Human Rights Watch: prosecute Bush and Cheney (abroad, if necessary)
I reported back in January that Human Rights Watch was preparing a major report on torture and other abuses by the Bush administration which would include a call for other countries to prosecute Bush, Cheney, and other senior officials. After months of delay, that report has finally been released. From the press release that accompanies ...
I reported back in January that Human Rights Watch was preparing a major report on torture and other abuses by the Bush administration which would include a call for other countries to prosecute Bush, Cheney, and other senior officials. After months of delay, that report has finally been released. From the press release that accompanies it:
I reported back in January that Human Rights Watch was preparing a major report on torture and other abuses by the Bush administration which would include a call for other countries to prosecute Bush, Cheney, and other senior officials. After months of delay, that report has finally been released. From the press release that accompanies it:
"There are solid grounds to investigate Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Tenet for authorizing torture and war crimes," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "President Obama has treated torture as an unfortunate policy choice rather than a crime. His decision to end abusive interrogation practices will remain easily reversible unless the legal prohibition against torture is clearly reestablished."
If the US government does not pursue credible criminal investigations, other countries should prosecute US officials involved in crimes against detainees in accordance with international law, Human Rights Watch said. "The US has a legal obligation to investigate these crimes," Roth said. "If the US doesn’t act on them, other countries should."
The report expresses frustration at the Obama administration’s lack of appetite for prosecution and its apparent attempts to dissuade any foreign governments from pursuing legal action.
David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist
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