Human rights group urges Ottawa to investigate Cheney over torture

[Electric Monk]

Source: Toronto Star

A human rights group is urging the federal government to bring criminal charges against former U.S. vice-president Dick Cheney, accusing him of playing a role in the torture of detainees during the years of the Bush administration.

Cheney will be in Vancouver on Monday to promote his book In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir, which outlines his views of the war on terror and other events during the administration of president George W. Bush.

Human Rights Watch claims that overwhelming evidence of torture by the Bush administration, including at least two cases involving Canadian citizens, are grounds for Canada to investigate Cheney and comply with the Convention Against Torture.

In addition, the New York-based group said that Canadian law expressly provides for jurisdiction over an individual for torture and other crimes if the complainant is a Canadian citizen, even for offences committed outside of Canada.

Read more: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1059191--human-rights-group-urges-ottawa-to-investigate-cheney-over-torture

---

much more at the link

Cheney deserves a fair trial, followed by a fair sentence. 25 to life sounds about fair to me, including regularly scheduled 'enhanced interrogation' to find out what he really knows about 9/11.

[mmonk]

1. I've given up on justice or this country in many ways.

I'll keep speaking up and keep trying but I realize the limits of our country now in returning to at least a feeling I'm comfortable with or something I truly believe in.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[defendandprotect]

3. kr

[JohnyCanuck]

4. Bush too. Upcoming panel discussion in Vancouver on arresting Bush for war crimes.

Accountability for Torture: George Bush Visits B.C.

Panel Discussion

In his memoir, former U.S. president George W. Bush admits that when he was asked if men in U.S. custody should be waterboarded, he replied “Damn, right.” Despite admitting that he authorized torture, Bush has not been investigated or held accountable for his actions in the United States -- or by any judicial body elsewhere. Bush has enjoyed global impunity for his role in the torture of detainees held in Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram and secret “black sites.”

Bush is scheduled to speak in Surrey, B.C. on October 20th. Is there a case against Bush for torture? Should Canada investigate him? Will Canada prosecute Bush for torture?

Please join us for an expert panel to discuss Bush’s responsibility for torture in the “war on terror” and the options for accountability in Canada.

Date: Thursday, September 29, 2011

Time: 6:30 - 8:30 pm

Place: UBC Robson Square, Room C180

800 Robson St., Vancouver (enter by the ice rink)

For directions, visit: http://robsonsquare.ubc.ca/find-us /

http://www.ccij.ca/programs/cases/guantanamo/index.php

[applegrove]

5. Why are the neocons all over BC? Could it be the next place the conservatives want to control now

that they own Ontario and Alberta? You know to kill the liberals nationally?

[murphyj87]

11. BC has a Liberal provincial government....

and it looks like the NDP may take them out next election in BC.

[Hoosier Daddy]

6. Good idea

But the Canadians are too polite to do anything like that. Unless he pokes fun at the Vancouver Canucks! :rofl:

[Politicalboi]

7. Please ARREST him

Then waterboard him for answers.

[SoapBox]

8. Oh how we could only hope...

Sounds like the stuff that dreams are made of!

DicKKK in Jail.

[JohnyCanuck]

9. Canadian MP Demands "Torturer" Cheney be Barred Entry to Canada

Don Davies Member of Parliament for Vancouver Kingsway and NDP Immigration and Citizenship critic has made a written request that Minister Jason Kenney,

“…deny entry to Mr. Cheney on grounds of inadmissibility under IRPA for having engaged in acts of torture. In the event that you do not do so, I would respectfully request that a report be prepared setting out the relevant facts, and that you refer same to the Immigration Division for an admissibility hearing with a view to issuing a removal order against Mr. Cheney, all pursuant to section 44 of the IRPA.”

MP Don Davies released copies of this September 23, 2011 letter at a press conference today in Vancouver BC at the W2 Media Centre.

http://pacificfreepress.com/news/1/9790-canadian-mp-demands-qtorturerq-cheney-be-barred-entry-to-canada.html

[Auntie Bush]

10. Taking away his pacemaker is all that needs doing. Won't even have to go to the expense of executio

[daggahead]

12. Canada urged to launch Cheney torture probe

Source: CBC News

Human Rights Watch is urging the Canadian government to "be prepared" to bring criminal charges against former U.S. vice-president Dick Cheney when he visits Vancouver on his book tour next week.

The New York-based rights group said Saturday that Canadian law provides for jurisdiction over an individual for torture and other crimes, even for offences committed outside of Canada.

Canada ratified the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture in 1987 and incorporated its provisions into the Canadian criminal code.

more @ link

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/09/24/cheney-memoir-canada.html

---

Sad that other countries may be willing to do what the US is not ...

[tblue]

13. That is a stain on our moral character that won't go away.

It's almost up there with slavery and the annihilation of Native American nations. You can't 'look forward' just because it's politically expedient. That doesn't make it go away.

[Enthusiast]

34. Crime, it simply doesn't matter any more.

Not after the big one in 2000, the huge one in 2001, the very large one in 2003, the nasty one in 2004 and the extra big one in 2008.

[No Elephants]

14. Why do I think there is more to this?

[OnyxCollie]

15. I predict Eric Holder will visit Canada soon

and put an end to this investigation nonsense.

[midnight]

27. Was it his visit to Spain that stopped the prosecution of Bush?

[OnyxCollie]

31. You make the call.

Obama called on the former general chairman of the RNC to stop Spain's investigation of US torture crimes.

WikiLeaks: How U.S. tried to stop Spain's torture probe
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/12/25/105786/wikileaks-how-us-tried-to-stop.html

MIAMI — It was three months into Barack Obama's presidency, and the administration -- under pressure to do something about alleged abuses in Bush-era interrogation policies -- turned to a Florida senator to deliver a sensitive message to Spain:

Don't indict former President George W. Bush's legal brain trust for alleged torture in the treatment of war on terror detainees, warned Mel Martinez on one of his frequent trips to Madrid. Doing so would chill U.S.-Spanish relations.

US embassy cables: Don't pursue Guantánamo criminal case, says Spanish attorney general
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/202776?INTCMP=SRCH

6. (C) As reported in SEPTEL, Senator Mel Martinez, accompanied by the Charge d'Affaires, met Acting FM Angel Lossada during a visit to the Spanish MFA on April 15. Martinez and the Charge underscored that the prosecutions would not be understood or accepted in the U.S. and would have an enormous impact on the bilateral relationship. The Senator also asked if the GOS had thoroughly considered the source of the material on which the allegations were based to ensure the charges were not based on misinformation or factually wrong statements. Lossada responded that the GOS recognized all of the complications presented by universal jurisdiction, but that the independence of the judiciary and the process must be respected. The GOS would use all appropriate legal tools in the matter. While it did not have much margin to operate, the GOS would advise Conde Pumpido that the official administration position was that the GOS was "not in accord with the National Court." Lossada reiterated to Martinez that the executive branch of government could not close any judicial investigation and urged that this case not affect the overall relationship, adding that our interests were much broader, and that the universal jurisdiction case should not be viewed as a reflection of the GOS position.

Judd Gregg, Obama's Republican nominee for Commerce secretary, didn't like the investigations either.

US embassy cables: Don't pursue Guantánamo criminal case, says Spanish attorney general
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/202776?INTCMP=SRCH

4. (C) As reported in REF A, Senator Judd Gregg, accompanied by the Charge d'Affaires, raised the issue with Luis Felipe Fernandez de la Pena, Director General Policy Director for North America and Europe during a visit to the Spanish MFA on April 13. Senator Gregg expressed his concern about the case. Fernandez de la Pena lamented this development, adding that judicial independence notwithstanding, the MFA disagreed with efforts to apply universal jurisdiction in such cases.

Why the aversion? To protect Bushco, of course!

US embassy cables: Spanish prosecutor weighs Guantánamo criminal case against US officials
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/200177

The fact that this complaint targets former Administration legal officials may reflect a "stepping-stone" strategy designed to pave the way for complaints against even more senior officials.

Eric Holder got the message.

Holder Says He Will Not Permit the Criminalization of Policy Differences
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7410267&page=1

As lawmakers call for hearings and debate brews over forming commissions to examine the Bush administration's policies on harsh interrogation techniques, Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed to a House panel that intelligence officials who relied on legal advice from the Bush-era Justice Department would not be prosecuted.

"Those intelligence community officials who acted reasonably and in good faith and in reliance on Department of Justice opinions are not going to be prosecuted," he told members of a House Appropriations Subcommittee, reaffirming the White House sentiment. "It would not be fair, in my view, to bring such prosecutions."

CIA Exhales: 99 Out of 101 Torture Cases Dropped
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/06/cia-exhales-99-out-of-101-torture-cases-dropped/

This is how one of the darkest chapters in U.S. counterterrorism ends: with practically every instance of suspected CIA torture dodging criminal scrutiny. It’s one of the greatest gifts the Justice Department could have given the CIA as David Petraeus takes over the agency.

Over two years after Attorney General Eric Holder instructed a special prosecutor, John Durham, to “preliminar(ily) review” whether CIA interrogators unlawfully tortured detainees in their custody, Holder announced on Thursday afternoon that he’ll pursue criminal investigations in precisely two out of 101 cases of suspected detainee abuse. Some of them turned out not to have involved CIA officials after all. Both of the cases that move on to a criminal phase involved the “death in custody” of detainees, Holder said.

But just because there’s a further criminal inquiry doesn’t necessarily mean there will be any charges brought against CIA officials involved in those deaths. If Holder’s decision on Thursday doesn’t actually end the Justice Department’s review of torture in CIA facilities, it brings it awfully close, as outgoing CIA Director Leon Panetta noted.

“On this, my last day as Director, I welcome the news that the broader inquiries are behind us,” Panetta wrote to the CIA staff on Thursday. “We are now finally about to close this chapter of our Agency’s history.”

[indepat]

38. Not wanting to be taught a good lesson, most won't mess with the guy wearing a big cannon on his

hip. :patriot:

[Hoosier Daddy]

16. Not gonna happen

We're they're biggest customer, and that includes oil.

[L. Coyote]

17. And, what happened when Bush was in Canada?

Zip, zero, nada, .....

[midnight]

28. Bush’s Toronto Visit Cancelled Amid Mass Public Pressure for Arrest

This weeks appearance by former U.S. president George W. Bush at an event hosted by a local evangelical Christian university has been cancelled while the mainstream U.S. Media ignores the international embarrassment.
The decision came Wednesday, the same day three former students launched a petition urging the university to cancel the speech. On Tuesday, a class valedictorian and professor publicly spoke out against the appearance following the resignation of another staff member.
Bush was scheduled to speak Sept. 20 to about 150 people at an invitation-only breakfast hosted by Tyndale University College and Seminary, home to about 1,400 students at two campuses in Toronto’s north end.http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/09/17/bush-toronto-cancelled/


Some people let it be known he was not welcomed...

[L. Coyote]

43. PHOTO of Bush in Canada: Popular Calgary restaurant surprised by Bush visit

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/603754

[teddy51]

18. Don't hold your breath for Canada to investigate Cheney, with a Conservative

Harper Government. It's just not going to happen.

[rhett o rick]

19. Lots of luck. The rich and powerful stick together. nm

[gratuitous]

20. Keep asking

One of these days, we might finally get wise to the fact that our crimes against humanity are a national stain that doesn't go away just because we don't want to look at it. Someone might just visit a little justice on us, and I hope it's a regular court with established rules of evidence and procedure. But the longer our crimes go unprosecuted, the higher the probability that it will be done by a self-appointed ad hoc person or group who isn't going to be too careful or concerned about punishing the guilty, only the guilty country. If you don't mind getting blown to bits because of the crimes of Dick Cheney or George W. Bush, then let's just keep going the way we're going. But if you'd prefer to see justice done on the actual perpetrators, it would behoove you to get behind the movement to investigate this, develop the evidence, and bring the wrong-doers to trial.

[whosinpower]

21. Oh no - Prime Minister Harper

Would personally meet Cheney and thank him profusely for driving up oil prices SO high that the tar sands project would suddenly become profitable.

That is the total truth. Oil needed to be sold at or above 40/barrel for the tar sands project to break even.

[Gregorian]

22. "Urged". Sorry, but when someone hijacks a plane, no one urges them to be arrested.

Right there is the dual nature of the justice in this country.

Urge isn't the term that comes to mind when I think of a million dead people.

[FLAprogressive]

23. As awesome as it would be.....

....it ain't happening.

[hack89]

24. OPCAT was adopted in 2002 and Canada is not listed as a signatory.

http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-9-b&chapter=4&lang=en


On edit: They must mean the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

[Enthusiast]

25. The Obama Administration will threaten

Canada if they don't stop this probe.

[hack89]

26. Canada won't even start the probe - they are not stupid..nt

[RedCloud]

29. Just say he helped the Bruins win the Cup and watch the fun begin!

[SKKY]

30. OK, so perhaps they don't "arrest" him, per se...

...but lets say there is a huge commotion at his signing- lots of protests and all. And in all of that, he gets a little too "excited" and his ticker gives out. Call it his "heart" getting arrested. Or that cold, dark, damp lifeless void in his chest where a normal heart would live.

[Uncle Joe]

32. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, daggahead.

[polichick]

33. Good - SOMEBODY has to believe in "justice for all."

[David Sky]

35. Just fly him to an Innuit village, 900 miles north of Vancouver,

put him in the "drunk tank" for that small village, no internet, no Fox News, no phone privileges, just one phonecall.

This in early October, as the snows of fall and winter sets in. Deprive him of anything but water, and show him a water-boarding room, used for " international terrorists" Feed him whale blubber, and a small summer crop village turnip. No doctor or medicines in the village between once a month visits by a doctor from the nearest town, Yellow Knife, 400 miles away.

Keep him there until January 2013........then release him, if he's still alive.

My fantasy, what is yours>?

[BeHereNow]

37. That works for me! Good plan David Sky! n/t

bhn

[Joe Shlabotnik]

36. Won't happen; Canada is heading in such as Sad direction,

I don't even know where to begin. Its Citizens are ignorant and complacent, and our Rethuglican government still has another 3.5 years of unchallenged rule. I am truly embarrassed to be a Canadian now.

[PuffedMica]

39. Canada should launch Cheney's prison careerer

[99th_Monkey]

40. The FaceShooter needs to be arrested and convicted of his war crimes ... ~nt

[Solly Mack]

41. He certainly needs to be arrested for his crimes.

And not just him.

Alas...sigh.

[Electric Monk]

42. Dupe thread. I posted this Saturday.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x5004962