Give Rumsfeld the Pinochet Treatment, Says U.S. Amnesty Chief

[TahitiNut]

Give Rumsfeld the Pinochet Treatment, Says U.S. Amnesty Chief
Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, May 25 (IPS) - If the administration of President George W. Bush fails to conduct a truly independent investigation of U.S. abuses against detainees in Iraq and elsewhere, foreign governments should investigate and prosecute those senior officials who bear responsibility for them, the head of the U.S. chapter of Amnesty International said here Wednesday.

Speaking at the release of Amnesty's annual report, William Schulz charged that Washington has become "a leading purveyor and practitioner" of torture and ill-treatment and that senior officials should face prosecution by other governments for violations of the Geneva Conventions and the U.N. Convention Against Torture.

Among those officials, Schulz named Bush, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Undersecretary of Defence for Policy Douglas Feith, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director George Tenet, and senior officers at U.S. detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Abu Ghraib, Iraq.

"If the U.S. government continues to shirk its responsibility, Amnesty International calls on foreign governments to uphold their obligations under international law by investigating all senior U.S. officials involved in the torture scandal," said Schulz, who added that violations of the torture convention, which has been ratified by the United States and some 138 other countries, can be prosecuted in any jurisdiction.

"If those investigations support prosecution, the governments should arrest any official who enters their territory and begin legal proceedings against them," he added. "The apparent high-level architects of torture should think twice before planning their next vacation to places like Acapulco or the French Riviera because they may find themselves under arrest as (former Chilean dictator) Augusto Pinochet famously did in London in 1998."

Schulz also called on state bar associations to investigate administration lawyers who helped prepare legal opinions that sought to justify or defend the use of abusive interrogation methods for breach of their professional and ethical responsibilities.

He cited, in particular, Vice President Dick Cheney's general counsel, David Addington; Pentagon General Counsel William Haynes; and top officials in the Justice Department's Office of General Counsel, one of whom, Jay Bybee, has since been confirmed as a federal appeals court judge.

<snip>

Yep, those Quisling Democrats will sure have a hard time finding more "exceptional circumstances" than a (hopefully) soon-to-be-indicted war criminal they confirmed to the Appellate Court.

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

I want to live to see these people frog-marched into abu Ghraib under international guard.

[lenidog]

1. Well you are never going to see it happen.

Its sad and wrong but its the reality of the world.

[Swamp Rat]

2. "Islamo-terrorist appeaser" William Schulz will be getting a visit

by Rummy's SSB pretty soon. Before we see these lizards frog-marched, they'll be roasting a few humans... they will not go quietly.

[TahitiNut]

3. Time to increase my Amnesty International donations.

I think the money might be better spent than on DINOs who elevate Fascist war criminals to our highest courts. We have exactly the same messages coming from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Red Cross.

It's clearly no exaggeration to call this administration Fascist and war criminals.

[Swamp Rat]

6. I just watched William Schulz on CSPAN an hour ago.

I am scared for folks like him... and us.

It won't be long before the Busheviks start their widespread persecution of anyone who criticizes them. They just took over PBS and Google and are erasing databases, if not rewriting history... we are entering the next phase of the fascist 'dictatership' and it's gonna get real ugly. With fascist judges in place, NeoCons in charge of corporate media and world financial institutions, and Bolton at the UN, I expect the worst.

Alien lizard intergalactic cruisers have entered Earth's orbit... "They" are here for the oil...

[in_cog_ni_to]

4. Did you see him on C-SPAN?

My husband and I were sitting here with our jaws on the floor because of the TRUTH he was speaking. We couldn't believe he called out the entire administration! BEST SPEECH I'VE SEEN IN YEARS!

I had this vision of the chimp and his cabal sitting by a pool while on vacation in some foreign country and they're ALL handcuffed and arrested for war crimes. Man, would that be sweet.

[TahitiNut]

7. Nope. I think it was on C-SPAN3. I only get 1 & 2.

I'm going to watch for it, though.

[lonestarnot]

5. Good idea I say chap...He's his ugly twin and it doesn't matter which he.

[TahitiNut]

8. .

:kick: