UNITED NATIONS blasts White House on waterboarding

[L. Coyote]

UN blasts White House on waterboarding
By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER Associated Press Writer
©AP Feb. 6, 2008 - http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/5519057.html


GENEVA — The United Nations' torture investigator criticized the White House Wednesday for defending the use of waterboarding and urged the U.S. to give up its defense of "unjustifiable" interrogation methods.

The comments from Manfred Nowak, the U.N.'s special rapporteur on torture, came a day after the Bush administration acknowledged publicly for the first time that waterboarding was used by U.S. government questioners on three terror suspects.

Testifying before Congress, CIA Director Michael Hayden said the suspects were waterboarded in 2002 and 2003.

"This is absolutely unacceptable under international human rights law," Nowak said. "Time has come that the government will actually acknowledge that they did something wrong and not continue trying to justify what is unjustifiable."

The White House on Wednesday defended the use of waterboarding, saying it is legal ............

[ursi]

1. kick and rank! The bush bastards have made life worse for our own soldiers!

[malaise]

2. K & R

I'm now waiting for the governments of Europe to condemn the US.

[jtrockville]

3. Why didn't Nowak call it TORTURE. Why "interrogation methods"?

[tekisui]

4. Brick by brick. We must arrest the War Criminals!

[malaise]

5. Have you seen a word of this on

Cable News?

[tekisui]

6. I haven't.

Doesn't mean it wasn't, though I doubt it.

I flooded the email box.

[malaise]

8. So did I

Another condemnation

Human Rights Watch, which has been calling on the government to outlaw waterboarding as a form of illegal torture, called Hayden's testimony "an explicit admission of criminal activity."
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/06/america/NA-GEN-US-White-House-Torture.php

IMPEACH, ARREST, IMPRISON!!

[tekisui]

10. I have wondered for a while when the International Community was going to come.

For the past 7 years, I have looked to so many to stop this criminal outfit. The other two branches of the government were complicit. The "fourth branch", the media trumpeted them. The Opposition Party said they opposed, but did nothing to stop them. The People marched and voted, but were ignored and sedated with despair.

Then, I turned to the World and said, "This is your problem, too. We NEED YOUR HELP."

I hope this will finally bring action.

The War Crimes Administration is turning us into a Rouge Nation.

[bullimiami]

7. maybe the UN should do something for a change. Like sanctioning the USgovt for starters.

The UN is toothless and virtually useless because the controlling member states have no morality.
US, Russia, China, France, England all corrupt and morally bankrupt.

[malaise]

14. The Guardian report said

The UN censored the US.

[L. Coyote]

16. It is being done already on the financial front, a more influential one perhaps.

[leftynyc]

9. Just curious

have they said anything about those sisters about to get stoned to death?

[tekisui]

11. They have spoken out about stoning before.

THey say it is clear violation of International Law.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour today spoke out against the reported stoning last week of a man in Iran and urged the country not to execute his companion or any other person in the same unlawful manner.
“I am extremely concerned that despite a stated moratorium of the Iranian Government on execution by stoning this execution has gone ahead,” Ms. Arbour said in a statement released in Geneva. “Stoning is in clear violation of international law, which also limits the death penalty to only the most serious, violent crimes.”


That was from a 2007 stoning.

Not that one justifies the other.

[leftynyc]

13. I understand that

but it seems the only place I read about these stonings is here on DU. While there are people who insist it's being reported in a run up to war, I have yet to see any widespread reporting on it. I haven't seen it on TV at all.

That my country engages in anything like waterboarding makes me ashamed.

[spanone]

12. i have met the enemy and he is us

[tekisui]

15. Another layer to this lastest admission,

Chimpy authorized the disclosure. They wanted the enemy, or us, to know that they now torture. That they are open about it, and feel they are immune to accountability regard War Crimes.

This is to inspire more fear, and a stronger feeling of hopelessness.

I am seriously, thouroughly disgusted.

[malaise]

17. This is beyond arrogance n/t

[spanone]

18. without any political or judicial opposition in this country, they are immune...

the UN should indict these fuckers imho

[L. Coyote]

19. visibility kick