UN Special Investigator Calls For Prosecution Over U.S. Torture

[Lucille]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/10/un-us-torture_n_6300864.html

GENEVA (AP) — Senior U.S. officials who authorized and carried out torture as part of former President George W. Bush's national security policy must be prosecuted, a top U.N. special investigator said Wednesday.

Ben Emmerson, the U.N.'s special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, said in addition that all CIA and other U.S. officials who used waterboarding and other torture techniques must be prosecuted.

He said the Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA's harsh interrogation techniques at secret overseas facilities after the 9/11 terror attacks shows "there was a clear policy orchestrated at a high level within the Bush administration, which allowed to commit systematic crimes and gross violations of international human rights law."
[...]
"The individuals responsible for the criminal conspiracy ... must be brought to justice, and must face criminal penalties commensurate with the gravity of their crimes," Emmerson said. "The fact that the policies revealed in this report were authorized at a high level within the U.S. government provides no excuse whatsoever. Indeed, it reinforces the need for criminal accountability."
[...]
Bush approved the program through a covert finding in 2002 but he wasn't briefed by the CIA on the details until 2006. Obama banned waterboarding and other tactics, yet other aspects of Bush's national security policies remain, most notably the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and sweeping government surveillance programs.

According to Emmerson, international law prohibits granting immunity to public officials who allow the use of torture, and this applies not just to the actual perpetrators but also to those who plan and authorize it. As a result, he said, the U.S. government is "legally obliged to bring those responsible to justice."

Human Rights Watch's executive director Kenneth Roth also said "unless this important truth-telling process leads to prosecution of officials, torture will remain a 'policy option' for future presidents."

http://news.yahoo.com/un-expert-calls-prosecution-over-us-torture-111549876.html

"In all countries, if someone commits murder, they are prosecuted and jailed. If they commit rape or armed robbery, they are prosecuted and jailed. If they order, enable or commit torture — recognized as a serious international crime — they cannot simply be granted impunity because of political expediency," he said.
[...]
It's not clear, however, how rights officials think these prosecutions will take place.

A Justice Department official said Wednesday the department did not intend to revisit its decision to not prosecute anyone for the interrogation methods. The official said the department had reviewed the committee's report and did not find any new information that would cause the investigation to be reopened.

"Our inquiry was limited to a determination of whether prosecutable offenses were committed," the official said. "Importantly, our investigation was not intended to answer the broader questions regarding the propriety of the examined conduct."
[...]
The United States is also not part of the International Criminal Court, which began operating in 2002 to ensure that those responsible for the most heinous crimes could be brought to justice. That court can step in only when countries are unwilling or unable to dispense justice themselves for genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. But any referral of a torture case would require approval by the U.N. Security Council, where the United States holds veto power.

 

[enhanced_deficit]

Let's slow down, road to accountability is a slippery slope... accountability of drone assassinations could be next if we allowed torture prosecutions to go ahead. This accountability business should be squashed right here.

 

[roho76]

Let's slow down, road to accountability is a slippery slope... accountability of drone assassinations could be next if we allowed torture prosecutions to go ahead. This accountability business should be squashed right here.

I hope that's sarcasm. People who torture and vaporize others from space should be dealt with swiftly. I think we could skip the trial. There's more than enough evidence to prove its a fact.