Heard on NPR News this morning:
Human rights groups have filed charges against Donald Rumsfeld in a French court for authorizing torture at Guantanamo Bay and at Abu Graib while in office. The International Federation for Human Rights, The French Federation for Human Rights and the Center for Constitutional Rights [based in New York, USA] -- attempted to present him with their complaints as he left a breakfast meeting in Paris yesterday. [No word in the news piece as to Rumsfeld's response.]
The three organizations have filed their grievance with a prosecutor who has the authority to arrest Rumsfeld while he is in France. The French government has acted on such complaints against other government officials in the past.
Similar complaints have been filed in Sweden and Argentina.
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Three thoughts here:
First -- It's about time. Here's hoping SOMETHING will get done on this issue SOMEWHERE since it's obviously not going to happen here.
Second -- I have to wonder: How's he sleeping these days?
And, third -- Wouldn't it be lovely if he was delivered to Abu Graib where he would be held in solitary confinement, kept in a super-cold cell, restrained in his bunk if he tried to keep warm, be menaced by dogs, shackled in strained positions and water-boarded?
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7 comments:
Hi two crows! When I saw this article, the first thing I thought was that it's great that he might finally be punished for his treatment of our military soldiers. But then I realized that the French probably won't do anything about it. They aren't big on justice. To say the least, they do nothing more than a mere slap on the wrist in many cases. Especially with Sarko, who seems to admire Bush for some reason, may decide it would be against his best interest to do anything to upset the Bush crowd.
We're talking about a country that allowed a murderer to be released after a few short months of his conviction and also allowed him to have "leaves" in order to visit with his family on the holidays while he was in prison.
I will be very surprised if France does anything about this at all.
hey M E--
I confess, I don't know much about the French justice system.
Maybe Argentina? How do we lure Rummy to S. America?
I'm with Mary Ellen on this one. I don't think the French has the nerve to do actually anything to Rummy.
It does make one wonder how Bush and the guys of his administration will be able to travel from country to country once he is out of office.
hi, LT--
I get so angry and sad that these folks are, almost certainly, going to get away with their crimes.
let's talk- you make a really good point, something I never thought of. Usually past presidents are able to go to different countries after they have retired and act as a diplomat for our country. I can't imagine Bush or Cheney in any type of diplomatic roll. They are so clueless on diplomacy. For instance, remember that picture of Cheney at some Russian funeral service that was held outside? He was the only one wearing a parka and stocking hat. He looked more like he was going hunting, than at a formal diplomatic affair.
Bush was never a world traveler and now, everywhere he goes, he sparks protests. He's hated the world over. It would be like Hitler visiting the countries he invaded after WWII.
two crows: I'm less and less confident that anyone in the Bush administration will be held accountable for their crimes. The only thing that gives me comfort is that they will pay for this in one way or another, later.
I dunno... we are kings of the world, after all, so how could those cowardly French think they'd ever get away with what amounts to kidnapping an American citizen? Heck, "international law" doesn't apply to US, that only applies to the rest of the world! Heh...
As for international travel for these criminals once they're out of office... I would still like to know if there is any truth to the stories about one of the Bush daughters closing a land deal for a 100,000 acre rance in northern Paraguay during the last year or two, and after that country's government agreed that Americans who went there couldn't be charged with war crimes or removed from the country to face trials for such crimes. Supposedly there is a lot of natural gas in the area where the Bushes supposedly bought land, and there are supposedly already about a thousand U.S. troops there.
Supposedly.
But if it's true, I would expect the only international travel Dumbya would be doing would be to fly from the U.S. to Paraguay on or around January 20, 2009.
hi, Snave--
yeah, I've read that rumor about paraguay, too.
it may just be someone familiar with what the Nazi bigwigs did after WWII putting out a story. or it may be true.
if true, I imagine Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rummy, et al will get heartily sick of the sight of each other after they're out of office since they won't be able to come home and they'll be so limited in the parts of the world they'll be able to travel to for the rest of their lives.
if there's any justice in the universe, after all those people arrive in paraguay, the natural gas reserve will blow up under them.
mebbe I'll nip over to snopes and see if this rumor is listed there.
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