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| Photo Credit: Reuters |
Friday, 2 December 2011
Report: Amnesty International Urges Arrest Of George W. Bush During Travels
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| George W. Bush |
“Amnesty
International considers that there is enough material in the public domain even
if one were to rely
only upon information released by United States authorities, and by former US
President George W. Bush
himself to give rise to an obligation for other states he visits to investigate
his alleged involvement in and responsibility for crimes under international
law, including particularly torture, and to secure his presence during that
investigation.
1.
Acts of torture (and, it may be noted, other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment and enforced disappearance) were committed against detainees held in
a secret detention and interrogation program operated by the USA’s Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) between 2002 and 2009.
2.
The CIA established this secret program under the authorization of
then-President George W.
Bush.
3.
Since leaving office, former President George W. Bush has said that he
authorized the use of a number of “enhanced interrogation techniques” against
detainees held in the secret CIA program. The former President specifically
admitted to authorizing the “water-boarding” of identified individuals, whose
subjection to this torture technique has been confirmed.
4.
Additionally, torture and other ill-treatment, and secret detention, by US
forces occurred outside the confines of the CIA-run secret detention program,
including against detainees held in military custody at the US Naval Base at
Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, and in the context of armed conflicts in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
5.
George W. Bush was Commander in Chief of all US armed forces at the relevant
times.
6.
The Administration of George W. Bush acted on the basis that he was essentially
unrestrained by
international or US law in determining the USA’s response to the attacks in the
USA on 11 September 2001. Among other things, President Bush decided that the
protections of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, including their common article
3, would not be applied to Taleban or al-Qa’ida detainees.
7.
George W. Bush, as Commander in Chief at the relevant times, if he did not
directly order or authorize such crimes, at least knew, or had reason to know,
that US forces were about to commit or were committing such crimes and did not
take all necessary and reasonable measures in his power as Commander in Chief
and President to prevent their commission or, if the crimes had already been
committed, ensure that all those who were alleged to be responsible for these
crimes were brought to justice.
8.
The USA has failed to conduct investigations capable of reaching former
President George W. Bush,
and all indications are that it will not do so, at least in the near future.
9.
The facts summarized above, which are matters of public record, are sufficient
to give rise to a mandatory
obligation under international law for any state that is party to the UN
Convention against
Torture, should former US President George W. Bush enter that state’s
territory, to:
A. Launch a criminal investigation;
B· Arrest former President Bush or otherwise secure his
presence during that investigation; and C· Submit the case to its competent authorities for the
purposes of prosecution if it does not extradite him to another state
demonstrably able and willing to do so.
10.
While there is some debate whether
states that are not parties to the UN Convention against Torture
have essentially the same obligations under customary international law, it is
clear that such states have the power to exercise jurisdiction in such circumstances
and, in Amnesty International’s submission, should do so.
11.
Further, as some of the torture and
other cruel inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees occurred
in the context of armed conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, states to which former
US President
George W. Bush travels also have obligations under the 1949 Geneva Conventions and/or
under customary international humanitarian law, essentially the same as those
under the UN
Convention against Torture”.
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