Bush Seeks Retroactive Immunity From US War Crimes Prosecution

[mom cat]

Bush Seeks Retroactive Immunity From US War Crimes Prosecution

by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse
Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 09:41:03 AM PDT
Now that the Bush team faces possible prosecution for war crimes under US law, the team is quietly changing the law to provide a "legal escape hatch." The recent US Supreme Court decision in Hamdan removed a potential defense from war crimes prosecution that the Bush team had been relying upon. So now the Decider is quietly changing this US law to exempt himself and other officials from criminal prosecutions that may not occur until the next administration. One thing for sure -- Bush is not much of a planner for wars, natural disasters, and terror attacks -- but he sure does plan years in advance to save his own hide.


Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse's diary :: ::
Many Americans were captured during the Vietnam War and tortured for years, including retired Navy pilot Mike Cronin, who was shocked to learn when he returned to America that there was no US law providing US courts with jurisdiction to prosecute violators of the Geneva Conventions. After 6 years of torture, Cronin knew that Geneva Conventions prohibitions against torture and "humiliating and degrading" treatment were essential to protect US soldiers.

Thanks to Cronin's persistent lobbying, Congress passed the War Crimes Act of 1996 with "overwhelming bipartisan support." The War Crimes Act provides US courts with jurisdiction "to convict any foreigner who commits a war crime against an American, or any American who commits a war crime at all." The War Crimes Act did not provide a real difference for soldiers and officers, who were already subject to military law that prohibits the abuse of prisoners. Under the War Crimes Act, for the first time, US civilians -- including intelligence officers, contractors, and government officials -- could be criminally prosecuted for ordering war crimes. Understandably, this US war crimes law was passed with strong bipartisan support because "nobody could have predicted that a decade later a U.S. administration, with the explicit consent of the president and the attorney general, would be accused of systematic war crimes."

Now, the recent US Supreme Court decision of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld opens the door for President Bush and Attorney General Gonzales to be prosecuted under the US War Crimes Act. The Hamdan case ruled that the Bush administration could not deny at least some of the Geneva Convention protections to prisoners suspected of ties to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. One legal expert has opined that Hamdan's ruling that al-Qaeda members are covered by at least parts of the Geneva Conventions would also apply to American soldiers and CIA operatives.

More at:

http://patriot-daily-news-clearinghouse.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/8/3/12413/49075

[madokie]

1. Try as he may the fact remains he will be tried and convicted of war

crimes. And he knows it. IMHO

[NNN0LHI]

2. He can run but he can't hide n/t

[acmavm]

3. I agree. I hope that he's stalked down and the rest of his life

he's made to understand what a disgusting excuse for a human being he almost is.

The next life, so I believe, is already taken care of.

[mom cat]

7. His tinkering with the law will not change the Geneva Conventions!

[Phredicles]

4. Shades of Pinochet conferring immunity upon himself.

It worked, too. For a while.

[LynneSin]

5. You know, if the man was innocent why would he need to do this

:shrug:

[Mandate My Ass]

6. I read somewhere that Specter's NSA legislation, which did

provide retroactive immunity for illegal spying on Americans, is unconstitutional because it amounts to a pardon, which is not a power that the legislative branch wields. I think it was on Glen Greenwald's site. I'll see if I can find it.