Torture Victims’ Case Against George W. Bush Received in Provincial Court in British Columbia

[Hissyspit]

Source: Center for Constitutional Rights

Torture Victims’ Case against George W. Bush Received in Provincial Court in British Columbia

Hearing Date Set for January after Justice of the Peace Accepts Information Submitted
on Behalf of Four Men Allegedly Tortured Under Bush’s Order and Consent

[e-mail]

October 20, 2011, Surrey, BC –Today, as former U.S. president George W. Bush visits Surrey as a paid speaker at a regional economic summit, a Justice of the Peace in the British Columbia provincial court in Surrey accepted the sworn information submitted on behalf of four men who allege they were tortured under Bush’s command. The information, laid pursuant to section 504 of the Canadian criminal code, includes four counts of inflicting torture, contrary to section 269.1 of the code. The court set a hearing date for January 9, 2012.
 
The four men involved in the criminal complaint against Bush, Hassan bin Attash, Sami el-Hajj, Muhammed Khan Tumani and Murat Kurnaz, each endured years of inhumane treatment including beatings, chaining to cell walls, being hung from walls or ceilings while handcuffed, lack of access to toilets, sleep, food and water-deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures, sensory overload and deprivation, and other horrific and illegal treatment while in U.S. custody at military bases in Afghanistan and/or at the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. While three of the plaintiffs have since been released without ever facing charges, Hassan Bin Attash still remains in detention at Guantánamo Bay, though he too has not been formally charged with any wrongdoing.
 
Katherine Gallagher, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) who is assisting the plaintiffs, remarked, “The confirmation of the information marks a crucial first step in holding George Bush accountable for the acts of torture for which he bears individual criminal responsibility as former President and Commander in Chief of the US military. We look forward to the opportunity to present the court with evidence establishing George Bush’s liability for torture.”
 
Matt Eisenbrandt, legal director of the Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ), who submitted the filing on the men’s behalf, added, “Today’s action confirms that the survivors of torture under the Bush administration will not stop in their efforts to seek justice. We are disappointed that the Attorney General of Canada refused our calls to take on the prosecution of Mr. Bush and violated Canada’s international obligations. These four men have now taken their own action to bring Mr. Bush to account.”

Read more: http://www.ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/torture-victims’-case-against-george-w.-bush-received-provincial-court-british-columbia

[rosesaylavee]

1. K & R

Happy to be the first. Thank you for posting!

[SpiralHawk]

2. One of the sickest elements of modern Republiconism - torture

In olden times Republicons would have been the eeleete Romans who flogged and crucified their victims

[scentopine]

25. Why haven't democrats made torture illegal and prosecuted the torturers?

Instead, they implemented don't ask, don't tell.

If you excuse torture, or decriminalize it as Obama has done, you are just as guilty as the torturers.

Obama unleashed a moral hazard.

Today, Democrats are torturing just like republicans. Obama learned from Bush, don't deny it, just keep that shit out of the press.

And with CIA in Egypt, Libya and Yemen and Pakistan and Afghanistan, what do you think they are doing with prisoners given their torture first, ask questions later policy?

---------------

The report said torture methods included suspending people by their wrists, beating the soles of the feet, electric shocks, twisting detainees' genitals, removing toe nails and being put in stress positions.

UNAMA said the torture aimed to obtain information and confessions, which it said are often the sole form of evidence submitted in Afghan criminal trials. Judges often find such confessions "both persuasive and conclusive of the defendant's guilt."
http://www.military.com/news/article/2011/un-detainees-tortured-in-afghanistan.html

--------------------------

Well, a new investigation by journalist Anand Gopal reveals some harrowing details about America’s secret prisons in Afghanistan, under both the Bush and Obama administrations. What emerges is a world that goes far beyond the main prison in Bagram and includes disappearances, night raids, hidden detention centers and torture. Gopal interviewed Afghans who were detained and abused at several disclosed and undisclosed sites at US and Afghan military bases across the country. He also reveals the existence of another secret prison on Bagram Air Base that even the Red Cross doesn’t have access to. It’s dubbed the Black Jail and reportedly is run by US Special Forces.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/2/americas_secret_afghan_prisons_investigation_unearths

[No Elephants]

31. Clinton, a Democratic President, originated the practice of "extraordinary" rendition.

Or, so we have been told and, AFAIK, no one has as yet contradicted that.

AFAIK, no Democratic President has yet ended the practice of "extraordinary" rendition or changed Bagram. Or so we have been told and, AFAIK, no one has as yet contradicted that.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,650324,00.html

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x540433

http://cageprisoners.com/our-work/opinion-editorial/item/1419-bagram-and-beyond-new-revelations-about-secret-us-torture-prisons-in-afghanistan



The blue team, red team mentality that worked so well 50 or more years ago simply does not fit the modern paradigm, especially in the post-DLC era. And perhaps especially as to civil and human rights in the post 911 era.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

38. THE REPUBLICANS HAVE SO TWISTED THINGS IN THEIR QUEST FOR POWER

.......................

[lsewpershad]

3. Hope they

can make this stick and grab him whenever he's in Canada.

[democrank]

4. "paid speaker"

Who in their right mind would pay to listen to a war criminal speak?

[gratuitous]

5. Are the allegations sufficient?

Is it permissible for George W. Bush, on the basis of this proceeding, to be labeled a very, very bad person? If so, would he be subject to the same treatment the United States has meted out to others this year? Would the Canadians be permitted to do that? Would the U.S., could the U.S.. object if Canada, on the strength of these allegations, just lobbed a missile into the Dallas housing development the Bush family currently calls home?

[saras]

7. Yes. They are. If anyone is a suitable target, he is. For some, no one is.

In general, I think Canada would make such decisions much better than the United States would, even if I didn't agree with all of them.

For poetic justice, the missile should be loaded with 2000 lbs of dog shit.

[bvar22]

8. Does Canada have any...

.... Humanitarian Assassination Drones?

"Bring 'Em On!!!"

[Amonester]

11. Yes, I heard a war-corporation in Ontario makes some, and sells

them south of the border...

[ChadwickHenryWard]

40. I think it was safe to call Bush a bad person long before today.

To answer your question, no, I don't believe Canada maintains the right to kill any individual, anywhere in the world, at any time, for any justification. I believe that is the sole realm of the United States.

[Scurrilous]

6. K & R

:thumbsup:

[marasinghe]

9. thanks for posting this, H/s; good to see someone still keeping a candle lit for the victims ....

of the parasites spawned in the Bush White House.

while the majority rejoices in a masturbatory orgy of self-congratulation - over the death of a brown-skinned tyrant in Libya; and filthy mass-murdering scum with body-counts magnitudes higher, bask in the warm glow of 'American statesmanship'.

:puke:

[on point]

10. Prosecute Bush Cheney Rice and the rest of the war criminals...

[DCKit]

17. Rice? Please, all she did was wear shoes manufactured with child/slave labor.

That's not a crime in Amurika. nt

[avaistheone1]

28. Rice actively helped spread the Bush/Cheney lies that led this country to war with Iraq.

She is not innocent by a long shot.

I wouldn't be surprised if Rice had a role in the use and coverup of torture as well.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/05/973536/-Refuting-Condoleezza-Rices-Lies-About-The-Threat-Of-A-Mushroom-Cloud

[on point]

30. She was a part of the panel that approved the torture and received reports on it

[Solly Mack]

12. K&R

[Amonester]

13. harper's AG tries to protect war criminals now...

The sun goes up in the East.

F harper and his lackey$ :argh:

[Jefferson23]

14. Good luck. thanks for posting Hissyspit. K&R n/t

[SoapBox]

15. K & R

[kestrel91316]

16. I rarely pray, but I think I will pray that they succeed and he is brought to justice.

[Kurmudgeon]

20. Always pray for truth, once known, then justice is much more liable to happen.

I've feared for a long time that the Bush-Cheney administration will slide on their misdeeds.

[KamaAina]

18. Well, of course the hearing date is set for January.

Can't very well arrest him now, can we? He has to go plunk his sorry ass next to Nolan Ryan's at the World Series on Saturday. :eyes:

[Mosaic]

19. He started a war based on lies

And over one million humans, americans too have lost their lives. Torture is secondary to that evil. Punishment seems too good for him, I wonder what should happen to him.

[CHIMO]

21. Start of a Process

Former Guantánamo Prisoner Speaks Out on Lawsuit Seeking Bush’s Arrest in Canada for Torture

KATHERINE GALLAGHER: Sure. Yeah, what’s been amazing here is we’ve seen a unified call from human rights organizations, from legal groups, for prosecution. The Center for Constitutional Rights and the CCIJ, the Canadian Center for International Justice, we have actually twice already tried to solicit the attorney general of Canada to open an investigation over the past three weeks, in the same way that Amnesty has. And for all of these calls that have gone in to the attorney general, he thus far has shown no willingness to investigate or prosecute George Bush. That is why today we are taking this step to initiate the prosecution ourselves on behalf of these four men. And Amnesty will be out on the street today. I think we’re seeing Occupy Wall Street move to Occupy Surrey today. And we will need to keep calls going in to the attorney general of Canada to support this case, now that it will be in the court today.

KATHERINE GALLAGHER: Yes. What is being done is, an information is being laid that will be a sworn information. And once that is completed, the case will be transferred over to a provincial judge in Surrey. And we need, then, the attorney general, after eight days, to certify this case to proceed. In the meantime, we will be asking for an immediate hearing to be able to present the case of these four men and the case against George Bush. And should Canada not be willing to allow this case to proceed, we will then go to the United Nations and ask them to review the actions of Canada, which has an obligation as a signatory under the Convention against Torture to investigate and prosecute torture in their country.

AMY GOODMAN: What about here? You’re talking about doing this in Canada, trying to get President Bush arrested. President Bush lives in the United States. And then there’s a second question: one of the men you’re talking about doing this on behalf of is still at Guantánamo. President Obama is also here.

KATHERINE GALLAGHER: Mm-hmm, yes. Unfortunately, in the United States, we are not able to initiate private prosecutions. We have called on, and continue to call on, and will continue to present evidence to the attorney general, Eric Holder, and ask him to uphold the United States’ obligations, because, of course, we have been in breach of our obligations under the Convention against Torture. So this fight against impunity needs to be fought domestically, I absolutely agree, and internationally. Today we are turning to our partners in the north to help us close the impunity gap. And we hope to see that take place.

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/20/former_guantnamo_prisoner_speaks_out_on

[stevedeshazer]

22. Hail Cascadia!

Let's bring this bastard to justice.

[pam4water]

23. Yaaah K&R!

[RaleighNCDUer]

24. This is ridiculous.

We should be seeing those charges in AMERICAN courts.

[ChadwickHenryWard]

42. Hear, hear. n/t

[RainDog]

26. k&r n/t

[RickFromMN]

27. If this is successful in Canada, will Bush be able to travel to Canada, Mexico, or overseas?

I suspect we don't put Bush on trial, in the United States, for fear of civil war.
I don't know if this fear has any solid foundation.

If Canada wants to try Bush, does the United States have an obligation to turn him over?
Would Europe or Mexico or Asia have an obligation?

If Canada issues warrants to try Bush, I think Bush is better off, being tried in the U. S.
Bush has more friends here. It's easier for Bush and his friends, to "fix" the court here.

If Bush were tried and acquitted, could he still be tried in another country?

I wish Bush were tried and convicted, even if his sentence were later commuted.
It would send a warning to world leaders torture is not condoned.

[No Elephants]

32. Before he was elected President, Bush had NEVER left the US. This, despite

his father's Presidency and his (Dummya's) own office as Governor of Texas, right across the border from Mexico.

This is why we named him Incurious George.

And the Obama administration has put pressure on other countries not to prosecute Bushco.

So, Dummya may lose some speaking fees from Canada for a while. Other than that, it will be no big deal for him.

[totodeinhere]

36. This case will be thrown out just like similar cases have been in

Spain and Germany. He will be free to travel to Canada all he wants. Just you wait and see.

People are making such as big deal about the court "receiving" this case. But the court receives any case filed with it no matter what it is. So that doesn't mean that the case even has a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding.

[sce56]

37. He did not go to Switzerland last spring due to the same reason threat of arrest!

So it can work!

[Enthusiast]

29. Kicked and recommended! nt

[ScottLand]

33. Don't call it torture! This is what we mean when we say we're

"being Christian" to someone. I refer you to the Crusades. That's our past AND our future.

[orbitalman]

34. K & R x 1000 n/t

[russspeakeasy]

35. God , what I would give to be on the jury. Presumed innocent

of course..etc.

[Vinca]

39. It looks like this is the only chance at justice.

I still can't figure out why the crimes have been swept under the rug in this country.

[ChadwickHenryWard]

41. If George Bush is convicted of just of one the crimes he committed

while in office I will consider it a victory for Western civilization. His was easily the most criminal administration since Nixon's, and at very least he should justice for his use of torture.

[BetsysGhost]

43. CCR?

must be a joke huh?