War Crimes Act Changes Would Reduce Threat Of Prosecution

[Canuck55]

War Crimes Act Changes Would Reduce Threat Of Prosecution

By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 9, 2006; Page A01

The Bush administration has drafted amendments to a war crimes law that would eliminate the risk of prosecution for political appointees, CIA officers and former military personnel for humiliating or degrading war prisoners, according to U.S. officials and a copy of the amendments.

Officials say the amendments would alter a U.S. law passed in the mid-1990s that criminalized violations of the Geneva Conventions, a set of international treaties governing military conduct in wartime. The conventions generally bar the cruel, humiliating and degrading treatment of wartime prisoners without spelling out what all those terms mean.
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Left off the list would be what the Geneva Conventions refer to as "outrages upon personal dignity" of a prisoner and deliberately humiliating acts -- such as the forced nakedness, use of dog leashes and wearing of women's underwear seen at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq -- that fall short of torture.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/08/AR2006080801276.html

What would an earthquake primary result be if you can't dump some bad WH news at the same time?

[Eric J in MN]

1. Isn't Congress on vacation?

Anyway, we should let our Senators and Rep know that we don't want War Crimes to go unpunished.

[deacon]

2. "U.S. law passed in the mid-1990s" passed by? yes, republicans

oh the irony.........

[Moderator]

3. duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2444575