14 Octubre 2011
del Sitio Web
RedVoltaire
Versión Ingles
La organización no gubernamental
Amnistía Internacional (AI) [después de
verse implicada en la mentira de la joven mujer despellejada viva en Siria]
exigió al Gobierno de Canadá que arreste al ex presidente de EE.UU.
George W.
Bush acusándolo por torturas.
La ONG de derechos humanos pidió a las autoridades canadienses que detengan
y procesen - o extraditen - al ex mandatario que fue implicado en delitos de
tortura y a quien consideran penalmente responsable de violaciones de
derechos humanos.
AI realizó esta llamada con motivo de la visita de Bush a
Canadá prevista para próximo el 20 de octubre.
“Canadá está obligada por las normas internacionales a detener y procesar al
ex presidente Bush por su responsabilidad en torturas y otros delitos de
derecho internacional”, afirmó Susan Lee, directora del programa de Amnistía
Internacional para América.
“Es un momento clave para que este país
demuestre su disposición a acatar sus compromisos en materia de derechos
humanos”, manifestó.
Según el memorando de la AI, las violaciones referidas se cometieron entre
2002 y 2009 como parte del programa de detención secreta de la CIA, e
incluyen torturas y otros tratos crueles.
Durante la presidencia Bush autorizó la aplicación de diversas “técnicas de
interrogatorio” a personas recluidas, como obligarlos a permanecer durante
horas en posturas dolorosas o privarlos del sueño.
Más tarde, él admitió
haber autorizado el uso del simulacro de ahogamiento (waterboarding) contra
varias personas cuyo sometimiento a este método de tortura se ha confirmado.
“Dado que hasta ahora las autoridades estadounidenses no han llevado al ex
presidente Bush ante los tribunales, la comunidad internacional debe
intervenir.
Si Canadá no toma medidas durante su visita, estará violando los
términos de la Convención de la ONU contra la Tortura y demostrando
desprecio por los derechos humanos fundamentales”, subrayó Amnistía
Internacional.
Amnesty Calls on Canada to...
Arrest Bush
by Agence France-Presse
October 13, 2011
from
CommonDreams Website
Spanish
version
OTTAWA
Amnesty International called on Canadian authorities Wednesday to
arrest and
prosecute George W. Bush, saying the former US president
authorized “torture” when he directed the US-led war on terror.
Former US president George W. Bush speaks at the ceremony
marking the
opening of the Flight 93 National Memorial and the 10th anniversary
of the
9/11 attack in Shanksville, Pennsylvania September 10, 2011.
(Photo: Reuters
File)
Bush is expected to attend an economic summit in Surrey in Canada’s
westernmost British Columbia province on October 20.
In a memorandum submitted last month to Canada’s attorney general but only
now released to the media, the London-based group charged that Bush has
legal responsibility for a series of human rights violations.
“Canada is required by its international obligations to arrest and prosecute
former president Bush given his responsibility for crimes under
international law including torture,” Amnesty’s Susan Lee said in a
statement.
“As the US authorities have, so far, failed to bring former president Bush
to justice, the international community must step in. A failure by Canada to
take action during his visit would violate the UN Convention Against Torture
and demonstrate contempt for fundamental human rights,” Lee said.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney blasted Amnesty for,
“cherry picking cases
to publicize, based on ideology.”
“This kind of stunt helps explain why so many respected human rights
advocates have abandoned Amnesty International,” he said.
Kenney said it will be up to Canadian border officials to decide
independently whether to allow Bush into the country.
Bush canceled a visit to Switzerland in February, after facing similar
public calls for his arrest.
Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International’s Canadian branch,
told a press conference the rights group will pursue its case against the
former US president with the governments of other countries he might visit.
“Torturers must face justice and their crimes are so egregious that the
responsibility for ensuring justice is shared by all nations,” Neve said.
“Friend or foe, extraordinary or very ordinary times, most or least powerful
nation, faced with concerns about terrorism or any other threat, torture
must be stopped.
“Bringing to justice the people responsible for torture is central to that
goal. It is the law… And no one, including the man who served as president
of the world’s most powerful nation for eight years can be allowed to stand
above that law.”
Amnesty, backed by the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group,
claims Bush authorized the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” and
“waterboarding” on detainees held in secret by the
Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) between 2002 and 2009.
The detention program included,
“torture and other cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment (such as being forced to stay for hours in painful
positions and sleep deprivation), and enforced disappearances,” it alleged.
Amnesty’s case, outlined in its 1,000-page memorandum, relies on the public
record, US documents obtained through access to information requests, Bush’s
own memoir and a Red Cross report critical of the US’s war on terror
policies.
Amnesty cites several instances of alleged torture of detainees at the
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval facility, in Afghanistan and in Iraq, by the US
military.
The cases include that of Zayn al Abidin Muhammed Husayn (known as Abu Zubaydah) and
'9/11 mastermind' Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, both arrested in
Pakistan.
The two men were waterboarded 266 times between
them from 2002 to 2003, according to the CIA inspector general, cited by
Amnesty.