U.N. investigator urges U.S. to pursue Bush-era abuses

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Article was written by Stephanie Nebehay | Reuters
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Could this be the beginning of what so many have been calling for over the years?

GENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations investigator called on the United States on Monday to publish its findings on the CIA's Bush-era program of rendition and secret detention of terrorism suspects.

Ben Emmerson, U.N. special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, voiced concern that while President Barack Obama's administration has rejected Central Intelligence Agency practices conducted under his predecessor George W. Bush, there have been no prosecutions.

First i just want to express my opinion that this guy either has some alterior motives or a decent moral footing, the later of the 2 being my guess coupled with a brass set of .....

But if he is going to have any follow through with this intent he has a big hill to climb...

Attorney General Eric Holder said that the Department of Justice would not prosecute any official who acted in good faith and within the scope of legal guidance given by its Office of Legal Counsel in the Bush era on interrogation.

Emmerson argues this well saying...

using a "superior orders defense" and invoking secrecy on national security grounds was "perpetuating impunity for the public officials implicated in these crimes".

I can understand wanting to defend one of our own but the hypocracy by the U.S. in instances like this is unacceptable, you either play by the rules or accept the consequences. Even bush himself should not be immune from this.

Bush, who authorized the CIA's secret prisons overseas, said in his memoirs he had ordered the use of "waterboarding", which rights experts consider a form of torture banned by international law.

Unfortunately i have a gut instinct that the only actions we will see from the U.S. on this will be more denials and hypocracy.
No wonder so many in the world want to cause America harm...
I hope something will be done in regards to these criminals!

Extraordinary rendition (torture by proxy) began under the Clinton administration... And as for the "abuses" they are ongoing and perhaps more covert and abusive under the current administration....

Do you think the Obama administration can open that can of worms without implicating themselves and others they have aligned themselves with?

Romney MIGHT have been a chance for this. Probably not...but we won't get another shot until 2016. If we elect a 3rd extension of the Bush war thinking and doctrine, it'll be 2020 before we have any chance. The reason? Obama continued the programs and outrages without interruption. Heck, he kept Bush's Secretary of Defense for his first 2 years in office. Hardly the actions of a President that is patently offended by the course of the wars, eh?

I'm of mixed feelings on this. DURING the wars, this isn't the time to be having a soul searching moment to air our dirty laundry. The enemy can read too and they'll read very carefully, anything that a process like this produces. We'll read it, as citizens, to see what abuses we can correct. The enemy will read it as a strategic planning document for what to exploit and how best to accomplish that. How many of our own people are we okay with getting killed over airing our dirt before wars end as opposed to afterward? (Besides, it's reasonable to assume, not everything to be investigated is over yet...this is an ONGOING event from 2001 to present)

So... Lets end the stupid wars so we can get to investigating. Sounds like the best solution to that little quandary, eh? All in all though... Just be ready to take where this leads. Obama WILL come up on felony charges right next to Bush and for the SAME charges...if EITHER of them were ever to see a moment's justice for any of this.

NO ONE in high national positions of power since at least 2003 is entirely free of the filth this Nation has come to embrace for totalitarianism, in so many ways.

This guy Ben Emmerson is my kind of guy, he seems to be doing more than just his job since the appointment to his UN position in 2011.

Earlier this year he also spearheaded the ongoing UN investigation in regards to illegal drone strikes and civilian deaths which was reported on byThe Bureau of Investigative Journalism

Ben Emmerson QC, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, told a London press conference that he will lead a group of international specialists who will examine CIA and Pentagon covert drone attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.

The team will also look at drone strikes by US and UK forces in Afghanistan, and by Israel in the Occupied Territories. In total some 25 strikes are expected to be examined in detail.

The senior British barrister will work alongside international criminal lawyers, a senior Pakistani judge and one of the UK’s leading forensic pathologists, as well as experts from Pakistan and Yemen. Also joining the team is a serving judge-advocate with the US military ‘who is assisting the inquiry in his personal capacity.’

Emmerson told reporters: ’Those states using this technology and those on whose territory it is used are under an international law obligation to establish effective independent and impartial investigations into any drone attack in which it is plausibly alleged that civilian casualties were sustained.’

I wish him all the best of luck, and good health in these endevours.

reply to post by RadicalRebel


All the politicians and businessmen involved in the Bush era behaviour are no different to any other era really. It just goes on and on.

Our only real hope is civility in the world. I believe we are learning very slowly. You know we put the pressure on for them to perform and give us all the economic goodies.

We have to watch out for throwing our stones of judgement. Where do we stop? All of us fall short of our aims and act in the heat of the moment because we are all human. Those guys are human.

I am watching in the West how we are all becoming more sensitive again to each other. Well that is the positive side.

If we chase Bush, Cheney and Blair we may end up chasing our own foxes' tails if you get my point.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
I'm of mixed feelings on this. DURING the wars, this isn't the time to be having a soul searching moment to air our dirty laundry... Lets end the stupid wars so we can get to investigating. Sounds like the best solution to that little quandary, eh? All in all though... Just be ready to take where this leads. Obama WILL come up on felony charges right next to Bush and for the SAME charges...if EITHER of them were ever to see a moment's justice for any of this.

NO ONE in high national positions of power since at least 2003 is entirely free of the filth this Nation has come to embrace for totalitarianism, in so many ways.

I cant really disagree with you but it seems double edged sword.
How many politician puppets have even tried to end the wars, the only reason they seem to be winding down is because of the actions of people Bradley Manning who take risks to expose truths.
The more people are aware that our officials are conducting illegal ops the less likely they will elect another...in theory anyway.

Originally posted by RadicalRebel
The more people are aware that our officials are conducting illegal ops the less likely they will elect another...in theory anyway.

If you think the things that you know are shocking, the things that you do not know that have gone on under the directives of secrecy and "national security" you would not only be shocked, but would likely become violently ill.

Both our overt hostilities and our covert activities (at times brutal and inhumane beyond description) have served to inflame a kind of hatred for the USA that will likely one day soon come back on all of us...

We fabricated enemies, and in the process created the radicals that are now hellbent on our destruction.

"We" Americans ... ALL of us, like it or not, are guilty of these atrocities and acts of war by association.

Good luck exposing the darkest and most secured secrets.

Good luck surviving what may ultimately come from all of this.

Originally posted by ausername

Originally posted by RadicalRebel
The more people are aware that our officials are conducting illegal ops the less likely they will elect another...in theory anyway.

If you think the things that you know are shocking, the things that you do not know that have gone on under the directives of secrecy and "national security" you would not only be shocked, but would likely become violently ill.

Both our overt hostilities and our covert activities (at times brutal and inhumane beyond description) have served to inflame a kind of hatred for the USA that will likely one day soon come back on all of us...

We fabricated enemies, and in the process created the radicals that are now hellbent on our destruction.

"We" Americans ... ALL of us, like it or not, are guilty of these atrocities and acts of war by association.

Good luck exposing the darkest and most secured secrets.

Good luck surviving what may ultimately come from all of this.

Very nicely put. You know human nature very well.

You have clearly stated why I rested my judgement on all these matters. I worked it out recently that it all starts with each one of us.

For example if I don't put so much pressure on the politicians and show at least some understanding (but not to be a fool or a walk-over) just may be they will not resort to ruthless tactics. I know that is simple, but something along those lines.

Don't be too hard on yourselves though. The U.S is no different in that respect to the UK, Israel, Iraq, Iran, all the Warlords in Africa, etc. Human nature!

I think the world will come under one banner one fine day. It has always been moving to that crescendo.

Pity we have had to tread the brutal path of war, violence and treating each other pretty bad, nation to nation, through all history.

I am doing my best to have as little part in that. I try to go about my life quietly and gently. It ain't perfect, but it is my miniscule attempt at world civility and all looking out for each other and treating each other like it is a fair game.

It is what people like Christ urged us to attempt. He, Martin Luther King, Halie Selassie, Ghandi and even dudes like John Lennon found that strategy to be the one we have to aim for.

Right now people are not ready for this. They will take and give much abuse. Time and tragedy will teach us on the long path and desire will keep driving us in good and bad ways I guess.

edit; Perhaps even the U.S citizens have had a better conscience than most of the empires that came before. At least you guys did the peace anti Vietnam War flower power thing in the late sixties and all the civil rights movement. That was way out powerful and did change consciousness in so many ways (not just in the U.S either).

Respect and trust has to be earned the U.S. won`t earn it by not playing by the rules and then trying to cover it up.The U.S. can`t earn the trust and respect of it`s citizens and the respect and trust of the world community by continuing with it`s policy of do as I say not as I do.
The U.S. needs to stop straddling the fence and pick a side to come down on or they will continue to be seen as a hypocrite and a bully.

Anything to keep the focus off the crimes and UN friendly agenda of the current POTUS. Who just happens to be very friendly with the UN. Hell he even based his own "Obama Doctrine" on UN guidelines for the Responsibility to Protect.

When our economy collapses you will see Light Blue Berets patrolling the streets and not your local National Guard. The UN has been knocking on our door step for 4 years and they are eager to wipe their boots on the door mat.

reply to post by RadicalRebel


Sure.. we will get right on that as soon as the UN clears up all of the open investigations into their leadership, violations of their own embargos on countries, etc etc etc.

The UN needs to sit down and shut the hell up.

Originally posted by jibeho
When our economy collapses you will see Light Blue Berets patrolling the streets and not your local National Guard. The UN has been knocking on our door step for 4 years and they are eager to wipe their boots on the door mat.

Only after they take my gun from my cold dead hand.