they wanted to.

[LynnTheDem]

2. If America won't do its legal duty, someone else will have to.

Coz gee, we don't want to "SET A PRECEDENT" of charging US government officials with war crimes they commit!

That would be oh so bad awful terrible!

Sure wish someone would explain exactly WHY setting a precedent of charging those who commit war crimes with war crimes charges would be such a oh so bad awful terrible thing.

[Bragi]

3. I agree

Especially what with there being a specific U.S. law which prohibits war crimes committed anywhere.

Why would anyone think that prosecutions would not happen, or that, once started, a prosecution would suddenly and inexplicably desist, without any further legal ramification?

Wouldn't anyone who stood in the way of legal prosecution mounted under this statute be obstructing justice?

[No Elephants]

4. The Convention Against Torture, which we signed in, I think, 1988, required us to

enact laws making torture illegal and to prosecute for torture. Our laws do make torture illegal. Unfortunately, though, I don't think our laws made failure to prosecute illegal.

[EFerrari]

8. Failure to prosecute is a violation of the Geneva torture convention

which is why the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture piped up last month when Obama said he didn't favor prosecutions.

[No Elephants]

5. Setting the precedent that an administration CAN torture and get away with it is the precedent we

should be worried about setting.

This is one of the biggest disappointments. (And if one more poster says something about not being surprised, I am going to get a bunch of insects and a box that is about five feet long and track him or her down. Hey, if Bushco can away with it, I may have an equal protection defense.)

[Senator]

6. K&R

[ConcernedCanuk]

7. I wonder - I do believe the BFEE and gang are evil, but they ain't stupid methinks . .

.
.
.

Evil people are mostly quite smart - how come we haven't heard anything lately about that property in Paraguay lately?

Are they all gonna hide out there in the near future?

I know damm well, well; I THINK I know that the BFEE will never let itself be put before a court -

they will run away - heck - they can afford it - took BILLIONS of the USAmerican tax dollars in the last eight years -

The greatest robbery in history.

There's a movie plot for ya

THE GREAT AMERICAN TAXPAYERS HEIST OF THE 21st CENTURY - ?TRILLIONS

and all "legal"

WELL, . . .

sorta

:freak:

[Vidar]

9. If the Europeans can accomplish this, they should just take over

Washington DC & reform our damned government. Oh well, I can dream.